|
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
|
|
|
"Enough to Go Around"
Friday, June 2, 2017
Luke 2:10-11 - And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
What do you think is the best way to find long-lost relatives?
I suppose there are many good ways. For example, you could hire a private eye to do some sleuthing. You could try your hand on some of the social media like Facebook. In recent years a person might achieve satisfying results going online and searching official records.
Me, I think there is a better way. All you need to do is win the lottery. From what I've seen, if you win the lottery, all your relatives, near ones, new ones, distant ones, and unlikely ones will beat a quick-time path to your door.
About the only one who will get there faster is the tax man.
Now if that's the case, you can readily understand why some people when they come into a large, unexpected amount of money wish to keep a low profile.
Such a person is the English lady who, 30 years ago, paid 10 pounds ($15) for a piece of costume jewelry to which she had taken a shine. She liked that bauble -- wore it almost every day for the last three decades. Indeed, she would be wearing it still if someone hadn't told her that this trinket was, in reality, a 26.27-carat white diamond.
A quick visit to Sotheby's Auction House told the lady two things:
1. Sotheby's would be more than glad to auction off her ring.
2. She would be about 350,000 pounds richer ($454,000) when the auction was over.
So now all the anonymous lady has to do is wait and try to remain just as anonymous next month as she has been this month. It's going to be quite the trick since her story, in Great Britain at least, has regularly been on the front pages.
Never having been in that individual's shoes, I can kind of see why she would want to avoid all the media hype, all the salesmen's phone calls, all the friends and family members who might want a slice of the pie. I can almost understand why she would like to keep that good news to herself. After all, $454,000 is a lot of money, but it still will only stretch so far.
On the other hand, I can think of no reason why anyone would want to keep the good news of the Gospel secret. It's not like there is a limit to God's grace and one day you will wake up and find your heavenly salvation account has been wiped out.
The reality is this: when God sent His Son into this world, He came bearing enough good will to provide great joy for all of lost and sinful humanity. There is no series of events that can touch, diminish, deplete, or remove the Lord's desire to forgive and save us.
That is why the Savior said we should preach repentance and forgiveness all around the world. It is why His people consider it an honor to share the wealth the Savior has given to them.THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that I may never try to hoard the gift of salvation that Jesus has won for me. Let me, as You have said I should, share the "good news of great joy" with all around me. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by the AP on May 22, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at 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,
|
|
|
Psalms 53:1 (0) For the leader. On machalat. A maskil of David:
2 (1) A brutish fool tells himself,
“There isn’t any God.”
Such people are depraved, all their deeds are vile,
not one of them does what is good.
3 (2) God looks out from heaven
upon the human race
to see if even one is wise,
if even one seeks God.
4 (3) Every one of them is unclean,
altogether corrupt;
not one of them does what is good,
not a single one.
5 (4) Won’t these evildoers ever learn?
They devour my people
as if they were eating bread,
and they never call on God!
6 (5) They will be gripped with terror,
even though now they are not afraid;
for God will scatter the bones
of him who is besieging you.
You are putting them to shame,
because God has rejected them.
7 (6) If only salvation for Isra’el
would come out of Tziyon!
When God restores his people’s fortunes,
what joy for Ya‘akov! what gladness for Isra’el!
2 (1) Listen, God, to my prayer!
Don’t hide yourself from my plea!
3 (2) Pay attention to me, and answer me!
I am panic-stricken as I make my complaint,
I shudder 4 (3) at how the enemy shouts,
at how the wicked oppress;
for they keep heaping trouble on me
and angrily tormenting me.
5 (4) My heart within me is pounding in anguish,
the terrors of death press down on me,
6 (5) fear and trembling overwhelm me,
horror covers me.
7 (6) I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
Then I could fly away and be at rest.
8 (7) Yes, I would flee to a place far off,
I would stay in the desert. (Selah)
9 (8) I would quickly find me a shelter
from the raging wind and storm.”
