The Sign

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE SIGN

Luke 11:29-36

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 33 "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you." 

NIV

It is straightforward that Jonah was in the belly of that large fish for three days and then resurrected, as it were, on the shore. We know that Jonah prayed in the fish for three days and three nights, using the term Sheol. This was the sign to the people that Jesus would be in the grave for three days and three nights, as he said he would also be a sign to this generation. And a sign of the resurrection he was. Although through the cross, the shed blood of Jesus our sins our swept away, forgiven once and for all, it is the resurrection that gives us the assurance that we too will rise from the grave and live in a new gloried body forever and ever. Then, Jesus gave us that other sign in his ascension for not only will we be resurrected from the grave, but we will ascend into heaven. We do have the whole of scripture as a way to know the character of God, to be able to grasp His majesty and holiness and how he deals with his creation with justice, or truth and grace. Yet, the people of Nineveh are also a sign to this wicked generation, whom we were a member of before our repentance and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The sign of Nineveh is repentance. In the Hebrew, it says they turned from their evil ways, changed the way they were thinking, and turned to God. This is the Greek word meaning repent as in change the way of thinking. Once we thought of only satisfying our evil desires, but now we have repented, changed the way we think, and now we want to satisfy the desires of God. Do we miss that mark? Yes, but it is not our desire. We just have not and will not be able to attain the absolute perfection and holiness of God while in this corruptible and perishable body, no matter how much effort we put toward fulfilling the desire of God. However, He is able, for He is the one who started this great work within us, and He is the one who will complete this work in us, as one day we will raise glorified, in an incorruptible and imperishable body in all the perfection God desires us to be. Why some cannot see the sign of Jonah and the sign of Jesus is beyond our comprehension, but then we have seen the Light. 

A Wicked Generation

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

A WICKED GENERATION

Luke 11:29-36

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. 33 "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you." 

NIV

We could have broken this up into segments to deal with one at a time, but it is good to see the whole of his words, and then spend some time on each of the truths Jesus speaks about. First, let us understand what Jesus meant by that generation being wicked. His consideration of what a wicked generation is they ask for miraculous signs. This goes back to when Jesus was driving out a demon. Two types of people responded. Some charged him of driving out demons by Beelzebub, the others tested him wanting for a sign from heaven. The problem with both those groups, or this wicked generation is that did not believe, in faith, in Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Messiah, the Savior of mankind. They either totally disbelieved and wanted to discredit him or wanted proof. This brings us to this generation. Understanding where we have come in our lifetime, we see so many lifestyles that require they discredit Jesus completely, along with anything that is associated with Jesus, such as the bible because it affronts their way of life. Then some argue against the truth and even the existence of God, pure evolutionists, who believe humans were once something else and crawled out of that premortal soup, the pure atheists who don’t believe there is a god, and the agnostics who don’t believe it’s possible to know for sure that a god exists. That is the people who wanted a sign from heaven, they wanted proof that God exists. All of those people are part of this wicked generation today. But what about those who confess they are Christians? Do some of us want a sign from heaven? This may not be like those who tested Jesus, who wanted a miraculous sign, but wanted every one of our prayers to be answered the way we want them to, sort of wanted this sign, so we could truly believe. Which means, if we never get any answer to any prayer, do we think maybe something is wrong, or our faith weakens to the point of almost disbelief? If we never see any physical evidence, are we still people of faith, which is defined as the substance of things hoped for but not seen. If we never see any physical evidence at all, never have a practical reason for proof, an answered prayer, healing, or anything else that would justify our belief in God, are we truly people of faith? Are we just putting up a front, a false façade of faith, trying to look like a Christian, behave in a manner we think Christians should, but still are not full of faith. Are we truly a people of faith? If not, then we might just be part of this wicked generation. We say, no, we are full of faith, although we might still struggle with sin, we are not part of this wicked generation. 

Blessed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BLESSED

Luke 11:27-28

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." 

NIV

There is no doubt that Mary, who was visited by an angel and was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, who conceived in her womb, was the mother of the Son of God, and a special woman. She did give birth to Jesus who came to earth in the form of man. Although Jesus is not disrespecting Mary in any way by his response to this woman in the crowd who calls out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you”. Surely this woman did not know that it was Jesus who gave himself birth in a woman, at least in the sense that God is three persons in one, so as the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus within Mary, it was all God giving birth to himself in the form of man, and not of the will of man. Nevertheless, the response of Jesus brings us to this one truth. Our position in life bears no meaning when it comes to being blessed. It does not matter what title we hold, how much education we have, or what our financial picture looks like. There is only one condition that Jesus described as being blessed. Once again, this Greek word, makarios, means to be happy. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he uses this word connected to the name of God. Jesus used it throughout what we call the Beatitudes. The sense of this being blessed is to be happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, and connected to God, being his child. This is what Jesus is saying here that we are among the blessed because we have and continue to hear the word of God and make every effort to obey it. Do we fail? Of course, but it is the desire of our heart to follow Jesus, obeying the word of God. Now, this obeying could be seen simply as the act of repentance, changing the way we think, and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That we have done completely in obedience to the word of God. As this woman thought Mary gave birth to Jesus and nursed him, Jesus has given us new birth, new life, everlasting life, and He nurses us, each and every day bringing us from being a new infant in Christ to being a full-grown mature believer who follows the way of God. We are always growing, as we have never, and will never attain the fullness of God until we are resurrected in glory. But we are still growing, always being built up by God's word. 

Empty or Full

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

EMPTY OR FULL

Luke 11:24-26

24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." 

