The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Got Proof?" for Saturday, October 1, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Got Proof?" for Saturday, October 1, 2016

"Got Proof?"
Saturday, October 1, 2016
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us.[Ecclesiastes 1:9-10]
The writer of Ecclesiastes was right: "there is nothing new under the sun."
But this devotion deals with a topic that is not under the sun. Indeed, it speaks to a topic that is well beyond our solar system. You see, recently a number of cosmic events have been reported which make those who search the night skies almost giddy.
The first discovery was an earth-sized planet, Proxima b, which is only 4.2 light years away. That almost makes Proxima b a next-door neighbor. The second bit of news comes from Russia where scientists have spotted a star, about the size of the sun, which is 95 light years distant.
Naturally, all this news once again rekindled the discussion about life on other planets.
Amazingly, not everyone in the scientific community believes that, based on the sheer numbers of planetary bodies, advanced life on other planets must almost be a mathematical certainty. That's quite a shift. Not so long ago all evolutionists believed life just happened. That made them sure they would be able to produce a whole list of places where the same thing had happened. In contrast, those who believed in the Creation narrative said we were "unique" and "one-of-a-kind."
Nowadays, there are more than a few voices who think earth might be very special.
One of those people is Ethan Siegel, an astrophysicist at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. He has said for advanced life to develop, three things have to be present:
* First, a few hundred proteins have to be present at the same time and come together to create a living cell.
* Second, that cell has to survive long enough so it can evolve into something more complex.
* Third, according to the evolutionist the cell has to "survive and succeed" for about a billion years.
All this information has left people like biophysics researcher, Kirk Durston, saying things like "Either earthlings won a lottery against mind-staggering odds or "There is a Creator of the cosmos who has a purpose in mind for humanity."
Now I'm not saying that every scientist is leaning this way. They're not.
They're not, but I am. I believe that God created the heavens and the earth. I also believe that when man sinned and ruined God's perfect work, the Lord sent His Son to earth so we might be redeemed.
This means that, with a Triune God looking after us, man is not alone in the universe, after all.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks that in so many ways and in so many places Your story of creation and salvation is not being disproven. While my faith needs no such proof, I give thanks that others are receiving it whether they want it or not. For this I give thanks 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 in a Year Readings: Isaiah 50-52; Romans 9:16-33
Isaiah 50:1 (2) The people living in darkness

have seen a great light;

upon those living in the land that lies

in the shadow of death, light has dawned.

2 (3) You have enlarged the nation

and increased their joy;

they rejoice in your presence

as if rejoicing at harvest time,

the way men rejoice

when dividing up the spoil.

3 (4) For the yoke that weighed them down,

the bar across their shoulders,

and their driver’s goad

you have broken as on the day of Midyan[’s defeat].

4 (5) For all the boots of soldiers marching

and every cloak rolled in blood

is destined for burning,

fuel for the fire.

5 (6) For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us;

dominion will rest on his shoulders,

and he will be given the name

Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor

Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom

[Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God,

Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],

6 (7) in order to extend the dominion

and perpetuate the peace

of the throne and kingdom of David,

to secure it and sustain it

through justice and righteousness

henceforth and forever.

The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot

will accomplish this.

7 (8) Adonai sent a word to Ya‘akov,

and it has fallen on Isra’el.

8 (9) All the people know it,

Efrayim and the inhabitants of Shomron.

But they say in pride,

in the arrogance of their hearts,

9 (10) “The bricks have fallen,

but we will rebuild with cut stone;

the sycamore-fig trees have been chopped down,

but we will replace them with cedars.”

10 (11) So Adonai has raised up Retzin’s foes against him

and spurred on his enemies —

11 (12) Aram from the east, P’lishtim from the west;

and they devour Isra’el with an open mouth.

Even after all this, his anger remains,

his upraised hand still threatens.

12 (13) Yet the people do not turn to the one striking them,

they don’t seek Adonai-Tzva’ot.

13 (14) Therefore Adonai will cut off

Isra’el’s head and tail,

[tall] palm frond and [lowly] reed in a single day.

14 (15) The old and the honored are the head,

while prophets teaching lies are the tail.

15 (16) For those leading this people lead them astray,

and those led by them are destroyed.

16 (17) Therefore Adonai takes no joy in their young men

and has no compassion on their orphans and widows;

for everyone is ungodly and does evil,

every mouth speaks foolishly.

Even after all this, his anger remains,

his upraised hand still threatens.

17 (18) For wickedness burns like fire,

it devours briars and thorns;

it sets the forest underbrush ablaze,

with clouds of smoke whirling upward.

18 (19) The anger of Adonai-Tzva’ot

is burning up the land;

the people, too, are fuel for the fire —

no one spares even his brother.

19 (20) The one on the right grabs but stays hungry,

the one on the left eats but is unfilled.

Everyone devours his own arm’s flesh —

20 (21) M’nasheh devours Efrayim;

and Efrayim, M’nasheh;

while together they oppose Y’hudah.

Even after all this, his anger remains,

his upraised hand still threatens.

10:1 Woe to those who enact unjust decrees

and draft oppressive legislation

2 to deprive the impoverished of justice

and rob my people’s poor of their rights,

looting widows and preying on orphans!

3 What will you do on the day of punishment,

when calamity comes from afar?

To whom will you flee for help?

Where will you leave your wealth,

4 so as not to squat among the prisoners

or fall among the slain?

Even after all this, his anger remains,

his upraised hand still threatens.

