Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "God's Way or Man's Way" for Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "God's Way or Man's Way" for Wednesday, January 25, 2017

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The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.[Psalm 53:1]
You don't like being depressed, do you? Of course you don't; neither do I. But I did get depressed when I recently read a quote from Bertrand Russell's 1903 essay: "A Free Man's Worship." Let me share a few excerpts and, when I'm done, you tell me how you feel.
Russell wrote, "The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. ... let us remember that they are fellow-sufferers in the same darkness, actors in the same tragedy as ourselves. ... Brief and powerless is Man's life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. ...."
That's the quote. How did Mr. Russell make you feel? Can you believe he was urging people to make the most of every day? Somehow he seems to have missed the mark.
Still there are many who have come to the conclusion that Mr. Russell was absolutely right in believing that a person lives his life trying to make the best of a bad situation. He tries and then he dies.
That's it. That's the end.
Years ago I had the funeral of a young man. Afterward, I visited the family. It was a good visit until the mother said, "You know, I wish I could believe what you said at our son's funeral, but I can't. I believe that you live, and you die, and that's it. I'm going to cry for my son and for all of us who are going to miss him, but I'm not going to try and pretend we're going to get together someday in one long, never-ending reunion. It's just not going to happen."
That mother, along with much of this world, holds fast to the creed which says, "Here today, gonetomorrow." Those who adhere to such a philosophy think that Christianity is a crutch, a spiritual support, a mental prop that holds up those who aren't strong enough, smart enough, able enough to face life's troubles and tragedies, struggles and scuffles, on their own.
They believe the Christian religion is utter gibberish, total nonsense: a mighty mass of inconsistencies, a hodgepodge of the ridiculous, ludicrous and preposterous.
Well, Christianity and the Savior are something different to me.
First, it is the true story of how God wishes to save us. Internal proofs and external evidences prove God's Son lived, died and rose, so we might be rescued. Jesus is proof that the Triune God is omnipotent, and death -- as Mr. Russell believes -- is not.
Next, it is the only narrative that guarantees salvation to those who have been washed of their sins in the Savior's blood.
And, of course, the idea of the Savior taking me to a place where there are no more tears is far more comforting than Russell's "long march through the night."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the skeptic and cynic try to divest themselves of Your love and separate themselves from the Savior. Grant they may realize the truth of Your love and the extent of their mistake. In Jesus' 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 in a Year Reading: Job 41-42; Matthew 16Job 41:1 (9) “Look, any hope [of capturing him] is futile —
one would fall prostrate at the very sight of him.
2 (10) No one is fierce enough to rouse him,
so who can stand up to me?
3 (11) Who has given me anything
and made me pay it back?
Everything belongs to me
under all of heaven.
4 (12) “I have more to say about his limbs,
his strong talk, and his matchless strength.
5 (13) Who can strip off his [scaly] garment?
Who can enter his jaws?
6 (14) Who can pry open the doors of his face,
so close to his terrible teeth?
7 (15) “His pride is his rows of scales,
tightly sealed together —
8 (16) one is so close to the next
that no air can come between them;
9 (17) they are stuck one to another,
interlocked and impervious.
10 (18) “When he sneezes, light flashes out;
his eyes are like the shimmer of dawn.
11 (19) From his mouth go fiery torches,
and sparks come flying out.
12 (20) His nostrils belch steam
like a caldron boiling on the fire.
13 (21) His breath sets coals ablaze;
flames pour from his mouth.
14 (22) “Strength resides in his neck,
and dismay dances ahead of him [as he goes].
15 (23) The layers of his flesh stick together;
they are firm on him, immovable.
16 (24) His heart is as hard as a stone,
yes, hard as a lower millstone.
17 (25) When he rears himself up, the gods are afraid,
beside themselves in despair.
18 (26) “If a sword touches him, it won’t stick;
neither will a spear, or a dart, or a lance.
19 (27) He regards iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
20 (28) An arrow can’t make him flee;
for him, slingstones are so much chaff.
21 (29) Clubs count as hay,
and he laughs at a quivering javelin.
22 (30) His belly is as sharp as fragments of pottery,
so he moves across the mud like a threshing-sledge.
