Growing Up

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

GROWING UP

Luke 13:18-19

18 Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches." 

NIV

A parable is not something to take lightly, and there is a deeper meaning than just considering what a mustard seed grows to become, which is what the scholars of old focus on without wanting to consider how that applies both to the kingdom of God and the people. Of course, a mustard seed, although one of the smallest seeds can grow into a tree large enough for a bird of the air to perch on its branches. However, this is what happens to the kingdom of God. Even though the Jews know about God, they have been focused on living under the law and knew nothing about the kingdom of God. Jesus introduced the good news about the kingdom of God to them. This was a new idea and it needed to take root in the hearts and minds of the people. However, once the kingdom of God did take root within them, it grew larger and larger until many could find a place to rest, or should we say find rest for their souls. This is how the kingdom of God grows within a new convert. When we first came to Jesus Christ, accepting him as our Lord and Savior, the fact is we know nothing about the kingdom of God. We were just excited to find eternal life and the forgiveness of all our sins. There was a release from the heavy burden we were carrying through life. Of course, this may only apply to those of us who came to Jesus as adults, after living a life of sin. Those who grew up in a Christian home or atmosphere might have some knowledge about the kingdom of God or learned about it as they grew up in the church. However, we still think that no matter how we became aware of the kingdom of God, our knowledge is as little as that mustard seed. But it grew and grew within us and with the aid of the Spirit, we grew into this big tree so that other people could find a place to find rest for their souls. That is because of the kingdom that took root in our lives, others could see the result of the kingdom of God within us and want that same kind of life. Although a mustard tree may not bear fruit, like a normal fruit tree would, the kingdom of God within a person as it grows within him does bear the fruit of the Spirit which others can come and enjoy. They can find comfort in our love, joy patience, goodness, gentleness, peace, and self-control. They can taste, in a sense, and see how good the Lord is, or how they too can find rest for their soul within the kingdom of God. It is all about how the kingdom of God grows within us and what we become, or should we say it is about growing up.  

Delighted

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DELIGHTED

Luke 13:14-17

14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"  17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

NIV

Here if the rest of the story regarding Jesus setting the woman free from her infirmity of eighteen years. There are two sides here, the opponents and the delighted people. We don’t think the ruler of the synagogue really cared about the woman but was only concerned about the law. Jesus used the law to show him this hypocrisy and, in essence, made a fool out of the ruler of the synagogue in front of everyone who was there. Then there were the people who were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. It is interesting the Greek word " delighted ", means rejoiced, cheerful, calm delight. Because we trust in Jesus, that is we have accepted him as our Lord and Savior, being born-again and being baptized in the Spirit, we have found a life of rejoicing, a life of being cheerful and of calm delight. We are reminded of the little song that says if you’re happy and you know it your face should surely show it. We wonder if we reflect the kind of life we are living in delighting all the glorious things Jesus is doing in our lives, instead of reflecting all our aches and pains, and the hurts in our lives. We also wonder if what we see in some others are attempts to live under some kind of law, they think the word of God puts on them. We see the sternness in their faces as they live under the burden of being righteous by their acts of service. We cannot allow the burden of the law to take away the joy of the Lord in our lives. Jesus has shown us the foolishness of living under the law, the hypocrisy of trying to live under the rules and regulations set up by man in that living by one law, we break another. However, what Jesus tells us is to live a life of love, and to live rejoicing in all the God has done for us and is doing in us and through us. If we are rejoicing in the Lord then our faces would show it. If we are glad then we would be reflecting the glory of the Lord in ever-increasing glory. 

See What God Can Do

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

SEE WHAT GOD CAN DO

Luke 13:10-13

10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity."  13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

NIV

There is more to this narrative including the response of the indignation of the synagogue ruler and how Jesus humiliates him with his response but let us first deal with what set off the rest of the narrative. To have an infirmity for eighteen years seems more common than just this woman who encountered Jesus and was set free. How many people today are simply living with their infirmity for eighteen or more years? Then we wonder is it possible that some of our infirmities are caused by some spirit, as this woman was? Can evil spirits cause us believers who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to be inflicted with an infirmity? We think that this could or would not happen because the Spirit protects us from evil, just as we pray the way Jesus taught us to pray, “do not lead us into temptation, but believer us from evil”. How could we believers ever be in the situation this woman was in with her infirmity being caused by a spirit, which an evil spirit is implied. Jesus healed whoever came to him, and it did not matter when or where. However, we still have to come to terms with the fact that we still have believers who have infirmities, some of which we are told are incurable by medical professionals. Are our incurable infirmities impossible for God to cure? Are we living a “settled for” life, accepting our infirmity without going to Jesus for healing, or is it that we really do not have the faith, or believe the Lord can heal us today? After eighteen years of being bent over not being able to stand straight with her head held high, Jesus sets her free, by his word, and by placing his hand on her. Let us look to Jesus for our infirmity, he is calling us to come forward to him. We also notice this was not done privately but in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Perhaps we should come forward in church on Sunday and be healed so that Jesus will be glorified, and everyone will be amazed and give God all the glory, honor, and praise he desires. We could say that Jesus has already set us free from the infirmity of sin and death, healing us and giving us eternal life. But what about the physical condition of our bodies? Have we resigned ourselves to living with our physical infirmities? Let us go to Jesus and believe and see what God can do. 

Bear Fruit or Else

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BEAR FRUIT OR ELSE

Luke 13:6-9

6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' 8 "'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'" 

NIV

God planted us on his earth, and He is looking for us to produce fruit, and if he does not find that we are not producing any fruit for his pleasure we are in danger of being cut down. Of course, we have some time, and God sent Jesus to dig around our lives and feed us the word of God, the good news about the kingdom of God, but we still are supposed to bear fruit, or we are in danger of being cut down. Jesus has told us that he is the vine, and we are the branches and apart from him, we can do nothing, that is we cannot bear fruit. We can see this truth as plain as our hands in front of our faces. There are many times man is referred to as a tree, here being a fig tree and in other places some kind of fruit tree, such as in the 1^st Psalm and in Jeremiah 17. It is always about bearing fruit or bearing much fruit. Then we have the narrative about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians to add to the point that if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and have been baptized in the Spirit, having him dwell within us, the result will be that we will bear fruit and thus will never be cut down. We live in the vineyard of God, however, we usually call this vineyard the Kingdom of God, and as the tree, the Spirit is tending to us, to make sure we bear the fruit. We wonder if we do not see any love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, or that dreaded self-control that we should be paying more attention to the tending of the Spirit in our lives. We think that it is the issue of self-control that may be the center of many problems and could be the cause of not bearing any fruit at all.  When we want the ‘self’ to control our choices in life, which includes all our choices, as in where we work, which would include our career path, the choice of where we live, and yes, where we attend church. These should be God’s choice if we have surrendered ourselves or our ‘self’ to God. After all, we are in His vineyard, the one that He owns, and it is He who planted us here, or we could say God is the one who started this work in our lives. Therefore, we are His to do with as He desires and it is desire that we bear much fruit. 

