The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Befriending the Public" for Thursday, October 13, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Befriending the Public" for Thursday, October 13, 2016

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.[John 3:17]
"Everybody knows how much I dislike cops, but I am truly grateful for this guy. He gave me hope."
That was a sentence uttered by Mark Ross, a man who was speeding through Ohio. As far as excuses for speeding go, his was a good one. At 3 a.m. he had received a phone call saying his sister had been killed in an auto accident. Understandably, he got into his car, and with a friend behind the wheel, raced off to his distraught mother, who lived in Detroit.
They were still 100 miles from their destination when an Ohio officer, Sgt. Robinson, pulled them over. With all of the negative reports about police, Ross expected the worst. And since he had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant asking for him, Ross expected the worst to include some jail time.
Ross explained the situation to the officer. He broke down in tears. Then he waited.
He didn't have to wait long. Officer Robinson didn't arrest him, didn't throw him into the hoosegow. No, Officer Robinson prayed over the dumbfounded Ross. Officer Robinson prayed for Ross and for his grieving family. Then the Officer tried to make plans for Ross to be escorted to Detroit to be with his mother.
Now you can better understand, better appreciate, this devotion's opening line: "Everybody knows how much I dislike cops, but I am truly grateful for this guy. He gave me hope." I pray you can understand, because those words, with the most minor of changes, might have been heard coming from our lips. How about if those words read, "I dislike anyone in authority pointing out my sins, but I am truly grateful for the Savior. He gave me hope"?
Truly, there was a time in our lives when we were rebellious and resentful toward any and all authority. We wanted to be independent and go our own way. We wanted to be masters of our fate and captains of our souls. We certainly didn't want God inserting Himself into our lives and telling us what to do and how to behave.
But then the Holy Spirit called us by the Gospel. Using the Means of Grace He convicted us of our sin and placed a new heart within us. That new heart saw the Lord in a different way. Rather than being an enemy, God was seen for who He really was: Someone who loved us and had done all that was necessary to save us.
And Jesus? Jesus was the One who had offered His life for ours. Jesus became poor so we might be rich; Jesus left His heavenly home so we might have an eternal home. His perfection was used to cover our imperfections, and He died so we might live forever.
Truly, we ought to say, "I am truly grateful for the Savior. He gave me hope and forgiveness and peace and eternal life."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that each day may be marked by a deeper gratitude and appreciation for the salvation the Savior has won for me. In His Name I ask it. 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: Micah 6-7 Acts 22 Micah 6:1 So listen now to what Adonai says:
“Stand up and state your case to the mountains,
let the hills hear what you have to say.”
2 Listen, mountains, to Adonai’s case;
also you enduring rocks that support the earth!
Adonai has a case against his people;
he wants to argue it out with Isra’el:
3 “My people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 I brought you up from the land of Egypt.
I redeemed you from a life of slavery.
I sent Moshe, Aharon
and Miryam to lead you.
5 My people, just remember what Balak
the king of Mo’av had planned,
what Bil‘am the son of B‘or answered him,
[and what happened] between Sheetim and Gilgal —
so that you will understand
the saving deeds of Adonai.”
6 “With what can I come before Adonai
to bow down before God on high?
Should I come before him with burnt offerings?
with calves in their first year?
7 Would Adonai take delight in thousands of rams
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Could I give my firstborn to pay for my crimes,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 Human being, you have already been told
what is good, what Adonai demands of you —
no more than to act justly, love grace
and walk in purity with your God.
9 The voice of Adonai! He calls to the city —
and it is wisdom to fear your name —
“Listen to the rod and to him who commissioned it.
10 Are there still ill-gotten gains in the house of the wicked?
still the detestable short eifah-measure?
11 Should I declare innocent wicked scales
and a bag of fraudulent weights?
12 The rich men there are full of violence,
the inhabitants tell lies,
with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
13 “Therefore, I am starting to strike you down,
to destroy you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,
with hunger gnawing inside you.
You will conceive but not give birth;
if you do give birth, I will give him to the sword.
15 You will sow but will not reap,
you will press olives but not rub yourself with oil,
likewise you will press grapes but not drink the wine.
16 For you keep the regulations of ‘Omri
and all the practices of the house of Ach’av,
modeling yourselves on their advice.
Therefore I will make you an object of horror,
the inhabitants of this city a cause for contempt;
you will suffer the insults aimed at my people.”
7:1 Woe to me! for I have become
like the leavings of summer fruit,
like the gleanings when the vintage is finished —
there isn’t a cluster worth eating,
no early-ripened fig that appeals to me.
2 The godly have been destroyed from the land,
there is no one upright among humankind.
They all lie in wait for blood,
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands do evil well.
The prince makes his request,
the judge grants it for a price,
and the great man expresses his evil desires —
thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is a briar,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The time of your watchmen — of your punishment — has come;
now they will be confused.
5 Don’t trust in your neighbor;
don’t put confidence in a close friend;
shut the gates of your mouth even from [your wife],
