The Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Tuesday, May 23, 2017 "Where Jesus Is" - Their destination was St. Mary Catholic Cathedral, located in the city... 
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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Where Jesus Is" for Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Isaiah 25:4 - For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall
The people came, and they came, and they kept on coming.
Their destination was St. Mary Catholic Cathedral, located in the city of Wau, which is positioned in the new nation of South Sudan. Eventually it was estimated the Cathedral's compound was holding some 16,000 souls.
Only a few times in my ministry, and never in my congregations, have I been blessed to speak to a crowd that size.
All of those occasions were celebrating God's ongoing blessings for His people I can confess to you that those presentations were always awe-inspiring, challenging, frightening, and a blessing.
Sadly, the 16,000 people gathered at St. Mary's were not recalling the Savior's birth, passion, death, or resurrection.
They were not remembering the earthly passing of one of their faithful elders or pastors.
They were not baptizing, confirming, or marrying hundreds of congregational members in a great service recalling God's grace.
No, they had come there out of a desire to stay alive. All around them homes were being burned, and Christians were being martyred by enemies of the cross.
Having observed these churchyard refugees, Father Germane Bernardo commented that these people believe it isn't "safe anywhere. But if they were going to be killed, they preferred to be killed in the church because this is the place where Jesus is present. They wanted to die in the church rather than die in their homes."
That last answer intrigued me. I was very pleased to see that these people under persecution didn't think the church was unimportant and irrelevant. That thought was immediately followed by how someone ought to tell them that Jesus is everywhere and not just in a building made by hands.
The last thing I noticed was something that wasn't there at all. Not a single one of those 16,000 people gathered in the Cathedral courtyard was considering changing his or her faith. They were all fully prepared to die rather than renounce the Savior who had promised, "Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life" (Revelations 2:10b).
I pray the Lord will watch over these people who have been forced to make decisions, which I probably will never have to make, and I pray He may also watch over us. May we also be faithful to the Savior when we are persecuted by the anti-Christian forces around us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, persecution comes in many different forms. May we who have been blessed by Jesus' great sacrifice be faithful to the Savior who gave His life for us. May we be granted the courage to stand against the forces of evil whenever they confront us. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Stoyan Zaimov for The Christian Post on May 3, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so by the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written. Please click here.
onateDaily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Where Jesus Is" for Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Isaiah 25:4 - For You have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall
The people came, and they came, and they kept on coming.
Their destination was St. Mary Catholic Cathedral, located in the city of Wau, which is positioned in the new nation of South Sudan. Eventually it was estimated the Cathedral's compound was holding some 16,000 souls.
Only a few times in my ministry, and never in my congregations, have I been blessed to speak to a crowd that size.
All of those occasions were celebrating God's ongoing blessings for His people I can confess to you that those presentations were always awe-inspiring, challenging, frightening, and a blessing.
Sadly, the 16,000 people gathered at St. Mary's were not recalling the Savior's birth, passion, death, or resurrection.
They were not remembering the earthly passing of one of their faithful elders or pastors.
They were not baptizing, confirming, or marrying hundreds of congregational members in a great service recalling God's grace.
No, they had come there out of a desire to stay alive. All around them homes were being burned, and Christians were being martyred by enemies of the cross.
Having observed these churchyard refugees, Father Germane Bernardo commented that these people believe it isn't "safe anywhere. But if they were going to be killed, they preferred to be killed in the church because this is the place where Jesus is present. They wanted to die in the church rather than die in their homes."
That last answer intrigued me. I was very pleased to see that these people under persecution didn't think the church was unimportant and irrelevant. That thought was immediately followed by how someone ought to tell them that Jesus is everywhere and not just in a building made by hands.
The last thing I noticed was something that wasn't there at all. Not a single one of those 16,000 people gathered in the Cathedral courtyard was considering changing his or her faith. They were all fully prepared to die rather than renounce the Savior who had promised, "Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life" (Revelations 2:10b).
I pray the Lord will watch over these people who have been forced to make decisions, which I probably will never have to make, and I pray He may also watch over us. May we also be faithful to the Savior when we are persecuted by the anti-Christian forces around us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, persecution comes in many different forms. May we who have been blessed by Jesus' great sacrifice be faithful to the Savior who gave His life for us. May we be granted the courage to stand against the forces of evil whenever they confront us. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Stoyan Zaimov for The Christian Post on May 3, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so by the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written. Please click here.