Repent or Perish

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

REPENT OR PERISH

Luke 13:1-5

13:1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them — do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." 

NIV

From other records of history such as Josephus we have learned about the people referred to here as Galileans. They were Jews who were loyal to Herod and sedition was their manner. They were outspoken against the authority of Pilate, and what happened from this historical records account was when they were priests, and doing the sacrifices in the temple, Pilate sent soldiers to slay them, so their blood was mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. With everything else these people told Jesus as if he was unaware of it, he responds with the same warning to them, “But unless you repent you too all will perish”. The idea is that when they were looking at how God dealt with the wicked Galileans by punishing them with such an awful way of perishing, and thinking how better they were than the Galileans, Jesus was telling them to perish is to perish, and all men are sinners, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and unless a person changes the way they think, repenting of the way they think and thus act in this life, they too were going to perish. This is the story of man, in his relationship with God. Because we are the human descendants of Adam, we all have the knowledge of good and evil, and we also know that man’s heart is bent toward evil all the time, and that includes us, or may even still include though we profess to be Christian. The fact is, unless we change the way we think and put to death that old man who was bent toward evil, and become a born-again, spirit-filled new person in Christ Jesus, we could perish. Many call themselves Christians but as far as we can tell by their lifestyle and manner of speech, they have not repented and turned their life from themselves to God. Being a believer in Jesus Christ should mean we live for God and not for self. There must be a change in the way we think because we have faith in our Father and in Jesus our Lord and Savior, and have accepted the indwelling of the Spirit, and have the faith He will lead us into all truth, that faith must produce the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. This is where we get that faith without works is dead from James. Because we have the Spirit producing those gifts and His fruit within us, which include love, kindness, gentleness, and goodness, along with gifts to administer to others, we would be just telling those in need we are praying for them, but we would be doing something about their need. The key is that our help is not from human efforts, for even the pagans help others, but it must be motivated by the Spirit. Well, that was a digression from the original point, or maybe not. Unless we repent, we will perish. Unless we fully change our thinking, we have not fully repented, we have not fully put all our faith in Jesus but have kept some faith in ourselves, and in our abilities.  Repent or perish. 

Be Reconciled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BE RECONCILED

Luke 12:57-59

57 "Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny." 

NIV

This may have everything to do with being reconciled with each other. Jesus may be making reference to the Ten Commandments here, in the sense that we should not commit murder, not steal, and not give false witness or testimony against our neighbor. We do not think that any believer would do any of these in our relationship with one another. Although Jesus made a point about murder being the same as when we hold hatred in our hearts toward someone. We also wonder if it would be possible that in some way we could steal another person’s joy. However, the point is that all of us believers should be living in peace and harmony with each other, motivated by our love for each other. Does that actually occur within the community of faith? We first think 0f the chasm that occurs with denominationalism and then we wonder about if perfect unity exists within a singular denomination, which leads us to the local church. Do we have harmony within the local church? Are there adversaries we are unaware of in the sense that someone could be harboring jealousy, envy, gossip, or some kind of ill feeling toward us? Then there is the opposite side where the other person looks down on us because of their pridefulness, thinking they are better educated than us, have a better position in the body, or have more prosperity than we do. There are so many ways in which we could be not reconciled with each other. Of course, we would never take each other to court over our petty differences, although according to Jesus they may not be so petty. Then we could see God as being the judge, and we will all stand before him and it would be far better for us to put aside all those things that would disturb perfect harmony and peace with each other. Although we are saved by grace, James tells us that our faith produces work, which could be seen as perfect harmony and peace with each other. Will God hold us accountable for being an adversary to another believer? Whatever the situation will be it would be better for us to make every effort to reconcile ourselves to each believer in our local church before it is too late. 

Interpret Rightly

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

INTERPRET RIGHTLY

Luke 12:54-56

54 He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?

NIV

On the surface, we would see this as Jesus speaking to the people about their inability to see that He is the Son of God who came down from Heaven in the form of man and that He is God who is there to pay their price for sin, so they could be saved, or freed from the penalty of sin. Why didn’t they get the truth about Jesus and the present time? How do we bring this truth into our time? Do we know how to interpret our present time? Mankind has advanced their ability to interpret the earth's and sky's appearance, with all sorts of computers to aid their forecasting of what will happen on the earth and in the sky. They can tell us what the temperature will be for the next forty-eight hours, just as an example of their abilities. How are we doing regarding forecasting what God will do on the earth and in the sky, but more importantly, in our lives? Can we know what He will do? We know what He has done in His relationship with His creation. We know that He does not change and therefore we could expect that He deals with us in the same way He has been working in the lives of people throughout all of the history of time, or from creation to now. We can know all about what God is doing and even better than the people Jesus was speaking in the crowd. We have the Spirit dwelling within us who leads us into all truth. He shows us the way to interpret the present time we live in and how God is working for us, in us, and through us. From the time the Spirit first began the work in us, convicting us of our need to change the way we think, repent, and turn to Jesus for our salvation, he has been showing us the way to walk and interpret our times. We are aware of the dark forces of evil in this world. We are aware of the evil forces in the heavenly or spiritual realm. We have been given gifts from the Spirit to be able to discern the forces of evil from the goodness and almighty power of God. We can interpret what will happen someday to the earth and the sky, along with what will happen to us, for God has told us the truth about how we should interpret our present time. However, at the same time, we must always be on the watch against the forces of evil, keeping ourselves clothed in His armor, and constantly keeping our eye on the eastern sky as our redemption draws near. We have been given a way to interpret rightly. 

