Consecrated

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

CONSECRATED

Luke 2:21-24

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."  

NIV

Here we have two events which are the Law of the Lord and Joseph and Mary complied with them which was the way they had to under the Law of the Lord. Of course this also was so Jesus would live a completely perfect life under the Law, thus fulfilling every aspect of the Law and being qualified to be our redeemer. We also see this truth that God the Father knows us and is concerned about us even before our being conceived. As the angel told Mary what name she would call Jesus even before he was conceived, God knows our name as well, even if our parents did not get a name from him, he still knows what they would decide our name to be. This is indeed a mystery, but it is the also the truth. God knows every aspect of our lives, even before we were conceived. It is as if he had already watched our entire life lived out before we actually lived it. This is much like us having seen a movie before, knowing the end, watching it again still having an interest in what happens throughout the movie. Although God knows how we will live our life and knows the end, that is if we will enter into his rest, or if we have condemned ourselves to perish, he is still interested in every aspect of our lives. The other truth here is in the event of consecrating Jesus to God. Although this was only to be done to the firstborn male, it is something we should consider. Should not our lives be consecrated to the Lord? As children many people are baptized in some method by their parents, as it is somewhat customary in many church going households. At least it has been over the past years and that may even be diminishing. Many of us who are believers in Christ decided to dedicate our lives and declare our intentions to follow Jesus and be baptized as adults or in some cases old enough children who know what they are doing. This is our declaration of living a life consecrated to God. When we say we want to follow Jesus, our lives should first start out being consecrated to the Lord. All else that follows should be determined by that statement of faith, by that act of consecration. This word, this action, in the Greek is ‘Hagios’, or Holy, which denotes, set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his. The question is do we actually live like that? Do we live as if we are set apart for God that we are exclusively his? Do we make life choices based on our own desires, or on what he desires? Do we act toward others as we desire or as he desires? Do we respond as he would or as we would? They are so many aspects of our life we should consider since we have consecrated ourselves to him. Even our innermost thoughts should be examined. All this is still under the ever watchful eye of God, with him knowing how we will live. Will we ever be completely free of sin? It is doubtful, but we should make every effort to allow the Spirit to guide us in the way of a consecrated life. We still have the choice not to follow, but we made that choice to consecrate ourselves to God, so we should at least follow our own decision, and that of course is to allow the Spirit full access of our lives. We are consecrated to God.   

Excited and Pondering

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

EXCITED AND PONDERING

Luke 2:15-20

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

NIV

It is one thing to simply ponder on the fact the angels came, gave these men a message then sang some glories about God and then returned to heaven. If this in itself doesn’t send chills down our spine, what will? They say the proof is in the pudding, but this shows us the proof heaven, God, and all that goes with it is real. We also have to consider the reality of heaven because these men hurried off to Bethlehem to see the thing that has happened which the Lord has told them about. They found Jesus just as they were told they would, and when they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the child. Here is one of our life lessons. When we see Jesus, that is when we come to the awareness of our need for Jesus, and we become born again, accepting him as our Lord and Savior, repenting of our former life, turning from the ways of the world and turning to him, we should be like those shepherds and spread the word of what we have been told about Jesus. That is hard to do if we close ourselves off from the world. If we only associate with other believers how are we going to spread the word? If we expect our church to do that, we do not understand the truth. We should be spreading the word about what we have been told about Jesus to those who do not know. It would seem these shepherds were rather enthusiastic in their sharing their experience with the angels and with finding Jesus. It is unlikely they were sharing in some highly intellectual dissertation, quoting all the prophetic words about Jesus. It is more likely they were excited about what had happened and how they came to find Jesus. This is our story, excitement because we can celebrate we have found Jesus, and we have forgiveness of sin, and eternal life. It is even doubtful those shepherds knew that, but nevertheless, they were excited about finding Jesus. We see after they had found him, as they were told they would they returned to the fields praising and glorifying God. When people find Jesus they indeed will praise and glorify God, as we should be doing all the time, all our life.  People do not need to know all the theology about God and Jesus in order to be saved, they only need to find Jesus, then they too will praise and glorify God all the days of their life.  The other truth here is in the heart of Mary, as she treasured and pondered all this in her heart. Knowing Jesus, knowing God, have all the truth about God recorded for us to read, should we not also treasure and ponder all this in our heart? What a treasure it is to find Jesus. The greatest treasure anyone could ever find. We should ponder on that all the days of our life. So let us get excited and tell everyone about the treasure we have found, as well as pondering on that all the days of our life. 

