What it takes to enter the Kingdom of God

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WHAT IT TAKES TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Luke 18:15-17

15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 

NIV

This is the same as Jesus taught that Matthew recorded that we will not enter the kingdom of God unless we change and become like a little child. Luke records it a little differently, but the truth is the same. Unless we receive the kingdom of God like a little child, we will never enter it. We cannot go back and be a child, losing all the intelligence that we use to spread the good news about the kingdom of God. It doesn’t mean we have to lose the abilities we trained for or the education we struggled to obtain. However, it does mean to have child-like faith that we need to enter the kingdom of God. Children are innocent, and totally dependent on their parents for everything. What child can support themselves by laboring for their needs? This faith like a child means we must depend on God for all we are, all we have, and all we do. If we think we are who we are because of our efforts to achieve our goals. It is God who began this work in us, and it is God who will complete it. Some would use that to only mean our salvation, and then the rest of all of who we are in this world is because of that amount of education, training, and experience we gain on the job, so to speak, that makes us the person we are. But it is God who began everything and supplies everything. He said that we are not to worry about what we eat or drink, the clothes we have, and all the stuff we need, like the pagans run after, but if we become like a child and seek first the kingdom of God, he will give all the stuff to us, supply us with all the training and skills we need to serve him how he determines. This also includes all we have. Sure we can claw our way into this world, beat the doors down to climb to the top, so we can have more money to buy all the stuff we could ever want. But God said that we are not supposed to look to ourselves for fulfilling our desires, but to look to Him and he would see to it we have enough of the stuff that pagans run, and claw their way in the world it get. Child-like faith. As far as all we do, that is also up to the Lord, for again we can struggle our way through using all our skills, training, education, and whatever we think we have, to do the work of the Lord, or as having child-like faith, we can look to the Lord our God, who sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to work His influence that enables us to do what God desires for us to do and achieve. Just as a parent teaches a child to ride a bicycle, the Spirit trains and teaches us how to serve the Lord and do all we do. It all boils down to having faith like a child. 

A Sinner Saved by Grace

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE

Luke 18:9-14

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

NIV

There is a danger in thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, but to tell God how proud we are so much better, or more holy, or spiritual than another is definitely the epitome of exalting oneself. We have to be careful not to think we are anything, but a sinner saved by grace. We have seen this kind of prideful behavior in some believers and wonder why, and pray we do not engage in prayer with pridefulness like Jesus pointed out about the Pharisees. How can one of us be more righteous than another? Is not all our righteousness in Jesus, for He is our righteousness. Therefore, if we are in Christ, then we all have the same amount of righteousness. We think there could be a problem with pridefulness, not over righteousness, or spiritual matters, but when we think with our humanity. However, the point Jesus was making is when we pray in public, rather than in our private times with our Lord. This is when we are asked to pray in a gathering of believers, and if  wax on demonstrating how well we can pray, using all the right words, being eloquent in speech, and keep going on and on, even quoting to God what he has said, making ourselves look like we are more spiritual then others than we have become like that Pharisees. God does not require our eloquent words, but he does require a contrite heart. God have mercy on us, a sinner. It doesn’t matter how much qualification we have, our educational or financial level we possess, our position in life or in the body of Christ, or how much we do, or how many good deeds. What matters is we realize we need the mercy of God for us, sinners saved by grace. 

People of Faith

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

PEOPLE OF FAITH  

Luke 18:1-8

18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"  6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" 

NIV

We may not have to delve into the parable to find the truth because Luke has made it clear the meaning of this parable from the introduction. However, there is a parallel between an unjust judge and the just Almighty God. The reason we consider the judge to be unjust is that we are told he neither feared God nor cared about people. There can be no plainer example of people who do not fear God, who then could be called pagans, in one sense, or evil sinners in another sense, who live solely by their own desires and for their own benefit. On the other side of this coin is God, who cares deeply for people, so much so that He sent his Son to die on the cross so that we would be able to have the perfect justice of God, in fact, God, through Jesus, satisfied His own justice. So we need no more justice from God except because we believe in Jesus, we have accepted him as our Lord and Savior and He told us that we can ask the Father anything in his name and he will do it. We are simply to be living in a state of prayer, or in constant communication with God. It would make perfect sense that if we are always talking and most importantly listening to God, our needs, or petitions would be seen quickly. We should have no need to wear God out. It is interesting the Greek word hupoopiazoo which is translated as wear him out, means a blow to the face and gives that person a black and blue spot, like a black eye. We would never have a need to give God a black eye over a need we have, for God already knows our need before we ask, and because He loves us deeply, beyond measure, unlike the common perception of most of us believers God will say, “No, not now”, “wait” or simple “No”, “Maybe” or in the rarest of times, “Yes”, He desires to give us the best and wants the most for us and is willing to give us want we ask for. But then that demands faith, and when Jesus returns will He find us living with faith? Will He find us transformed by faith? When we become people who believe in our hearts, without doubt, that God will speak to us, answering us, “Yes, of course, I was waiting for you to ask me”, then Jesus will find us people of faith.

 

Eyes Peeled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

EYES PEELED

Luke 17:22-37

22 Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot's wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left." 37 "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather." 

