The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Peace in the Storm" for Sunday, October 9, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries with Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour Ministries "Peace in the Storm" for Sunday, October 9, 2016

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.[Psalm 46:1-3]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our Sunday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
A few days ago, an extratropical cyclone approached the peaceful city of Montevideo, Uruguay.
Days before the storm arrived, the nation's meteorological department started to send out warnings and declared an "orange alert." Their prediction left all of us highly concerned as we began to wait for something bad to come.
As the storm approached, the people took practical measures. They evacuated offices and schools, and returned to the relative security of their homes. This they did so they might be in a familiar place from which they could deal with the high winds, which were predicted to hit the city.
No matter where you live, there will come a time when you will find yourself facing a fearful situation. Natural disasters, illnesses, economic insecurity, personal and family difficulties take us to uncomfortable and frightening places ... places where our ability to cope or problem-solve is severely limited.
Amazingly, many Christians only turn to the Lord for help when their own strength and resources have been exhausted. All too often God is only consulted as a last resort. It is far better for the Savior's redeemed brothers and sisters to look to God for assistance at the very beginning of a challenge.
That is what we are encouraged to do in Psalm 46 where God reveals Himself to His people as being their "strength and refuge." It says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."
This Psalm is a beautiful declaration of God's chosen people who are confident they can trust Him for guidance and direction. Because of what the Savior has done for us on the cross and the empty tomb, we can show trust and total surrender to His gentle hand.
Yes, God's hand is there to help us, to be our strength in difficult times.
And just how difficult are the times the psalmist is talking about?
The Psalm evokes the most terrible disasters to affirm the strength of the Triune God's victorious intervention. Indeed, we have the complete assurance that, because God is with us, we will not fall.
We can be confident that Jesus can calm the storms of our lives, even as He calmed the storm which shook up His disciple on the Sea of Galilee.
THE PRAYER: Protector Father, with confidence and full assurance we come to Your presence. We know that in all the fears brought about by this world's storms and winds, we can be at peace. That is why today, and every day, we place ourselves into Your hands and declare, "The Lord Almighty is with us!" This we do in the Name of the Savior. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Maria Gabriela Silveira. She is 25 years old and a college student specializing in communication. She is a member of the Lutheran Church of Uruguay. Since 2011 she has worked at Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones ("Christ for All Nations") Uruguay. She directs the local office and works at the Lutheran mission in the city center. Since 2001 Lutheran Hour Ministries-Uruguay has supported the growth of the Lutheran Church in Uruguay. This is done with evangelistic projects focused on the production of reading materials, workshops and activities to bring Christ to the people.
In this South American country of 3.4 million people, where religion is downplayed, LHM-Uruguay utilizes radio programs like "Focus" (a 30-second spot covering a variety of topics) and "Message of Hope" (60-minute programs speaking about faith and hope). Other outreach efforts include local performances, craft workshops, and special events celebrating certain days like Children's Day, Mother's Day, and Christmas. Additionally, Project JOEL and other biblically-based resources connect with youth, helping them make sound value judgments and healthy decisions. The homeless and unemployed are also assisted through this ministry center's food distribution program.
To learn more about what's going on in Uruguay, check out how this ministry center is using the Bible study Un hombre llamado Martin ("A Man Named Martin") to teach about Martin Luther and the Reformation. You can do this by clicking here to visit its blog.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhm.org/international.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Hosea 9-11 Romans 15:14-33Hosea 9:1 Don’t rejoice, Isra’el!

Don’t enjoy yourselves as other peoples do;

for you have gone whoring away from your God,

you love being hired as a whore on every grain-floor.

2 Threshing-floor and winepress won’t feed them,

and new wine will disappoint her.

3 They won’t remain in the land of Adonai;

instead, Efrayim will return to Egypt,

and they will eat unclean food in Ashur.

4 They will not pour out wine offerings to Adonai;

they will not be pleasing to him.

Their sacrifices will be for them like mourners’ food —

everyone eating it will be polluted.

For their food will be merely to satisfy their appetite;

it will not come into the house of Adonai.

5 What will you do at a designated time,

on a day which is a festival for Adonai?

6 For suppose they escape the destruction —

Egypt will round them up,

Memphis will bury them.

And their precious treasures of silver?

Nettles will possess them,

thorns will be in their tents.

7 The days of punishment have come,

the days of retribution are here,

and Isra’el knows it.

[Yet they cry,] “The prophet is a fool,

the man of the spirit has gone crazy!”

Because your iniquity is so great,

the hostility [against you] is great.

8 The watchman of Efrayim is with my God,

but a prophet has a fowler’s snare set on all his paths

and hostility even in the house of his God.

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves,

as in the days of Giv‘ah.

He will remember their guilt,

and he will punish their sins.

10 “When I found Isra’el, it was like finding

grapes in the desert;

when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing

a fig tree’s first figs in its first season.

But as soon as they came to Ba‘al-P‘or,

they dedicated themselves to something shameful;

they became as loathsome

as the thing they loved.

11 The glory of Efrayim will fly away like a bird —

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

12 Even if they raise their children,

I will destroy them till none is left —

and woe to them when I leave them, too!”

13 Efrayim, as I see it, is like Tzor,

planted in a pleasant place;

but Efrayim will bring out his children

to the slaughterer.

14 Adonai, give them — what will you give?

Give them wombs that miscarry and dried-up breasts!