NIV

These words are still in response to either the challenge of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub or wanting a sign to prove he is the Messiah. The thought was commonly believed that evil spirits dwelled in the parched places of Israel, and that is what Jesus speaks about. However, the truth is regarding those Jews who were living by the law, and began to believe in Him, being set free from their harsh laws they expanded into over six hundred rules and regulations, then did not stay with their thinking about Jesus being the Messiah, and could not overcome their need for the law, returned to their former beliefs and thus were worse off then before they ever believed. But how does this apply to our lives? Surely, we were once controlled by evil spirits, even those who were born into a Christian home, for they did not exit the womb saved from their sins because they trusted in Jesus Christ and accepted him as their Lord and Savior. For we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, there is none righteous, no not one. What we wonder is because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, first, to convict us of our sins and need for repentance, then after we have changed the way we think, turn from our wicked ways, being under the rule of Satan, and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have been swept clean, but if we do not also accept the Holy Spirit, then perhaps we would still be swept clean. Then, if we are only swept clean, but not filled with the Spirit, is it possible we might return to our old way of thinking and be worse off than before we ever accepted Jesus. We know we use the phrase; we have Jesus in our hearts, but that is not possible for Jesus is in heaven. Maybe we are simply saying that the attitude of our hearts and minds is bent toward Jesus.  However, we can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus sent Him to us. It is the Spirit who leads us, who directs us into all truth, leading us away from the untruth we once lived under. But if we do not accept His leading, then perhaps we might be in danger of returning to our former thinking, that we have our own truth, like what Jesus was saying about those Jews who could return to their truth of the law. Would knowing Jesus but not understanding the truth because we did not accept the baptism of the Spirit, but continued to think from our own way of thinking would cause us to be worse off than before ever knowing Jesus? Maybe we would become so invested in trying to follow rules and regulations that we have devised from what we think the bible says, that we are truly not set free, but actually worse off because we are looking at the law instead of Jesus. Just a thought, can’t be sure if that fits or not, but could it be true? Being swept clean is great, but then being filled with the Spirit finalizes our changed thinking, warding off any attempts of evil to return. Therefore, we should never be empty, but full. 

With or Against

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WITH OR AGAINST

 

Luke 11:23

23 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

NIV

This is still in response to the charge that he cast out the evil spirit by the power of Satan, rather than by the finger of God. However, as with all of what Jesus said here, there are truths that we need to consider and how this can apply to our lives. There are only two kingdoms that exist. One is the kingdom of this dark world; the other is the kingdom of God. We could see that as the kingdom of good and the kingdom of evil. The question is whether being a Christian means we are with Jesus. Again, as we have thought many times before the title Christian is palatable to the world, and, in fact, many call themselves Christians who have no idea what being born again or Spirit-filled or following Jesus truly means. So then, what does Jesus mean when he said if we are not with Him we are against him. Then he uses a parallel about gathering or scattering. Of course, we are not suggesting some who call themselves Christians are in reality with Satan and thus against Jesus. However, the facts are clear, we have to serve somebody, either we are going to serve Jesus, or serve Satan, but we are going to serve somebody, to sort of quote that song by Bob Dylan. What then does it mean to be with Jesus and to be a gatherer? That implies that being with Jesus is to follow him and do what he does, gathering by shedding light into this dark world preaching the good news about the kingdom of God. We think about what Jesus said about his coming not for the righteous, but for the sick. We wonder if we have gotten into that attitude of  "Us four and no more", meaning we simply come to church once or maybe twice a week and spend time with other Christians, trying to be nice to each other, but have failed to gather with Jesus, by going outside the church and sharing the good news of the kingdom of God. We also wonder if we don’t do some scattering, even within the church when we think of how much damage is done by gossip, being critical, judgmental, or being prideful or boastful. Over the years we have seen people leave the church because of unresolved conflicts. How is that gathering and thus how is that being with Jesus? This also takes us back to the man who wanted to justify himself by asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, as we ponder on loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we love others, both inside and outside the church, then we would not want them to live in the kingdom of Satan but would want to tell them about the good news of the kingdom of God, and thus be a gatherer and being with Jesus. We also understand that those who live in the kingdom of Satan have generated this idea of not being offensive by talking about the kingdom of God, or about Jesus. However, because we love them, we need to get past being offensive and meet them where they are, telling them about the good news of the kingdom of God. If we can do that, we will be gathering with Jesus. Then we can answer the question of whether we are with or against. That sounds harsh, but is it true? 

The Strongest

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE STRONGEST

Luke 11:21-22

 21 "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

NIV

We would think that all these different sayings, or teachings of Jesus are related for He is speaking continuously. However, each phrase has a special meaning as with this idea about the strong man. Jesus is talking about a strong man who guards his own house, with his own strength, trusting in his fully armed stuff. He has his ring doorbell with the full video feature, his door and window alarms are all in place, including iron gates and he might even have set traps around the lawn that set off loud alarms, and he might even have all his automatic rifles and handguns at strategic places throughout his house. The idea here is someone trusting in himself and that will always be met with someone stronger, better equipped, and overpowers him. This could be applied to many areas of life, such as in the workforce, where a man trusts in his own abilities, education, and experience to obtain a position, but someone who also applies who has more abilities. education, and experience. However, the man who trusts in Jesus Christ is secure. It is not that when we are completely safe from someone taking our possessions, but we must see this in another sense. If we trust in ourselves, the stronger one is Satan and he can overpower us and divide up our life’s work. But when we trust in Jesus, there is no one stronger than God, and we are secure, our salvation will not be divided up, being the spoils of Satan. Of course, if we trust in our stuff, that is our abilities, education, and experience to succeed in life, and yes, even in ministry, we might be in danger of having someone stronger taking it all away, so that we fail at whatever we attempt. But trusting in He who is the strongest of all, we will not fail, because He directs our path, and His light shines before and within us, so that we are secure. We trust in His strength for He is the strongest of all.