Celebrate

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

CELEBRATE

Luke 2:8-14

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

NIV

Yes, Jesus came in the most humble of circumstances but his Father wanted to celebrate the birth of the Son. Although it is true that Jesus has always been and was in fact at the beginning and that all which was created was created by him. We know this because of the Gospel according to John. Yet the Father had Jesus come to earth as a baby, fully human although he is also fully God. A mystery we may not fully understand but nevertheless it is the truth. So at this event, when it did happen the Father had to celebrate by sending his angels, a great company of them to earth appearing to, not the greatest of men, but to these shepherds watching over their flocks. We know that Jesus spent his life among the common people as well. He did not ask for audiences before kings, but spoke to the people. His early life was among the town people of Nazareth as the son of a carpenter. So here we see the Father bringing news of his Son to the common working class men, in the field. Is this our life lesson? We could focus on the birth of Jesus, our Savior, but we could also focus on the whole of the event. God focused on the ordinary people, not the high and mighty leaders of nations. That is not to say we should ignore them and exclude their need of the Gospel, but it does show us that we should certainly not ignore the common people either. It also shows us we are that common people, the working class and that God wants us to enter into the celebration of the birth of the Son. It is possible the Father could send a host of angels to us to announce this event to someone, but it is most likely he leaves that up to us, as the Son has told us to go into the world and tell everyone the Good News. We have become the host of angels in a sense, and we should be shouting “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” There is another truth here which does bear some thought. The phrase, “on whom his favor rests” is also translated, “on whom he is pleased” which could imply God is pleased with only some men, and not with others and that only his peace applies to those he is pleased with? How do we become men in whom he is pleased with? That answer is simply, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God is pleased with us and he favor, which the Greek word carries the meaning, his delight, his satisfaction, his pleasure, rest on us. This is an incredible truth. When we accept Jesus, we are experiencing the delight of God He is satisfied with us. He is delighted that we are now his children and that he will be able to enjoy our company for all of eternity. That is the very reason he created Adam, to have fellowship with him. So as we enter into his rest, he is satisfied and delighted because he will have fellowship with us. It is no wonder he celebrated the birth of Jesus with a host of angels. Life in Christ is a celebration of both us and of God. Let us celebrate! Let us celebrate ever day of our life because we are in Christ and it delights God. 

In Humility

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

IN HUMILITY

Luke 2:1-7

2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

NIV

It does seem strange that Jesus should be called a Nazarene and that one denomination has taken that name to define itself when he was actually born in Bethlehem. Shouldn't he be called Jesus of Bethlehem instead? Even when he appeared to Paul on the road, when asked who he was, he replied that he was Jesus of Nazareth. This has nothing to do with the life lesson but just an interesting thought. What we want to focus our attention on is, of course, the humble setting in which our Lord came to us. Much has been said about this by many scholars and theologians, yet it does bear some thought. Jesus could have come to us in a whole lot of pomp and ceremony riding a white horse and appearing on some mountain top declaring his right to the Savior, the Christ, the Messiah and King, then all of Israel would have accepted him. But he came to us in a manger, in a stall within what would have been consider today a barn, among the animals. He came in this manner for many reasons, but the one we should consider is his humble entrance as an example of how we should also be. There is other scripture teaching us not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, yet we do see so many of us puffed up and self-aggrandized. We have to be careful not to judge the quality of someone’s character by their appearance. When we do that we are thinking more highly of ourselves. Humility is a difficult trait to exhibit yet that is the way Jesus was and if we say we want to be more like Jesus then we need to be more humble than we are. This does not mean we yield to untruth. We still have to insure false teaching is corrected but doing it in love, in humility, not in a prideful puffed up manner. Jesus has shown us the way, humility at its finest. 

Strong

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

STRONG

Luke 1:80

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

NIV

So this is all we know about the youth of John the Baptist. Fact one, he grew, fact two he became strong in spirit, fact three, he lived in the desert until it was time for him to appear publicly. Fact one and three have little for us as for a life lesson, but fact two is our life lesson. Becoming strong in spirit is a large life lesson. It surely does not seem appropriate for a new born gain believer to remain a babe in Christ forever. We also should note that becoming knowledgeable in the scriptures is not the same as becoming strong in spirit. To be strong in spirit, to have power in spirit requires time with God. Just as a body builder or weight lifting champion must exercise his muscles to attain the desired size or strength, we must exercise our spiritual life in order to be strong in spirit. Knowing the scriptures can help in strengthening our spirit, as they give us all the information about God we need in order to know who he is and what he did for us, and what he will do for us. But this is not what makes us strong in spirit. We have to exercise our spirit. We have to live in the spirit, we have to walk in the spirit. We are told we should pray in the Spirit on all occasions. We heard the Apostle John say that on the Lord’s Day he was in the Spirit. He also said that on one occasion at once he was in the Spirit and before his was a throne in Heaven. The Apostle John was strong in spirit.  John the Baptist was strong in spirit. We have to be that kind of strong in spirit. We cannot live an ordinary mundane boring life of a Sunday morning Christian. We cannot live an ordinary life on someone who says there are a Christian but lives in the same manner as the rest of the world. Being strong in spirit carries all sorts of ramifications. It means we must live as if we truly believe God has a call upon our life. It means we must live as if we actually believe all he said. It means we must live as if we not only believe in him, but believe him. It means we must send personal time alone with him and that does not mean just asking for this or that, as well meaning as that is when we ask for him to intervene in the lives or others, but it means spending time alone with him listening to him, allowing him to strengthen our faith, allowing him to strengthen our spirit. Although it is true that each of us are on our own spiritual journey with God, and we all may be at a different level of strength, we each must become stronger until it can be said of us,  “he or she is strong in spirit”. 

