Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Twisted Insecurities" for Wednesday, June 27, 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."Eric Abramovitz is a clarinet player. Those who judge clarinet players say he is a good one.
Back in 2014, Abramovitz had applied for one of two full scholarships to be awarded to the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. If he had received such a scholarship he would have had the opportunity to study under the renowned teacher, Yehuda Gilad.
To make a long story short, Abramovitz got the scholarship, and he didn't get the scholarship.
Yes, I know that's confusing, but I can explain. First, he got the scholarship. And he did, you know. He managed to beat out numerous other applicants for the program and was sent an email telling him the good news.
Second, he didn't get the scholarship. At the time, Abramovitz made his application he was living with a young lady, his girlfriend, Jennifer Lee. Well, she saw the scholarship's congratulatory email before Abramovitz did. Fearing she might lose her boyfriend if he were to move away, Lee wrote a letter to the school, and in Abramovitz's name, turned down the assistance.
Then she set up another email account in the name of Yehuda Gilad. In the instructor's name, she sent a rejection letter to her boyfriend. If Lee had had her way, the story would have ended with her and Eric living happily ever after. But that's not where the story ends. Two years later, Abramovitz did some part-time studying under Gilad who asked, "Why did you turn me down?" That's when Abramovitz figured out what had happened. He sued his ex-girlfriend, and the judge awarded him $266,000.
Has it ever occurred to you that when evil comes calling it doesn't usually look bad and nasty? In Abramovitz's case, evil showed up in the person of his girlfriend.
And for God's people, when Adam and Eve were tempted, Satan didn't show up with horns, a tail, a pitchfork, and an overwhelming smell of sulfur. He came as a smooth-talking serpent.
During the fall of Jericho, Achan disobeyed the Lord who had instructed the soldiers of Israel to destroy the city and its contents. Achan decided to disregard the Lord's orders when he spotted a beautiful Babylonian robe, a bunch of silver, and a bar of gold.
The Bible tells of how, all in all, David was a pretty good king. But you will also remember David stopped being a good king when he spotted Bathsheba whom Scripture describes as being "very beautiful." You know the rest of that story (see 2 Samuel 11:2-3).
Truly, if temptation came calling dressed all sloppy and with a mean and nasty look, we would have an easier time rejecting him. Unfortunately for us, he comes to us looking like a movie star, and with a knowing wink, and a winning smile, suggests we do some sinning.
Thankfully, we have a Savior who has shown He can resist Satan's temptations to sin and decline the world's seductions to transgress. Jesus' perfect life ended with Him carrying our wrongdoings to the cross where His blood washed them away. Now, because of what Jesus has done, those who are given faith in Him are forgiven, and with the Holy Spirit's guidance, find themselves better able to resist temptation when it comes calling.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that we may be given the ability to recognize and resist temptation in whatever way it comes calling. As Your redeemed children, may all of our actions show our thanks to the Savior and the salvation He has won. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Rob Quinn for Newser on June 15, 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/260663/woman-ordered-to-pay-266k-for-derailing-boyfriends-music-career.html
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: 1 Kings 10-11; Acts 8:26-40
1 Kings 10:1 When the queen of Sh’va heard what was being said about Shlomo because of the name of Adonai, she came to test him with difficult questions. 2 She arrived in Yerushalayim accompanied by a very great retinue, including camels bearing spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones. When she appeared before Shlomo she spoke with him about everything on her heart, 3 and Shlomo answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. 4 After the queen of Sh’va had seen all Shlomo’s wisdom, the palace he had built, 5 the food at his table, the manner of seating his officials, the manner in which his staff served him, how they were dressed, his personal servants and his burnt offering which he offered in the house of Adonai, it left her breathless. 6 She said to the king, “What I heard in my own country about your deeds and your wisdom is true, 7 but I couldn’t believe the report until I came and saw for myself. Actually, they didn’t tell me even the half of it — your wisdom and prosperity surpass the reports I heard. 8 How happy your people must be, how happy these servants of yours who are always here attending you and get to hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be Adonai your God, who took pleasure in you to put you on the throne of Isra’el. Because of Adonai’s eternal love for Isra’el, he has made you king, to administer judgment and justice fairly.” 10 Then she gave the king four tons of gold, a huge amount of spices, and precious stones; never again did there arrive such an abundance of spices as those the queen of Sh’va gave to King Shlomo.