 

Divided or One

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DIVIDED OR ONE

Luke 11:14-20

14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. 17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

NIV

There are three kingdoms Jesus is talking about here. First, the kingdom of Satan is certainly not divided. The dark forces of that kingdom are united against all that God is. Satan’s kingdom is dead set on destroying every person and keeping them from the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Second, Jesus mentions the kingdom of God and how everything good comes from the finger of God. Of course, the kingdom of God is completely one, and could never be divided. Some would like to divide Jesus from God, saying Jesus was simply a good man, a prophet, but not the Son of God, or that God is three in one, that they are divided into three separate persons. Although it seems they could be seen as three, and are three, the Father, Son, and Spirit, they are also one, God. Third, Jesus mentioned the kingdom of the house: a house is divided against itself and will fall. This house is us, the kingdom of self. When we think of a house, it is a place we live or dwell in, and as a believer, the Spirit dwells in us, so we are the house or the temple of God. But we are also this house of this kingdom of self. We can decide and if we do not become a citizen of the kingdom of God and remain living in the darkness of the kingdom of self, then we would never have a divided heart, because we love living in our own kingdom. However, because we are believers and are citizens of the kingdom of God, we left our own kingdom of self behind or abdicated our rule over the kingdom of self. Yet, here is where we can get a bit unsettled and possibly get into that situation of being divided against ourselves or having a divided heart, which will cause us to fall. We want to do that which God desires us to do, but we also want to do what we want to do. Then there are those areas of our life that God does not want us to do, and yet we still do them. How is that not being divided? Do we simply make the excuse, “Well we are human” and we fail all the time. Although, that is true and we do fail, what we need to always be cognizant of is that we are the house of God and as such we have decided with our whole hearts to follow Jesus, listen to the Spirit within, and make every effort to live according to the will of God. That decision is not divided, and we will not fall, for we belong to God, and not just his finger, but we are being held in the whole hand of God. Our heart is full of God, and do love him with all of heart, mind, soul, and strength, and we are united with Christ, for as he and the Father are one, so we are one with Christ, and we will take our stand, standing our ground, standing firm. 

Ask

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

ASK

Luke 11:5-13

5 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" 

NIV

Once again, we are faced with a full teaching from Jesus which we cannot divide into smaller segments. However, there are several truths we could focus on separately. We have the parable that is the setting for the truth Jesus wants us to grasp. The key word in this parable is boldness. However, when we look into the Greek we find the word, anadeia which means shamelessness, impudence. Now Jesus tells us to ask, and it will be given to us; seek and we will find; knock and the door will be opened. The key here is the word boldness, or rather to ask the lord shamelessly, unabashed not embarrassed. This gives us the mindset of being humble, without pridefulness, bowing ourselves fully under the grace and authority of our Lord, knowing that we are to simply ask with full faith, and he will give to us what we ask which would be good gifts. James tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above, comes down from the Father. Of course, we would not ask for a million dollars or a bright shiny new sports car or pickup truck. We would not ask for something that would spend on our own evil desires. James also tells us some of the reasons we do not get what we ask for. It could be on account we have some quarrels among ourselves. A more wooden translation is wars and controversies within the body of Christ, or perhaps within the local church. This would translate more like, not truly having pure love for one another, but being prideful, envious, jealous, or holding some ill feelings, hurt feeling, bitterness, judgmentalism or some other non-loving attitude. How could we expect God to honor our request when any of those kinds of attitudes or feelings are within us? James also tells us about having wrong motives, as we already thought that we should not ask for some expensive toys for our own pleasures. However, when we come to the Lord, completely humble, without all this garbage, asking for His good pleasure in us, he will give us good gifts, those He desires us to have, such as the Holy Spirit, with all his gifts, fruit, armor, and everything else in between. If we can simply humble ourselves before Him, yielding completely, asking with full faith, He will do great things in us, for us the through us.

 

Rescue Us

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

RESCUE US

Luke 11:2-4

2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.  

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.'" 

NIV

How do we deal with God leading us into temptation? Of course, we are asking Him not to lead us into temptation, but why? The fact is that we should never ever say that God is tempting us, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. We must know that when we are tempted, and how can we ever say we are never tempted, but when we are it is because of our own evil desires. Those evil desires can drag us away as they entice us. We must turn from them before they become a part of us and bring us down to the pit, or as James puts it our own evil desires give birth to sin and sin leads to death. God will never lead us to temptation for He cannot be tempted. So then why would he ever lead us to temptation. However, many manuscripts include, as Matthew has, but deliver us from evil. Now that makes sense, God will always lead us away from sin, and away from temptation. Still, our own hearts are at the center of temptation, and because we live in this world that is full of temptations at every turn, it is almost impossible to keep our own hearts from wanting something, or desire to experience some pleasure afforded not just from the temptation, but from giving in to it. We do not think, that our hearts are bent toward evil all the time, like those whom God grieved he made and called upon Noah to build that ark. But, at the same time, we have to admit that we are not as pure as the driven snow, or without sin. Unfortunately, our humanness forbids us from being holy and blameless. So we ask our Father who is in heaven to deliver us from all evil. The Greek word rhoumai, which Matthew included, “but deliver us from evil” is the word translated as deliver but carries a deeper meaning of to rescue us from evil. Again, we wonder why we even have to ask, other than Jesus told us to, for God to rescue us from evil. But then we do still have evil within our humanness because we are drawn away by certain temptations. Then we are asking God to rescue us from ourselves, which he already did by sending Jesus who paid the price for our sinfulness and because we are now in Christ, and God sees us in Christ, He sees us as holy and blameless. However, we still need to ask for deliverance from those pesky temptations that are always lurking around. Father, rescue us. 

 

Forgiven

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FORGIVEN

Luke 11:2-4

2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.'" 

