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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour
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"A Forever Love That Lasts"
Monday, July 3, 2017
Romans 7:4 - So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
In the sermon yesterday, I talked about God's gift of being part of His family through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's an identity that the world can't take from you. It's a knowledge that gives you strength to face troubles, illness, and struggles. It's a forever thing that helps us through the ups and downs of life, now.
That was the strength that made all the difference in the life of a woman who had seen heartache and pain, but came to know joy that could only come by knowing that she belonged to Jesus. Author Keith Miller shares the story of an outgoing 40-year-old woman who was part of a sharing group he led. Here's her story in her words:
"When I was a tiny little girl, my parents died and I was put in an orphanage. I was not pretty at all and no one seemed to want me. But I longed to be adopted and loved by a family, as far back as I can remember. I thought about it day and night, but everything I did seemed to go wrong.
"But then one day the head of the orphanage told me that a family was coming to take me home with them. I was so excited that I jumped up and down and cried like a little baby. The matron reminded me that I was on trial and this might not be a permanent arrangement, but I just knew that somehow it would work out.
"So I went with this family and started to school. I was the happiest little girl you can imagine, and life began to open up for me just a little bit. But then one day a few months later, I skipped home from school and ran into the front door of the big old house we lived in. No one was at home, but in the middle of the front hall was my battered suitcase with my little coat thrown across it. As I stood there it suddenly dawned on me what it meant: I didn't belong there anymore."
Miller reports that when the woman stopped speaking there was hardly a dry eye in the group. But then she cleared her throat and said almost matter-of-factly, "This happened to me seven times before I was 13 years old. But wait, don't feel too badly. It was experiences like these that ultimately brought me to God, and there I found what I had always longed for: a place, a sense of belonging, a forever family."
A forever family, a forever love, a forever grace. People ask me all the time, "What makes Christianity so special?" All I can say is when God does all things to reconcile you to Himself, to forgive your sins, to cover your shame, to call you to be His own through the sacrificial life, death, and resurrection of Jesus -- show me anything else that even comes close. That's what God has in store for you and me today, with a life that flows from belonging to Him. May that encourage you, today and always.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for doing all things well to make me a part of Your family. Give me strength to live in that joy now and forever. Amen.
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1 Kings 14:1At this time, Aviyah the son of Yarov‘am fell ill. 2 Yarov‘am said to his wife, “Please come, and disguise yourself, so that you won’t be recognized as Yarov‘am’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Achiyah the prophet is there, the one who said that I would be king over these people. 3 Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes and a jug of honey; and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 Yarov‘am’s wife did this; she set out, went to Shiloh and arrived at the house of Achiyah. Now Achiyah could not see, because his eyes were dim with age. 5 Adonai had told Achiyah, “Yarov‘am’s wife is on her way to you to ask about her son, who is ill. You are to tell her thus and thus; moreover, when she comes, she will be pretending she is another woman.”
6 When Achiyah heard the sound of her feet as she came in the door, he said, “Enter, wife of Yarov‘am! Why pretend you are someone else? I’ve been given bad news for you. 7 Go, tell Yarov‘am that this is what Adonai says: ‘I raised you up from among the people, made you prince over my people Isra’el, 8 tore the kingdom away from the dynasty of David and gave it to you. In spite of this, you have not been like my servant David, who obeyed my mitzvot and followed me with all his heart, so that he could do only what I regarded as right. 9 Rather, you have committed more evil than anyone before you! You went and made other gods for yourself and images of cast metal to make me angry, but me you shoved behind your back! 10 Therefore, I will now bring disaster on the house of Yarov‘am. I will cut off every male of Yarov‘am’s line, whether a slave or free in Isra’el; I will sweep away the house of Yarov‘am as completely as when someone sweeps away dung until it’s all gone. 11 If someone from the line of Yarov‘am dies in the city, the dogs will eat him; if he dies in the countryside, the vultures will eat him. For Adonai has said it.’ 12 So get up and go home; when your feet enter the city, the boy will die. 13 All Isra’el will mourn him, and they will bury him; he is the only one of Yarov‘am’s line who will lie in a grave, because he alone in the house of Yarov‘am has in him an element of good toward Adonai the God of Isra’el. 14 Moreover, Adonai will raise up for himself a king over Isra’el who at that time will cut off the house of Yarov‘am. And what will God do now? 15 Adonai will strike Isra’el until it shakes like a reed in the water; he will uproot Isra’el from this good land, which he gave to their ancestors, and scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River; because they made sacred poles for themselves, thus making Adonai angry. 16 He will give up on Isra’el because of the sins of Yarov‘am, which he committed himself, and with which he made Isra’el sin as well.”
