Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Living Dangerously" for Saturday, June 23, 2018
Matthew 26:41 - (Jesus said) "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."Every year a couple million people wander through Yellowstone National Park.
This they do so they can see some interesting peculiarities of nature. Geysers, paint pots, and acid pools all contribute to the mystical, magical, wonderful look of the place. In spite of the summertime crowds, it's a wonderful location for an individual to get close to nature.
Unfortunately, it is possible for people to get too close to nature.
Consider 59-year-old Kim Hancock of Santa Rosa, California. She, along with a number of friends, was on the boardwalk, a wooden sidewalk which makes it easier for visitors to walk through a difficult area, and keeps them from trampling rare vegetation. The National Park Service shares her story. The group was walking along the boardwalk when that came upon a bison. Now the Park Service has some recommendations for people when they find themselves in such a situation.
In this case, the rangers would have recommended backing away from the bison until there is 75 feet of separation. This particular group of tourists didn't give that wide a berth to the bison. When some of the folks got about 15 feet away, the bison crossed the boardwalk and became "agitated."
The bison charged at Hancock and gored her in the hip. Her hospital says she is in "good condition."
Hancock is one person who can tell you that it's easy to get too close to nature. This year, at Yellowstone there are a number of others who would echo the sentiment. For example, there was a 72-year-old woman who was butted by a bison she hadn't seen. Then there were two people who had unfortunate -- and painful -- encounters with some elk.
So, class, what have we learned about nature today?
* Hopefully, you have learned that while nature may be beautiful and fascinating, it can also be dangerous.
* We should also have learned that if we are truly going to be safe, we would be wise to keep plenty of distance between the more dangerous parts of nature and ourselves.
Those same two sentences can also be applied to the sinful seductions of the devil, the world, and our flesh.
You see, every year the world turns out new variations on its old seductions. Every year people take a look at these temptations, and they find themselves intrigued. They know it might be dangerous, but they take a gamble. They want to get a little closer; they want to see a little better; they want to try the temptation to see if it is just as good as they think it will be.
The next thing they know BAM! some sin has nailed them real good.
When dealing with temptations to evil, it is far better we listen to Jesus. He, who carried our sins to the cross, and gave Himself for our redemption, encourages us to watch and pray so we may avoid temptation. It is his way of saying, "Temptation may look good, but it is too dangerous to mess with."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, there has been only one Person in this world who has successfully resisted temptation, and that is our Savior. I rejoice that His sacrifice forgives me when I fall into temptation, but I also ask I follow His words and try to avoid temptation. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Kate Seasons for Newser on June 8, 2018. 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: http://www.newser.com/story/260366/she-got-within-30-feet-of-a-bison-foolishly.html
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Song 4-5; Acts 7:1-21Song [He]
4:1 How beautiful you are, my love!
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gil‘ad.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep
that have just come up from being washed;
each of them is matched,
and none of them is missing.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like a pomegranate
split open behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built magnificently,
on which hang a thousand bucklers,
each one a brave warrior’s shield.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle grazing among lilies.
6 When the day’s cool breeze comes up
and the shadows lengthen,
I will get myself to the mountain of myrrh
to the hill of frankincense.
7 Everything about you is beautiful, my love;
you are without a flaw.
8 Come with me from the L’vanon, my bride,
come with me from the L’vanon.
Come down from the heights of Amanah,
from the heights of S’nir and Hermon,
down from the lions’ lairs
and the leopard-haunted hills.
9 My sister, my bride,
you have carried my heart away!
With just one glance, with one bead of your necklace
you have carried my heart away.
10 My sister, my bride,
how sweet is your love!
How much better your love than wine,
more fragrant your perfumes than any spice!
11 Your lips, my bride, drip honey;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
and the scent of your garments is like
the scent of the L’vanon.
12 My sister, my bride, is a garden locked up,
a pool covered over, a spring sealed shut.
13 You are an orchard that puts forth pomegranates
and other precious fruits, henna and nard —
14 nard, saffron and aromatic cane,
cinnamon and all kinds of frankincense trees,
myrrh, aloes, all the best spices.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a spring of running water,
flowing down from the L’vanon.
[She]
16 Awake, north wind! Come, south wind!
Blow on my garden to spread its fragrance.
Let my darling enter his garden
and eat its finest fruit.
[He]
5:1 My sister, my bride, I have entered my garden;
I am gathering my myrrh and my spices;
I am eating my honeycomb along with my honey;
I am drinking my wine as well as my milk.
[Chorus]
Eat, friends, and drink,
until you are drunk with love!
[She]
2 I am asleep, but my heart is awake.
Listen! I hear my darling knocking!
[He]
Open for me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my flawless one!
For my head is wet with dew,
my hair with the moisture of the night.
[She]
3 I’ve removed my coat; must I put it back on?
I’ve washed my feet; must I dirty them again?
4 The man I love put his hand through the hole by the door-latch,
and my heart began pounding at the thought of him.
5 I got up to open for the man I love.
My hands were dripping with myrrh —
pure myrrh ran off my fingers
onto the handle of the bolt.
6 I opened for my darling,
but my darling had turned and gone.
My heart had failed me when he spoke —
I sought him, but I couldn’t find him;
I called him, but he didn’t answer.
7 The watchmen roaming the city found me;
they beat me, they wounded me;
they took away my cloak,
those guardians of the walls!
8 I charge you, daughters of Yerushalayim,
that if you find the man I love,
what are you to tell him?
That I am sick with love.
[Chorus]
9 How does the man you love differ from any other,
you most beautiful of women?
How does the man you love differ from any other,
that you should give us this charge?
[She]
10 The man I love is radiant and ruddy;
he stands out among ten thousand.
11 His head is like the finest gold;
his locks are wavy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves by running streams,
bathed in milk and set just right.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
like banks of fragrant herbs.
His lips are like lilies
dripping with sweet myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold set with beryl,
his body polished ivory adorned with sapphires.
15 His legs are like pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like the L’vanon,
as imposing as the cedars.
16 His words are sweetness itself;
he is altogether desirable.
This is my darling, and this is my friend,
daughters of Yerushalayim.
Acts 7:1 The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” 2 and Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’[Acts 7:3 Genesis 12:1] 4 So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot;[Acts 7:5 Deuteronomy 2:5] yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him,[Acts 7:5 Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 15:4, 7, 18–21; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4] even though at the time he was childless. 6 What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years. 7 But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’[Acts 7:7 Genesis 15:13–14, 16] 8 And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milahon the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya‘akov, and Ya‘akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.
9 “Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But Adonai was with him;[Acts 7:9 Genesis 37:11, 28; 39:1–3, 21, 23] 10 he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household.[Acts 7:10 Genesis 41:37–44] 11 Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena‘an[Acts 7:11 Genesis 41:54; 42:5] 12 But when Ya‘akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers,[Acts 7:13 Genesis 45:1] and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya‘akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. 15 And Ya‘akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. 16 Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly, 18 until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef.[Acts 7:18 Exodus 1:7–8] 19 With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive.
20 “It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; 21 and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. (Complete Jewish Bible).
***
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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