10 (9) Confuse, Adonai, confound their speech!
For I see violence and fighting in the city.
11 (10) Day and night they go about its walls;
within are malice and mischief.
12 (11) Ruin is rife within it,
oppression and fraud never leave its streets.
13 (12) For it was not an enemy who insulted me;
if it had been, I could have borne it.
It was not my adversary who treated me with scorn;
if it had been, I could have hidden myself.
14 (13) But it was you, a man of my own kind,
my companion, whom I knew well.
15 (14) We used to share our hearts with each other;
in the house of God we walked with the crowd.
16 (15) May he put death on them;
let them go down alive to Sh’ol;
for evil is in their homes
and also in their hearts.
17 (16) But I will call on God,
and Adonai will save me.
18 (17) Evening, morning and noon I complain
and moan; but he hears my voice.
19 (18) He redeems me and gives me peace,
so that no one can come near me.
For there were many who fought me.
20 (19) God will hear and will humble them,
yes, he who has sat on his throne from the start. (Selah)
For they never change,
and they don’t fear God.
21 (20) [My companion] attacked those
who were at peace with him;
he broke his solemn word.
22 (21) What he said sounded smoother than butter,
but his heart was at war.
His words seemed more soothing than oil,
but in fact they were sharp swords.
23 (22) Unload your burden on Adonai,
and he will sustain you.
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
24 (23) But you will bring them down, God,
into the deepest pit.
Those men, so bloodthirsty and treacherous,
will not live out half their days.
But for my part, [Adonai,]
I put my trust in you.
|
2 (1) [Rulers,] does your silence really speak justice?
Are you judging people fairly?
3 (2) [No!] In your hearts you devise wrongs,
your hands dispense violence in the land.
4 (3) From the womb, the wicked are estranged,
liars on the wrong path since birth.
5 (4) Their venom is like snake’s venom;
they are like a serpent that stops its ears,
6 (5) so as not to hear the voice of the charmer,
no matter how well he plays.
7 (6) God, break their teeth in their mouth!
Shatter the fangs of these lions, Adonai!
8 (7) May they vanish like water that drains away.
May their arrows be blunted when they aim their bows.
9 (8) May they be like a slug that melts as it moves,
like a stillborn baby that never sees the sun.
10 (9) Before your cook-pots feel the heat of the burning thorns,
may he blow them away, green and blazing alike.
11 (10) The righteous will rejoice to see vengeance done,
they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked;
12 (11) and people will say, “Yes, the righteous are rewarded;
there is, after all, a God who judges the earth.”
|
Study This
John 13:1-20Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
13 It was just before the festival of Pesach, and Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own people in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 They were at supper, and the Adversary had already put the desire to betray him into the heart of Y’hudah Ben-Shim‘on from K’riot. 3 Yeshua was aware that the Father had put everything in his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he rose from the table, removed his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around him.
6 He came to Shim‘on Kefa, who said to him, “Lord! You are washing my feet?” 7 Yeshua answered him, “You don’t understand yet what I am doing, but in time you will understand.” 8 “No!” said Kefa, “You will never wash my feet!” Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 “Lord,” Shim‘on Kefa replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and head too!” 10 Yeshua said to him, “A man who has had a bath doesn’t need to wash, except his feet — his body is already clean. And you people are clean, but not all of you.” 11 (He knew who was betraying him; this is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”)
12 After he had washed their feet, taken back his clothes and returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because I am. 14 Now if I, the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you. 16 Yes, indeed! I tell you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is an emissary greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
18 “I’m not talking to all of you — I know which ones I have chosen. But the words of the Tanakh must be fulfilled that say, ‘The one eating my bread has turned against me.’[John 13:18 ]
19 I’m telling you now, before it happens; so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM [who I say I am]. 20 Yes, indeed! I tell you that a person who receives someone I send receives me, and that anyone who receives me receives the One who sent me.”
|
-------
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment