Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Millions Who Wonder" for Tuesday, July 24, 2018
A pastor friend of mine told me about a conversation he had with a lady who was asking about what his church believed. Everything went fine until he started talking about God's Commandments and the penalty for sin. Hearing about hell, the lady blurted: "Pastor, that's impossible! My god would never do such a thing."
Surprised by the lady's reaction, the pastor went on to other topics as he tried to think of a suitable reply.
Before the end of their session, he said, "A little while ago you said your 'god' wouldn't condemn you for disobeying his law. I think a lot of people have that god. Their god doesn't condemn them because he likes them just the way they are. Their god wouldn't call them 'sinners' or call them to repentance, and he certainly wouldn't suggest they need a Savior."
"The only problem with your 'god,'" my friend continued, "is that he doesn't exist, and he certainly isn't the God of the Bible."
"And what was the lady's reply?" I asked my pastor friend.
He said, "I don't know. I never saw her again."
You see, that lady, like many others, thought she was the master, and God was a beggar, who should be glad to glean any crumbs that fall from her table. She thought of God as a cuddly-wuddly teddy bear, who might make her feel warm and secure when she needed Him but would -- the rest of the time -- sit patiently on her bed, or wherever she put Him.
She thought of God as being a spiritual Santa, who waited anxiously for her to pass on the list of things she wanted, but who could be ignored the rest of the time. She thought of God as a nice grandpa, who gave gentle suggestions, but would never give orders.
Although she might never have said it out loud, this lady was among the hundreds of millions who wonder
* who does God think He is that He can tell me what I'm supposed to do?
* who does God think He is that I have to keep Him first all of the time?
* who does God think He is that He can push me around?
* who does God think He is that I'm not allowed to have anything before Him, alongside Him, over, under, or next to Him?
Who does God think He is?
I'm going to tell you.
God thinks He's God, and we're not. He's the God whose justice compels Him to condemn the sinner and the God whose grace sent His Son into the world to save those same sinners. He is the God who says, "The wages of sin is death, but My free gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may I always remember that You are the loving Lord, and I am the sinful soul. May I always remember the sacrifice made by the Savior, who has given me life through His death and resurrection. In His Name, I ask it. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Psalms 89, 92; Psalm 91; Philippians 3
Psalm 89:1 (0) A maskil of Eitan the Ezrachi:
2 (1) I will sing about Adonai’s acts of grace forever,
with my mouth proclaim your faithfulness to all generations;
3 (2) because I said, “Grace is built to last forever;
in the heavens themselves you established your faithfulness.”
4 (3) You said, “I made a covenant with the one I chose,
I swore to my servant David,
5 (4) ‘I will establish your dynasty forever,
build up your throne through all generations.’” (Selah)
6 (5) Let the heavens praise your wonders, Adonai,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the angels.
7 (6) For who in the skies can be compared with Adonai?
Which of these gods can rival Adonai,
8 (7) a God dreaded in the great assembly of the holy ones
and feared by all around him?
9 (8) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot!
Who is as mighty as you, Yah?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
10 (9) You control the raging of the sea;
when its waves rear up, you calm them.
11 (10) You crushed Rahav like a carcass;
with your strong arm you scattered your foes.
12 (11) The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
you founded the world and everything in it.
13 (12) You created north and south;
Tavor and Hermon take joy in your name.
14 (13) Your arm is mighty, your hand is strong,
your right hand is lifted high.
15 (14) Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
grace and truth attend you.
16 (15) How happy are the people who know the joyful shout!
They walk in the light of your presence, Adonai.
17 (16) They rejoice in your name all day
and are lifted up by your righteousness,
18 (17) for you yourself are the strength in which they glory.
Our power grows by pleasing you,
19 (18) for our shield comes from Adonai —
our king is from the Holy One of Isra’el.
20 (19) There was a time when you spoke in a vision;
you declared to your loyal [prophets],
“I have given help to a warrior,
I have raised up someone chosen from the people.
21 (20) I have found David my servant
and anointed him with my holy oil.
22 (21) My hand will always be with him,
and my arm will give him strength.