Being Lightning

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BEING LIGHTNING

Luke 12:49-53

49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

NIV

These are difficult words of Jesus to understand unless we know the culture and time in which he spoke them. The direct words seem rather strange that Jesus is sending fire on the earth. We know fire did not break out in Jerusalem until A.D. 70 when the Romans burned the city. We also know the Jews were waiting for the Messiah who they thought would overthrow the Roman oppressor and set up a new Jewish nation with all the temporal prosperity with it. However, this may be more about a spiritual battle against the dark forces of this world. The very oppressors the Jews wanted the Messiah to overthrow were to put him on the cross, at the bequest of the same Jews. This idea that Jesus was not being peace, but fire brings it right home in our world today. There is no doubt that Jesus brings peace to those who have accepted him as their Lord and Savior. He said that his peace he leaves us, not as the world gives peace, but His peace. On the other hand, there is going to be a great divide among families who have spent their lives serving other gods of this world, when one of them is set free through the moving of the Spirit and they reject those gods and turn to Jesus. Although the family may still remain family, there is no union or unity in spirit and in truth. One will be serving one master while the other is serving another master. We know this full well because we have lived in this kind of family. However, this is also applied to the greater family of mankind. There can never be peace between Christians and pagans, to use general terms. We can get along in this world with unbelievers because we are in this world. We live here, work here, shop here, do business here, and whatever else we do to make our way in our culture. We cannot isolate ourselves from all who oppose the way we believe, nor can we openly oppose them through condemnation of their lifestyles, although they oppose us for our lifestyle. This is the fire, Jesus brings, the fire of the Spirit who dwells within those who believe in Jesus. We have a fire in our belly like we have never had before knowing salvation. The truth burns within us, and it spreads all over. The Greek word used as fire can also be used as lightning, as in the light that shines out of us, as we are lightning to the world, which is usually seen amid a storm. So there it is, we are the fire sent forth to light up the world. Will we cause division in our families, most likely, if we are truly the lightning rod of truth? 

Entrusted to Do

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

ENTRUSTED TO DO

Luke 12:47-48

47 "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

NIV

It would seem, at least according to old scholars, this is all about punishment. No matter whether we are believers who know the light or unbelievers who were exposed to the light and rejected it, we all will be punished. Those who are believers, who accepted the light, but did nothing with it will be punished more severely than those who never saw the light or saw it and rejected it. How could that be what Jesus meant? However, because we have been given the light, and we have accepted that light and become the light of the world, we do have a responsibility to put our light on a lamp stand rather than hiding it. Could this be the same as the parable Matthew records Jesus told about the servants with talents? It does look like we must do something with the truth that we have been entrusted with. We must put that truth to work which may be the same as what James tells us that faith without putting it into action is not true faith, but simply meaningless faith. However, the fact remains that we are saved by grace, and not by works, which must mean that no matter what, if someone is a believer, and has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior they are saved, without condemnation, or punishment. However, if we have been given much truth, that is the Spirit has revealed much to us, giving us more insight into the word of God than those who accepted Jesus but pursued no understanding, we will be asked more of, which might appear as being called into some form of ministry, service to others, responsibility for the spiritual growth and edification of others. Does that mean some have been given more? Can not all believers who lack wisdom ask God and he will give wisdom to them and do so liberally? Can we all have the same amount of light? We know that God does not show favoritism, that he gives all the same amount of faith, the same amount of light, the same amount of truth, the same Spirit, and we all have the same word of God that we might be enlightened with as the Spirit leads us into all truth. So then how could we have more than others? How could God give more to one than another? Why would God demand more from one than another? We may not fully understand how this could be, but we know that we must do all we are called to do. We must serve our Lord in whatever manner we have been called to serve and we must do it wholeheartedly, without reservation, without thought of our own comfort, or our own desires for the things or the ways of this world. We have been entrusted to do something. 

Work, Watch, and Wait

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WORK, WATCH AND WAIT

Luke 12:41-46

41 Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?" 42 The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

NIV

Jesus is telling Peter another way of saying what he already said about being ready for Jesus to return. It would be a little strange for Peter to get that since Jesus is right there talking with him, and we are reading this some two thousand or so years later and Jesus, who did ascend back to heaven in the presence of Peter, has not yet returned for us. However, now Jesus is talking about the calling that he has put on our lives. Of course, he has done that through the Spirit who dwells within us and prompts us to do what we have been called to do. Nevertheless, each of us has a part within the body of Christ. No one can say that God has not given them a task to do. However, because Jesus is responding to Peter, who became one of the leaders of the early church, and Jesus is talking about the faithful and wise manager, we would have to believe this is more directed to those who have been called to be shepherds of God’s people, pastors, teachers, prophets, evangelists and apostles, who are the gifts to the church. However, at the same time, all of God’s people should pay close attention to not get lazy in their faith and faithfulness, because we have not yet seen the return of Jesus. We think this would be especially directed at us older believers who have almost spent a lifetime waiting for Jesus to return for us before we take our last breath. Many in the past have already gone beyond, leaving their bodies in the grave without seeing Jesus coming in the Eastern sky, calling them to the resurrection. Our task, therefore, is to continue to faithfully continue the calling on our lives until whatever time the Lord has decided will be our last breath. Our lives are in His hands, and He will do whatever He pleases with us. Still, it is up to us to remain faithful to the task He has called us to and always be watchful for that day He comes to talk us home, or what we might call the rapture of the church, that starts with the resurrection of the dead, then we who are still alive will be caught up in the air to meet our Lord face to face. What a day that will be, when my Jesus I will see, I look into his face, the one who saved me by his grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be. In the meantime, we work, watch, and wait.

 

Dressed and Ready

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DRESSED AND READY

Luke 12:35-40

35 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." 

NIV

Although this is somewhat of a parable, it is not. Jesus is simply giving an illustration of how we are supposed to live, or perhaps it would be more of what kind of mindset we need to live with. If we are always to be dressed and ready for service and keep our lamps burning, then we cannot afford to get distracted by all the ways of the world. Now, we cannot just sit around and wait for Jesus to return either. We are still supposed to be dressed for service, which means there are works of service that we have been called to do. Of course, the most used verse in the bible comes from James telling us that our faith without works is a dead faith, meaningless. Faith must produce some kind of activity, however, Jesus is saying here that it does not matter what we are doing, what kind of activity we are engaged in, whether that be in Christian service, or in our worldly occupation, we need to always be ready to leave everything behind, knowing in our heart and mind, that Jesus is coming back for us and that we are watching for him, anxiously anticipating with excitement his return, and expecting that to happen any moment. We cannot get into the mindset that he will come someday in the future, and we will have some time to get dressed and ready to open the door. If we get so involved, or engaged in our daily lives, working, being concerned about the things Jesus has already told us about, what we will eat, and wear, the stuff we need and want, and get too distracted, even about doing religious things, serving in the church, doing what we think are good deeds or whatever, we might not be as ready as we think we are. Everything in this present world is temporary, it is all going to be burned up, and become a wasteland, and all our efforts will be useless, but when Jesus comes back, everything will be made perfect, and we need to be ready at all times for him at an hour we do not expect him. We cannot plan on when he will return so that we have time to do whatever we think we should be doing, and get it done right, so to please him. We do not know how much time we have before he comes for us. It could be before I finish this writing and get it posted on the blog. It could be sometime today, while we are at work, or tonight as we lay our heads down. We simply do not know when, but we always need to be dressed in our faith, our lamps burning, ready to see our Lord at any moment. Let’s make sure we are dressed and ready. 

