spiritsoulandbody

[spiritsoulandbody]

Christmas Day December 25, 2024

Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

Christmas Eve December 24, 2024

Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Jesus Is The Shoot Of Jesse https://www.hopelutheranchapel.org/dailydevotion-jesus-is-the-shoot-of-jesse-2/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3RRO19NcEJche-jzRiiUtAOjK2Eg15DihejAPOAiAIp-KZFz0LNUwnqj8_aem_KaY80oNaZe05-LB5OJP28Q

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Savior Of The Nations Come!

#DailyDevotion Savior Of The Nations Come! Amos 9 11“On that day I will set up David’s tent that has fallen down and repair its walls where they are broken down, restore his ruined places, and build them as they were long ago, 12so they may have what is left of Edom and all the nations over whom My name is called,” says the LORD Who does these things. 13“The days are coming,” says the LORD, “when the one who plows will catch up with him who cuts the grain, and the one who tramples the grapes with him who sows the seed. The mountains will drip with grape juice, and all the hills will flow with it. 14Then I will restore My people Israel, and they will build the ruined cities and live there, plant vineyards and drink the wine from them, make gardens and eat their fruits. 15I will plant them on their ground, and they won’t be plucked up again from their ground that I gave them,” says the LORD your God. Well, after all the bad news we've been reading in Amos it's about time we get some good news. This will certainly resonate with pastors and laypeople who want the sermon to end in the Gospel (which isn't a bad thing). James, who was the head of the Church in Jerusalem, quotes this passage concerning the early church gentile controversy. Verses 11 and 12 are quoted. He sees indeed the LORD Jesus Christ is the rebuilder of David's tent. Through the conversion of both Jews and Gentiles to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the LORD is rebuilding the walls and restoring broken places, i.e. the spiritual Jerusalem, Zion, which is the ancient Church, the Bride of Christ. “. . . the nations over whom My name is called,” is this not the mystery of the Gospel hidden in ages past as Paul says in Rom.16:25, “ I bring and the preaching of Jesus Christ, by unveiling the mystery veiled in silence for long ages 26but now brought to light and by the writings of the prophets, as the everlasting God ordered them, shown to all the nations to lead them to believe and obey. . .” Eph. 3:6, “6that in Christ Jesus the people who are not Jews have the same inheritance, belong to the same body, and have the same promise through the good news.” Based on this, James reasons the Gentile Christians should not be burdened with the Law of Moses, which they, the Jews, have never kept. Nevertheless, through the name of Jesus, the Gentiles are called and made one with God's holy people, just as the Israelites are God's holy people though faith in Jesus their Messiah. But this is just the beginning of the Good News. You might remember that Amos began with locusts eating everything. Then a fire destroys everything. Not looking to good agriculturally. When the prophecy is totally fulfilled on the Last Day, when the LORD Jesus Christ gathers all who believed in His name, He will restore the earth. It will be better than we had ever seen it. They'll be plowing just as soon as they're harvesting. The hills will be so full of wine they will drip with it. We will be planted on our own ground. For now, both Jewish and Gentile followers of Christ, we are the diaspora. We are merely travelers, foreigners living in a foreign country. Then we will inherit the kingdom of Christ Jesus, our LORD and Savior. “Savior of the nations, come; Virgin's Son, here make Thy home! Thou, the Father's only Son, Hast over sin the victory won. Boundless shall Thy kingdom be; When shall we its glories see? O Savior of the nations, Jesus Christ, come and reign among us. Make our hearts Your earthly throne. Keep us steadfast as we await to see Your glory and receive Your promised kingdom. In Your precious name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

Fourth Sunday in Advent December 22, 2024

Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

Can't get to Church?