23 (22) No enemy will outwit him,
no wicked man overcome him.
24 (23) I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
25 (24) My faithfulness and grace will be with him;
through my name his power will grow.
26 (25) I will put his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
27 (26) He will call to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
28 (27) I will give him the position of firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
29 (28) I will keep my grace for him forever,
and in my covenant be faithful with him.
30 (29) I will establish his dynasty forever,
and his throne as long as the heavens last.
31 (30) “If his descendants abandon my Torah
and fail to live by my rulings,
32 (31) if they profane my regulations
and don’t obey my mitzvot,
33 (32) I will punish their disobedience with the rod
and their guilt with lashes.
34 (33) But I won’t withdraw my grace from him
or be false to my faithfulness.
35 (34) I will not profane my covenant
or change what my lips have spoken.
36 (35) I have sworn by my holiness once and for all;
I will not lie to David —
37 (36) his dynasty will last forever,
his throne like the sun before me.
38 (37) It will be established forever, like the moon,
which remains a faithful witness in the sky.” (Selah)
39 (38) But you spurned your anointed one,
rejected and vented your rage on him.
40 (39) You renounced the covenant with your servant
and defiled his crown in the dust.
41 (40) You broke through all his defenses
and left his strongholds in ruins.
42 (41) All who pass by plunder him;
he is an object of scorn to his neighbors.
43 (42) You raised up the right hand of his foes
and made all his enemies rejoice.
44 (43) You drive back his drawn sword
and fail to support him in battle.
45 (44) You brought an end to his splendor
and hurled his throne to the ground.
46 (45) You cut short the days of his youth
and covered him with shame. (Selah)
47 (46) How long, Adonai? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your fury burn like fire?
48 (47) Remember how little time I have!
Was it for no purpose that you created all humanity?
49 (48) Who can live and not see death?
Who can save himself from the power of the grave?(Selah)
50 (49) Where, Adonai, are the acts of grace you once did,
those which, in your faithfulness, you swore to David?
51 (50) Remember, Adonai, the taunts hurled at your servants,
which I carry in my heart [from] so many peoples!
52 (51) Your enemies, Adonai, have flung their taunts,
flung them in the footsteps of your anointed one.
53 (52) Blessed be Adonai forever.
Amen. Amen.92:1 (0) A psalm. A song for Shabbat:
2 (1) It is good to give thanks to Adonai
and sing praises to your name, ‘Elyon,
3 (2) to tell in the morning about your grace
and at night about your faithfulness,
4 (3) to the music of a ten-stringed [harp] and a lute,
with the melody sounding on a lyre.
5 (4) For, Adonai, what you do makes me happy;
I take joy in what your hands have made.
6 (5) How great are your deeds, Adonai!
How very deep your thoughts!
7 (6) Stupid people can’t know,
fools don’t understand,
8 (7) that when the wicked sprout like grass,
and all who do evil prosper,
it is so that they can be eternally destroyed,
9 (8) while you, Adonai, are exalted forever.
10 (9) For your enemies, Adonai,
your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
11 (10) But you have given me
the strength of a wild bull;
you anoint me with fresh olive oil.
12 (11) My eyes have gazed with pleasure on my enemies’ ruin,
my ears have delighted in the fall of my foes.
13 (12) The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar in the L’vanon.
14 (13) Planted in the house of Adonai,
they will flourish in the courtyards of our God.
15 (14) Even in old age they will be vigorous,
still full of sap, still bearing fruit,
16 (15) proclaiming that Adonai is upright,
my Rock, in whom there is no wrong.
91:1 You who live in the shelter of ‘Elyon,
who spend your nights in the shadow of Shaddai,
2 who say to Adonai, “My refuge! My fortress!
My God, in whom I trust!” —
3 he will rescue you from the trap of the hunter
and from the plague of calamities;
4 he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his truth is a shield and protection.
5 You will not fear the terrors of night
or the arrow that flies by day,
6 or the plague that roams in the dark,
or the scourge that wreaks havoc at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it won’t come near you.