Treasure Hunt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TREASURE HUNT

Luke 12:32-34

32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

NIV

Now that we have been convinced not to worry about our lives, and how much we have or do, or want to do, we are also told not to be afraid, because our Father who is in heaven has given us the kingdom. We possess the kingdom of God. That sounds a little strange to say we possess it, but the fact is we are citizens of His kingdom. It has come to us, that we can live in the kingdom of God, rather than living attached or being someone who lives in or is a citizen of this world, which means we live according to the principles of this world, working, striving for personal gain, like that rich man Jesus told in the parable. He was all about himself and his personal gain. That is the world’s way, but we have been given the kingdom of God. However, as we see in the acts of the Apostles which Luke recorded as well, some of them did sell their land and gave the profit of the sale for the common good of all believers. Then there was Ananias and Sapphira, who sold their land but lied about the price, holding back some for their own gain. That was not the way to gain the kingdom of God, still, clinging to the way of the world. Now we do not sell our possessions like they did in the early church, and we do not have all our wealth in common. We each live for our own personal gain, although we give a tenth more or less, for the benefit of the church. When we look back beyond this early church, we do not see this selling of all possessions, such as with Abraham who became wealthy, but his heart was for God. However, the early church was different, and today’s church is different, yet faith has remained the same, and the bent of our hearts must be the same. We are to put our treasure in the heavenly realms rather than the earthly realm. We have seen people who are invested in this world have their money vanish in an instant, while others have managed to store enough to sit back relax, and take life easy, trusting in their money, rather than God. Yes, we need all the things of the world, but we have been told that God would give them to us if we look to the kingdom of God first and foremost. It is all about what we think is important, and where we put our trust for our daily walk in this world, and our future place in this world. Whatever we treasure as valuable is where our heart lies. It always comes back to not being able to serve two masters. Can we say our treasures are laid up beyond the blue and we can’t feel at home in the world anymore? What treasure hunt are we on? 

Don't Worry, Trust God

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DON’T WORRY, TRUST GOD

 

Luke 12:22-31

22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

NIV

Jesus has more to say about this whole matter, but we have so much within these words of him, that we could spend days pondering on these first before we get to the rest. However, the key truth is that we are not to worry about our lives. The Greek gives us a greater insight into the word worry, merimnao, which has a direct meaning to be anxious about, to give a thought about. How much time do we spend being anxious about the things in our lives? How we are going to get this done, or how are we going to make it through this situation, or how can we achieve that or this.  How much better can we do, or how can we save in case something happens. There is just so much we have to be concerned about, even with our walk with the Lord. Are we doing enough? What will people think about us? Do we look alright, do we have the right clothes for the occasion, or just to go to church? We don’t want to be like that rich farmer, but we still have to make enough money, and we still have to plan for our future needs. There is so much to do, will we have enough time to get it all done? On and on the things of this life can squeeze us, hem us in, and pressure us into almost a frenzy that we begin to feel physically sick over all those things in our lives if we allow them to take control of us rather than obeying Jesus when he tells us not to become anxious about our lives. The one thing we always have to remember is this portion of our lives is merely temporary. However, it is not that our Father in Heaven has left us to stumble all alone through this life without anything, to be penniless, without any of the things of this world. Jesus makes that point very clear. We are first and foremost to seek the kingdom of God. This is not about how much we do, how many good deeds we can do, or how much service at church we can perform, or what title or position we have in the body of Christ. This is about seeking the kingdom of God, wanting God to be our ruler, our king, the authority in our lives. This is about being who God desires us to be, his child, nothing more, nothing less. We cannot live being focused on our lives, getting through, doing all we can to succeed in whatever, including being a Christian, and then adding all the rules and regulations we think God has burdened us down with is the way we achieve being a good Christian. That cannot be our main focus in life, for we are simply supposed to seek first His kingdom in our lives. Seek his authority in our lives. Seek God. In putting God first above all else, including ourselves, He will add all the things that we need to live rightly in this life. God will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory, of course, that could mean Jesus, for that is the richest of God’s provisions for us, forgiveness of our sins in Christ Jesus, salvation in Christ Jesus, and eternal life in Christ Jesus. But Jesus is telling us, that it is also about the things the pagans run after, the things, the money, the success, the fame and glory of this life. But putting God first, seeking his kingdom in our lives first, he will add all that stuff to us. He will make it happen. He will provide so much. He will open the floodgates of heaven; we will not have room enough to contain all his blessings. It just comes down to the fact, don’t worry, but trust God. 

Don't be Fooled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

DON’T BE FOOLED 

 

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"  15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '  20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." 

NIV

Knowing that Greed is the center of this parable, we still should look a little deeper into the truth of what Jesus is pointing out. There are three interesting aspects of the parable of the rich farmer. First, this rich man received a crop every year. He had barns to store his yearly crop in, like most farmers did, and even do today unless they immediately take their crops and sell them to a grain elevator. Nevertheless, the farmer in this parable stored his own crop each year, which we would have to think evidentially sold it off for cash. This particular year, his crop was exceedingly great. Although Jesus has not included this truth in the parable, the crop of any farmer is totally dependent on the creation and control of God. We know this from the Psalms when David writes that man who mediates in the word of God is like a tree planted by the stream of water that brings forth his fruit in season and leaves do not wither and whatsoever, he does prosper. This rich farmer was not rich toward God, he was all about himself, which we would also think he saw this crop as from the efforts of his own hands. The second truth is about this good crop, which was larger and better than any he had already harvested. It was so much bigger he did not have enough barns to store it in. What we find interesting is that he did not simply build another barn, but he decided to tear all the old barns down, the ones that had always been enough to store his normal yearly harvest, and build all new larger barns. This was not only greed at the highest level, storing up his harvest for his own gain, which is the third truth we need to get to, but he had to make a big show of his great wealth, having pride, or being proud of himself, and the labor of his hands. Look at me, see how much I have accomplished. Look at me, see how much I have, I  how much I can do. We certainly can be in danger of that same kind of pridefulness on so many levels and yes, in the church as well, among us believers. There is one more truth here that is the very point Jesus is making. The fact this man thought that because of his efforts, he produced a great crop this year and was able to build all new barns to store his great crop in, though he could now sit back and relax, do nothing else in life, forget about all others, especially God, and keeping all his wealth for his one personal pleasure. We see this whole retirement phenomenon happening in our culture today. We watch it being played out on social media with all the posts of the evidence of their accumulation of wealth and how they are sitting back relaxing and enjoying life. Not that anything is bad about that as long as they are also rich toward God. This is the same danger we must face in our own lives, always being aware of being rich toward God, putting him first, as we have been told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and he will add all the things to us in this life. Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that we have accomplished the gain in our lives whatever that is. God is the source of all the goodness in our lives. 