lying there with you in bed.
6 For a son insults his father,
a daughter rises against her mother,
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law —
a person’s enemies are the members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I will look to Adonai,
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8 Enemies of mine, don’t gloat over me!
Although I have fallen, I will rise;
though I live in the dark, Adonai is my light.
9 I will endure Adonai’s rage,
because I sinned against him;
until he pleads my cause
and judges in my favor.
Then he will bring me out to the light,
and I will see his justice.
10 My enemies will see it too,
and shame will cover those
who said to me, “Where is Adonai your God?”
I will gloat over them,
as they are trampled underfoot
like mud in the streets.
11 That will be the day for rebuilding your walls,
a day for expanding your territory,
12 a day when [your] people will come [back] to you
from Ashur and from the cities of Egypt,
from Egypt and from as far as the Euphrates River,
and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will be desolate for those living in it,
as a result of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock that belongs to you,
who live alone, like a forest
in the middle of a fertile pasture.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gil‘ad,
as they did in days of old.
15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them wonders.”
16 The nations will see and be put to shame,
in spite of all their power.
They will cover their mouths with their hands,
and their ears will be deafened.
17 They will lick the dust like snakes;
they will emerge from their fortresses trembling
like reptiles that crawl about on the earth;
they will come with fear to Adonai our God,
afraid because of you.
18 Who is a God like you,
pardoning the sin and overlooking the crimes
of the remnant of his heritage?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in grace.
19 He will again have compassion on us,
he will subdue our iniquities.
You will throw all their sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show truth to Ya‘akov
and grace to Avraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
since days of long ago.
Acts 22:1 “Brothers and fathers! Listen to me as I make my defense before you now!” 2 When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they settled down more; so he continued: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city and trained at the feet of Gamli’el in every detail of the Torah of our forefathers. I was a zealot for God, as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted to death the followers of this Way, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. 5 The cohen hagadol and the whole Sanhedrin can also testify to this. Indeed, after receiving letters from them to their colleagues in Dammesek, I was on my way there in order to arrest the ones in that city too and bring them back to Yerushalayim for punishment.
6 “As I was traveling and approaching Dammesek, around noon, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven flashed all around me! 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Sir, who are you?’ ‘I am Yeshua from Natzeret,’ he said to me, ‘and you are persecuting me!’ 9 Those who were with me did see the light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 I said ‘What should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up, and go into Dammesek, and there you will be told about everything that has been laid out for you to do.’ 11 I had been blinded by the brightness of the light, so my companions led me by the hand into Dammesek.
12 “A man named Hananyah, an observant follower of the Torah who was highly regarded by the entire Jewish community there, 13 came to me, stood by me and said, ‘Brother Sha’ul, see again!’ And at that very moment, I recovered my sight and saw him. 14 He said, ‘The God of our fathers[Acts 22:14 Exodus 3:15] determined in advance that you should know his will, see the Tzaddik and hear his voice; 15 because you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, immerse yourself and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’
17 “After I had returned to Yerushalayim, it happened that as I was praying in the Temple, I went into a trance, 18 and I saw Yeshua. ‘Hurry!’ he said to me, ‘Get out of Yerushalayim immediately, because they will not accept what you have to say about me.’ 19 I said, ‘Lord, they know themselves that in every synagogue I used to imprison and flog those who trusted in you; 20 also that when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there too, in full agreement; I was even looking after the clothes of the ones who were killing him!’ 21 But he said, ‘Get going! For I am going to send you far away — to the Goyim!’”
22 They had been listening to him up to this point; but now they shouted at the top of their lungs, “Rid the earth of such a man! He’s not fit to live!” 23 They were screaming, waving their clothes and throwing dust into the air; 24 so the commander ordered him brought into the barracks and directed that he be interrogated and whipped, in order to find out why they were yelling at him like this.
25 But as they were stretching him out with thongs to be flogged, Sha’ul said to the captain standing by, “Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and hasn’t even had a trial?” 26 When the captain heard that, he went and reported it to the commander, “Do you realize what you’re doing? This man is a Roman citizen!” 27 The commander came and said to Sha’ul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said. 28 The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a sizeable sum of money.” “But I was born to it,” Sha’ul said. 29 At once the men who had been about to interrogate him drew back from him; and the commander was afraid too, because he realized that he had put this man who was a Roman citizen in chains.
30 However, the next day, since he wanted to know the specific charge the Judeans were bringing against him, he released him and ordered the head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Sha’ul down and put him in front of them.

-------

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
-------