8 Only keep your eyes open,
and you will see how the wicked are punished.
9 For you have made Adonai, the Most High,
who is my refuge, your dwelling-place.
10 No disaster will happen to you,
no calamity will come near your tent;
11 for he will order his angels to care for you
and guard you wherever you go.
12 They will carry you in their hands,
so that you won’t trip on a stone.
13 You will tread down lions and snakes,
young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he loves me, I will rescue him;
because he knows my name, I will protect him.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble.
I will extricate him and bring him honor.
16 I will satisfy him with long life
and show him my salvation.”
Philippians 3:1 In conclusion, my brothers: rejoice in union with the Lord.
It is no trouble for me to repeat what I have written you before, and for you it will be a safeguard: 2 beware of the dogs, those evildoers, the Mutilated! 3 For it is we who are the Circumcised, we who worship by the Spirit of God and make our boast in the Messiah Yeshua! We do not put confidence in human qualifications, 4 even though I certainly have grounds for putting confidence in such things. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for putting confidence in human qualifications, I have better grounds:
a.5 b’rit-milah on the eighth day,
b. by birth belonging to the people of Isra’el,
c. from the tribe of Binyamin,
d. a Hebrew-speaker, with Hebrew-speaking parents,
e.in regard to the Torah, a Parush,
f. 6 in regard to zeal, a persecutor of the Messianic Community,
g. in regard to the righteousness demanded by legalism, blameless.
7 But the things that used to be advantages for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage. 8 Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage, in order to gain the Messiah 9 and be found in union with him, not having any righteousness of my own based on legalism, but having that righteousness which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness, the righteousness from God based on trust. 10 Yes, I gave it all up in order to know him, that is, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings as I am being conformed to his death, 11 so that somehow I might arrive at being resurrected from the dead. 12 It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal — no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead, 14 I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God’s upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua. 15 Therefore, as many of us as are mature, let us keep paying attention to this; and if you are differently minded about anything, God will also reveal this to you. 16 Only let our conduct fit the level we have already reached.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and pay attention to those who live according to the pattern we have set for you. 18 For many — I have told you about them often before, and even now I say it with tears — live as enemies of the Messiah’s execution-stake. 19 They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, and it is from there that we expect a Deliverer, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 21 He will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables him to bring everything under his control. (Complete Jewish Bible).
***
It is no trouble for me to repeat what I have written you before, and for you it will be a safeguard: 2 beware of the dogs, those evildoers, the Mutilated! 3 For it is we who are the Circumcised, we who worship by the Spirit of God and make our boast in the Messiah Yeshua! We do not put confidence in human qualifications, 4 even though I certainly have grounds for putting confidence in such things. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for putting confidence in human qualifications, I have better grounds:
a.5 b’rit-milah on the eighth day,
b. by birth belonging to the people of Isra’el,
c. from the tribe of Binyamin,
d. a Hebrew-speaker, with Hebrew-speaking parents,
e.in regard to the Torah, a Parush,
f. 6 in regard to zeal, a persecutor of the Messianic Community,
g. in regard to the righteousness demanded by legalism, blameless.
7 But the things that used to be advantages for me, I have, because of the Messiah, come to consider a disadvantage. 8 Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage, in order to gain the Messiah 9 and be found in union with him, not having any righteousness of my own based on legalism, but having that righteousness which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness, the righteousness from God based on trust. 10 Yes, I gave it all up in order to know him, that is, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings as I am being conformed to his death, 11 so that somehow I might arrive at being resurrected from the dead. 12 It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal — no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead, 14 I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God’s upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua. 15 Therefore, as many of us as are mature, let us keep paying attention to this; and if you are differently minded about anything, God will also reveal this to you. 16 Only let our conduct fit the level we have already reached.
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and pay attention to those who live according to the pattern we have set for you. 18 For many — I have told you about them often before, and even now I say it with tears — live as enemies of the Messiah’s execution-stake. 19 They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, and it is from there that we expect a Deliverer, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 21 He will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like his glorious body, using the power which enables him to bring everything under his control. (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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