Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love ....[Isaiah 16:4-5a]Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our Sunday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Most of you know about the civil war that has been raging in Syria since 2011.
Since the beginning of the conflict a great many Syrian refugees have escaped to Lebanon. When I say refugee, I am referring to innocent human beings forced to flee their homes and communities. Facing physical, mental and emotional trauma, refugees confront amazing obstacles during their escape from persecution and war.
Lutheran Hour Ministries' holistic involvement with them has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.
Each time we visit a refugee camp or family we provide food to last them for about two weeks. This enables us to make strong friendships among these displaced people. In return they offer us hospitality, which humbles and blesses us when we pay another visit.
Over the years we have met with some refugees on an individual basis and invited them to join us in heartfelt prayers for the peace of their homeland. During these prayers the refugee hears the clear truth of the Gospel of God's love for him in Christ.
That is what happened to a man by the name of Khaled al-Homsi. For the purpose of this devotion he represents many others like him.
When we first met him, al-Homsi said, "There is no place else to go." A father of three small children, he had fled the shelling of his home town of Homs two years earlier. For a while they stayed in a small village where his wife's father lives. Then the government shelled that village too. Six months ago they moved to the Bekka Valley. Looking back, he says: "We didn't have money, clothes -- nothing. I just left with my children. I had $500 cash, but I spent it to get here."
Al-Homsi is 34, but his hair is marked with gray. "After two years of this, I look older," he says with a weak smile and a sad face. "My life doesn't exist anymore; my future is lost. Now I am worried about my children's future. I feel like I can do nothing for them, and that's awful."
Before the war, Khaled al-Homsi was a truck driver who traveled to all the main cities of Syria. He lived a comfortable middle-class life before his house was destroyed. I realized how sad he must feel. He once traveled everywhere; now he cannot even go home. That is why I comforted him with Jesus' words: "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2).
I, and the staff, shared with him that there is no real lasting peace here on earth, and the only way for peace and salvation is through Jesus Christ. It is He who restores our broken relationship to God and to each other.
It is my prayer you will join us in speaking to the Lord for people like Khaled al-Homsi and his family. May the Holy Spirit give them the Savior who alone can help them enjoy the peace that transcends all understanding.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank You for Christ's death on the cross for all mankind. May Your Spirit strengthen us to share this Good News with displaced refugees who are in deep need of peace and a safe home. This I ask in my Savior's Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Fadi E. Khairallah. He was born to a Christian family in Baabda, Lebanon. He has attended graduate courses in communications and Lutheran theology at Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska. He is currently preparing the thesis for his master's degree in Islamic studies. At present he serves as director for Middle East Lutheran Ministry (MELM) in Lebanon, a position he has held since December 2001. Khairallah is married to Lara and has one baby boy. He and his family reside in Beirut, Lebanon.
Launched in 1950 in Beirut, Middle East Lutheran Ministry -- also known as LHM-Lebanon -- uses radio broadcasts to reach people in at least ten Arabic-speaking countries with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Assisting individuals in their Christian faith in places as far away as Libya, Iraq and Egypt, this ministry center teaches people about Jesus with its Arabic-language Bible Correspondence Course (BCC). Through itsEquipping the Saints (ETS) workshops, lay people are trained in how to better convey God's message of hope in their everyday lives. Many of this program's participants are college students and young adults who are eager to share Jesus with their families and peers. Using the Internet (website, text messaging), TV programming, and other video production, God's love and hope are shared with people throughout a region torn by war and other desperate circumstances. Holistic assistance is provided to many Muslim families and Bedouin communities through vacation Bible schools and programs that deliver clothing and school supplies to children. Emergency care is also given to people such as Syrian and Iraqi families who have come to Lebanon from their countries, as they flee various conflicts in their homelands.
Read and see how LHM-Lebanon is helping children who are blind or have severe sight issues by clicking hereto access LHM-Lebanon's blog.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhm.org/international.
Psalms 27-29; John 11:1-29In Christ I remain His servant and yours, 
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read: Psalms 27-29; John 11:1-29
Psalms 27:(0) By David:
(1) Adonai is my light and salvation;
whom do I need to fear?
Adonai is the stronghold of my life;
of whom should I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assailed me
to devour my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
they stumbled and fell.
3 If an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear;
if war breaks out against me,
even then I will keep trusting.
4 Just one thing have I asked of Adonai;
only this will I seek:
to live in the house of Adonai
all the days of my life,
to see the beauty of Adonai
and visit in his temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter
on the day of trouble,
he will hide me in the folds of his tent,
he will set me high on a rock.