Can't get to Church? You can listen to an abbreviated service at 8:30 am cst on www.krmsradio.com or you can join us live at 10 am cst here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClwQMjDeHKXtW_2kGcY0spQ Be sure to click like and subscribe to be notified when we go live. Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Jesus Gives Us A Reason To Sing A New Song https://www.hopelutheranchapel.org/dailydevotion-jesus-gives-us-a-reason-to-sing-a-new-song/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3k5fNTM6mnSy9HY3STUS7XLsjhuTLWg1L2Dv06WlpyyKtnGu7oxdpDe-o_aem_nT13-B5MsrasnQgi0bJGbg

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Jesus Is Our King Of Peace

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Don't Despise The Election Of Your God

#DailyDevotion Don't Despise The Election Of Your God Amos 9 5When the Lord GOD of armies touches the earth, it quakes, and all who live there mourn. All of it rises like the Nile and goes down again like Egypt’s river. 6He Who built stairs into heaven and set His sky over the earth, Who calls the water of the sea and pours it on the ground ��� He is called the LORD. I don't know why they always translate Adonai with Lord. Sure it means lord but when it runs up next to YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah), then they run into trouble since they substitute LORD for YHWH so they then translate YHWH as GOD (all caps is to designate YHWH). Why not just treat Adonai as a proper name as it only refers to God in the Old Testament? In any case, the LORD is pulling out His big names again in Amos here to demonstrate His omnipotence. He is all powerful. When He touches the earth big things happen. There are earthquakes and people mourn. The earth goes up and down like the Nile river. We can't totally control nature but He can and does. It is the LORD who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. The sky, the seas, the land, it is all His to do with as He pleases. Normally, it is for our benefit. At other times it can be for judgment and calling us to repentance. He brings this up to tell us that His threats aren't merely threats. He isn't all bark and no bite. What He warns will happen, He will bring it to pass at the right time. 7“Aren’t you Israelites like the people of Ethiopia to Me?” asks the LORD. “Didn’t I bring Israel up out of Egypt, the Philistines from Crete, and the Syrians from Kir? 8You see, the Lord GOD is looking at the sinful kingdom, and I will wipe it off the face of the earth but not totally destroy the people of Jacob,” says the LORD. 9You see, I'm ready to give the order and will sift Israel among all the nations as something is sifted in a sieve, but not a kernel will fall to the ground. 10The sword will kill all the sinners of My people who are thinking, ‘Destruction will not catch up with us or get at us.’ What is the LORD saying here? He is telling the Israelites not to depend upon their partriarchs' relationship to the LORD nor their forefathers' relationship to Him. While the LORD chose them, He also chose them to be holy as He is holy. Since they have broken fellowship with Him, He has broken fellowship with them. As sinful, unrepentant people, they cannot rely on the LORD's protection. The reverse is true. Since they act like the nations, the LORD will treat them like the nations. While the LORD took the Israelites out of Egypt, He also moved the Philistines from Crete and the Syrians from Kir. (Sidenote to the archaeologist out there, this could make a good dissertation for a Phd., proving the Syrian people in the eighth century were originally from Kir). Verses eight and nine are really emphatic. They start off with, “You see!” In Hebrew it is “hinneh.” Sometimes it is translated as “behold.” They should pay attention. Judgment is at the door. Destruction is coming their way. Those who think will escape having been warned by the prophet, the LORD will make sure gets killed. The LORD will sift the people of Israel among the nations, but if there are any good ones, they would be preserved. As God's holy people then, let us not despise our election but make it sure by daily repentance and using the means of grace on a regular basis to be made holy and righteous by Him. Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

3rd Midweek Advent Service December 18, 2024

Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion YHWH Rains Down Righteous Through Jesus https://www.hopelutheranchapel.org/dailydevotion-yhwh-rains-down-righteous-through-jesus/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0eVTiEqLmLPdCeOcDSU4eZ5u3J9oyKVTOLP0Sy5m9ophFytBHhh_4ixr0_aem_On8MLOXSesb2q0HrTwxxrg

[spiritsoulandbody]

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion When God Judges The Church Will You Escape?

