The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "More Than We Deserved" for Friday, September 30, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "More Than We Deserved" for Friday, September 30, 2016

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.[Colossians 3:17]
In 1860 Edward Spencer was a ministerial student.
He was also an excellent swimmer who joined the Evanston, Illinois, life-saving squad. Spencer's skills were called upon when a ship was wrecked in a Lake Michigan storm. When dawn came, many people from the boat could be seen in the icy waters. Numbed by the cold, they clutched anything that would stop them from going under.
Spencer swam out and brought a poor soul to safety. Then he went out again, and again, and again. He lost count of the number of times he ventured into the frigid water. Each trip was grueling, exhausting. Still, his exhaustion was set aside when he spotted a lady holding onto a piece of board and calling for help.
Spencer's friends told him that he shouldn't go out -- that nobody would think the worse of him for staying safely on shore. But he went, and he brought the lady back.
His mission completed, Spencer was taken to the hospital, where he drifted in and out of consciousness. Each time he came to, he asked, "How many did I save?"
He was told, "Seventeen."
Then Spencer asked one more question: "Did I do my best?"
You tell me, had he done his best? I think I know your answer. You would say, "Absolutely, Ed did well."
May I tell you that Ed Spencer recovered, but only partially.
His health, ever after, was permanently affected by what he had done. When he died, some years later, it was noted at the funeral service that not a single person Spencer had saved ever thanked him. Not one. No one stopped by to see him or sent him a letter saying, "You have done this well."
Theirs is a mistake I would not have you duplicate.
Many of us cannot remember a time when we didn't know Jesus or when He wasn't our Savior. Because of that, it is quite easy to take Him for granted and act as if the sacrifice He made with His life, suffering, death and resurrection was something we have deserved.
Actually, we deserved nothing but eternal punishment for our dark misdeeds.
In spite of what we deserved, the Lord Jesus entered this world to seek and save the lost. In that He was like Spencer, but their stories do separate. While he could never have imagined how his life would be stripped of all vitality, Jesus knew what His fate was going to be. And although nobody thanked Ed Spencer for His sacrifice, nobody crucified him like they did Jesus.
Which takes me to the point of this devotion: let us give thanks to the Savior for the sacrifice He gave so freely to save us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the human race is frequently ungrateful. While a baby has to be taught to say "Thank you," he doesn't need to be instructed on how to be selfish and think of himself. Grant we may gladly and willingly thank the Savior whose life became our ransom. In Jesus' 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 47-49 Romans 9:1-15
Isaiah 47:1 “Come down, and sit in the dust,
you virgin daughter of Bavel!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
daughter of the Kasdim!
No longer are you to be called
dainty and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal;
take off your veil, strip off your skirt,
uncover your legs, wade through the streams.
3 Your private parts will be exposed;
yes, your shame will be seen.
I am going to take vengeance,
and no one will stand in my way.”
4 Our Redeemer! Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name,
the Holy One of Isra’el!
5 “Sit there speechless, go into darkness,
you daughter of the Kasdim!
For you will no longer be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people,
I desecrated my own possession
and gave them over to you.
But you showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy,
even upon the aged.
7 You said, ‘I will be mistress forever.’
so you didn’t consider these things
or think about the consequences.
8 Now hear this, you lover of luxuries,
lolling at ease and saying to yourself,
‘I am important, and no one else!
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’
9 But both will come over you in an instant,
in a single day loss of children and widowhood;
they will utterly overwhelm you,
despite your many occult practices
and powerful spells to prevent it.”
10 You were at ease in your wickedness,
you thought, “No one sees me.”
Your “wisdom” and “knowledge” perverted you,
as you thought to yourself,
“I am important, and no one else.”
11 Yet disaster will befall you,
and you won’t know how to charm it away;
calamity will come upon you,
and you won’t be able to turn it aside;
ruin will overcome you,
suddenly, before you know it.
12 So for now, keep on with your powerful spells
and your many occult practices;
from childhood you have been working at them;
maybe they will do you some good,
maybe you will inspire terror!