11 Hiram’s fleet which had brought gold from Ofir now brought in from Ofir a large quantity of sandalwood and precious stones. 12 The king used the sandalwood to make columns for the house of Adonai and for the royal palace, and also lyres and lutes for the singers. No sandalwood like it has come or been seen to this day.
13 King Shlomo gave the queen of Sh’va everything she wanted, whatever she asked, in addition to the presents he gave her on his own initiative. After this, she returned and went back to her own country, she and her servants.
14 The weight of the gold Shlomo received annually came to twenty-two tons of gold, 15 besides that which came from sales taxes, customs duties and assessments collected by all the kings of the mixed peoples and by the district governors. 16 King Shlomo made 200 large shields of hammered gold; fifteen pounds of gold went into one shield. 17 He made 300 more shields of hammered gold, with three-and-three-quarters pounds going into one shield; the king put these in the House of the L’vanon Forest.
18 The king also made a large throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 The throne had six steps, a back with a rounded top, arms on either side of the seat, two lions standing beside the arms, 20 and twelve more lions standing on each side of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made in any kingdom.
21 All King Shlomo’s drinking vessels were of gold; and all the utensils in the House of the L’vanon Forest were of pure gold; none was of silver, for in Shlomo’s time it was regarded as having little value. 22 The king had a fleet of large “Tarshish” ships along with Hiram’s fleet; once every three years the “Tarshish” fleet came in, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
23 So King Shlomo surpassed all the kings on earth in both wealth and wisdom. 24 All the earth sought to have an audience with Shlomo, in order to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 Each one brought his present — articles of silver, articles of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses and mules; and this continued year after year.
26 Shlomo amassed chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen; he assigned them to the chariot cities and to the king in Yerushalayim. 27 The king made silver in Yerushalayim as common as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as sycamore-fig trees are in the Sh’felah. 28 Shlomo’s horses had been brought from Egypt and from Keveh, with the king’s agents having bought them from the dealers in Keveh at the going price. 29 A chariot from Egypt cost fifteen pounds of silver shekels and a horse three-and-three quarters pounds [of shekels]; all the kings of the Hittim and the kings of Aram purchased them at these prices through Shlomo’s agents.
11:1 King Shlomo loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh. There were women from the Mo’avi, ‘Amoni, Edomi, Tzidoni and Hitti — 2 nations about which Adonai had said to the people of Isra’el, “You are not to go among them or they among you, because they will turn your hearts away toward their gods.” But Shlomo was deeply attached to them by his love. 3 He had 700 wives, all princesses, and 300 concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. 4 For when Shlomo became old, his wives turned his heart away toward other gods; so that he was not wholehearted with Adonai his God, as David his father had been. 5 For Shlomo followed ‘Ashtoret the goddess of the Tzidoni and Milkom the abomination of the ‘Amoni. 6 Thus Shlomo did what was evil in Adonai’s view and did not fully follow Adonai, as David his father had done. 7 Shlomo built a high place for K’mosh the abomination of Mo’av on the hill on front of Yerushalayim, and another for Molekh the abomination of the people of ‘Amon. 8 This is what he did for all his foreign wives, who then offered and sacrificed to their gods. 9 So Adonai grew angry with Shlomo, because his heart had turned away from Adonai the God of Isra’el, who had appeared to him twice 10 and given him orders concerning this matter that he should not follow other gods. But he didn’t obey Adonai’s orders.
11 So Adonai said to Shlomo, “Since this is what has been in your mind, and you haven’t kept my covenant and my regulations which I ordered you to obey, I will tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. 12 However, for David your father’s sake I won’t do it while you are alive, but I will tear it away from your son. 13 Even then, I won’t tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Yerushalayim, which I have chosen.”
14 Then Adonai raised up an adversary against Shlomo, Hadad the Edomi, of the royal line of Edom. 15 Back when David had been in Edom, and Yo’av the commander of the army had gone up to bury the dead, having killed every male in Edom 16 (for Yo’av and all Isra’el had stayed there six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), 17 Hadad had fled, he and a number of Edomi servants of his father’s with him, and gone into Egypt; at the time Hadad had been but a small boy. 18 On their way, they passed through Midyan and arrived in Pa’ran, took with them men from Pa’ran, and went on into Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house, saw to it that he had food and gave him land. 19 Hadad became a great favorite of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his own wife’s sister in marriage, that is, the sister of Tachp’neis the queen. 20 The sister of Tachp’neis bore him G’nuvat his son, and Tachp’neis brought him up in Pharaoh’s own house, so that G’nuvat was in Pharaoh’s house along with Pharaoh’s sons. 21 When Hadad in Egypt heard that David slept with his ancestors and Yo’av the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I can return to my own country.” 22 Pharaoh asked him, “But what have you lacked with me that makes you want just now to go to your own country?” “Nothing in particular,” he replied, “but let me leave, anyway.”