It is Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

IT IS JESUS

Luke 1:67-79

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),   71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

NIV

Once Zechariah got his voice back he said a mouthful of words, chuck full of truths about Jesus. Jesus is the horn of salvation. Jesus does in fact bring us salvation from our enemies and from the land who hate us. We need to consider who our enemy is and who lives in a land of all who hate us. It is not people who we need to worry about, but about the enemy of our soul, Satan and all his demons who hate us and desire to keep us from the salvation of the Lord. There is no real need to be saved from people, but there is surely a need to be saved from the prince of darkness. We also see Zechariah who was filled with the Spirit speaking about that very fact. People who live in darkness are in fact living in the realm of the evil one, under his dominion and it is Jesus only who is the light of the world who can shine into that darkness and bring salvation to those living there. We all were once in this world under the influence of the prince of darkness, whether we wanted to admit it or not. We might have thought it was our intellect, or our self that we lived by and for, but in actually that is exactly the influence he exerts upon his subjects. Satan is not concerned about getting open credit or praise, as long as he keeps people from seeing the truth about Jesus, he is content, thus keeping them within his realm, getting revenge against God. We are recipients of the tender mercy of our God because of the rising sun which will come to us from heaven. Now in the Greek that says the dayspring from on high. This could actually mean Jesus from heaven who will shine salvation into the dark realm of Satan. Everything said here is prophesy about Jesus. Knowing that we have been redeemed from that realm of darkness and that we are now living within the light, we can have full assurance, first of eternal life, and second of everlasting peace with God. We also can know that Jesus, being our Lord and Savior has full authority over our lives and as such will continually watch over us, and to make sure we can have full confidence of this he sent the Spirit to dwell with us until he returns to take us where he is. All this can only bring us great peace and joy. It is Jesus.  

Truth or Tradition

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

TRUTH OR TRADITION

Luke 1:59-66

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." 61 They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

NIV

Here we have the fulfillment of what Gabriel told Zechariah. We have already witnessed the birth of John as it was told and now we see that at the circumcision ceremony where it was custom to name the child, Zechariah gets his voice back just as he was told it would happen. Once again we are witness to the ways of the world as opposed to the ways of God. It was the custom, almost a rule as it were, to name a child after someone in the family tree, a past relative. When Elizabeth said that this child would have the name of John, the people were rather put back, but she insisted yet the people did not want to follow her desire so they through signs ask Zechariah and he too insisted his son would have the name John. The life lesson we learn here is that we should always insist on following the directions of God rather than the custom of the people. When Zechariah did this, he received his voice back and because of that the neighbors were filled with awe. Of course when he began to speak he was praising God, because he knew God had fulfilled his promise. We also see that it was not just his neighbors but all throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Of course there was all sorts of wonder has to what kind of man John would become, but the point here is that we should be making sure we follow God and not the customs of men, which would include the customs in the church as well. Tradition is a good thing, and in itself is not bad, but when it supersedes the truth of God it can be dangerous. Zechariah and Elizabeth knew the truth of God in this matter of want their son would be named and followed that truth against all tradition. As a result God fulfilled his promise and he was praised and word spread of this event.  If we desire to see God act in our lives in miraculous ways perhaps it would be wise for us to pay closer attention to his truths allowing those truths to supersede the customs or traditions of men. Then people will be in awe, God would be praised and word would spread all throughout the hill country of our towns. So it comes down to an old phrase God gave this man years ago. Truth or tradition?

