The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Going Deeper" for Thursday, September 29, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Going Deeper" for Thursday, September 29, 2016

(Jesus said) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence."[Matthew 23:25]
You may have noticed in June when People magazine selected the 50 most beautiful people in the world, I wasn't on the list.
It was quite a blow.
Now, I didn't take it personally when Vanity Fair didn't put me on their best-dressed men's list. But I also didn't make the list of the top-ten business men to watch; or the top-ten most influential authors; or even the top-ten list of retired American radio personalities, with a German heritage who have a white beard and are over 65. Nope -- didn't make it on any of those lists.
Having suffered this disappointment, I asked some of my friends to share some suggestions on how I might improve my chances for next year. Anonymous ideas filled my mailbox. Some said Botox treatments; others suggested liposuction, and laser surgery for my eyes. There was one suggestion that read: "Clone Brad Pitt and have a brain transplant."
Now there are quite a few people who would take those suggestions seriously.
There are a goodly number of folk who would eagerly run the risk of surgeries, endure the application, injection and ingestion of drugs both tested and untested, if they were sure, no, make that, if theybelieved there was a miniscule chance their suffering would make them more beautiful, more acceptable, more desirable -- if they thought the calendar could be stopped or slowed down for a few months or years.
Indeed, the statistics I have been given say 99 percent of American woman and 94 percent of American men would change something about their looks, if they could.
And why this preoccupation with external perfection? It is because the world, and many individuals, are obsessed with making their outsides as flawless and faultless, as perfect and pretty, as is humanly, hopefully, medically and surgically possible. In short, too many folks, like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, are preoccupied with cleaning the outside of their cup.
Jesus knew better. He knew the inside was more important than the outside.
Look at the story of His ministry and you will see He wasn't afraid to touch a leper if that touch would bring about a healing of the man's soul. He wasn't afraid to stop at the desk of a tax-collector if He could make that man into one of His disciples and a chronicler of His life. He didn't hold back from dealing with a Samaritan woman at the well if He could touch her heart and rescue her soul.
Jesus knows better because He sees us for who we really are.
We may look healthy and great on the outside, but inside we are a miserable, sinful mess. In spite of that He loves us, gave Himself for us, and now sends His Holy Spirit to call us to forgiveness, salvation and eternal life.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I give thanks You have not been fooled by our false exterior. Truly, we are sinners and in need of the grace You alone can offer. Forgive my sins and grant that I may become -- and remain -- Your grateful child. This I ask in Your Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 45-46 Romans 8:22-39Isaiah 45:1 Thus says Adonai to Koresh, his anointed,
whose right hand he has grasped,
so that he subdues nations before him
and strips kings of their robes,
so that doors open in front of him,
and no gates are barred:
2 “I will go ahead of you,
levelling the hills,
shattering the bronze gates,
smashing the iron bars.
3 I will give you treasures
hoarded in the dark,
secret riches hidden away,
so that you will know that I, Adonai,
calling you by your name,
am the God of Isra’el.
4 It is for the sake of Ya‘akov my servant,
yes, for Isra’el my elect,
that I call you by your name
and give you a title, although you don’t know me.
5 I am Adonai; there is no other;
besides me there is no God.
I am arming you, although you don’t know me,
6 so that those from the east and those from the west
will know that there is none besides me —
I am Adonai; there is no other.
7 I form light, I create darkness;
I make well-being, I create woe;
I, Adonai, do all these things.
8 “Heavens above, rain down justice;
let the clouds pour it down.
Let the earth open,
so that salvation springs up,
and justice sprouts with it.
I, Adonai, have created it.”
9 Woe to anyone who argues with his maker,
like potsherds lying on the ground!
Does the clay ask the potter, “What are you doing?”
or, “What’s this you’re making, that has no hands?”
10 Woe to him who asks a father,
“Of what are you the father?”
or who asks a woman,
“To what are you giving birth?”
11 Thus says Adonai,
the Holy One of Isra’el, his Maker:
“You ask for signs concerning my children?
You give orders concerning the work of my hands?
12 I am the one who made the earth!
I created human beings on it!
I — my hands — stretched out the heavens,
and directed all their number.
13 I am stirring up Koresh to righteousness,
I am smoothing out all his paths.
He will rebuild my city;
and he will free my exiles,
taking neither ransom nor bribe,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
14 Here is what Adonai says:
“The earnings of Egypt, the commerce of Ethiopia,
and men of stature from S’va
will come over to you and become yours;
they will come in chains and follow you.