13 You are worn out with all your consultations —
so let the astrologers and stargazers,
the monthly horoscope-makers,
come forward now and save you
from the things that will come upon you!
14 Look, they will be like straw!
The fire will consume them.
They will not save even themselves
from the power of the flame.
It will not be coals for warming oneself,
not a fire to sit beside!
15 So much for your [wizards],
with whom you have worked all your life!
Each will wander off in his own direction,
and nobody will save you.
48 Listen to this, house of Ya‘akov,
called by the name of Isra’el,
who have come from the spring of Y’hudah,
who swear by the name of Adonai
and invoke the God of Isra’el! —
it is not sincerely or justifiably
2 that they call themselves people of the holy city
or rely on the God of Isra’el —
Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name:
3 “I announced things that happened at the beginning, long ago;
they issued from my mouth, I proclaimed them.
Then suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
4 Because I knew that you were stubborn,
your neck an iron sinew, your forehead bronze,
5 I announced it to you long ago;
before it occurred, I proclaimed it to you;
so that you could not say, ‘My idol did it;
my carved image, my statue, gave the order for it.’
6 You have heard and seen all this,
so why won’t you admit it?
“Now I am announcing new things to you,
secret things you have not known,
7 created now, not long ago;
before today, you did not hear them:
so you can’t say, ‘I already know about them.’
8 No, you haven’t heard, and you haven’t known;
these things have not reached your ears before.
For I knew how treacherous you were —
you were called a rebel from the womb.
9 Yet for the sake of my own reputation
I am deferring my anger;
for the sake of my praise I am patient with you,
so as not to cut you off.
10 “Look, I have refined you,
but not [as severely] as silver;
[rather] I have tested you
in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my sake I will do it,
for my own sake.
I will not let [my reputation] be tarnished;
I will not yield my glory to anyone else.
12 “Listen to me, Ya‘akov;
Isra’el, whom I have called:
I am he who is first;
I am also the last.
13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summoned them,
at once they rose into being.
14 “All of you, assemble and listen:
which of you has foretold what is coming?
Adonai’s friend will do his will against Bavel,
using his arm against the Kasdim.
15 It is I who have spoken,
I have summoned him,
I have brought him,
and he will succeed.
16 “Come close to me, and listen to this:
since the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
since the time things began to be, I have been there;
and now Adonai Elohim has sent me and his Spirit.”
17 Thus says Adonai, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Isra’el:
“I am Adonai, your God,
who teaches you for your own good,
who guides you on the path you should take.
18 If only you would heed my mitzvot!
Then your peace would flow on like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would be numerous as the sand,
your offspring countless as its grains.
Their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from my presence.”
20 Get out of Bavel! Flee the Kasdim!
With shouts of joy announce it, proclaim it!
Send the news out to the ends of the earth!
Say, “Adonai has redeemed his servant Ya‘akov.”
21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts,
he made water flow from the rock for them —
he split the rock, and out gushed the water.
22 But there is no peace, says Adonai, for the wicked.
49:1 Coastlands, listen to me;
listen, you peoples far away:
Adonai called me from the womb;
before I was born, he had spoken my name.
2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword
while hiding me in the shadow of his hand;
he has made me like a sharpened arrow
while concealing me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Isra’el, through whom I will show my glory.”
4 But I said, “I have toiled in vain,
spent my strength for nothing, futility.”
Yet my cause is with Adonai,
my reward is with my God.
5 So now Adonai says —
he formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Ya‘akov back to him,
to have Isra’el gathered to him,
so that I will be honored in the sight of Adonai,
my God having become my strength —
6 he has said, “It is not enough
that you are merely my servant
to raise up the tribes of Ya‘akov
and restore the offspring of Isra’el.
I will also make you a light to the nations,
so my salvation can spread to the ends of the earth.”
7 Here is what Adonai,
the Redeemer of Isra’el,
his Holy One, says to the one despised,
whom the nations detest, to the servant of tyrants:
“When kings see you, they will stand up;
princes too will prostrate themselves,
because of Adonai, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who has chosen you.”