Never Satisfied

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

NEVER SATISFIED

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"  15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '  20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." 

NIV

Before we get into this parable of the rich man, although the whole of this response to the brother who wanted his share of the inheritance is about the parable, we need to deal with the first response. Why did Jesus respond in that manner to the fact that who appointed him the arbiter of man’s share of an inheritance? It would seem that man is obsessed with their share of the wealth thier ancestors or their inheritance. However, the deeper problem is simply greed. So many people are consumed with their financial picture, their future, by storing up for their retirement. Of course, we need a certain amount of money to pay for the bills of life. Most of us need to pay for some kind of living quarters, which for most includes the utilities, plus some kind of transportation to get to some kind of work, and food to sustain our bodies, with a certain amount of clothing to cover them.  It seems in our society that is the basic needs of most people. However, then greed takes over, and we need bigger, better, and more of all of those things, plus more and more of other stuff, in fact, many have so much stuff they need to pay for a storage bin to hold all their stuff, or a bigger house, with more storage space for all their stuff. Of course, stuff in itself is not being greedy, but it is the fact that if we base most of our efforts on accumulating more and more of the things of this world, then we may have become more greedy than we think. We are aware of Paul’s instructions to Timothy about telling the people to provide for their relatives, and if a man does not, he is worse than an unbeliever. However, in the context that was about widows, and not about making sure all our family or relatives have enough of our inheritance, like this brother who wanted his brother to share. However, the best way to provide for our family is in the eternal sense, providing them with the knowledge and the truth about the kingdom of God. However, at the same time, it is the responsibility of the head of the household to provide for the care of the physical needs of his family. But greed has taken over for so many, that the needs are not enough, the plenty is not even enough, and thus the parable is told, which we will dissect next. Let us not, as people who put our trust in God and also in Jesus Christ, be careful not to put our trust in the abundance of our possessions, which is based on the abundance of our money. Greed is an awful thing to endure, as it is never satisfied. 

Hearing What to Say

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HEARING WHAT TO SAY

Luke 12:11-12

11 "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." 

NIV

It is doubtful that we would ever be brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, however, in the wake of how our world is turning more and more toward evil as the norm, it may come to a time when Christians are subject to being questioned why we are so none tolerate of those who love the darkness because it permits their evil lifestyles. Now this does depend on whether we are out in the world proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God, as the disciples were doing, which is speaking out against the evil of the world, then maybe we might encounter real resistance to our words, and may have to defend ourselves. The reason may well be because we are accused of hate speech against those who live all those alternative lifestyles. However, if we are content to remain silent and simply do our own thing within the confines of our church then we may never need to defend ourselves before the authorities. Although we have heard over the years that some pastors who have been very vocal against the sin in this world have been persecuted by the government for hate speech. But, what about us? What are we doing about being vocal, speaking up against certain evils in our world, our culture, or the places we inhabit daily. Some may know that we are Christians, but that does not matter to them, for we are silent Christians, who even act as though we are not offended by their evil talk and ways. However, if we are vocal, not in a condemning way, but simply vocal about the word of God, speaking about Jesus and how we want to live in a manner that pleases God, and talking about Jesus in our normal conversations that may be work-related or simply in the break or lunch rooms where causal talk is the norm, unless they are complaining about they work, the boss, or some decision corporate made, then we can offer what a godly response to that would be, or our take on the situation based on our faith. Their evil or vial speech might be altered, at least in our presence, which would mean we are affecting their lives. Still, we should be careful not to engage in hate speech but simply speak about the truth of God. If that offends them, and if it offends them enough, we might be called in before the authorities to defend ourselves and if that happens the Spirit will give us the exact words we need. In fact, if we depend on the Spirit within us at all times, we will always have the right words in every situation we encounter. If we are living and walking in the Spirit, we are no longer in control of our life situations, He is, in fact, Jesus said that he is the light onto our feet and we need only walk the path laid out for us. Then we will always be in the right place at the right time with the right words, which means silence is not the answer,  but hearing what to say is. 

Agree or Disagree

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

AGREE OR DISAGREE

Luke 12:8-10

8 "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9 But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

NIV

What is interesting when we look into Greek, the word translated as acknowledge, homologeo, has this direct meaning to agree with. We can see two words here making up this compound word, homo, and logo which we can see as man agreeing with the word.  However, this agreement with Jesus must be before men. We cannot simply be in agreement with Jesus while hiding in our church or Christian community. This is what Jesus said about hiding the light under a bowl, instead, we are to put it on a lampstand for all to see. Using this translation we must acknowledge the fact that we know and agree with Jesus before other people who may not or rather do not agree with Jesus.  Jesus is warning us that if we disown him before men, we are in big trouble. Again, the Greek word gives us greater insight into what disown means, arneomai means to contradict and can be used to disavow, reject, or abnegate. This word is mostly translated as deny, however, we think to contradict Jesus before men is much deeper than simply denying. If we just live our daily walk in life, doing what we do, at work, at the stores shopping, or whatever else we do and never ever say anything about being in agreement with Jesus are we in some sense not acknowledging him before men. Sure, we cannot go around with our megaphone screaming out the good news about the kingdom of God. Yet, whenever we engage in any conversation with another person, do we confess our agreement with Jesus, that is do we insert the word of God into the conversation. We think this is more than trying to tell people our beliefs but informing them of what Jesus said that is relevant to the conversation. In other words, people should know what Jesus said, and that we are born again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus. Simply saying we are a Christian may not be enough, as many who actually contradict Jesus are calling themselves Christian. Of course, Jesus said that even if we are not in agreement with him, and contradict what he said, we will be forgiven. We would also think that would include some form of repentance, or changing the fact that we contradict him and now agree with him. However, there is no forgiveness if we vilify the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? How can we speak against the Holy Spirit? We wonder if this could indicate that we are not willing to accept gifts as relevant for today. If we choose to ignore the gifts of the Spirit, both to the church and to each individual then are we in essence contradicting the Spirit and Jesus. Even if we confess the gifts of the Spirit are real, but do not allow them to be practiced within the community of faith, we could be denying the Spirit, and that could bring unforgiveness to our lives. Jesus said we would not be forgiven which are harsh words. Let us be both in agreement with Jesus and the Spirit before other people. How that looks may be a little different depending on each person’s personality, but we cannot be simply the silent minority, we need to speak up. 