17 Yarov‘am’s wife got up, left and went to Tirtzah. The moment she reached the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 All Isra’el buried him and mourned him, in keeping with the word of Adonai spoken through his servant Achiyah the prophet.
19 Other activities of Yarov‘am, how he fought and how he ruled are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. 20 Yarov‘am’s reign lasted twenty-two years; then he slept with his ancestors, and Nadav his son became king in his place.
21 Rechav‘am the son of Shlomo was reigning in Y’hudah. Rechav‘am was forty-one years old when he began to rule; and he ruled seventeen years in Yerushalayim, the city Adonai had chosen from all the tribes of Isra’el to bear his name; his mother’s name was Na‘amah the ‘Amonit.
22 Y’hudah did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective; they made him angry because of their sins, which were worse than any their ancestors had committed. 23 For they erected high places, standing-stones and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 Also there were male and female cult-prostitutes in the land attached to these shrines, doing all the disgusting things which the nations did that Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el.
In the fifth year of King Rechav‘am, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Yerushalayim. 26 He took the treasures in the house of Adonai and the treasures in the royal palace — he took everything, including all the gold shields Shlomo had made. 27 To replace them, King Rechav‘am made shields of bronze, which he entrusted to the commanders of the contingent guarding the gate to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king went to the house of Adonai, the guard would get the shields; later they would return them to the guardroom.
29 Other activities of Rechav‘am and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 30 But there was continual war between Rechav‘am and Yarov‘am. 31 Rechav‘am slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David; his mother’s name was Na‘amah the ‘Amonit. Then Aviyam his son became king in his place.
15:1 It was in the eighteenth year of King Yarov‘am the son of N’vat that Aviyam began his reign over Y’hudah. 2 He ruled three years in Yerushalayim; his mother’s name was Ma‘akhah the daughter of Avishalom. 3 He committed all the sins his father had committed before him; he was not wholehearted with Adonai his God, as David his forefather had been. 4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake Adonai his God gave him a lamp burning in Yerushalayim by establishing his son after him and making Yerushalayim secure. 5 For David had done what was right from Adonai’s perspective; he had not turned away from anything he had ordered him to do, as long as he lived, except in the matter of Uriyah the Hitti.
6 There was war between Rechav‘am and Yarov‘am as long as he lived.
7 Other activities of Aviyam and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. But there was war between Aviyam and Yarov‘am. 8 Aviyam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son became king in his place.
9 It was in the twentieth year of Yarov‘am king of Isra’el that Asa began his reign over Y’hudah. 10 He ruled forty-one years in Yerushalayim; his [grand]mother’s name was Ma‘akhah the daughter of Avishalom. 11 Asa did what was right from the perspective of Adonai, as David his ancestor had done. 12 He rid the land of cult-prostitutes and removed all the idols his ancestors had made. 13 He also deposed Ma‘akhah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a disgusting image as an asherah. Asa cut down this image of hers and burned it in VadiKidron. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted with Adonai throughout his life. 15 He brought into the house of Adonai all the articles his father had consecrated, also the things he himself had consecrated — silver, gold and utensils.
16 There was war between Asa and Ba‘sha king of Isra’el as long as they both lived. 17 Ba‘sha attacked Y’hudah, and he fortified Ramah to prevent anyone’s leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Y’hudah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the house of Adonai and among the treasures of the royal palace; and, entrusting them to his servants, King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tavrimmon, the son of Hezyon, king of Aram, who lived in Dammesek, with this message: 19 “There is a covenant between me and you, which existed already between my father and your father. Here, I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, and break your covenant with Ba‘sha king of Isra’el, so that he will leave me alone.” 20 Ben-Hadad did as King Asa asked — he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Isra’el, attacking ‘Iyon, Dan, Avel-Beit-Ma‘akhah, all of Kinn’rot and all the land of Naftali. 21 As soon as Ba‘sha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and stayed in Tirtzah. 22 King Asa then issued a proclamation requiring every man in Y’hudah, with no exception, to come and carry off the stones and timber Ba‘sha had used to fortify Ramah. With them King Asa fortified Geva of Binyamin and Mitzpah.
