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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "At the Crossroads" for Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Matthew 11:4-6 - And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me."
Mr. Julannan lives in the Middle East.
Mr. Julannan is a family man with a wife and children. He works in construction and makes a reasonable salary. This is all you probably need to know about Mr. Julannan except for the fact that he liked to drink and he didn't like Jesus.
How much did Mr. Julannan dislike Jesus?
• When people gave him Christian pamphlets, Mr. Julannan took them and set the pamphlets on fire.
• When he saw Christians gathered together in outside worship, he would often spit at them.
Things didn't get better when Mr. Julannan had a few beers. Alcohol made him abusive and not just to the Savior, but to his family and neighbors as well. Of course, that only lasted until he passed out.
That is the way things were and that is the way things would have stayed -- except for God's intervention. You see, the Lord took Mr. Julannan to a crossroads moment: to a place in time when he had to face facts. Some people would call it a "come to Jesus" moment.
That moment began when Mr. Julannan was traveling home from work and went by an open-air Christian rally. He heard the preacher's amplified voice call out: Jesus is help for your sins; Jesus is always before you, but you are causing Him pain with your sins. It is time to confess those sins to your Savior; it is time to be brought to faith; it is time to be forgiven and saved."
This time those words didn't infuriate Mr. Julannan. No, this time they just got him to thinking.
The next day, as he traveled to work, Mr. Julannan was still thinking. That's probably why he didn't notice the train barreling down on him until it was too late. People screamed as they saw the train hit him, knock him down, and go over the top of him.
When the train was gone, the people at the crossing went to look for a corpse. Rather than a corpse, they found a living Mr. Julannan. Excitedly he told how the train knocked him down between the tracks, where he called on Jesus for help. Mr. Julannan told everybody, "I know my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ saved me from what should have been a horrible tragedy!"
It was a crossroad moment that changed Mr. Julannan who now, with his wife, hands out Bibles.
I like that story and share it with you for a reason.
Many of you are worried about someone who is near and dear to you. This is someone who has little use for the Savior or anyone who talks about Him. If that is the case, I encourage you to remember, the Lord often sends crossroad moments to both believers and unbelievers.
It is when people are helpless that God's loving power becomes most obvious and most effective. It is then your words, your concerns, your prayers will become amplified and by God's grace a lost soul may be saved.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I don't know what it will take for this special person in my life to be brought to faith in Jesus. I pray that You will reach out to them and set their eyes on the Savior. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.SECOND PRAYER: Dear Lord, I don't know what it will take for Christian Church especially the Church of the Nazarene and the United Methodist Church in my life to be brought to faith in Jesus to begin to fully and actively include family and their family member in Your church as active laity and clergy. I pray that You will reach out to them and set their eyes on the Savior's Vision of full inclusion. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
Today's Daily Devotion is based on an article written for the The Gospel Herald Ministries by Leah MarieAnn Klett on March 3, 2017. The website where the parent article can be found is: /www.gospelherald.com/articles/69798/20170303/man-who-once-hated-christians-hit-train-finds-jesus-miraculously.htm
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 52; Psalms 57; Psalms 142; Luke 22:24-46Psalms 52:(0) For the leader. A maskil of David, 2 when Do’eg from Edom came and told Sha’ul, “David has arrived at the house of Achimelekh”:
3 (1) Why do you boast of your evil, you tyrant,
when God’s mercy is present every day?
4 (2) Your tongue, as sharp as a razor,
plots destruction and works deception.
5 (3) You love evil more than good,
lies rather than speaking uprightly. (Selah)
6 (4) You love all words that eat people up,
you deceitful tongue!
7 (5) This is why God will strike you down,
seize you, pluck you from your tent
and uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
8 (6) The righteous will see and be awestruck;
they will jeer at him, saying,
9 (7) “This fellow would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in his own great wealth,
relying on his evil plots.”
10 (8) But I am like a leafy olive tree
in the house of God;
I put my trust in the grace of God
forever and ever.
