Tuesday, October 31, 2017

LHM Daily Devotion - November 1, 2017 "God's Protection"

As far as I can tell, there are two kinds of guardian angels. The first..
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour



"God's Protection"

November 1, 2017

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
~ Psalm 91:11 (ESV)

As far as I can tell, there are two kinds of guardian angels.

The first kind of guardian angel is the kind spoken of in the Bible. You have the familiar verse from Psalm 91, which I just read. But, there's more than that. Jesus spoke of the children's guardian angels when He said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10).

We dare not forget Exodus 23, which says there was a guardian angel assigned to the children of Israel: "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared" (Exodus 23:20 ). And Daniel, freshly rescued from the den of death, reports: "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths" (Daniel 6:22a).

And the second type of guardian angel? Well, this type of GA is a special human being who shows up and, often, quite unexpectedly, does the Lord's work.

Recently, St. Louis saw the work of a guardian angel. Here's what happened: a man was being pushed by his wife in a wheelchair. They made it as far as the railroad tracks in Kirkwood, Missouri, where the man's chair got stuck on the tracks. The wife couldn't move forward or backward, which was a problem because a train was coming, and it was coming fast.

Julie and Chandler Flanders were watching from their car when a lady came out of nowhere and ran to the fellow in the chair. The woman picked up the man and his chair and moved them to safety. By the time Julie and her brother made it to the man, the train was half way through the crossing-and the woman who lifted the chair-bound man to safety? Nobody got her name, and she was gone.

The work of a guardian angel? Most definitely! Earthly or heavenly? Who can tell?

My friends, the truth is you have a Lord who loves you very much. His Son's life, suffering, death, and resurrection are proof of how much He is concerned about your eternity. But, we make a great mistake if we think the Lord's care and compassion is reserved only for the hereafter. The Triune God cares for you, and your guardian angel is just the way He shows His concern.

What, you've never seen your guardian angel? I'm not surprised. Most prefer to work anonymously.

But let me ask, have you ever almost been in an accident, but somehow, someway, managed to be spared? Now it is possible you avoided that accident because of your lightning-fast reflexes and tremendous skill behind the wheel. But maybe not. Here's another: please list all the times you haven't tripped, all the illnesses you didn't catch, all the friends who didn't betray you, all the jobs from which you weren't fired. You can't do it, can you? That's because those things never happened.

Was it luck or fate? That's what some would say. Me, I know the Lord gives His holy angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for all Your blessings, including all the bad things of life from which I have been spared, I thank You. May I rejoice in these things, and the Savior who is with me always. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin!  Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).

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