23 (31) “He makes the depths seethe like a pot,
he makes the sea [boil] like a perfume kettle.
24 (32) He leaves a shining wake behind him,
making the deep seem to have white hair.
25 (33) “On earth there is nothing like him,
a creature without fear.
26:1 (34) He looks straight at all high things.
He is king over all proud beasts.”
42 Then [at last,] Iyov gave Adonai this answer:
2 “I know that you can do everything,
that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 “[You asked,] ‘Who is this, hiding counsel,
without having knowledge?’
Yes, I spoke, without understanding,
of wonders far beyond me, which I didn’t know.
4 “Please listen, and I will speak.
[You said,] ‘I will ask questions; and you, give me answers’ —
5 I had heard about you with my ears,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I detest [myself]
and repent in dust and ashes.”
7 After Adonai had spoken these words to Iyov, Adonai said to Elifaz the Teimani, “My anger is blazing against you and your two friends, because, unlike my servant Iyov, you have not spoken rightly about me. 8 So now, get yourselves seven young bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Iyov, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. My servant Iyov will pray for you — because him I will accept — so that I won’t punish you as your boorishness deserves; because you have not spoken rightly about me, as my servant Iyov has.” 9 So Elifaz the Teimani, Bildad the Shuchi and Tzofar the Na‘amati went and did what Adonai had ordered them to do, and Adonai accepted Iyov[’s prayer].
10 When Iyov prayed for his friends, Adonai restored his fortunes; Adonai gave Iyov twice as much as he had had before. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, also all who had known him before, and they ate a meal with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the evils Adonai had inflicted on him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. 12 Adonai blessed Iyov’s later situation even more than his earlier one — he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pairs of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.
13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first he named Y’mimah; the second, K’tzi‘ah; and the third, Keren-Hapukh. 15 Nowhere in the land could women be found as beautiful as Iyov’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances along with their brothers.
16 After this, Iyov lived 140 years, long enough to see his sons and grandsons, four generations. 17 Then, old and full of days, Iyov died.
Matthew 16:1 Then some P’rushim and Tz’dukim came to trap Yeshua by asking him to show them a miraculous sign from Heaven. 2 But his response was, “When it is evening, you say, ‘Fair weather ahead,’ because the sky is red; 3 and in the morning you say, ‘Storm today!’ because the sky is red and overcast. You know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times! 4 A wicked and adulterous generation is asking for a sign? It will certainly not be given a sign — except the sign of Yonah!” With that he left them and went off.
5 The talmidim, in crossing to the other side of the lake, had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 So when Yeshua said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against the hametz of the P’rushim and Tz’dukim,” 7 they thought he said it because they hadn’t brought bread. 8 But Yeshua, aware of this, said, “Such little trust you have! Why are you talking with each other about not having bread? 9 Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you filled? 10 Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you filled? 11 How can you possibly think I was talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P’rushim and Tz’dukim!” 12 Then they understood — they were to guard themselves not from yeast for bread but from the teaching of the P’rushim and Tz’dukim.
13 When Yeshua came into the territory around Caesarea Philippi, he asked his talmidim, “Who are people saying the Son of Man is?” 14 They said, “Well, some say Yochanan the Immerser, others Eliyahu, still others Yirmeyahu or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say I am?” 16 Shim‘on Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach, the Son of the living God.” 17 “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan,” Yeshua said to him, “how blessed you are! For no human being revealed this to you, no, it was my Father in heaven. 18 I also tell you this: you are Kefa,” [which means ‘Rock,’] “and on this rock I will build my Community, and the gates of Sh’ol will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” 20 Then he warned the talmidim not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
21 From that time on, Yeshua began making it clear to his talmidim that he had to go to Yerushalayim and endure much suffering at the hands of the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and that he had to be put to death; but that on the third day, he had to be raised to life. 22 Kefa took him aside and began rebuking him, “Heaven be merciful, Lord! By no means will this happen to you!” 23 But Yeshua turned his back on Kefa, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God’s perspective!”
24 Then Yeshua told his talmidim, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me. 25 For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake will find it. 26 What good will it do someone if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or, what can a person give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man will come in his Father’s glory, with his angels; and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. 28 Yes! I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom!”
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