NIV

Who does not need to have sins forgiven? Now that we have hallowed, or declared His name to be holy, which as we now think more about that, we are declaring personally within ourselves that His name is holy and pure and we have asked that His kingdom, or as Matthew recorded, His will be done on earth, meaning His will be done in us, as it is in heaven. We have also asked for that daily bread of life, in our lives, and now it is time to ask for our sins to be forgiven. Now there is a caveat regarding whether we forgive those who sin against us. However, there is another interesting point in that two different words are used. One for God forgiving our sin, and another for us forgiving those who sin against us. First, the Greek word used by God to forgive is afieemi which directly means to send away, to send forth, to let go, or to expire, to disregard, omit, or neglect. This is something only God could do, for even if we tried our hardest, we could not send away the sin someone did against us. Our minds cannot ever forget and that is why the Greek word for those who sin against us is ofeiloo. It has a direct meaning to owe, as in being in debt to or to owe money to, yet in the context of having the wrong someone did and yet not making amends. Still, we could see this in two ways. First, for God to forgive us, we must forgive those who have wronged us. Second, we must forgive those who have wronged us in the same way, just like God forgives our sins. Therefore, we must send away, neglect, or let that wrong expire. Because God has let all our sins expire, or He has sent them away, meaning it does not exist anymore, and therefore God will never bring up our sin to us, saying, "Hey, remember when you did this or that, and I forgave you”. Our sin has been sent away, gone, and God will never bring up that sin to us ever, for it is gone, out of existence. This is pure grace at work, grace that only our Father in heaven can exhibit. We live in and by His pure grace, as we live free from our sin, never having to pay the price for sin, because, by the grace of the Father, he sent Jesus to pay that price for us, thus satisfying His own need for justice, so that He now declares us holy and blameless in his sight. It might be good for us to declare anyone who has wronged us, to be holy and blameless in our sight. Then we would be forgiving as we have been forgiven.

 

Daily Bread

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DAILY BREAD

Luke 11:2-4

2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.  

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.'" 

NIV

We have come to this part of how Jesus taught us to pray regarding our daily bread. Why would Jesus want us to ask for bread each and every day, or does, giving us our daily bread mean that we could ask for thirty of forty loaves of bread so that we would have enough stored up for one every day of the month? Most of us have some sort of regular income and buy more than one day's supply of food or bread. It is interesting the two choices between Luke and Matthew regarding two Greek words. Luke uses three words tó kath heeméran meaning day by day while Matthew uses semeron meaning this day. We think the point is, at least concerning bread as food for the body, that we should always think that God is the one who supplies us with that bread. He is the one who has made it possible for us to obtain the bread. Although, many non-believers are indeed able to purchase their own bread from their own abilities, while never asking God for anything. So then why should we ask him for our daily bread, when we have a regular income and can go to the store and buy our own bread? The right answer is that Jesus told us to ask the Father who is in heaven for our bread each and every day. Now, this could be seen in an entirely different concept as Jesus is the bread of life. Although it is also true the Jews would know their history and how God supplied manna, heavenly bread, each and every day. But then Jesus is also the heavenly bread of life, for he came from heaven to the earth in the form of man. Then we could say that we need our daily supply of Jesus. Therefore, we should ask the Father to give us our daily supply of Jesus, the bread of life. In the case of the Jews when they were wandering, or being led through the wilderness, the manna from heaven sustained their lives. This could translate that we need our daily supply of Jesus to sustain our lives, both here on earth and, more importantly, our eternal lives. If we do not have Jesus each and every day we will surely die. We could get sidetracked by living out the title the world has given us, Christian, saying or confessing that we are Christians, but is that missing our daily supply of Jesus. Again, this goes back to what we thought before concerning we are more than just Christians, but that we are born again, Spirit-filled, bible-carrying followers of Jesus. Our hearts are full of Jesus, he is the very center of our lives, and we could not survive without having all of him each and every day of our lives.

 

His Kingdom

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HIS KINGDOM

Luke 11:2-4

2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.  

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.

NIV

Now that we have hollowed His name, we look to asking that his kingdom come. Matthew included. “Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven” Whenever we think of a kingdom we think of a castle where the king has his throne or rules over the whole of his kingdom. Of course, we know that God rules over heaven. We know that all the angels in heaven serve at his pleasure and that some time ago, there was one of the most beautiful angels that God created, Lucifer, who wanted to be more than simply a created spiritual being meant to serve God and rebelled, even getting some of the other angels taken his side. But God is the king of heaven and cast his angel and his co-conspirators out of heaven and down to earth. What we are asking is that God, the one true king of the one and true kingdom of heaven become our king and rule over our lives, as he rules over all the angels in heaven. What we are praying is that we no longer have rule over our own lives, we are no longer rebellious and only desire to serve at his pleasure. Being the subject of a king also means that He has all the authority over our lives, in fact, He can choose whether we live or die. However, because the Lord God our King is filled with great compassion toward us, and He came to earth in our form and lived a perfect life, so that He could satisfy His own need for justice, and paid His own price thus allowing us to choose Him over ourselves, and because we accept His grace, Jesus, as our Lord, Savior, and King, we have been given eternal life. So, we live in this kingdom of God that has come to earth. We are simply asking God to be the ruling King of our lives. This means that we no longer have a say in how we live, where we live, where we work, what we do in this life, even what church we are to be in, and what part of the body we are supposed to serve as. Nothing in our lives is now our choice but are all under the kingship of God. Of course, all this depends on whether we truly want His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, and if we do want His kingdom over us, then we must always be listening to his direction. True, it may come from the mouth of another person, or from a visiting angel, or a vision, or an inspiration of the Spirit, or even His own voice as he whispers in our ears. We just need to pay attention and trust and obey, as we live in His kingdom. 

Hollowed By His Name

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HOLLOWED BE HIS NAME

Luke 11:1-4

11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.  

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.'" 