Share

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

SHARE

Luke 1:57-58

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

NIV

A relatively simple statement about having a baby. The Scripture does not make a big fanfare out of the birth of this boy who will be a great man among men, a man called by God to prepare the people for Jesus. But the truth within this moment in time has a twofold point. The first is that her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and the second is they shared her joy. Here is our life lesson. In order for her neighbors and relatives to hear how the Lord had shown her great mercy, someone, and we must conclude it was Elizabeth, had to tell them about what happened to her. That is to say Elizabeth did not go into hiding because she was pregnant in her old age. She lived her life out loud in front of her neighbors and relatives, letting them know her pregnancy was because of the hand of God. We should live in that manner, making sure that people around us know the hand of the Lord has shown us his great mercy. We can’t do that if we are complainers. It does not matter what we complain about, whether it is the weather, some aches and pains, the church, someone we work with, or whatever, when we complain we are not sharing or showing the great mercy of God in our lives. The second point here or life lesson is that when someone we know has something wonderful happen to them and are very joyful because of it, we should share in that joy. This implies that we are actually glad for them. It also implies that we have absolutely no envy, no jealously, especially after we go back home away from our friend who is filled with joy because of the hand of the Lord. We should not be thinking or wondering why God doesn’t do that for us. This event was about Elizabeth and her neighbors and relatives shared her joy. They were genuinely glad for her. This is how we should be when our friends and relatives experience a good thing. In both lessons here the key word is share. Share our life with others that they might see the hand of God in our life, and share in another persons joy when the hand of God is displayed in them. Share

Mercy

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

MERCY

Luke 1:54-56

54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

NIV

We are at the last few words of what Mary said to Elizabeth and rather than have the whole today we just recorded those last words. Although we can be sure that Mary was speaking of Israel as the nation of Israelites or Jews who were from the twelve tribes, or descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel, who was the son of Abraham who all Jews are descendants of, when she said God has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful. The question is; who are the children or descendants of Abraham? Yes in a genetic sense it is only those Jews who can trace their heritage back to Abraham. But the Word of God makes it seem quite different than that. The truth of the matter is the fact that true Israel is those who have circumcised their heart, rather than just their flesh. Once again if it were only the flesh that counts then only men could be considered Israel and the women, only have identity through a man. The point of this is that we who have circumcised our hearts can accept this promise of God remembering to be merciful to us. Which of course that was exactly what he did through Mary. He sent his Son to die on the cross for our sin. How could he be any more merciful?  This may well have been Mary prophesying about herself. Yet here we are experiencing the mercy of God forever. Yes in the physical sense many of us are considered Gentiles by the Jews, but the fact is we are engrafted into the family of God because we have accepted his great mercy, Jesus, as our Lord and Savior. We are Israel, we have all the promises of God he made to his children because we are his becasue he said that to all who received him, to all who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, therefore we are true descendants and have all the mercy of God. Even though we might pray from time to time for God to show his mercy to us in a situation, or for a friend, he has shown us his mercy already, Jesus.   

Lifted up or send away

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

RICH OR POOR

PROUD OR HUMBLE

Luke 1:46-55

46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

NIV

Our third day looking into the words of Mary that she spoke to Elizabeth and to all generations. We have seen that our soul should glorify God, and our spirit should rejoice in God. We have seen that God does great things for those who fear him and are humble before him, and that he scatters those who are prideful in their thoughts. Today we are seeing the he does bring down the prideful, the rulers but he lifts up the humble, as well as he feeds the hungry with good things while he turns away the rich. It seems rather obvious what our life lesson is here. There is a distinct difference between two types of people shown to us here. There is the rich and prideful and the poor and humble. When we take on the attitude of the world in as much as looking to self to achieve, and in the case specifically, financial success, we can be sure God will not only bring us down, but in doing so he will not provide anything for us. When we think in terms of storing up money for our future, we can be sure God will not provide for us and then we are simply like those who are not saved, living without the arm of the Lord. This is not to say those who have much are prideful. Many people have wealth and acknowledge God as their source remaining humble before him. It is when we look to money as our source we get in trouble. But when we humble ourselves knowing it is God who provides us with all good things, we can be sure his mighty arm will do great things in our life. Then we are living as he intends us to and in the end he will lift us up.  This might imply that those who look to money as their source, are not lifted up, but rather torn down. Could this be a vision of true salvation? Could this be a picture of who actually is saved and who is not? That is devastating.  Yes we know that we must be born again, but what does that imply? That we die to the way we live, and live in an entirely new way. No longer seeking money, but seeking God. If we actually still live for money then are we considered the rich and prideful and then sending away the rich might well mean not allowing them into his rest, or in order words, the kingdom, or eternal life. Being rich and prideful or humble and hungry, which implies hungry for him, or his word, has very large consequences. We must insure that first we are born again, then being so we are new creatures, who are now humble before God, and hunger for him, for his word, for his truths in our life, for his divine influence upon us. If we allow the thinking or philosophies of the world, the unsaved, those who refuse to accept Jesus, to infiltrate our thinking and we adopt their methods of living, especially in this case, about financial matters, we may find that we are really not living that born again life and therefore may not be counted in the number of the saved. So the life lesson here is huge. We have to  live that born again life, being humble before God, seeking him first above all else. So are we rich or poor, proud or humble? Are we lifted up or sent away?