23 God raised up another adversary against Shlomo, Rezon the son of Elyada, who had fled from his lord Hadad‘ezer king of Tzovah 24 when David killed the men from Tzovah. Rezon rallied men to himself and became the leader of a band of marauders; they went to Dammesek and settled there, while he became king of Dammesek. 25 He remained an adversary as long as Shlomo lived, causing difficulties in addition to those of Hadad. He detested Isra’el and ruled Aram.
26 Also Yarov‘am the son of N’vat, an Efrati from Tz’redah, whose mother’s name was Tz’ru‘ah, one of Shlomo’s servants, rebelled against the king. 27 Here is the reason he rebelled against the king: Shlomo was building the Millo and closing the breach in [the wall of] the City of David his father. 28 Now this Yarov‘am was a strong, energetic man; and Shlomo, seeing how serious the young man was, made him supervisor over all the work being done by the tribe of Yosef. 29 Once, during this period, when Yarov‘am had gone out of Yerushalayim, the prophet Achiyah from Shiloh spotted him traveling. Achiyah was wearing a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in open country. 30 Achiyah took hold of his new cloak that he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Yarov‘am, “Take ten pieces for yourself! For here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘I am going to tear the kingdom out of Shlomo’s hand, and I will give ten tribes to you. 32 But he will keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Yerushalayim, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Isra’el. 33 I will do this because they have abandoned me and worshipped ‘Ashtoret the goddess of the Tzidoni, K’mosh the god of Mo’av and Milkom the god of the people of ‘Amon. They haven’t lived according to my ways, so that they could do what was right in my view and obey my regulations and rulings, as did David his father. 34 Nevertheless, I will not take the entire kingdom away from him; but I will make him prince as long as he lives, for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose, because he obeyed my mitzvot and regulations. 35 However, I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten tribes of it to you. 36 To his son I will give one tribe, so that David my servant will always have a light burning before me in Yerushalayim, the city I chose for myself as the place to put my name. 37 I will take you, and you will rule over everything you want; you will be king over Isra’el. 38 Now if you will listen to all that I order you, live according to my ways and do what is right in my view, so that you observe my regulations and mitzvot, as David my servant did; then I will be with you, and I will build you a lasting dynasty, as I built for David; and I will give Isra’el to you. 39 For this [offense] I will trouble David’s descendants, but not forever.” 40 Because of this Shlomo tried to kill Yarov‘am; but Yarov‘am roused himself, fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and stayed in Egypt until the death of Shlomo.
41 Other activities of Shlomo, all he accomplished and his wisdom are recorded in the Annals of Shlomo. 42 The length of Shlomo’s reign in Yerushalayim over all Isra’el was forty years. 43 Then Shlomo slept with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David his father, and Rechav‘am his son became king in his place.
Acts 8:26 An angel of Adonai said to Philip, “Get up, and go southward on the road that goes down from Yerushalayim to ‘Azah, the desert road.” 27 So he got up and went. On his way, he caught sight of an Ethiopian, a eunuch who was minister in charge of all the treasure of the Kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia. He had been to Yerushalayim to worship; 28 and now, as he was returning home, he was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Yesha‘yahu. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot, and stay close to it.” 30 As Philip ran up, he heard the Ethiopian reading from Yesha‘yahu the prophet. “Do you understand what you’re reading?” he asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him.
32 Now the portion of the Tanakh that he was reading was this:
“He was like a sheep led to be slaughtered;
like a lamb silent before the shearer, he does not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and denied justice.
Who will tell about his descendants,
since his life has been taken from the earth?”[Acts 8:33 Isaiah 53:7–8]
34 The eunuch said to Philip, “Here’s my question to you — is the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip started to speak — beginning with that passage, he went on to tell him the Good News about Yeshua.
36 As they were going down the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Here’s some water! Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be immersed?” 37 [Acts 8:37 Some manuscripts include verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered, “I believe that Yeshua the Messiah is the Son of God.”] 38 He ordered the chariot to stop; then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip immersed him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch saw no more of him, because he continued on his way — full of joy. 40 But Philip showed up at Ashdod and continued proclaiming the Good News as he went through all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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