NIV

Although Luke does not record what Jesus said in exactly the same way that Matthew does, there are notes, or references that some manuscripts have more words than what Luke recorded. We will follow this version but with the added words of those other manuscripts. The first thing we want to remind ourselves is that this prayer that Jesus taught his disciples how they should pray is not one to recite, but it is a format. However, there is nothing wrong with reciting this prayer, which we mostly use in the format that Matthew records. We are going to look a little deeper than just the words. The first thing we need to notice is that Jesus said that we should pray to the Father, who is in heaven. Sometimes we get into the mode of praying to Jesus. He said, as recorded by John, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so the Son may bring Glory to the Father”. Then he repeated, “You may ask me anything in my name and I will do it.” Yet, he taught us to pray to the Father who is in Heaven. However, we know and should always be cognizant that Jesus and the Father are one. Nevertheless, when we pray, we should hollow his name. The Greek word hagiazoo means to render or declare sacred or holy. When we simply recite this prayer, we wonder if we take a moment to declare just how holy, how scared the Father is, yes, even His name. Then we wonder how much we consider His name, and what name we are declaring sacred and holy. It is the Father, Yahweh, Jehovah, Adoni, or should we pray to whom God told Moses what his name is, “ I AM WHO I AM”. However, we pray to the Father who is in heaven for that is the name Jesus refers to Him, His Father. Still, we consider all that the name Father means and that we are declaring the truth about Him, that He is sacred, He is holy, He is pure and the creator of all things including breathing life into us, that we have the very breathe of God, who we address as Father, in us for the purpose of declaring his name to holy and sacred and pure, and that He is currently sitting in Heaven. There is so much connected to His name, in fact, we are connected to His name, as His people, the ones who have accepted His Son as Lord and Savior. We are completely connected to the Father through Jesus, for we carry His name, Christian. Let us always live giving honor and glory to our Father who is in heaven as we hallow His name.

 

Mary or Martha

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

MARY OR MARTHA

Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's and feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." 

NIV

It is a wonderful thing that Martha opened her home to Jesus, but at the same time she was not prepared to have Jesus in her home because all she was concerned about was the works that were needed to serve him. Plus, to add to her worry and anxiety, her sister Mary was not helping her, but instead sitting and listen to Jesus. If we cannot see the truth of our lives in this narrative, we most likely cannot see anything, which we then would be living as a blind person who consistently lives in the dark. There is only one thing needed in our lives and that is to believe in the one God sent, Jesus. All else must take second fiddle. We have been told over and over again, we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. But do we get distracted with all the work, the good deeds, serving in the church? The question is whether we are a Martha or a Mary. We know we say the reason we do so much work is because we love the Lord and are so grateful. However, has the work become the reason we do what we do, like Martha did. Her concern was all about the work that needed to be done to serve Jesus. Of course, there are a lot of things that we must do, as part of the body of Christ. Because we are told to love one another and, in fact, put others before ourselves, we work our fingers to the bone trying to fulfill that command of serving others. Those of us who either teach or preach spent untold hours in study and preparation to serve others, which those should rightly do, as they have been called or tasked by the Lord into that kind of service. Others do the same thing, serve because they have that calling, and each of us, although we have been called, is also empowered by the Lord. However, everything should be about being a Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and learning from Him. We must be careful not to be a Martha and look or be blinded by the work or the good deeds  that must be accomplished and become so involved or invested in the doing of things that we miss hearing from Jesus. It would be best if we were aware of whether we are Mary or  Martha. 

The Law and Mercy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE LAW AND MERCY

Luke 10:25-37

 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"  27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

NIV

We have looked at the question, which might be in the hearts of all people, and we looked at the answer. In addition, we have looked at this effort to render ourselves innocent. Now let us take the parable apart, in some sense, even with knowing its meaning. We know the priest and the Levite, thinking themselves righteous men did not act according to the law which Jesus asked the expert in the law about. It is interesting how someone can think they are being righteous and find life in the law, or in the rules and regulations they added or interpreted from the law, yet not actually act according to the law concerning this man on the road who was robbed and left for dead. However, Jesus told about a dreaded Samaritan, one whom the Jews dislike to the point of hatred and will not have anything to do with them. This is the one who shows mercy and thus acts per the law, specifically the part about loving your neighbor. Of course, the Samaritans also believed in Yahweh. We have found evidence in their form of Hebrew calligraphy “Shema Yisrael” which means, there is one God, Yahweh, the same God recognized by the Jewish prophets. We also found among the most significant differences is where the Jews and the Samaritans believe God dwells. What this means is the Samaritan was acting out of his love, as he also knew the law that was written. This brings us to asking how we live out God's law. We know that Jesus did not cancel the law but fulfilled it. So if we are in Christ, we have fulfilled the law, but that does not mean we can ignore the commands of God, for we have those words recorded for us, especially about loving God with a whole heart and loving our neighbors as ourselves. So, the question is, How do we live? Do we truly show mercy? Isn’t that the law?

 

 

 

Justify

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

JUSTIFY

Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

NIV

Having considered the concept of loving the Lord our God with our whole being, all of us, our whole undivided heart, we now take a look at this parable. Of course, the reason for Jesus to tell this expert in the law this parable was because the man was trying to justify himself. Having answered correctly must have not been how he lived. This Greek word, dikaioo, which is translated as justify means to tender or show just or innocent. Most of the time it is used of how we have been rendered innocent by God through Jesus Christ. However, here this man wanted to render himself innocent by trying to undo the law regarding loving his neighbor by questioning who qualifies as his neighbor. By this parable, it is clear that all mankind are our neighbors and that we should not only act like we love them but put the love into action. However, the point we see here is this trying to render ourselves as innocent, or justifying why we do not love our neighbor as we should. Perhaps we are too busy with either trying to look like we are doing good things, or busy servicing the church, or making an effort to love those who love us, that is our fellow believers, that we do not have the time or the inclination to spend any effort on loving those who do not love us. But then even in the church, there are those who we may not actually love the way we are supposed to love. If there exists any jealousy, envy, greed, bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, or any of those other attitudes we are not supposed to harbor, then we can just throw out any idea of loving our neighbor. Then, if we are all about making ourselves look good, or simply putting ourselves first before anyone else, again we can throw out love. However, we could try to justify or render ourselves innocent. 