#DailyDevotion When God Judges The Church Will You Escape? Amos 9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars to shake the thresholds. Smash them on the heads of all the people. I will kill with a sword any that are left behind. None of them who flees will get away; none of them will escape. 2Even if they would dig their way into Sheol , My hand would get them from there. If they would go up to heaven, I would get them down from there. 3If they would hide on top of Carmel,I would search for them and get them from there.If they would hide on the bottom of the sea to keep Me from seeing them, there I would order the sea snake to bite them. 4If they would march ahead of their enemies into exile, I would order the sword to kill them there. I will watch them to hurt them and not to help them.” The first verse is kind of striking. The LORD is seen standing by the altar. Is it the altar at Bethel? Is it the altar in Jerusalem? While recent context may indicate Bethel, it doesn't seem so because the prophecy concerns Israel as a whole and not just the northern tribes. It may also be a figurative altar and temple with the temple being the house of Israel, the people of Israel in whom the LORD would dwell. This is similar to the Church being the temple of God. The destruction of the top pillars to cause the thresholds to shake, fall and smash on the heads of all the people speaks of judgment upon all the people who make up this temple. Those who are not killed by the destruction of the temple, the LORD will kill with the sword and none shall escape. I think this tends to be a composite prophecy. It is fulfilled in a number of ways, first by the Assyrians destroying Samaria and exiling it's people. Secondly, when the Babylonians destroy Judah and exile its people. Finally, when the LORD sends the Romans to destroy the temple in 70 AD and sends the people of Judah into the world. Unbelieving Israel is still suffering throughout the world to day because of their rejection of the LORD who is Jesus Christ. (This in no way gives license for Christians to persecute and harm Jews. It is the LORD who determines how, when and by whom they will suffer. Nor does it give a guilt free pass to anyone else to cause them harm, as we have seen in earlier devotions.) The next few verses bring to mind Psalm 139 “7Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your face? 8If I go up to heaven, You are there, or make the grave my bed, You are there.” This Psalm is meant to be comforting to God's people. The LORD turns it around on them now in His anger and wrath and makes it a curse. He lists first the impossible places for the people of Israel to go, showing that even if they went there, they couldn't hide from Him or His wrath. He tells them it's no use trying to go to other places they may have in mind, because He will find them there as well. The words are hard to bear, He will hunt them down wherever they go and kill them. What a great warning for us, the Church. Peter warns us, 1 Pet. 4, “17It is time for the judgment to start in God's temple. But if it is starting with us, how will it end for those who refuse to listen to God's good news?” The LORD Jesus will purge the visible Church of the wicked who live unrepentant lives. We should do what we can to make sure we are not one of those. Let us rightly judge ourselves, confess our sins and cling to Jesus in His Word and Sacraments to escape the coming wrath of God. Heavenly Father, You purge Your people of all that is wicked and perverse. May Your Holy Spirit purge our hearts of all things evil so we may trust Your Son, Jesus Christ, solely for our salvation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

Third Sunday in Advent December 15, 2024

Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

Can't get to Church?

Can't get to Church? You can listen to an abbreviated service at 8:30 am cst on www.krmsradio.com or you can join us live at 10 am cst here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClwQMjDeHKXtW_2kGcY0spQ Be sure to click like and subscribe to be notified when we go live. Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Repent Today Before The Day Of Judgment Comes