8 Here is what Adonai says:
“At the time when I choose, I will answer you;
on the day of salvation, I will help you.
I have preserved you, and I have appointed you
to be the covenant for a people,
to restore the land and distribute again
its ruined inheritances to their owners,
9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out!’
to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’
They will feed along the paths,
and all the high hills will be their pastures.
10 They will be neither hungry nor thirsty;
neither scorching wind nor sun will strike them;
for he who has mercy on them will lead them
and guide them to springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into a road,
my highways will be raised up.
12 There they come, some from far away,
some from the north, some from the west,
and some from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, heaven! Rejoice, earth!
Break out in song, you mountains!
For Adonai is comforting his people,
having mercy on his own who have suffered.
14 “But Tziyon says, ‘Adonai has abandoned me,
Adonai has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her child at the breast,
not show pity on the child from her womb?
Even if these were to forget,
I would not forget you.
16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
your walls are always before me.”
17 Your children are coming quickly,
your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going.
18 Raise your eyes, and look around:
they are all gathering and coming to you.
Adonai swears: “As surely as I am alive,
you will wear them all like jewels,
adorn yourself with them like a bride.”
19 For your desolate places and ruins
and your devastated land
will be too cramped for those living in it;
your devourers will be far away.
20 The day will come when the children born
when you were mourning will say to you,
“This place is too cramped for me!
Give me room, so I can live!”
21 Then you will ask yourself,
“Who fathered these for me?
I’ve been mourning my children, alone,
as an exile, wandering to and fro;
so who has raised these?
I was left alone, so where have these come from?”
22 Adonai Elohim answers:
“I am beckoning to the nations,
raising my banner for the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your foster-fathers,
their princesses your nurses.
They will bow to you, face toward the earth,
and lick the dust on your feet.
Then you will know that I am Adonai —
those who wait for me will not be sorry.”
24 But can booty be wrested from a warrior?
Can a victor’s captives be freed?
25 Here is Adonai’s answer:
“Even a warrior’s captives will be snatched away,
and the booty of the fearful will be freed.
I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will feed those oppressing you with their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine.
Then everyone will know that I, Adonai, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.”
Romans 9:1 I am speaking the truth — as one who belongs to the Messiah, I do not lie; and also bearing witness is my conscience, governed by the Ruach HaKodesh: 2 my grief is so great, the pain in my heart so constant, 3 that I could wish myself actually under God’s curse and separated from the Messiah, if it would help my brothers, my own flesh and blood, 4 the people of Isra’el! They were made God’s children, the Sh’khinah has been with them, the covenants are theirs, likewise the giving of the Torah, the Temple service and the promises; 5 the Patriarchs are theirs; and from them, as far as his physical descent is concerned, came the Messiah, who is over all. Praised be Adonai for ever! Amen.
6 But the present condition of Isra’el does not mean that the Word of God has failed.
For not everyone from Isra’el is truly part of Isra’el; 7 indeed, not all the descendants are seed of Avraham;[Romans 9:7 2 Chronicles 20:7, Psalm 105:6] rather, “What is to be called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”[Romans 9:7 Genesis 21:12] 8 In other words, it is not the physical children who are children of God, but the children the promise refers to who are considered seed. 9 For this is what the promise said: “At the time set, I will come; and Sarah will have a son.”[Romans 9:9 Genesis 18:14] 10 And even more to the point is the case of Rivkah; for both her children were conceived in a single act with Yitz’chak, our father; 11 and before they were born, before they had done anything at all, either good or bad (so that God’s plan might remain a matter of his sovereign choice, not dependent on what they did, but on God, who does the calling), 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”[Romans 9:12 Genesis 25:23] 13 This accords with where it is written, “Ya‘akov I loved, but Esav I hated.”[Romans 9:13 Malachi 1:2–3]
14 So are we to say, “It is unjust for God to do this”? Heaven forbid! 15 For to Moshe he says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will pity whom I pity.”[Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19]
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