The Whole Heart

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE WHOLE HEART

Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"  27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." 

NIV

It is difficult to break this whole conversation up into segments, so we must deal with the whole while finding nuggets of truth within. First, is the question; “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Second, why did Jesus ask him what was written in the law? Do we not inherit eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ? Did not Jesus fulfill the law? Yet, the answer does bring us to faith in Jesus Christ. If we Love the Lord our God, who is the Holy Trinity, who includes Jesus, then loving Jesus would have to include having faith in Him. However, the kicker here is that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. We know the expert in the law was quoting from Deuteronomy and Leviticus and we could spend hours, and enough words to write a book, researching both the Greek and Hebrew definitions of those four words, heart, soul, strength, and mind, but the whole of the idea is to love the Lord totally, completely, with everything within us. This would be love that is lacking nothing or that is not divided. This may be one of the most difficult ways to live because we do live in this world that requires a certain amount of attention to provide for our sustenance and be engaged with concerns for our family, motivated by our love for them. In doing so, does that mean we are living with a divided heart, or is that in accordance with the command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and all our mind, because the command also includes loving our neighbor as ourselves. Our family certainly is included as our neighbor, but then with the parable that Jesus told, it would appear many others are also our neighbors. So then, loving others is not having a divided heart because that is obeying the Lord our God out of our love for Him. However, that love is for others, and not for things. When we start having love or desires for things, more than our desire for God, we might get into a dangerous place. When we use too much of our heart, soul, mind, and especially strength to attain success defined by the accumulation of things, or our degree of knowledge, skills, or abilities we might not even have a divided heart, but a completely distracted heart. Let us always keep our hearts bent toward God, our love for Him first and foremost, as he has instructed us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He will add all these things we need to us. Then we will be living with a whole heart.

 

To See and Hear

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TO SEE AND HEAR

Luke 10:23-24

23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." 

NIV

Although the disciples were indeed privileged to physically see and hear Jesus and those prophets who spoke of him were not, we wonder if we are more like the disciples or the prophets. Certainly, Jesus came to earth in the form of man when the disciples lived. Their eyes beheld his physical form, and Peter, James, and John actually saw him transfigured in all his glory, with Moses and Elijah. However, we can hear Jesus, perhaps not with our ears, but with our hearts as we see his words recorded for us. We might also be able to see Jesus, again not with our physical eyes, but with our hearts and minds as we read all the scriptures recorded for us. Then we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth, and we know that Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Then we would have to believe the Spirit is always leading us to Jesus, revealing Jesus to us so we can see and hear him. We know we are certainly blessed because we know Jesus and He knows us. Happy, fulfilled, satisfied, and content, are all contained within the word blessed. How can we be anything but those things knowing that our salvation is secure in Jesus. Once again, we recall how we interpreted those words of Jesus when he told those women to stop wailing when he raised the little girl from the dead. How often do we find ourselves wailing about our situation in life, or our aches and pains? Do our life situations, illnesses, or those aches and pains cause us to become unhappy which could translate that we do not feel blessed. If we focus too much on those areas of our lives, we miss out on seeing and hearing Jesus. When we become overly concerned about our life’s situation, or our aches and pains, we might be putting out the Spirit’s fire and that would cause us not to see or hear Jesus. We might have those situations we must travel through or even endure, but we cannot lose the main focus of our lives, being blessed because we can see and hear Jesus. 

How Awesome is This

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HOW AWESOME IS THIS

Luke 10:22

22 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 

NIV

These are difficult words to fully understand. Even our Scholars of old have not given any great revelation, but only given mere conjectures. But then their thoughts are based on their denominational bais. How do we make sense of what Jesus said? All things have been given to Jesus. The Father has given Jesus all authority concerning everything, which would include us. This is why Jesus told us that we can ask anything in His name, and He would do it. Sometimes we refer to Jesus as the Son, but to be honest, that is simply His title, but it is not His name, for as the Angel told Mary His name will be Jesus. When Jesus said that no one knows Him except the Father we are not sure how that can be, for we have the whole of scripture which reveals the truth about Jesus. Then we have the fact the Holy Spirit dwells within us and leads us or reveals to us all truth. However, it is Jesus who sent the Holy Spirit, so in that sense, we are among those to whom the Son has revealed all truth regarding the Father. Jesus said that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. Although we have not physically seen Jesus as the people did when he walked the earth, but then some of them did not see him, as who he was, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is fully God and fully man. However, through the scriptures with the leading of the Spirit, we have been able to see Jesus, and because we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father. This seeing is, of course, in the spiritual sense, but then God is a Spirit. He is the one perfect divine Spirit, as is Jesus. What is a little confusing is this idea that Jesus chooses to whom he will reveal the Father. This may be why some believe they are the chosen people of God while other people are kept in the dark and predetermined by God to perish. However, we know from the gospel according to John that it is God’s will that none should perish but that whosoever believes in Him, Jesus, will have everlasting life. Therefore, God has predetermined before the beginning of time, or when He created all things, including time, that all men should come to the knowledge of His Son, Jesus. But that is our choice, our free will which God gave us so that we could choose. So, when Jesus said that he chooses to whom to reveal the Father, it comes down to those who believe in Him. Jesus chooses to reveal the Father to those who choose to believe in Him. If people elect to not believe in Jesus, then He chooses not to reveal the Father to them, and they will remain in the dark, and given over to their reprobate minds. We have chosen to believe in Jesus as the Spirit moved us to and we have been given the Spirit by Jesus so that all things have been revealed to us, including the Father. How awesome is that, We are living in the revelation. 