Mercy and Deeds

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

MERCY AND DEEDS

Luke 1:46-55

46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

NIV

As we continue to work our way through the words of Mary and as we have already dealt with glorifies and rejoices, we will move to when she says his mercy extends to those who fear him. Although the Greek word translated fear can mean in awe of,  or revere, it also means and it’s first meaning is frightened, or to be put in flight by terrifying. The point is that he is God and we are simply his creation. We truly need to see our relationship as it is. We cannot get too comfortable with God. Although Jesus told his disciples that he no longer called them servants but that he called them friends, we cannot take that word for granted. What does it mean to be a friend of God? What does it mean to be a friend? First we should see the first person who was called a friend of God, which is Abraham. What did he do? He left his home, all that he knew and went to a place he did not know. He believed God. If we examine all the life of Abraham then we could understand want it means to be a friend of God. In addition, according to Jesus, it means to lay down his life for his friend. So then if we are friends of God, we should be laying down our life for him. Instead it seems we get too comfortable with God, thinking him as a friend. But Mary says here as inspired by the Spirit, that he extends his mercy to those who fear him, and he will do mighty deeds with his arm, but he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. The truth in that is he does his mighty deeds for those who fear him, who revere him, who understand he is God, but he does nothing but scatter those who get too prideful in their thinking, who think more of themselves then they should, who look to human achievement or perhaps those who get too comfortable with God, thinking he is just a friend to talk to, and he is their friend but they really are not his friend, for there are not willing to lay down their lives for him. If we realize our relationship with God, fearing him, revering him, understanding who he truly is, laying down our life for him, which is setting apart our own desires, our own wants following his commands, then we will see his mighty hand at work in our lives, and we will see his mercy at work in our lives. 

Glorify and Rejoice

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

GLORIFY AND REJOICE

Luke 1:46-55

46 And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

NIV

We now hear the response of Mary to the declaration of Elizabeth that Mary is blessed among women. Because there is so much in this response we might have to spend several days, several devotions to ensure we glean all the truth within. The first thing we notice is that fact that Mary says eight times, “He has” or some form of that. Mary does not spend much time talking about herself as much as she does enumerating all that God has done. Let us take some of what Mary says. First she exclaims that her soul glorifies the Lord and her spirit rejoices in God her Savior. The reason for this is because he has been mindful of her humble state. She also states that she is his servant. That is enough for us to learn a life lesson today. First off we should be in such a frame of mind that our soul glorifies the Lord. The Greek word actually is the root of our word magnify, to make great, to deem or declare great, to esteem highly, to extol, to laud. My soul should be in that state at all times, the good ones and the not so good ones because it is not about me or my condition, but it is about the Lord and he should always be magnified because he is always worthy of such deeming, or such declaring and esteeming highly. Mary also said that her spirit rejoices in God her Savior. We should note there were two distinctly different words used in the Greek, for soul and spirit. One of the primary uses for the word soul is to define the seat of the feelings, desires, affection, aversion (our soul, heart etc.) whereas the spirit defines the breath of life, what animates the body. The point here is that all we are should be glorifying God and rejoicing in our Lord. Love the Lord our God with all your heart, your mind, your strength. Every ounce of our being should be bringing glory to God. If you’re happy and you know it, let your face show it. We should not be walking around all gloomy with a downcast continence. We should understand our humble estate as compared to God, and rejoice that he has done so much for us, that he is mindful of us. That alone is more than enough to glorify our Lord and to rejoice in him. Let us ever be mindful of him and give him all the glory.