11 (9) I will praise you forever for what you have done,
and I will put my hope in your name;
for this is what is good
in the presence of your faithful.
Psalm 57:(0) For the leader. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” By David, amikhtam, when he fled from Sha’ul into the cave:
2 (1) Show me favor, God, show me favor;
for in you I have taken refuge.
Yes, I will find refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the storms have passed.
3 (2) I call to God, the Most High,
to God, who is accomplishing his purpose for me.
4 (3) He will send from heaven and save me
when those who would trample me down mock me.(Selah)
God will send his grace and his truth.
5 (4) I am surrounded by lions,
I am lying down among people breathing fire,
men whose teeth are spears and arrows
and their tongues sharp-edged swords.
6 (5) Be exalted, God, above heaven!
May your glory be over all the earth!
7 (6) They prepared a snare for my feet,
but I am bending over [to avoid it].
They dug a pit ahead of me,
but they fell into it themselves. (Selah)
8 (7) My heart is steadfast, God, steadfast.
I will sing and make music.
9 (8) Awake, my glory! Awake, lyre and lute!
I will awaken the dawn.
10 (9) I will thank you, Adonai, among the peoples;
I will make music to you among the nations.
11 (10) For your grace is great, all the way to heaven,
and your truth, all the way to the skies.
12 (11) Be exalted, God, above heaven!
May your glory be over all the earth!
Psalm 142:(0) A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer:
2 (1) With my voice I cry to Adonai,
with my voice I plead to Adonai for mercy.
3 (2) Before him I pour out my complaint,
before him I tell my trouble.
4 (3) When my spirit faints within me,
you watch over my path.
By the road that I am walking
they have hidden a snare for me.
5 (4) Look to my right, and see
that no one recognizes me.
I have no way of escape;
nobody cares for me.
6 (5) I cried out to you, Adonai;
I said, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
7 (6) Listen to my cry,
for I have been brought very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
8 (7) Lead me out of prison,
so that I can give thanks to your name;
in me the righteous will be crowning themselves,
because you will have treated me generously.
Luke 22: An argument arose among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 But Yeshua said to them, “The kings of the Goyim lord it over them; and those in authority over them are given the title, ‘Benefactor.’ 26 But not so with you! On the contrary, let the greater among you become like the younger, and one who rules like one who serves. 27 For who is greater? The one reclining at the table? or the one who serves? It’s the one reclining at the table, isn’t it? But I myself am among you like one who serves.
28 “You are the ones who have stayed with me throughout my trials. 29 Just as my Father gave me the right to rule, so I give you an appointment, 30 namely, to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom and to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Isra’el.
31 “Shim‘on, Shim‘on, listen! The Adversary demanded to have you people for himself, to sift you like wheat! 32 But I prayed for you, Shim‘on, that your trust might not fail. And you, once you have turned back in repentance, strengthen your brothers!” 33 Shim‘on said to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go with you both to prison and to death!” 34 Yeshua replied, “I tell you, Kefa, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me.”
35 He said to them, “When I sent you out without wallet, pack or shoes, were you ever short of anything?” “Not a thing,” they answered. 36 “But now,” he said, if you have a wallet or a pack, take it; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your robe to buy one. 37 For I tell you this: the passage from the Tanakh that says, ‘He was counted with transgressors,’[Luke 22:37 Isaiah 53:12] has to be fulfilled in me; since what is happening to me has a purpose.” 38 They said, “Look, Lord, there are two swords right here!” “Enough!” he replied.
39 On leaving, Yeshua went as usual to the Mount of Olives; and the talmidim followed him. 40 When he arrived, he said to them, “Pray that you won’t be put to the test.” 41 He went about a stone’s throw away from them, kneeled down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, let not my will but yours be done.” 43 There appeared to him an angel from heaven giving him strength, 44 and in great anguish he prayed more intensely, so that his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 On rising from prayer and coming to the talmidim, he found them sleeping because of their grief. 46 He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you won’t be put to the test!”-------
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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