Missionary Renegade: The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States [Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).] "Listen and See" for Monday, July 25, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States [Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).] "Listen and See" for Monday, July 25, 2016
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known.[John 1:18[
Screens. You are probably looking at one now. Everywhere we go we are surrounded by screens. Our houses are full of screens. Our televisions are huge. Our phones have screens. Our computers have screens (often multiple screens). Our tablets are screens. We read on screens. We watch on screens. We communicate on screens. We write on screens. It's all on screens. We spend so much time on screens that there are warnings about how much time we spend there.
All this screen time can make it increasingly difficult for us to conceive of things, then, that we can't see. We are used to watching a clip on the Internet or seeing video footage. But what about the fact that there are things in life you are supposed to see, but you can't see them anymore?
Technology has allowed us to see things that previous generations couldn't see. We can see things so small that people didn't even know they existed. We can see in space beyond what we imagined possible just a generation ago.
We are constantly seeing more and more. And more and more, we judge reality only by what we see.
But we all know that there are vitally important things in our life that we don't -- and even can't -- see with our eyes: things like love, peace, truth, life.
John 1:18 tells us that no one on our own terms has ever seen God. No one. Ever. So, in a world in which we see more and more, in a world in which we exist more and more in the realm of the visual, how do we know and believe in a God who cannot be seen?
The rest of John 1:18 tells us how we can know this God who can't be seen. "The only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known." The One who is at the Father's side is Jesus. He is God come in the flesh (see John 1:14). Jesus showed us in His life, death and resurrection who God the Father is. God the Father can't be seen, but He can be known through His Son Jesus.
When we want to get to know who God is, we should not look to human philosophy or to wisdom. We don't think about God as simply a better version of humanity. We don't make up lofty ideas about God. When we want to know who God the Father is, we look to Jesus.
And when we see Jesus, we see that God's love is in action for you and me. That's what Jesus came in this world to deliver. He calls you to repentance so that you can see it. He focuses your attention on the cross so you can receive it. And He offers you a resurrection, eternal life in Him by faith, seen clearly through His Word to anyone who will look.
You will spend a lot of time today looking at screens. You may be entertained by what you see. You may read on those screens. You may use those screens to communicate. But let us never be distracted by all that we merely see with our eyes. Let us focus our eyes on Jesus. He is the One who reveals God the Father to us. And He reveals that God the Father loves you, and through the death and resurrection of Jesus, has saved you.
The Holy Spirit works through that Word to let us see Jesus and let us see God the Father. The Holy Spirit works faith that we might be sure of the things we hoped for and certain of the things we cannot see.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, give us the eyes of faith to see and hold on to the truth of our life and salvation in Jesus Christ alone. May that be what motivates our lives of service, sacrifice and even our striving for excellence each day. Amen.

In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz
Speaker of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries

Today's Bible in a Year Readings: Psalms 93-95; Philippians 4
Psalms 93:1 Adonai is king, robed in majesty;

Adonai is robed, girded with strength;

The world is well established;

it cannot be moved.

2 Your throne was established long ago;

you have existed forever.

3 Adonai, the deep is raising up,

the deep is raising up its voice,

the deep is raising its crashing waves.

4 More than the sound of rushing waters

or the mighty breakers of the sea,

Adonai on high is mighty.

5 Your instructions are very sure;

holiness befits your house,

Adonai, for all time to come.

94:1 God of vengeance, Adonai!

God of vengeance, appear!

2 Assert yourself as judge of the earth!

Pay back the proud as they deserve!

3 How long are the wicked, Adonai,

how long are the wicked to triumph?

4 They pour out insolent words,

they go on bragging, all these evildoers.

5 They crush your people, Adonai,

they oppress your heritage.

6 They kill widows and strangers

and murder the fatherless.

7 They say, “Yah isn’t looking;

the God of Ya‘akov won’t notice.”

8 Take notice, yourselves, you boors among the people!

You fools, when will you understand?

9 Will the one who planted the ear not hear?

Will the one who formed the eye not see?

10 Will the one who disciplines nations not correct them?

Will the teacher of humanity not know?

11 Adonai understands that people’s thoughts

are merely a puff of wind.

12 How happy the man whom you correct, Yah,

whom you teach from your Torah,

13 giving him respite from days of trouble,

till a pit is dug for the wicked!

14 For Adonai will not desert his people,

he will not abandon his heritage.

15 Justice will once again become righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who will champion my cause against the wicked?

Who will stand up for me against evildoers?

17 If Adonai hadn’t helped me,

I would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.

18 When I said, “My foot is slipping!”

your grace, Adonai, supported me.

19 When my cares within me are many,

your comforts cheer me up.

20 Can unjust judges be allied with you,

those producing wrong in the name of law?

21 They band together against the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

22 But Adonai has become my stronghold,

my God is my rock of refuge.

23 But he repays them as their guilt deserves;

he will cut them off with their own evil;

Adonai our God will cut them off.

95:1 Come, let’s sing to Adonai!

Let’s shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation!

2 Let’s come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let’s shout for joy to him with songs of praise.

3 For Adonai is a great God,

a great king greater than all gods.

4 He holds the depths of the earth in his hands;

the mountain peaks too belong to him.

5 The sea is his — he made it —

and his hands shaped the dry land.

6 Come, let’s bow down and worship;

let’s kneel before Adonai who made us.

7 For he is our God, and we are the people

in his pasture, the sheep in his care.

If only today you would listen to his voice:

8 “Don’t harden your hearts, as you did at M’rivah,

as you did on that day at Massah in the desert,

9 when your fathers put me to the test;

they challenged me, even though they saw my work.

10 For forty years I loathed that generation;

I said, ‘This is a people whose hearts go astray,

they don’t understand how I do things.’

11 Therefore I swore in my anger

that they would not enter my rest.”

Philippians 4:1 So, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, my dear friends, keep standing firm in union with the Lord.

2 I beg Evodia and I beg Syntyche to agree with each other in union with the Lord. 3 I also request you, loyal Syzygus, to help these women; for they have worked hard proclaiming the Good News with me, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers whose names are in the Book of Life.

4 Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice! 5 Let everyone see how reasonable and gentle you are. The Lord is near! 6 Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua. 8 In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy. 9 Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who gives shalom will be with you.

10 In union with the Lord I greatly rejoice that now, after this long time, you have let your concern for me express itself again. Of course, you were concerned for me all along, but you had no opportunity to express it. 11 Not that I am saying this to call attention to any need of mine; since, as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. 13 I can do all things through him who gives me power.

14 Nevertheless, it was good of you to share in my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the early days of my work spreading the Good News, when I left Macedonia, not a single congregation shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving — only you. 16 Indeed, in Thessalonica when I needed it, you sent me aid twice. 17 I am not seeking the gift; rather, I am looking for what will increase the credit balance of your account. 18 I have been more than paid in full: I have been filled, since I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent — they are a fragrant aroma,[Philippians 4:18 Genesis 8:21; Exodus 29:18] an acceptable sacrifice, one that pleases God well. 19 Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to his glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua. 20 And to God our Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

21 Greet each of God’s people in the Messiah Yeshua. The brothers with me send their greetings to you. 22 All God’s people send greetings, but especially those in the Emperor’s household.

23 The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit.

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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.