#DailyDevotion Repent Today Before The Day Of Judgment Comes Amos 8 9On that day,” says the Lord GOD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your happy songs into funeral songs. I will put sackcloth on all waists and make every head bald and make it like the mourning for an only child, and the end of it will be a bitter day. “On that day,” strikes an ominous tone. For what follows is certainly judgment. The LORD God will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in the middle of the day. This hearkens first, to the first day of creation where the earth was void, chaos ruled and there was no light. Then no doubt there was darkness over the earth when the LORD flooded it. The explicit judgment by the LORD upon the Egyptians as He plunged them into darkness. The reference here seems to be explicitly on Good Friday when the earth was plunged into darkness from noon to three as the Son of God was hung upon the cross. The sins of the world were placed upon Him. The Father declared Him guilty on our behalf and turned His face away from Jesus. The judgment is fulfilled as Jesus gives up in spirit unto death, the penalty for our sins. Yet, that darkness comes upon the earth again. It is described several times in the book of Revelation signaling the day of judgment upon the world because it rejected the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Now darkness will also come upon the northern tribes of Israel for their sin of idolatry and the sins that followed after it. The darkness here will be caused by the trampling of the horses and chariots with the multitudes of Assyrians marching as the hand of the LORD to punish His people who rebelled against Him and chose to follow the ways of their hearts instead of the Word of God. Verse ten here describes how they will all look on that day, a great day of mourning for any that survive. 11The days will come,” says the Lord GOD, “when I will have a famine come into the country, not a hunger for food nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the LORD. 12And people will wander from sea to sea, from the north to the east, anxiously searching for the LORD’s Word but will not find it. 13On that day beautiful girls and young men will faint for thirst. 14Those who swear by the guilty thing of Samaria and say, ‘As your god lives, Dan,’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives’ — they will fall never to get up again.” The worst temporal punishment that can come upon a nation is a famine of the Word of God. That day had come upon the nation of Israel who persecuted and killed the prophets sent to her. The LORD is like, “You don't want to hear my Word? Fine, I shall remove it from your midst.” Have we not seen this now in many places that used to be bustling with active churches and now they are museums. The people in these places are searching indeed, but not for the Word of the LORD. They want something like it. What they find will nevertheless still leave them spiritually hungry. So they are like the Israelites described here, who swear by the guilt of Samaria, idols at Dan and Bethel, who want a facsimile of Christianity but hate the substance thereof. The LORD is removing His Word from these places. We therefore should live repentant lives, always clamoring for the Word of Christ. We must do what we can to keep it before the people so they may be saved before the LORD takes it away from them because of their rejection. We should heartily conform our lives to it so it is honored. Heavenly Father, always keep Your Word before us so we do not fall into Your judgment and lose our faith for lack of it, and we may enter Your life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion Are You Secularized Christians Like The Israelites?

#DailyDevotion Are You Secularized Christians Like The Israelites? Amos 8 4Listen to this, you who want to devour the needy and put an end to the poor in the world. 5“When will the first of the month be over,” you ask, “so we can sell grain; and the Sabbath so we can offer grain for sale?” — using a bushel that is too small, a money weight that is too heavy, and crooked scales to cheat, 6buying poor people with money and the needy for a pair of shoes, and selling as grain what you sweep up on your floor. 7The LORD swears by the pride of Jacob: “I’ll never forget anything they’re doing.” 8“Shouldn’t the country tremble for this and everyone living in it mourn? All of it will rise like the Nile and be tossed and sink down like Egypt’s river. We can see how secularized the Israelites had become while remaining quite religious. The people who were to be a nation of priests had become a nation of merchants. People of God can never say, “It's only business.” I'm sure the Israelites had a saying for this as they devoured the needy and put an end to the poor in the world. We can see in verse 6 how they are doing this. They were enslaving the poor and needy when they should have been taking care of them. They were selling shoddy grain to them. The Israelites were not to enslave one another but treat them as hired hands. Secondly, we can see they were dishonoring the LORD's commands concerning the Sabbath. While they outwardly observed it, they did not see it as a blessing. They, in their hearts, worshipped mammon. They did not keep it holy in their hearts. Perhaps we may be guilty of this when we are looking at our watches during the worship service. Rarely is it going to last an hour and a half. We have no problem watching a game or a movie that long. Are our hearts like these wicked people, having only an appearance of being holy? They dishonored the Word of the LORD by using bushels that are too small, weights that are too heavy and crooked scales. I guess our state government's department of weights and measures prevents this from happening too often. But when we sell something, do we disclose possible defects and problems so the person can value the item appropriately or do we say, “Buyer beware?” Is that the proverb of a Christian who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? So the LORD swears by the pride of Jacob. He is the pride of Jacob. He cannot swear by anything higher because He IS. What does He swear? He will never forget anything they have done or are doing. This should cause them to tremble and repent but it will not. They will continue in their wanton lifestyle though they should be holy to the LORD. The LORD had given them a rule for living that would make them wise in the eyes of the world but they spurned it for the wisdom of the world. He had given them a way of life in which He would bless them as they trusted in Him. They sought the blessings of demons and men and would pay for it. Learn from the Israelites how not to live and how to avoid angering the Almighty. First, put your trust in Jesus Christ. May everything we think, say and do be to His glory. Secondly, listen to His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount imitate Him in being merciful and holy. Gracious Father, give us Your Holy Spirit so we may live our lives trusting in the mercy of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and then imitate Him in everything we do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article