They will prostrate themselves before you;
they will pray to you:
‘Surely God is with you; there is no other,
other gods are nothing.’”
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
God of Isra’el, Savior!
16 The idol-makers will be ashamed,
disgraced, all of them;
they will go dishonored together.
17 But Isra’el, saved by Adonai
with an everlasting salvation,
you will never, ever, be ashamed or disgraced.
18 For thus says Adonai, who created the heavens,
God, who shaped and made the earth,
who established and created it not to be chaos,
but formed it to be lived in:
“I am Adonai; there is no other.
19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness.
I did not say to the descendants of Ya‘akov,
‘It is in vain that you will seek me.’
I, Adonai, speak rightly; I say what is true.
20 Assemble, come and gather together,
you refugees from the nations!
Those carrying their wooden idols are ignorant,
they pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Let them stand and present their case!
Indeed, let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
announced it in times gone by?
Wasn’t it I, Adonai?
There is no other God besides me,
a just God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
22 Look to me, and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God;
there is no other.
23 In the name of myself I have sworn,
from my mouth has rightly gone out,
a word that will not return —
that to me every knee will bow
and every tongue will swear 24 about me
that only in Adonai
are justice and strength.”
All who rage against him
will come to him ashamed,
25 but all the descendants of Isra’el
will find justice and glory in Adonai.
46:1 Bel bows down, N’vo stoops low;
their idols are borne by animals, beasts of burden.
The loads you yourselves were carrying
are now burdening tired animals.
2 They stoop and bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.
3 “Listen to me, house of Ya‘akov,
all who remain of the house of Isra’el:
I have borne you from birth,
carried you since the womb.
4 Till your old age I will be the same —
I will carry you until your hair is white.
I have made you, and I will bear you;
yes, I will carry and save you.
5 To whom will you liken me and equate me?
With whom will you compare me, as if we were similar?”
6 They squander the gold from their bags
and weigh silver on a scale;
they hire a goldsmith to make a god,
before which they fall down and worship!
7 It is borne on shoulders and carried,
then set in its place; and there it stands.
From its place it does not move.
If one cries to it, it cannot answer
or save anyone from his troubles.
8 Remember this, and stand firm.
Keep it in mind, you rebels.
9 “Remember things that happened
at the beginning, long ago —
that I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 At the beginning I announce the end,
proclaim in advance things not yet done;
and I say that my plan will hold,
I will do everything I please to do.
11 I call a bird of prey from the east,
the man I intended, from a distant country.
I have spoken and will bring it about;
I have made a plan, and I will fulfill it.
12 Listen to me, you stubborn people,
so far from righteousness:
13 I am bringing my justice nearer,
it is not far away;
my salvation will not be delayed,
I will place my salvation in Tziyon
for Isra’el my glory.
Romans 8:22 We know that until now, the whole creation has been groaning as with the pains of childbirth; 23 and not only it, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be made sons — that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free. 24 It was in this hope that we were saved. But if we see what we hope for, it isn’t hope — after all, who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we continue hoping for something we don’t see, then we still wait eagerly for it, with perseverance.
26 Similarly, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don’t know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; 27 and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Spirit is thinking, because his pleadings for God’s people accord with God’s will. 28 Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his purpose; 29 because those whom he knew in advance, he also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers; 30 and those whom he thus determined in advance, he also called; and those whom he called, he also caused to be considered righteous; and those whom he caused to be considered righteous he also glorified!
31 What, then, are we to say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare even his own Son, but gave him up on behalf of us all — is it possible that, having given us his Son, he would not give us everything else too? 33 So who will bring a charge against God’s chosen people? Certainly not God — he is the one who causes them to be considered righteous! 34 Who punishes them? Certainly not the Messiah Yeshua, who died and — more than that — has been raised, is at the right hand of God and is actually pleading on our behalf! 35 Who will separate us from the love of the Messiah? Trouble? Hardship? Persecution? Hunger? Poverty? Danger? War? 36 As the Tanakh puts it,
“For your sake we are being put to death all day long,
we are considered sheep to be slaughtered.”[Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:23(22)]
37 No, in all these things we are superconquerors, through the one who has loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers, neither what exists nor what is coming, 39 neither powers above nor powers below, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which comes to us through the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.
-------

CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
BE AN AMBASSADOR OR DONATE
The Lutheran Hour Ministries
660 Mason Ridge Center
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
-------