Happy

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

HAPPY

Luke 1:39-45

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

NIV

Once again this might just be a story about how Mary and Elizabeth had a visit and that upon the entrance of Mary, John within the womb of Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit thus also filling Elizabeth. We might see that as she was filled she prophesied and consider that our life lesson. But what is not actually spelled out yet seems to stand out is the fact that there was joy within the womb of Elizabeth as well as what seems to be a happiness in Mary because she believed that what the Lord said to her would be accomplished. That word blessed which Elizabeth used in verse 45 is a different Greek word than she used in verse 42. When she said, “Blessed is she who has believed” that Greek word translated blessed, also means happy or fulfilled and content. This is the life lesson for true happiness, this is the foundation of true happiness,  to believe what God has said will,  by his own authority, come to pass. Although when she said “Blessed are you among women” she was using a word which means praised among woman, this also could mean happy. Nevertheless our lesson here is in the fact that if we desire true happiness we need to believe what God has said he would do. The fact is that if we do believe he will accomplish all that he has said he will do, then we will be happy. It is when we look elsewhere to find happiness we fail to find it. We might think other things will make us happy, but in actuality it is but for a fleeting moment. Those things lose their charm after time and we begin to the search for something to make us happy all over again. The only real joy, the only true sense of happiness is found in believing God will do what he said he would do. When John, even in the womb, was filled with the Holy Spirit, he leaped for joy. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when we have the divine influence of God within us, why would we not leap for joy? Why would we not he so filled with happiness that it would be overflowing from within us? Should not our continence be so joyful that people will want to know what our secret is? By God’s own authority we are blessed, we are happy.

Let it Be

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

LET IT BE

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God." 38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

NIV

It would be highly inappropriate to break up this whole conversation between Gabriel and Mary so we must deal with it in the whole. This is the second time in six months Gabriel has been sent to visit with the news of an upcoming birth. First we saw that Zachariah and Elizabeth walked upright before the Lord and now we see that Mary has found favor with God. Although one church in particular has lifted Mary to a very prominent position as the mother of God and in fact have made or commissioned statues of her to be displayed, she was but a young virgin girl who found favor with God. A girl who later as the mother of Jesus heard his very words telling people who is his mother and who are my brothers. He then pointed to his disciples and said for whosoever does the will of the Father in Heaven is my mother, my sister and my brothers. This was to tell his earthy family they also needed to accept him as the Christ in order to be saved. But the point here is in fact about Mary. Although she found favor with God and he sent his angel to inform her of the upcoming birth of Jesus and although she, somewhat like Zachariah asked how this can be, Gabriel did not strike here with dumbness. He explained how it would happen and after his explanation, although it was a farfetched supernatural one, she responded, ok let it be so. Two life lessons here for us. First are in the words of Gabriel and second in the words of Mary. First we hear Gabriel tell her that nothing is impossible for God. How could we not believe that? Yet it appears all too often that is the case, as we look to human efforts to achieve our desires, or to fix a problem we are experiencing. If we truly believe nothing is impossible for God, and knowing all the miraculous wonders he has done, in the past years of men and woman of old, as well as in the past years of our own lives, how could we ever forget that nothing is impossible for him? But we still have doubts at times, and even though we know he can, we wonder if he will. Why wouldn’t he? Why would he not do the impossible for us? Is it something in our walk with him? Are we not walking upright before him? Have we not found favor with him, which would mean he might be displeased with us in some way? It would seem in order to experience the miracles of God, we need to make sure we are walking upright and that we are in a position to find favor with him, at least that seems to make sense. Now it could be that as we accept Christ we have found favor with God, and because of Christ we are upright in his sight, which also makes more sense, so then we should be able to experience the impossible with God. The second lesson here being in the words of Mary is the fact we need to be servants of the Lord and accept the impossible. We need to be willing to experience whatever the Lord has in store for us. This is not our own life, but it is his. Mary had her own plans as being a virgin, she was engaged to a man and would be married and have a nice planned out life. But God had another plan and her life was now going to be turned all upside down, and she was alright with that. This has to be our response to God. If we expect to experience the impossible than we also have to be willing to accept what he will do in our life. That could include having our lives turned upside down, completely different then our plans. We need to be willing and tell him, let it be as you have said. 

Believe it

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

BELIEVE IT

Luke 1:21-25

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

NIV

Zechariah should have gone in burnt the incense and come right out, but there was something special going on in there between him and Gabriel. Evidently the conversation was longer then what is recorded as we see the people were wondering why he was in the temple for so long. Of course we are told the people realized he had seen a vision which was due to the fact he could not speak, but indicated what happened through some kind of sign language of sorts. What is important here is they did in fact realize he had seen a vision. They did not dismiss him as being crazy, or some weirdo overzealous religious nut. They accepted the fact he has been in the presence of either an angel or the Lord himself. The fact this happened was also proven by the fact his wife who was past child bearing years became pregnant. Here is our life lesson. When God says he will do something, and he will say it, actually he has already said it, but in this sense, he will say it, and it will happen. When God does do something, like heal someone, do we believe it, or not? When he provides in a special way, do we believe it? When he says he will, even before is does it, do we believe he will? It is easy to say that we believe he can, but it should be just as easy to say we believe he will. There was no real proof of what Zechariah motioned that happened, other than he could not speak, but then who is to say that he could not actually speak and was just faking that part to make himself look good. But the truth is he could not, and the people believed. When God says, or does something we need to believe, period. Doubt is the same as disbelief and disbelief is sin. Believing even before seeing the evidence, such as when Elizabeth became pregnant, is true faith in God. God has given us his word filled with what he will do, and we need to believe it and believe all of it. It is not a matter of believe it or not, it is a matter of believe it. 