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: Psalms 9, 11; John 8:1-27
Psalms 9:1 (0) For the leader. On the death of Labben. A psalm of David:
2 (1) I give thanks to Adonai with all my heart.
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.
3 (2) I will be glad and exult in you.
I will sing praise to your name, ‘Elyon.
4 (3) When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before you.
5 (4) For you upheld my cause as just,
sitting on the throne as the righteous judge.
6 (5) You rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked,
blotted out their name forever and ever.
7 (6) The enemy is finished, in ruins forever;
you destroyed their cities; all memory of them is lost.
8 (7) But Adonai is enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
9 (8) He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will judge the peoples fairly.
10 (9) Adonai is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a tower of strength in times of trouble.
11 (10) Those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you have not abandoned those who seek you, Adonai.
12 (11) Sing praises to Adonai, who lives in Tziyon;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
13 (12) For the avenger of blood remembers them,
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted:
14 (13) “Have mercy on me, Adonai!
See how I suffer from those who hate me;
you raise me from the gates of death,
15 (14) so that I can proclaim all your praises
at the gates of the daughter of Tziyon
and rejoice in this deliverance of yours.”
16 (15) The nations have drowned in the pit they dug,
caught their own feet in the net they hid.
17 (16) Adonai made himself known and executed judgment;
the wicked are ensnared in the work of their own hands. (Higgayon; Selah)
18 (17) The wicked will return to Sh’ol,
all the nations that forget God.
19 (18) For the poor will not always be forgotten
or the hope of the needy perish forever.
20 (19) Arise, Adonai! Don’t let mortals prevail!
Let the nations be judged in your presence.
21 (20) Strike them with terror, Adonai!
Let the nations know they are only human. (Selah)11:(0) For the leader. By David:
(1) In Adonai I find refuge.
So how can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to the mountains!
2 See how the wicked are drawing their bows
and setting their arrows on the string,
to shoot from the shadows at honest men.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 Adonai is in his holy temple.
Adonai, his throne is in heaven.
His eyes see and test humankind.
5 Adonai tests the righteous;
but he hates the wicked and the lover of violence.
6 He will rain hot coals down on the wicked,
fire, sulfur and scorching wind
will be what they get to drink.
7 For Adonai is righteous;
he loves righteousness;
the upright will see his face.John 8:1 But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak, he appeared again in the Temple Court, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery and made her stand in the center of the group. 4 Then they said to him, “Rabbi, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in our Torah, Moshe commanded that such a woman be stoned to death. What do you say about it?” 6 They said this to trap him, so that they might have ground for bringing charges against him; but Yeshua bent down and began writing in the dust with his finger. 7 When they kept questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “The one of you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down and wrote in the dust again. 9 On hearing this, they began to leave, one by one, the older ones first, until he was left alone, with the woman still there. 10 Standing up, Yeshua said to her, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” Yeshua said, “Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and don’t sin any more.”
12 Yeshua spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.” 13 So the P’rushim said to him, “Now you’re testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Yeshua answered them, “Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony is indeed valid; because I know where I came from and where I’m going; but you do not know where I came from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by merely human standards. As for me, I pass judgment on no one; 16 but if I were indeed to pass judgment, my judgment would be valid; because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the One who sent me. 17 And even in your Torah it is written that the testimony of two people is valid. 18 I myself testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”
19 They said to him, “Where is this ‘father’ of yours?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father too.” 20 He said these things when he was teaching in the Temple treasury room; yet no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.
21 Again he told them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin — where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 The Judeans said, “Is he going to commit suicide? Is that what he means when he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 Yeshua said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 This is why I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not trust that I AM [who I say I am], you will die in your sins.”
25 At this, they said to him, “You? Who are you?” Yeshua answered, “Just what I’ve been telling you from the start. 26 There are many things I could say about you, and many judgments I could make. However, the One who sent me is true; so I say in the world only what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he was talking to them about the Father. -------
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Change Their World. Change Yours.
This Changes Everything.
Change Their World. Change Yours.
This Changes Everything.
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