5 “Oh Ashur, the rod expressing my anger!

The club in their hands is my fury!

6 I am sending him against a hypocritical nation,

ordering him to march against a people who enrage me,

to take the spoil and the plunder

and trample them down like mud in the street.

7 That is not what Ashur intends,

that is not what they think;

rather, they mean to destroy,

to cut down nation after nation.

8 For [their king] says,

‘Aren’t all my commanders kings?

9 Hasn’t Kalno [suffered] like Kark’mish,

Hamat like Arpad, Shomron like Dammesek?

10 Just as my hand reached the kingdoms of non-gods,

with more images than in Yerushalayim and Shomron;

11 so won’t I do to Yerushalayim and her non-gods

what I did to Shomron and her idols?’”

12 Therefore when Adonai has done everything he intends to do to Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim, “I will punish the king of Ashur for the boasting that comes from his proud heart and from reveling in his arrogant looks. 13 For he says,

“‘With my own strong arm I have done this,

and with my wisdom, because I’m so clever!

I erased the boundaries between peoples,

I plundered their stores for the future;

as a mighty man, I subjugated the inhabitants.

14 My hand found the riches of the peoples like a nest;

and as one gathers abandoned eggs,

I gathered the whole earth!

Not one wing fluttered,

not one beak opened or let out a chirp!’”

15 Should the axe glorify itself

over the one who chops with it?

Should the saw magnify itself

over the one who moves it?

It’s as if a stick could wave

the hand that raises it up,

or as if a wooden staff could lift

[a person, who is] not made of wood.

16 Therefore the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot,

will send leanness to his well-fed ones;

and in place of his glory,

a fire will be kindled that will burn and burn.

17 The light of Isra’el will become a fire

and his Holy One a flame,

burning and devouring

his thorns and briars in a single day.

18 The glory of his forest

and of his fertile land

he will consume body and soul,

like an invalid wasting away.

19 So few forest trees will remain

that a child could list them.

20 On that day the remnant of Isra’el,

those of the house of Ya‘akov who escaped,

will no longer rely

on the man who struck them down,

but will truly rely on Adonai,

the Holy One of Isra’el.

21 A remnant will return,

the remnant of Ya‘akov,

to the mighty God.

22 For, although your people, Isra’el,

are like the sand of the sea,

only a remnant of them will return.

Destruction is decreed, overflowing with justice.

23 Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot

will bring about this decreed destruction

throughout all the land.

24 Therefore Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot says:

“My people living in Tziyon,

don’t be afraid of Ashur,

even when he strikes you with a stick

and raises his staff against you,

the way it was in Egypt.

25 For in but a little while, my fury will end;

and my anger will have destroyed them.”

26 Adonai-Tzva’ot will wield a whip against them, as he did when striking Midyan at the Rock of ‘Orev; as his staff was over the sea, he will raise it, the way it was in Egypt.

27 On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders

and his yoke from your neck;

the yoke will be destroyed

by your prosperity.

28 He has come to ‘Ayat

and passed through Migron.

He has stored his equipment at Mikhmas.

29 They have crossed the pass,

then lodged at Geva.

Ramah is shaking,

Giv‘at-Sha’ul has fled.

30 Cry, shriek, Bat-Gallim!

Listen, Layish! Poor ‘Anatot!

31 Madmenah is in flight,

The people of Gevim take cover.

32 This very day he will stop at Nov;

and he will shake his fist

at the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon,

at the hill of Yerushalayim.

33 See how Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot

lops off the branches with terrible violence!

The ones standing highest are chopped down,

the lofty are laid low.

34 He will hack down the forest underbrush with an axe,

and the L’vanon in its splendor falls.

Ephesians 3:1 It is a consequence of this that I, Sha’ul, am a prisoner of the Messiah Yeshua on behalf of you Gentiles. 2 I assume that you have heard of the work God in his grace has given me to do for your benefit, 3 and that it was by a revelation that this secret plan was made known to me. I have already written about it briefly, 4 and if you read what I have written, you will grasp how I understand this secret plan concerning the Messiah. 5 In past generations it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to his emissaries and prophets, 6 that in union with the Messiah and through the Good News the Gentiles were to be joint heirs, a joint body and joint sharers with the Jews in what God has promised. 7 I became a servant of this Good News by God’s gracious gift, which he gave me through the operation of his power. 8 To me, the least important of all God’s holy people, was given this privilege of announcing to the Gentiles the Good News of the Messiah’s unfathomable riches, 9 and of letting everyone see how this secret plan is going to work out. This plan, kept hidden for ages by God, the Creator of everything, 10 is for the rulers and authorities in heaven to learn, through the existence of the Messianic Community, how many-sided God’s wisdom is. 11 This accords with God’s age-old purpose, accomplished in the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord. 12 In union with him, through his faithfulness, we have boldness and confidence when we approach God. 13 So I ask you not to be discouraged by the troubles I endure on your behalf — it is all for your glory.

14 For this reason, I fall on my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its character. 16 I pray that from the treasures of his glory he will empower you with inner strength by his Spirit, 17 so that the Messiah may live in your hearts through your trusting. Also I pray that you will be rooted and founded in love, 18 so that you, with all God’s people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the Messiah’s love, 19 yes, to know it, even though it is beyond all knowing, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by his power working in us is able to do far beyond anything we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the Messianic Community and in the Messiah Yeshua from generation to generation forever. Amen.

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