God said

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

GOD SAID

Luke 1:18-20

18 Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." 19 The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

NIV

Believing beyond human understanding can be difficult. What the angel, who now we know is Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, told Zechariah was the same thing Sarah laughed at when Abraham was told they would have a son. We would think Zechariah would have remembered the promise to Abraham and how that occurred in their old age. Even the fact that an angel was actually standing in front of him surely would have prompted him to believe he and his wife would have a son, but it did not. He just could not believe, even though he was a priest who served the Lord and they both lived upright before the Lord. This is indeed our life lesson here. It does not seem to matter how much we walk upright before the Lord. It seems it does not matter how many good deeds we do, or how much we serve the Lord. What matters is do we believe the word of God. Do we believe when God speaks to us? We really do not even need to have an angel appear to us, as we have the whole bible filled with words spoken by God, as we are told every scripture is God breathed. We either believe it or we don’t. We cannot choose to believe some of it, and ignore the rest of it, or rather not believe it. If we do not believe the whole then are we not like Zechariah? Do we read the word of God and think, “How can I be sure”?  And if we are like him in our disbelief, then like him, are we struck dumb in some sense? The point here is to believe. We need to believe everything God has said, and if we ever do get a visitation we had better make sure we believe. We cannot pick and choose which verse we believe and say, “Well that was just for them” or “That was for a special time” or simply just ignore that verse and never apply it to our lives. God said he would do, he promised to do all that he said. He will provide for us, he will heal us, he will lead and guide us, he will, the list goes on and on, and we need only believe. But if we, like Zachariah do not believe, we will be crippled Christians, hampered, unable to live a normal life in Christ. It comes down to, God said, thus we believe. 

Because You, I Will

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

BECAUSE YOU I WILL

Luke 1:11-17

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.   16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

NIV

Granted John was a very special person, planned by God to be the one who prepares the way for the Lord. Granted this required a special visitation from an angel to Zechariah in order to tell him what was going to occur. We also know that both Zechariah and his wife walked blameless or upright before the Lord and this is most likely the reason the Lord chose them to be the parents of John. It is also possible God chose them due to the fact they were well along in years and this birth would be outside the realm of human ability and thus giving another special significance to John. The angel made it very clear as to the type of personality John would be and how he would live his life. This could be our life lesson within this narrative. First we can be assured our prayers will be answered, at least that would seem right if we are walking upright before the Lord. It would make sense that if we are not walking upright before the Lord there would be no reason to expect an answer to prayer. We have seen the Lord turn a deaf ear to the children of Israel when the acted without or rebelled against his command when they marched on the Amorites and lost. We know that if anyone turns a deaf ear to the Law their prayers are detestable. Here we see prayers being answered because they walked upright before the Lord. Should we expect any less? If we desire an answer to our prayers we should ensure we are walking upright before the Lord. Now that it is true we are in Christ. We have Jesus, but that does not mean we are walking upright. There is some effort on our part to make every effort to live in peace with all men. There is some effort on our part to live in a manner that pleases God. We cannot be as the Gnostics who separated the spirit and the body, who believed as long as their spirit was pure before God, they could do whatever they pleased with their body. There is some effort to walk upright before God. Walking in faith, believing, trusting in him, living as if he is actually God, our maker, which is the second lesson. Just as he knew all about who John would be and his personality, he also knew us before we were born. He knew all about us, who we would be and our personality. He choose our parents, our lifestyle, how we would be raised and what kind of people we would be. He knew which one of us would choose to live for him, and which one of us would reject him, but he still knew us all before we were born and knew who we would be. This is the greatest of our God who we serve. How can we not walk upright before him? How can we not desire our prayers to be answered? Here may be one of those because, you I will. 