6 Then my head will be lifted up
above my surrounding foes,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, sing praises to Adonai.
7 Listen, Adonai, to my voice when I cry;
show favor to me; and answer me.
8 “My heart said of you, ‘Seek my face.’”
Your face, Adonai, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
don’t turn your servant away in anger.
You are my help; don’t abandon me;
don’t leave me, God my savior.
10 Even though my father and mother have left me,
Adonai will care for me.
11 Teach me your way, Adonai;
lead me on a level path
because of my enemies —
12 don’t give me up to the whims of my foes;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
also those who are breathing violence.
13 If I hadn’t believed that I would see
Adonai’s goodness in the land of the living, . . .
14 Put your hope in Adonai, be strong,
and let your heart take courage!
Yes, put your hope in Adonai!
28:(0) By David:
(1) Adonai, I am calling to you;
my Rock, don’t be deaf to my cry.
For if you answer me with silence,
I will be like those who fall in a pit.
2 Hear the sound of my prayers
when I cry to you,
when I lift my hands
toward your holy sanctuary.
3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil;
they speak words of peace to their fellowmen,
but evil is in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for their deeds,
as befits their evil acts;
repay them for what they have done,
give them what they deserve.
5 For they don’t understand the deeds of Adonai
or what he has done.
He will break them down;
he will not build them up.
6 Blessed be Adonai,
for he heard my voice as I prayed for mercy.
7 Adonai is my strength and shield;
in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped.
Therefore my heart is filled with joy,
and I will sing praises to him.
8 Adonai is strength for [his people],
a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people! Bless your heritage!
Shepherd them, and carry them forever!
29:(0) A psalm of David:
(1) Give Adonai his due, you who are godly;
give Adonai his due of glory and strength;
2 give Adonai the glory due his name;
worship Adonai in holy splendor.
3 The voice of Adonai is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
Adonai over rushing waters,
4 the voice of Adonai in power,
the voice of Adonai in splendor.
5 The voice of Adonai cracks the cedars;
Adonai splinters the cedars of the L’vanon
6 and makes the L’vanon skip like a calf,
Siryon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of Adonai flashes fiery flames;
8 the voice of Adonai rocks the desert,
Adonai convulses the Kadesh Desert.
9 The voice of Adonai causes deer to give birth
and strips the forests bare —
while in his temple, all cry, “Glory!”
10 Adonai sits enthroned above the flood!
Adonai sits enthroned as king forever!
11 May Adonai give strength to his people!
May Adonai bless his people with shalom!
John 11:1 There was a man who had fallen sick. His name was El‘azar, and he came from Beit-Anyah, the village where Miryam and her sister Marta lived. 2 (This Miryam, whose brother El‘azar had become sick, is the one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent a message to Yeshua, “Lord, the man you love is sick.” 4 On hearing it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may receive glory through it.”
5 Yeshua loved Marta and her sister and El‘azar; 6 so when he heard he was sick, first he stayed where he was two more days; 7 then, after this, he said to the talmidim, “Let’s go back to Y’hudah.” 8 The talmidim replied, “Rabbi! Just a short while ago the Judeans were out to stone you — and you want to go back there?” 9 Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a person walks during daylight, he doesn’t stumble; because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if a person walks at night, he does stumble; because he has no light with him.”
11 Yeshua said these things, and afterwards he said to the talmidim, “Our friend El‘azar has gone to sleep; but I am going in order to wake him up.” 12 The talmidim said to him, “Lord, if he has gone to sleep, he will get better.” 13 Now Yeshua had used the phrase to speak about El‘azar’s death, but they thought he had been talking literally about sleep. 14 So Yeshua told them in plain language, “El‘azar has died. 15 And for your sakes, I am glad that I wasn’t there, so that you may come to trust. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then T’oma (the name means “twin”) said to his fellow talmidim, “Yes, we should go, so that we can die with him!”
17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El‘azar had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Beit-Anyah was about two miles from Yerushalayim, 19 and many of the Judeans had come to Marta and Miryam in order to comfort them at the loss of their brother. 20 So when Marta heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet him; but Miryam continued sitting shiv‘ah in the house.
21 Marta said to Yeshua, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Marta said, “I know that he will rise again at the Resurrection on the Last Day.” 25 Yeshua said to her, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever puts his trust in me will live, even if he dies; 26 and everyone living and trusting in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
28 After saying this, she went off and secretly called Miryam, her sister: “The Rabbi is here and is calling for you.” 29 When she heard this, she jumped up and went to him.
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
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