To Fear or Not to Fear

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TO FEAR OR NOT TO FEAR

Luke 12:4-7

4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

NIV

The beginning of all wisdom is the fear of the Lord from Proverbs. We just had to revisit these words of Jesus to clarify in our minds how we could see them.   This is the other shoe that drops from these same words that we saw that there is some reason to fear that old devil because he wants us to be cast out of heaven just as he was. He comes as the destroyer, the tempter, to get us to drop our guard and follow his lead into the pits of hell. We know that if someone were to kill our body, they can do no more to us, for in their eyes we are dead. But who is the one who kills us and then has the power to cast us to hell? It is interesting the Greek word, apokteinoo, properly means to kill in any way whatever, to kill outright. However, used metaphorically, to extinguish, and abolish. It is the same word Jesus used when he said not to be afraid of those who kill the body and can do no more, and to fear him who after killing the body has the power to cast us into hell. Does that mean that God kills our body in the same way a murderer would kill us? We know all the scholars are convinced that Jesus means that we should fear God, for he has the power to cast us into hell. It is also interesting the Greek word, fobeoo, which we can see in the English word phobia, has a direct meaning to put to flight by terrifying, to flee, to fear, be afraid, but can also mean to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience. It is generally always translated as fear, afraid, terrified, throughout the New Testament.  Again, would we be right to interpret this fear of the one who kills us and has the power to cast us into hell as being God? Throughout the New Testament, there are references to those who are not saved or in Christ, are cast into the darkness. Would God, who is defined as a God of love really desire all who refuse him to be cast into hell, or is that simply being a just God? We see that in the narrative of the king who threw a wedding banquet and the one who showed up without wedding clothes caused the king to order his attendants to cast him out into the darkness where there is gnashing of teeth, which is seen as hell. So, then God will throw, or have someone throw, his attendants, which could be angels, those who do not have their wedding clothes, which would be clothed in Jesus, into the darkness, the pit of hell. Then it is right to be afraid, to have fear, to be terrified of God, even though we are worth more to him than many sparrows. That just does not sound right, but we should be reverent toward him. However, God does not cause us to be cast out into the darkness, it would be the devil who would cause that to happen by getting us to refuse to follow Jesus, or at least live in an ungodly way, so God would judge us guilty and order us to be thrown into the darkness. Then if we are fearing God, in the sense of reverence, we do not have to be afraid, terrified of the devil.  

Worthy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WORTHY

Luke 12:4-7

4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

NIV

These are great words of encouragement from our Lord. To consider how much our God loves and cares for us, that he knows the number of hairs on our heads, is so uplifting. Of course, there is also this warning about fearing that old devil himself, Satan who is after killing our soul, our spirit, so that we would not inherit eternal life in the presence of our Lord. We do wonder how God has allowed Satan to have that kind of authority to kill our bodies and then throw us into hell.  The one we should fear may be God for he has the authority to throw us into hell.  However, God did create us in their image which would include having a free will to choose how we want to live, either in obedience to God or in rebellion against God. Adam chose poorly and in essence was cast out of paradise, which was the plan all along of the old devil the serpent who himself had been cast out of heaven because of rebellion against God. Yet, now we have made the right choice and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and desire to live in fellowship with God seeking to follow his commands, wanting to be obedient, even if we fail, have been reinstated into the kingdom of God and will once again be in His paradise. Nevertheless, we still must deal with the one who has the power to throw us into hell. Every day he makes his attempt with the temptations of this world to get us distracted from following Jesus. We know that there have been those who professed Jesus as Lord and Savior and have walked away, turned their backs on Jesus to follow another course, giving in to the temptations completely. We know that is always possible, if we are not aware of the schemes of the devil, to fall for them and become his prey, in his snare, and hauled off to a place we do not want to go. Praise God, He has provided us with the Holy Spirit who gives us that gift of discernment so we can see fully the schemes of the evil one and the Spirit has also given us the strength and ability to resist those temptations. In addition, God has dressed us in his armor which is just another way he demonstrates how much worth we are to him. His armor provides us the defense against all the schemes of the devil, and the powers of this dark world so that we can take our stand, stand firm, and stand our ground. To be of so much worth to God, that he sent his only begotten Son to suffer the way he did and the humiliation of the cross, is overwhelming. How could we ever fall prey to those schemes and give in so that we would be thrown into hell? No, we are secure in Christ, our Rock our Foundation, our fortress, our refuge, our Savior, and the love of God. We sing, “Worthy is the Lamb”, but to think that God sings, “Worthy are my people, worthy to be saved” puts a deeper meaning to life. We are worthy. 

Yeast of Hypocrisy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

YEAST OF HYPOCRISY

Luke 12:1-3

12:1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

 

Yeast is a very interesting single-celled, living microorganism member of the fungus kingdom. When we make our pizza dough, we add a small amount of yeast compared to the large amount of flour. When we first mix it into the flour there is no apparent effect but give it some time and it will produce the desired effect, at least for our pizza dough. Jesus is making the point that leaven is not detected until it is too late. However, our yeast will evidentially pervade the whole mass, as will hypocrisy. If it is undetected and thus unremoved, soon it will invade all our exercises and feelings. The other interesting aspect of yeast is that it puffed our pizza dough. The little handful of dough placed in the bowl while we cover it with a cloth and leave it alone will get puffed up or swell up to a much larger piece of dough. Hypocrisy if left alone, can appear in us as filling us with pride and vanity. We believe no one is more proud than the hypocrite, and none is more revolting or repulsive to God. Jesus warns his disciples not to become like the “Leaven of the Pharisees”, he means they should be cautious about imbibing their spirit and becoming like them. What we see in the religion of the hypocrite is false, a façade, drunk on self, and self-righteousness. Faith in Jesus, or the lifestyle of one who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, or that He is the yeast in our lives, is a life that is one of sincerity, of humility, without disguise or camouflage. Could we dare to think that if we were to rid ourselves of that façade, that disguise or camouflage of being a “Good Christians” we could actually be humble and more transparent about who we truly are, we might become more like our Lord and Master Jesus, reflecting His glory in ever-increasing glory. But if we allow that yeast of hypocrisy to have its way in us, we are in danger of being like those who are puffed up, prideful, and boastful, who are filled with self-righteousness to the point they cannot even see themselves as they truly are, for they begin to believe their own façade is real and good, pleasing to God. Let us rid ourselves of any kind of that yeast, and live humbly before our God and before man.