23 The other activities of Asa, all his power, all his accomplishments and the cities he fortified are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. But in his old age he suffered from a disease in his legs. 24 Asa slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David his ancestor. Then Y’hoshafat his son became king in his place.
25 It was in the second year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Nadav the son of Yarov‘am began his reign over Isra’el, and he ruled Isra’el two years. 26 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of his father and the sin through which he had made Isra’el sin.
27 Ba‘sha the son of Achiyah, from the descendants of Yissakhar, conspired against him; and Ba‘sha attacked him at Gib’ton, which belonged to the P’lishtim; for at the time Nadav and all Isra’el were besieging Gib’ton. 28 It was in the third year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Ba‘sha killed Nadav and became king in his place.
29 As soon as he had become king he killed off the entire house of Yarov‘am, destroying every living soul and leaving not one survivor. This was in keeping with what Adonai had said through his servant Achiyah from Shiloh; 30 it was the punishment for the sins Yarov‘am had committed and through which he had made Isra’el sin, thereby angering Adonai the God of Isra’el.
31 Other activities of Nadav and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. 32 There was war between Asa and Ba‘sha king of Isra’el as long as they both lived.
33 It was in the third year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Ba‘sha the son of Achiyah began his reign over all Isra’el in Tirtzah, and his rule lasted twenty-four years. 34 He did what was wrong from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of Yarov‘am and committing the sin through which he had made Isra’el sin.
Acts 12:1 It was around this time that King Herod began arresting and persecuting certain members of the Messianic community; 2 and he had Ya‘akov, Yochanan’s brother, put to death by the sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Judeans, he went on to arrest Kefa as well. It was during the Days of Matzah, 4 so when Herod seized him, he threw him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, with the intention of bringing him to public trial after Pesach. 5 So Kefa was being held under watch in prison, but intense prayer was being made to God on his behalf by the Messianic community.
6 The night before Herod was going to bring him to trial, Kefa was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound with two chains; and guards were at the door, keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of Adonai stood there, and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Kefa’s side and woke him. “Hurry! Get up!” he said; and the chains fell off his hands. 8 The angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals,” and he did. “Throw on your robe,” he said, “and follow me!” 9 Going out, Kefa followed him but did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real — he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 Having passed a first guard and a second, they arrived at the iron gate leading to the city. This opened to them by itself, and they made their exit. They went down the length of one street, and suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Kefa came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod’s power and from everything the Judean people were hoping for.”
12 Realizing what had happened, he went to the house of Miryam the mother of Yochanan (surnamed Mark), where many people had gathered to pray. 13 He knocked at the outside door, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Kefa’s voice and was so happy that she ran back in without opening the door, and announced that Kefa was standing outside. 15 “You’re out of your mind!” they said to her. But she insisted it was true. So they said, “It is his angel.” 16 Meanwhile, Kefa kept knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and said, “Tell all this to Ya‘akov and the brothers.” Then he left and went elsewhere.
18 When daylight came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Kefa. 19 Herod had a thorough search made for him, but they failed to find him, so he cross-examined the guards and ordered them put to death. Then Herod went down from Y’hudah to Caesarea and spent some time there.
20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tzor and Tzidon, so they joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, the king’s chief personal servant, they asked for peace; because they depended on the king’s lands for their food supply. 21 A day was set, and Herod in his royal robes sat on the throne and made a speech to them. 22 The mob cried out, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” 23 At once, because Herod did not give the glory to God, an angel of Adonai struck him down. He was eaten away by worms and died.
24 But the word of the Lord went on growing and being multiplied.
25 Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul, having completed their errand, returned from Yerushalayim, bringing with them Yochanan, surnamed Mark.
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Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
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