(Jesus said) "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33

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 Friday 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




In January 2015 our Lutheran Hour Ministries-Cambodia team went to Banteay Mean Chey province to do an Equipping the Saints workshop. While there, we spent time with many pastors and church leaders who attended the workshop. One pastor, who helped coordinate the films and the puppet show, became quite familiar to us.

This is what he shared with us. "In 2010 my wife gave birth to a girl, and I did not have enough money to pay the hospital. At the time I was serving a congregation which paid me a small salary because we had many projects to help the poor."

As I am a pastor, I cannot complain to the church, but I planned to quit the ministry and go to Thailand to find a better job there. So my wife and I started to pray to God together. We both said to God: "Father, we love You and we want to serve You with joy, but there is no joy now as we owe the hospital money. Please help us to know Your way so that we can do what is right. We need to have money to support the family, and that is why we feel we should go to Thailand and give up the ministry."

About a month later the authorities decided to move the market close to the pastor's rented house.

Seeing an opportunity, the pastor and his wife sold juice by the glass to the shoppers. Amazingly, they had many customers and sold 300 glasses of juice a day. Soon they were making between 20 and 25 U.S. dollars every day. That was a big amount for them. From month to month, the business kept growing and growing.

Today the pastor and his wife also sell vegetables and have two stores in the new market.

The business, which was started in 2010, has given a good income to the pastor and his wife. They now own their own home and are earning $1,000 to $1,300 each month. It is a big amount for a Cambodian who is living in Banteay Mean Chey.

Most importantly, the pastor and his wife still serve the Lord, even as they teach others how to begin a business like they have. We praise God for working among His people in such a beautiful way.

We shouldn't be surprised. Look at God's Word: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in this sinful world. Many times we do not want to pray, nor do we wish God's approval. Because of that we face self-made hardship in our lives. It is a sad situation and it creates suffering, hatred and anger in our hearts. Some even have accused God of being uncaring and having abandoned them.

How sad.

The Lord, who gave His Son to die on the cross to take away our sins and win our salvation, is not going to forget us. He wants all to be brought to faith in Him and confidently rely on and pray to Him who has saved us at such a great cost.

He wants us to remember He is still alive and loves us, even as we should love and serve Him.

THE PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive us for our several mistakes that we have done in the past and those we do even now. In Your mercy and love, help us turn to You and ask Your guidance so we may seek first that which is most important. This we ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Rev. Phin Naro, director of the Lutheran Hour Ministries office in Cambodia. Since its establishment in 2000, the ministry center staff and volunteers at LHM-Cambodia have used programs like Equipping the Saints (ETS) and Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) to communicate the message of God's eternal love to the 14 million Cambodians. The center also cooperates with churches in reaching the lost through puppet shows, music events, and youth programs.

In country, LHM-Cambodia is known as Cambodia Christian Media Center. It's headquartered in Phnom Penh City. In addition to utilizing BCC and ETS workshops, this ministry center is active in evangelism training and educating this county's citizens in Christian teachings. Using a values-education program, young people are taught the benefit of making healthy lifestyle choices. The ministry center also provides clothing and other materials to school-age children.

Read how a small group Bible study led to two people accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior by clicking here to visit its blog.


To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhmint.org.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Joshua 13-15    Luke 10:25-42

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