Matthew 6:8 - (Jesus said) "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our international ministry centers to write our Sunday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.
In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of
The Lutheran Hour
One of the Bible verses I like best is Philippians 4:19. It reads: "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus."
Now you may rightly ask just why is it one of my favorites. Well, I'll tell you. It is because of what my staff and I have experienced during our last 11 months of ministry. With our own eyes, we have seen how God fulfills His promise.
This takes me to the second reason why I love this passage. From experience we know that the Lord has given us a promise He will keep. All of us face problems and difficulties in our daily lives. Sometimes those problems are so overwhelming we feel like giving up. This passage says we should not do that since the Lord will provide. He will give you what you need.
And only He has the power, the ability, and the desire to do that for us.
May I give you a few examples of what I mean? First, I would like to take you back to a music performance we did last month. While I was busy helping our group set up for the show, a lady from the church came to me and asked, "I remember you from the evangelism training seminar you did. Now you are here again. Who supports this ministry?"
At first, I was a bit afraid she was going to criticize our team.
She didn't. What did happen was this. She patiently listened as I explained our ministries, after which she immediately asked, "Do you mind if I donate five million Dong to your program?"
Well, I didn't mind, and our organization was five-million Dong richer. Oh, I ought to tell you five-million Dong is about $240 in your money."
Here's another example. Our organization's monthly income had fallen off because we didn't have many students. It was a difficult situation but not one which made us despair. We took our problem to the Lord in prayer. We prayed and we waited to see what the Lord would do.
Well, the Lord responded. He heard our prayers and has now given us more students than we had ever hoped for.
Now, I wonder, do you completely believe that God can provide you with what you need? I pray you do. I hope you rely on the Scriptures which say we will encounter no difficulty that God cannot handle. That's what Psalm 69:33 says, "For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise His own people who are prisoners."
Indeed, the life, suffering, and death of our Savior shows us the completeness of the Father's love toward us. Without Jesus' sacrifice and intercession, we would all be hopelessly lost and eternally damned.
But Jesus has come, and now with His resurrection verifying His success in washing away our sins, we can rejoice. We have been saved for eternity by grace through faith in the Redeemer. Now, today, and every today for the rest of our lives, we can rejoice that God is there to shelter, protect, and help us through the times which are tough.
THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for providing for us. Grant that every day we be brought closer to you and bless the witness we make to the Savior. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Mr. Dinh Hai Au is the director of Lutheran Hour Ministries-Vietnam, which is located in Ho Chi Minh City. "I was born into a Christian family but did not really understand who God is," Hai Au relates. Some personal crises led him to the Lord who answered his prayers in powerful ways. "Since then I have experienced countless blessings in my life and work," he says. Hai Au majored in English and worked as an English teacher for 12 years after his graduation. From 2003 to 2007 he worked for LHM organizing shows that shared the Gospel to non-Christian children and youth. Hai Au began work as the center's director at the end of 2011. Under his leadership, LHM-Vietnam has experienced overwhelming responses and new or revitalized evangelism strategies.
Known in-country as Globalinks, LHM-Vietnam makes use of holistic ministry, sporting events, internet radio, and musical performances to create opportunities for Gospel presentations. In this country of nearly 92 million people, staff and volunteers from LHM-Vietnam's ministry center conduct eyeglass clinics and children's nutritional programs to help foster community relationships. God's Word is shared through print media, puppet productions, films, drama and rallies too. Both
Bible Correspondence Courses (
BCC) and lay Christian training provided through
Equipping the Saints (
ETS) workshops are effective in strengthening believers' faith and giving them instruction in witnessing and personal faith-sharing.
Be sure to check out LHM's International Ministries' blog page. You can find it by
clicking here.