His Good Pleasure

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HIS GOOD PLEASURE

Luke 10:21

21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 

NIV

Although we looked at both the truths, the joy through the Holy Spirit, and all these things revealed to little children, we missed another truth. Hiding the truth from the wise and learned, but revealing those things to those who have changed and become like a little child, that is being simple and humble, is the Father’s good pleasure. All things in our lives are according to the Father’s good pleasure. All the blessings we experience are because it is the Father's good pleasure, or we could say God's. When it comes down to it, every breath we take is because of the good pleasure of our Father who is in heaven. This is why we hallow his name; we give honor and glory to our Father who is in heaven. We cannot thank him enough for giving us our daily bread. As we thought through this bread before, it certainly implies food, our daily sustenance, but it could also imply Jesus, for He is the bread from heaven. This is why we take the bread at communion. Jesus told us that it represents his body, so we consume Jesus daily. We also cannot thank the Father enough because he has forgiven our sins, but of course that is somewhat conditional on us forgiving everyone who has sinned against us. We also know and should be abundantly thankful to the Father for it is a good pleasure not to lead us toward evil, but he always delivers us from all the evil forces in this dark world and all the evil spiritual forces. All this is the Father's good pleasure. We cannot fully comprehend the love our Father has for us. He does so much for us because everything is based on his good pleasure. We live in the good pleasure of the Father. Let us not ever forget all we are, all we have, and all we are able to do is all due according to the good pleasure of our Father. 

Little Children

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

 LITTLE CHILDREN

Luke 10:21

21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 

NIV

Having looked at the first truth about being full of joy through the Holy Spirit, we now take a look at the second truth regarding these things which have been hidden from the wise and learned and revealed to us, little children. We recall the words of Jesus when he took a little child and him in the middle of everyone and told them, “Unless you change and become like this little child you will not enter the kingdom of God”. That is as clear as it can be. Now regarding these things, it would seem Jesus is referring to the fact that he is the Savior, Mediator, Head, Pattern, Pastor, Shepherd, Sovereign Judge of the whole world. All good things proceed from Him. This is the entirety of the gospel message. That Jesus is the Light of the world. Now the difference between the wise and learned and the little children. Jesus could have been referring the proud and haughty scribes and Pharisees as the supposed learned and wise. But the little children that we are to change and become like are those of us that are a bit obscure, and humble, being simple, the teachable people. We recall the idea of a child not having any accomplishments or degrees, or a title to be proud and boastful about. It seems to us the more we think we know, the less we become teachable. Yet, if we change to become like that child, which we have, we are fully aware the truth has been revealed to us. There is no question that have nothing to be prideful about, and that we are an obscure little person in this large clog of this world. Yes, there was a time we wanted to make our mark on the world, but God showed us who He was and that we are nothing without Him. Jesus has become everything to us. He is our Savior. He is the only way to heaven, the only truth, and the only Light in which we live. He the pattern that we are to follow, and He is our only go between us and God, our Mediator. Jesus is our Great Shepherd who leads us to this green pasture, which could be seen as truth, or it could be seen as the paradise he has prepared for us. We have no one else but Jesus. We are nothing without Him. We are but a little child in world and we need all of Jesus. We praise His Holy Name for He has revealed all these things to us little humble children. 

Full of Joy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FULL OF JOY

Luke 10:21

21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 

NIV

There are two great truths within this passage. We want to deal just with the first one now and look into the second one later. We see that Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus ascended back into heaven, he promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to his disciples and to all who believed. All of us are aware of that day of Pentecost and what happened. However, the point is that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Whether we believe He inspires us to speak in tongues is not the real issue. However, if we take speaking in a new language as how our words were different before we were saved through Jesus Christ and filled with the Spirit and how we talk now as born-again Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ, we are speaking a whole new language, and our vocabulary has changed. Nevertheless, what we want to focus on is that Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit. Because we have the Spirit, we should also be full of joy. This word joy intrigues us, so we looked into the Greek to find, agalliaoo, which means to jump for joy, i.e. exult, to rejoice exceedingly. Therefore, we would think that we would be always in this frame of mind, and therefore our faces would reflect this abundant joyfulness that is in our hearts and minds. In fact, joy is one of the gifts of the Spirit. Even in the midst of any of our aches and pains, sicknesses, or other infirmities, if we have the Spirit, we will also have this joy overflowing within and through us. When we get into those funky times, when we get this ugly attitude, complaining, wailing about our problems, we might just be quenching the Spirit. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he says, “Do not put out the fire of the Spirit” at least in the NIV. The KJV uses “Do not quench the Spirit”. Let us always be aware of the Holy Spirit and his influence upon our hearts and minds. Just as the Spirit filled Jesus with joy, he fills us with that same joy. Let us reflect the joy of the Lord all the days of our lives. Let us live full of joy.

 

Rejoice and Rejoice

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

REJOICE AND REJOICE

Luke 10:17-20

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

NIV

First, we need to grasp that picture Jesus described to the seventy-two. He was there in heaven where Lucifer thought he was greater then God, which would have been Jesus as He is God, and it was the Father, the Son and the Spirit who threw Lucifer from heaven. We also see that Lucifer came to earth in such a flash, like lighting. It is interesting the preposition like, or in the manner, is in the Greek. Therefore, it was his falling from heaven that was in the manner of lighting, and when we see lighting at night, it is quick, a flash and then it is gone. But now that fallen Lucifer has been given that name Satan. However, Jesus gave them, and it would be right to say that would include us today, the authority to trample of snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy and that nothing will harm us. We have the full armor of God and if we dress ourselves in it, which means not trying to overcome the enemy on our own, but living with the armor of God in place, we are able to stand our ground against all the dark forces of evil. Although this is a wonderful and mighty way to live in this life being an overcomer of all the forces of evil and we can rejoice because we have this authority from God, which gives us this ability to take our stand against evil, Jesus said there is something far better for us to rejoice about. Jesus said that we should not rejoice that the evil spirits submit to us but rejoice because our names are written in heaven. Wow, just thinking, our names are written in heaven.  It has to be Jesus who wrote the name of Rich, and your names in that book. How glorious is that! The day we stand in the presence of our almighty God, standing before his throne, which is also His judgement seat, Jesus will open that Book, and read the names He had written in it, our names. When we hear our name read out loud for all of heaven to hear, we will also hear, come my good and faithful servant, enter into my rest. We will be ushered into the glory of God, into that place, that paradise, that Jesus prepared for us. That is something to rejoice about, in fact, that is reason to live a rejoicing life ever day we are still here. We live with this anticipation of that day, yet while we are here, we do that which we have been made to do, being the image of God. When God decided to make man, they made us in their image. So, we are made to reflect the image of God, to be an image bearer of God. If we took the time to ponder on how that should look, we might need a book instead of these short thoughts. Nevertheless, two responses are needed. First, if we are to live rejoicing, that would mean not living with a downtrodden continence, one of complaining, or with envy, jealousy, hatred and all those other negative things in life. But secondly, we should be living knowing our names are written down in heaven, and that we are His image to the world. So, we rejoice and again we rejoice, and rejoice and rejoice. 