 

 

 

Waiting to Catch

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WAITING TO CATCH

Luke 11:53-54

53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.

NIV

At first glance, this wouldn’t have anything to do with our lives, or being able to make any application we could use as a life lesson. However, it might. Because Jesus had spoken plain to them and threatened their self-righteousness on so many levels, they became angry to the point of hatred. Because we know the rest of the story, and how they finally heard enough they felt it was a way to charge with a crime against God. Luke tells us here they watched him closely to see if he would say something they could use against him. Here is where we see how this comes into our lives. If we think we are not being watched by the world, we are deceiving ourselves. We cannot hide in the church all day long; we must go out among the world daily. Now, of course, the whole premise is based on whether we are reflecting the glory of God in ever-increasing glory. That is the people we have contact with in our daily walk, such as at work, or in the regular places we frequent know that we are born-again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ. It is sad to say that if we just tell them we are Christians, they would not be threatened by us, or think of us much differently than they are, for many people use that term to define who they think they are. The Pharisees thought they were in the right place with God because of their thinking they obeyed all the laws. It doesn’t really matter how people define themselves, but it matters how God defines us. Nevertheless, if we are being image bearers of God, then the world, those who have not come to Jesus may not feel that comfortable in our presence, and simply watch us, and listen to us to catch being or saying something that does not match who we say we are, if we actually say that we are born-again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ. If they can catch us, they might say we are a hypocrite, and they can discredit anything else we say about Jesus or God. Just as the Pharisees were waiting to catch Jesus in something he might say, the world is waiting to catch us. 

The Key

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE KEY

Luke 11:52

52 "Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering." 

NIV

Our research has found the experts in the law, the Rabis would wear a key as a symbol of their position as a teacher or as an emblem of knowledge. A key is what opens a door, but the problem Jesus was dealing with here is that these experts in the law not only did not use the key to knowledge to open the gospel of Jesus Christ. This brings it home to those who either teach the scriptures or preach. There is a great responsibility placed on their shoulders. God holds them to a higher standard because they should be able to have the correct way to see the truth through a combination of their studies and the leading of the Spirit. Yet we have such a diverse interpretation of the scriptures depending on denominational bias. We engage in arguments about what this or that scripture means. We take some verses completely out of context and make a theological statement or take a theological position to the detriment of many. It was said of the Jews, that when two gathered together there were three opinions. Sadly, that has not changed much among Christians. We charge each other with the idea, “What makes you think you have the right interpretation?”. Then we have those that key in one truth leaving all others behind. However, what do we do? How do we come to terms with how we should live through all this diversity? We do know the Spirit leads us into all truth. How can we trust that others are following the leading of the Spirit, or are they following their own minds? What we know is that we have to be mindful to listen to the Spirit, do our due diligence of study, and see the way to live by the way God intended us to. It is the Spirit who holds the key and He has opened the door.

Forefathers

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FOREFATHERS

Luke 11:47-51

47 "Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.' 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

NIV

Our research found that it was customary for some Jews to beautify the tombs of some of the great leaders of the past by lighting wax candles and whitewashing their tombs. This was to show respect and honor to them; however, their ancestors had killed the prophets and Jesus, it is telling them by respecting the tombs they were giving approval to kill the prophets, and in fact, they were going to give approval to kill Jesus. Giving approval of the sin of those of the past, made them responsible and would be held guilty of their sin, and thus their own sin. How do we deal with this truth as it applies to our lives? We would think that we certainly would not approve of the sins of our past relatives, although we might visit their graves and place flowers in remembrance of them, and even honor their memory in some other manner. After all, they are our ancestors and family. Some distant family, but then our parents are the ones who gave us birth and raised us. Why wouldn’t we honor them, especially when one of the commands is to honor our parents, and it will bring us long life? However, they were all sinners, some saved by grace, others who lived and remained in the darkness of this world. We wonder when we give honor to those past family members who sinned, are we guilty of their sin, or held accountable. We know the first step in being saved is to acknowledge our sin, repent, change the way we think about sin, know that it is an offense to God, and seek his forgiveness, which he freely gives, through Jesus Christ. We wonder if we ever speak the truth about our past family, saying they were sinners with some being wretched sinners. Those of us who grew up in a sinful family should confess that to be true, while those who grew up in a Christian family should also confess their past family were not perfect either, but sinful, just that their sins had been dealt with in Christ Jesus. Let us be careful how we deal with the truth about our forefathers. 

Burdens

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BURDENS

Luke 11:45-46

45 One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also." 46 Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

NIV

It was not uncommon for the experts in the law, to put additions to the law, which were not part of the law but were extremely burdensome to carry out. The problem that Jesus brought to them, was they did not feel it necessary to follow the rules and regulations they expected the common people to adhere to. We do not think times have changed much in that there have been many religious groups, or perhaps we should use the term, denomination, that have found it right to add to the gospel of Jesus. In other words, their gospel is Jesus plus, with the plus being burdensome to fulfill. Even within some of the holiness churches there have been additional rules for living a righteous life. Over the years, we have lived through the, no smoking, no drinking, no dancing, no movie theaters, no roller rinks, or bowling alleys, as well as women should not be seen in church with slacks, or too much markup. Even today, there are some sects, or religious groups that adhere to these so-called bible-based rules and regulations. The experts want to establish how others live according to the additional rules that they have established. How have we become so much like those experts in the law in the time of Jesus? Have we taken our interpretation of the law so far, that it has become a burden on people? It seems we spend more time on the rules and regulations we think apostles added to the gospels than on the actual gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the heaviest burdens is to focus on what James said about faith without works is dead. So, the burden of doing enough good deeds is placed on the people. How many “Good deeds” is enough to fulfill the requirement. That may be up to the experts in the law to determine. If we focus on the words of James, then we have taken the gospel and added to it. In other words, salvation is dependent on faith in Jesus Christ and doing good works. If we do not do good work then we are not saved, for our faith is a dead faith, it is meaningless. Is that what the truth of God really is? Is that putting a burden on the people of God, the people of faith, considering that Jesus said the work that God requires is to believe in the one he sent? Simply loving each other as Jesus loved us would mean we would want to help others when they are in need. But it should not become a burden, like the experts in the law put upon the people. If we are walking in the Spirit, His fruit will become evident within us, starting with love, which is never a burden. We need to be careful of burdens. 