15 “All their wickedness was already there in Gilgal;

that’s where I came to hate them.

Because of the wickedness of their deeds

I will expel them from my house,

I will love them no more;

all their leaders are rebels.

16 Efrayim has been struck down,

their root has been dried up,

they will bear no fruit.

Even if they do give birth,

I will kill their cherished offspring.”

17 My God will cast them aside,

because they wouldn’t listen to him,

and they will become wanderers

among the Goyim.

10:1 Isra’el was a luxuriant vine,

freely putting forth fruit.

As his fruit increased,

he increased his altars;

as his land got better,

he improved his standing-stones.

2 Their heart is divided;

now they will bear their guilt.

He will break down their altars

and destroy their standing-stones.

3 For now they will say,

“We have no king,

because we didn’t fear Adonai —

and what could a king do for us, anyway?”

4 They mouth words,

swearing falsely, making treaties.

Thus judgment spreads like poisonous weeds

in the furrows of a field.

5 The inhabitants of Shomron are frightened

of the calf-gods of Beit-Aven.

Its people mourn over it;

its priests tremble over it,

over its glory, which has left it.

6 It will be carried to Ashur

as a present for a warring king.

Efrayim will be put to shame,

and Isra’el be ashamed of his own advice.

7 Shomron’s king will perish

like foam on the surface of the water.

8 Destruction will come to the high places of Aven,

that is, to the sin of Isra’el.

Thorns and thistles will grow over their altars;

and they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

9 “Since the days of Giv‘ah you have sinned, Isra’el.

There they took their stand.

For these arrogant people at Giv‘ah,

war was insufficient punishment.

10 When I wish to, I will discipline them;

and the peoples will be gathered against them

to discipline them for their two crimes.”

11 Efrayim is a well-taught cow —

it loves to tread the grain,

and I have spared her fair neck.

But I will put Efrayim in harness,

Y’hudah will have to plow,

Ya‘akov will harrow his own land.

12 If you sow righteousness for yourselves,

you will reap according to grace.

Break up unused ground for yourselves,

because it is time to seek Adonai,

till he comes and rains down

righteousness upon you.

13 You have plowed wickedness, reaped iniquity

and eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you trusted in your own way,

in your large numbers of warriors,

14 turmoil will erupt among your peoples,

and all your fortresses will be destroyed;

just as Shalman destroyed Beit-Arbel

on the day of battle,

when mothers were dashed to pieces

right along with their children.

15 Thus will be done to you, Beit-El,

because of your great wickedness;

at dawn the king of Isra’el

will be completely cut off.

11:1 “When Isra’el was a child, I loved him;

and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 But the more [the prophets] called them,

the farther they went from them.

They sacrificed to the ba‘alim

and offered incense to idols.

3 “Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk;

I took them by their arms.

But they did not know that it was I

who was healing them,

4 who was guiding them on through human means

with reins made of love.

With them I was like someone removing

the yoke from their jaws,

and I bent down to feed them.

5 He will not return to the land of Egypt,

but Ashur will be his king,

because they refused to repent.

6 The sword will fall on his cities,

destroying the bars of his gates,

because they follow their own advice.

7 My people are hanging in suspense

about returning to me;

and though they call them upwards,

nobody makes a move.

8 Efrayim, how can I give you up,

or surrender you, Isra’el?

How could I treat you like Admah

or make you like Tzvoyim?

My heart recoils at the idea,

as compassion warms within me.

9 I will not give vent to the fierceness of my rage,

I will not return to destroy Efrayim;

for I am God, not a human being,

the Holy One among you;

so I will not come in fury.

10 They will go after Adonai,

who will roar like a lion;

for he will roar, and the children will come

trembling from the west.

11 They will tremble like a bird as they come from Egypt,

like a dove as they come from the land of Ashur;

and I will resettle them in their own houses,

says Adonai.

Romans 15:14 Now I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and well able to counsel each other. 15 But on some points I have written you quite boldly by way of reminding you about them, because of the grace God has given me 16 to be a servant of the Messiah Yeshua for the Gentiles, with the priestly duty of presenting the Good News of God, so that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, made holy by the Ruach HaKodesh.

17 In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service to God; 18 for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, 19 through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Yerushalayim all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. 20 I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation, 21 but rather, as the Tanakh puts it,

“Those who have not been told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”[Romans 15:21 Isaiah 52:15]

22 This is also why I have so often been prevented from visiting you. 23 But now, since there is no longer a place in these regions that needs me, and since I have wanted for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you as I pass through on my way to Spain, and to have you help me travel there after I have enjoyed your company awhile.

25 But now I am going to Yerushalayim with aid for God’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia thought it would be good to make some contribution to the poor among God’s people in Yerushalayim. 27 They were pleased to do it, but the fact is that they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared with the Jews in spiritual matters, then the Gentiles clearly have a duty to help the Jews in material matters. 28 So when I have finished this task and made certain that they have received this fruit, I will leave for Spain and visit you on my way there; 29 and I know that when I come to you, it will be with the full measure of the Messiah’s blessings. 30 And now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God on my behalf 31 that I will be rescued from the unbelievers in Y’hudah, and that my service for Yerushalayim will be acceptable to God’s people there. 32 Then, if it is God’s will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of rest among you. 33 Now may the God of shalom be with you all. Amen.

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