Worshipping in Prayer

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

WORSHIPPING IN PRAYER

Luke 1:8-10

8 Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

NIV

It does seem strange to consider the scene which is described for us here in light of the custom we observe on our Sabbath. Here we have one man, a member of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of priests who serve in the temple. At one time this tribe set up and took down the tabernacle and were responsible for hauling from one place to another including the Ark of the Covenant. Now with a stone temple which was built by Solomon we have the people going to the temple and most likely standing in the outer courts, or the colonnade while the one man, the priest enters the actual temple itself and burnt incense. There was not leader of worship, no music, no fanfare at all, for the people were simply praying to God. Worshipers were praying. What we see here is that prayer was their form of worship. How times have changed. Our time of worship within the walls of our churches have become more like entertainment then worship. Our worship leader gyrates around a raised platform with all sorts of musical instruments thumping out loud noise that more resembles a half time show at the superbowl  then a time of worship.  Of course all this is done to entice the non-churched folks to come in, although they have no idea we are doing all that for them. The point here is not to criticize, but rather to see that we who sit or stand in the pews are not really worshipping God, or at least in the fashion in which the chosen people of God did, which was in prayer. Perhaps the time we spend in our church in our pew or for that matter wherever we are, should be spent in prayer rather than anything else. Worship has certainly evolved over the years and perhaps in all that evolution we have forsaken true worship. Yes we are to go into the world and preach the gospel, but that is we, not a church service with a pastor telling us what the church is doing in the community so we feel like we are doing something for Christ, but rather we are supposed to go into our community and preach the gospel and when we come together and a chosen one is selected by lot to burn some incense we should be worshipping God in prayer. This may never be, but at least we can decide to be true worshippers of God, in spirit and in true, which may well only be done in prayer. 

Upright

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

UPRIGHT

Luke 1:5-7

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

NIV

Luke begins his well investigated orderly account starting with how and why John the Baptist was born. His parents Zechariah and Elizabeth were both descendants of Aaron. But going back one generation they were the descendants of Amram who was the father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam, three of the most illustrious characters in the whole Jewish history. Amram’s wife was a descendent of Levi although from the account in Exodus we also see she was his aunt. Yet the point here is that John the Baptist was to come from a very special line of descendants. A family of royal priesthood. As we will see he had a very special calling, but for now we should focus on his parents. We are told of their character both in civil and in faith. They were both upright in the sight of God. No one could cast any blame on them in the church or in their civil life. This is our life lesson. First, do we live blameless or upright before the Lord? Of course we live in Christ who is blameless and therefore we are, but they did not have Christ yet, so how were they considered upright in the sight of God? We see they observed all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. Were they without sin? That is doubtful, in fact it was impossible. But they did have an attitude and desire to exercise their duties to God, to their neighbors and to themselves walk hand in hand. They lived their faith the best they could, knowing the eyes of the lord were upon them. This is our lesson. We should live in such a manner as they did. Granted we do not come from a priestly heritage, but we are a part of a priestly family, a holy nation, belonging to the family of God. We have the right to be called sons of God, or children of God, or co-heirs with Christ. Should we not live upright before God, making our spirit life, our community life and our personal life walk hand in hand? Surely we cannot live completely without sin, but we can live as we believe. God choose them for a special offspring, and each of us has also been chosen to bring special offspring into the kingdom of God, both from our own bodies and from the world of darkness. All of this is a part of walking upright before the Lord, following his commands. Will we ever be free of sin? It is unlikely but we can still walk upright before our Lord, doing what he has called us to do. 

Carefully Investigated and Orderly

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

CAREFULLY INVESTIGATED AND ORDERLY

Luke 1:1-4

1:1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

NIV

Back to the beginning again, to examine life lessons from the account of the gospel according to Luke. We should first notice Luke was not an eyewitness to the life of Jesus, yet we do know he traveled with Paul at times. We also know, as with all the word of God, each writer was inspired by the Spirit and thus the Spirit was indeed an eyewitness, so we can have assurance this is a most excellent account.  Here we have the introduction of this orderly account Luke writes to the most excellent Theophilus. Although some discussion has occurred over who this Theophilus is and because he name means, friend of God, it has been thought by some Luke was writing to all Christians who are friends with God, but because of the preceding title, most excellent and Theophilus is singular, it is thought by most he was a friend or disciple of Luke who received and preserved this letter. The reason of this importance is because we can see Luke wanting to make sure his friend, his disciple gets all the facts, all of them in a very organized well investigated way. The purpose is so that Theophilus, and of course us, may know with certainly of the things he and we believe.  This is our life lesson. As we read and examine all the words Luke was inspired to write under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we will have all the carefully investigated facts from the beginning about everything we believe. Because Jesus said that blessed are those who believe who have not seen, that is believe in faith, we actually though the words of Luke will see all we need in order to believe. We will see them with certainty everything we have been taught since we became a believer. We do not merely need to hear some preacher tell us what to believe, or what we should believe based on his insight into the word of God. We have all we need to know with certainty the things we believe. We also know that Luke lays this out in the most orderly account. That is not to say the other gospels are not orderly, but knowing Luke was a physician, a learned man, who studied for his profession, we would expect nothing less than a carefully investigated account. This too is a life lesson in that as we share our faith in Christ with others, it might serve us well to think through, with the inspiration of the Spirit, a well designed orderly account of our experience with Jesus. It would seem the operative word here is orderly or perhaps even better, carefully investigated.