Remembered or Not

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

REMEMBERED OR NOT

Luke 11:44

44 "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it." 

Once again, Matthew’s account is a little different regarding these graves. Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs, nice and clean on the outside, but dead man’s bones on the inside. Yet in Luke’s account, Jesus said they were like unmarked graves which no one would know their grave is there and thus walk over without knowing. What does that mean? It doesn’t sound like whitewashed tombs at all. We cannot be sure how the graves or sepulchers could be walked over without knowing it. The Greek word used here for graves is mneemeion, which is meant any visible object for preserving or recalling the memory of any person or thing. However, in the scriptures, it is a Sepulchre, which we think as a hole carved out of a hillside, much like the one Jesus was laid in with a stone rolled over the entrance. We do remember when we were in Israel, the gravesites within what appeared as a cemetery, looked like concrete boxes above ground. These would be easily whitewashed. However, if the grave was a cave of like these concrete boxes, it would be difficult to walk over them without knowing they were there. Besides, how can one walk over a hillside tomb? These words of Jesus have to be seen as metaphorical but what was his meaning. How could someone even walk over a Pharisee? However, if they were unmarked, nothing available to preserve them or recall their memory, then perhaps their lives were meaningless. All their  efforts to find righteousness in observing the law meant nothing, they would end up not being remembered by God. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord. Will enter the kingdom of heaven”. He went on to explain about the men who told him they had prophesied in his name and had driven out demons in his name, but he told them plainly, “I never knew you, away from, you evildoers!” perhaps the Pharisees fit somewhat in that category, although they never did anything in the name of Jesus, but there will be those whose names will not be known anymore by God. There will be those who will not get a new name written on a white stone that only Jesus knows. The Pharisees knew the law but did not know who Jesus truly was, so if someone does not know the name of Jesus, or who Jesus is, and does not put his words into practice it is possible their names will not be remembered by God. However, praise His Holy Name, we know who Jesus is, and have accepted him as our Lord and Savior, He knows our name as it is written down in the Book of Life, and one day Jesus will call out our name and tell us to come into his rest. But those, like the Pharisees who refuse Jesus as the Savior of the world, will not be remembered, for their names have already been deleted or blotted out. They will simply be walked over, looked over, with nothing to preserve them, or to recall their memory. 

A Great Seat

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

A GREAT SEAT

Luke 11:44

43 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

NIV

Matthew’s record of these words includes the wearing of the phylacteries and that everything they do is done for men to see. This greeting in the marketplaces is being called Rabbi. But this wanting the seat of honor in the synagogue gives us this sense of men being all puffed up about themselves. The tassels on the edge of their garments were longer and the phylacteries were very important in making them appear holy and righteous. These were small squares of parchment with verses from the law in Deuteronomy. They wore them like amulets or charms. The idea was they were supposed to ward off evil. We found it comes from Exodus 13 when God told them that all that happened in their deliverance from Egypt would be a sign on their foreheads for their sons. Although we could spend much time going over all the details of these things, the Pharisees were so impressed with themselves rather than living as God intended them to. Although we do not have the most important pews or seats in our churches, we might get caught up in thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. We do like our titles, whatever they may be. Depending on which denomination, we have Pastor, Reverend, Doctor, Elder, then all the distinctions of assistant, associate, youth, children’s pastors, and other titles in the church like elders and deacons, treasurer, board member, and the list of titles goes on and on. We also must be careful not to make too much of our educational levels or boast about what kind or how many degrees we might have, although it seems to depend on the denomination, they make a big deal about educational level more than the call of God upon a person life for qualifications for ministry. This being puffed up is extremely dangerous both to the individual who is puffed up and to the church they are in. We have seen it happen to the point that people have put these individuals on a pedestal, assisting them in their pridefulness which may have been the case with the Pharisees. The holier one looks, the holier they are treated, unless the opposite effect occurs where their puffed up, prideful, boasting in themselves causes harm in the church, which could very well have been the case with the Pharisees and that is why Jesus gave them that woe to you. Let us not wait for Jesus to give us a woe, and see ourselves for who we are, children of God, born-again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus. Let us not be concerned about that great seat. 

Woe to You

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WOE TO YOU

Luke 11:42

42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

NIV

Jesus is still reclining at the table in the house of a Pharisee, and we would have to believe, although Luke does not make a point of telling us, there were other Pharisees reclining at the  table. Of course, the Pharisees would make sure everyone saw them god a tenth of their mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs. There were not only about trying to keep every of the laws of God, including all the additional rules they had developed from their interpretation of the law. Jesus tells them they should not abandon the giving of a tenth, which of course, is proof to us the tithe is alive and well within the New Testament Church. However, they were not about justice and the love of God. They did not care about the divine law of God, being just. This Greek word krisis, has a direct meaning of making a right judgement, such as the judgment of God, Judgement of Jesus, however, that carries the idea if both making the right judgment about the divine law of God, and being just, which is acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright and good. When justice or being just is used as a verb, which may be the way Jesus intended it to mean, it can be seen as one guided by truth and reason. We know the Pharisees through they were guided by the truth, but refused to hear the truth of Jesus about the kingdom of God and that Jesus came to set men free from sin. They neglected the truth, they neglected being guided by the truth of God, and the love, the agape love of God. This is the affection, good-will, benevolence type of love. This is loving each other with good-will toward them, waiting what is best  for them, being giving, benevolent toward them. We know the Pharisees were not anything like that toward the common people,  the very people God demonstrates his agape love toward in the person of Jesus. We wonder if we love others as God does. We wonder if we are just, not just acting, but living in conformity to with what is morally upright and good. We try to, or at least make every effort to love others and to live uprightly. Without making excuses for our being human, we are human and have not yet attain perfection. Therefore, we might fail or fall short of the mark that Jesus is taking about here. Still. It is the desire of our heart to serve God and do what is right in his sight, which we have done in the sense of putting our trust in Jesus, which the Pharisees refused to do  But have we become too invested in following the law, or the rules and regulations then the love of God?  We should not hear any woes from Jesus aimed at our lives, or should we could we ever hear, woe to you?