The Kingdom of God is Near

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR

Luke 10:1-16

10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.   16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

NIV

After considering the harvest that is plentiful, and whether we should think of ourselves as one of the few workers, we need to ponder on this being welcomed or not welcomed. Of course, we are not traveling town to town, and it is doubtful that anywhere we do go there is any dust. So, how do we make sense of this idea of being welcomed or not welcomed? However, either way the seventy-two were told to tell them the kingdom of God is near. The idea of being welcomed has this concept of finding a person who is more then interested in what we have to say about the kingdom of God. They are hungry for the truth, and are willing to sit and listen, even invite us into their lives, telling us all about their past, and how they never knew this truth about the kingdom of God. They are one of the plentiful of the harvest. Now, this also means we are  not planting or waterer the seed, but we are harvesting the full grow plant, we are gathering souls for the kingdom of God. Now, if when we speak to someone who tells us to take a walk, so to speak,  and has all sorts of reason why they do not want to talk with us about the truth in the kingdom of God, then we are to take that walk, however, still while we might be accepting their rejection, we need to speak, shaking that dust of their lives off our feet, the kingdom of God is near. There is one basic truth we need to consider, and that is, if we truly believe the kingdom of God is near. It is interesting the Greek word eggizo is mostly translated as near but has also been used to say it is at hand.  The question is how near is near, and if we actually believe it is near. However, we have our citizenship in the kingdom of God, then it is very near, or we could say we are living in the kingdom of God, that is how near it is. Nevertheless, are task to tell, or witness about how wonderful the kingdom of God is, both to those who welcome our words, or reject our words. The kingdom of God is near. 

Looking For A Harvest

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LOOKING FOR A HARVEST

Luke 10:1-16

10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.  16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

 

This is a large chunk of scripture, but how do we break up the words of Jesus in his instructions to the seventy-two that he sent ahead of him. What we can do is focus on some of the things Jesus said. First, let us concentrate on the harvest being plentiful, and the workers are few. We wonder how often we look at the field as if there is a plentiful harvest. Of course, we are not thinking about a field of corn planted by a farmer, but about those who yet know the good news about the kingdom of God. How many people are actually unaware of the good news? Have we lost sight of the fact there is still a plentiful harvest? In a society that seems to be full of people who say they are Christians or believe in God, it would appear there are not too many to harvest. Yet, if we were to consider how many of them are born again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ, with the full knowledge of the goodness in the kingdom of God, then perhaps that field is still full of a plentiful harvest. We wonder if we too are called to be one of those workers. However, are not all believers called to go into the world and preach the good news about the kingdom of God? Have we slacked off because we think, either that is not our calling, or we just got lazy, or that we are satisfied with us four and no more? Well, more than us four, but all of us in the local church are fine with just us and are not too concerned, or not concerned at all about the plentiful harvest. Maybe we should start looking around in the field, and seeing who is ready for the harvest. We should be looking for a harvest. 

Being Fit

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BEING FIT

Luke 9:57-62

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."  59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."  61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." 

NIV

Although we might be able to look at the three different men and what the response of Jesus was to each of their reasons for not dropping everything to follow him, it is his final statement that is the main point. Each of them had something to go back to do, although maybe not the first man. Still, Jesus did not tell him, “Sure, come and follow me”. However, it still comes down to not looking back. Once we decide to follow Jesus, that former sinful life must remain in the past, and every year, that past becomes more and more distant. Do we remember that formal life of sin? Yes, of course, it is impossible to forget, our minds simply have memories of our life experiences. But to desire to go back is not there. We would never return to that kind of life. However, the kicker to all this is the concept of following Jesus. Are we simply being Christians, or are we followers of Jesus? Have we actually put our hands on the plow, so to speak? Is there a difference between living as a Christian, doing what we think Christians are supposed to do, following the rules and regulations we feel we should, and simply following Jesus? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus, putting our hands to the plow, or as Jesus made it clear, being a servant in the kingdom of God? There has to be something about being fit for service in the kingdom of God. This means that each one of us has some kind of service in the kingdom. When Jesus said that he did not come to be served, but to serve, then we have the truth of following Jesus. It is not to be served, but to serve. That means we have to do more than just come to church on Sunday and take up room in a row, and simply listen to a “Good sermon” and go home to our normal life until the next time there is something to attend, a prayer meeting, a bible study, or whatever. Are we just attendees, or are we followers of Jesus? If we are following Jesus, then we must go back to the idea of daily taking up our cross and following Jesus. However, the word ‘service’ is not in Greek in this verse, it is simply, if we look back, we are not fit for the kingdom of God. Still, following Jesus must include following Him, and doing what he did. We should always be straining forward, marching forward, changing, always being transformed, always reflecting His glory in ever-increasing glory. That means we can never be static, doing the same thing every day, simply living as a Christian, but not really following Jesus. Let us always be following, walking alongside with Jesus. If we are following that means moving forward, being fit.