NIV

We know to look for the lighting and flashes of light across the sky because only the Lord God could cause such a display of power, and He and he alone is the one who will save us from the hour of trial for this earth. When we think of the many things Jesus must have suffered and that he was rejected by the Jews, at least those who thought they were the ones in authority, we are right at the time we remember his suffering, however, for some reason we call it, “Good Friday”. We have a brief description of his suffering at the hands of the Romans. Still, we do not think we truly grasp the horrific beating, the flogging that tore open his skin, and the humiliation of being nailed to a cross, naked, with people hurling insults, one by one there must have been more than we can even imagine that occurred from the hands of evil people, yet we call it, “Good Friday”. It is good because the fact remains that because Jesus went to the cross, and his blood was shed, our sins have been forgiven. We know that sounds selfish, that we are glad Jesus suffered and died in our place and took our shame upon himself. Perhaps the better way to describe our feelings is relieved, grateful, and humbled because of the love God demonstrated toward us while we were still sinners. We do have to remember what it costs for our redemption, to be reconciled with God, and at the same time be aware that we should not just live our daily lives eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building as if nothing else. There is nothing we can do to gain eternal life other than by faith in Jesus Christ, which is accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, always being aware that he will return for us with lightning and flashing across the sky. Although we must occupy, working for our sustenance, looking with one eye to provide our life on earth, yet with faith that Jesus is our provision and our provider, for our life here and there, while we keep one eye peeled on the Eastern sky, life up our head, for our redemption is drawing nigh. 

Lighting and Flashes

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LIGHTING AND FLASHES

Luke 17:22-37

22 Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot's wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left." 37 "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather." 

NIV

We could not break this into verse by verse, for it is a whole teaching from our Lord about what is to happen, yet there are jewels within that we can focus on within the whole. First, what Jesus said about many who will come looking like, or claiming to be the revelation of the truth, the Messiah, or some great leader, who can give life to people, but any man can only walk as a man and thus is just a man. Jesus is making the point that when he appears and shows up, the sky will be filled with lightning, with flashes that turn the night into the brightest of day, even brighter than the noon sun. bolts of lighting will be flashing back and forth across the sky, every eye will see him come in the Eastern sky for our redemption drawth nigh. Jesus is going to continue telling his disciples what how the world is going to be like, with no one looking for his return, but for now we understand not to look to any man, or to follow after some false claims bringing life, a better life, filled with good things, that God waits us to be rich, have all the goods of this world and all that bologna We see many of these silver-tongued purveyors of deception in the world, they are all over various form of media spreading their lies to gather followers for their own glory, fame, and fortune. But they are mere men, there is no lighting flashing around them or in the sky over them. They are just corrupt men, quite like the Pharisees were. There is only one who will fill the sky with lightning and flashes of light streaking across the sky, and His name is Jesus, the Son of the Living God, for He is the Light of the World, and In Him is life. He is the only true source of life so we will follow Jesus and no other. Yes, we need men to shepherd the people of God, but that shepherd should only lead them to green pastures, and to still waters and both of those are Jesus, the one coming with lightning and flashes. 

The Kingdom Within

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE KINGDOM WITHIN

Luke 17:20-21

20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." 

NIV

This is what it is all about, having the kingdom of God inside us. Of course, being born again is the way for the kingdom of God to enter as Jesus told  Nicodemus that for him to see the kingdom of God he must be born again, or born from above. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the old self must die and we become a new, reborn from above, person. We express that as being born again when we are born from above, the kingdom of God is within us. Somehow, that seems a bit impossible for the kingdom of God to be inside a person and we would have to admit the physical kingdom of God, the whole of his kingdom that someday will come upon the new earth, and we will dwell within it, is not the kingdom inside us. However, this kingdom within us could be seen as being metaphorically, but it is not that either. We could say that all of us believers make up a kingdom of believers or the kingdom of God, but that is not right either. This Greek word translated as within, entos, means directly inside. It looks like we could get the English word, enter, right from the Greek word entos, and that is where this kingdom of God is, as it has entered inside of us. We could see this as the reign of God is now within us, that we are not under the authority of the king of the kingdom, and as such we live a whole new way of life. There, is another possibility in that Jesus was asked this question by the Pharisees who did everything with pomp and ceremony or splendor, like a new king would be coronated. They would expect or question if Jesus was going to do something like becoming a new king with all the special affairs filled with pomp and splendor. His response was that when a man becomes born again when the kingdom of God enters into a person, it does not come with a big ceremony, it quietly becomes part of a person's life, part of our life, changing us into a person of God, filled with the love of God, with his grace upon us, influencing our hearts and minds so we become more and more like Jesus. This is the kingdom within us. 

Thankful Living

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THANKFUL LIVING

 

Luke 17:11-19

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"  19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." 

We first noticed that the ten were healed without Jesus touching or telling them they were healed. He just responded to their plea. Of course, their plea was to Jesus, Master. Luke is the only gospel writer who used the Greek word epistatees, to refer to Jesus as the Master, which Peter calls Jesus several times, Master, we are going to drown, Master I fished all night and other times. We see these men had some knowledge that Jesus was Master, Lord, the Anointed one of God, with the power of God to heal simply with a word. We cannot know all their knowledge of the creation story, although we would think they read the first five books in the Hebrew texts, reading about God speaking the world into existence. So they must have known, calling Jesus, Master, he could perform healing by his word, which he did. Now, the truth we apply to our lives is this one who returned and threw himself at the feet of Jesus thanking him. Considering we all have been healed from our sin, and from the penalty of our sin, healed from death, and given life, we should always be in the mode of throwing ourselves at the feet of Jesus thanking him. Some of us have also experienced physical healing without Jesus touching us, or healing us telling us to go show ourselves to the doctor, it just occurred instantly. Yet, we know he spoke the word, he heard our plea, Jesus, Master, Lord, heal my sickness, illness, arm, neck, heart, or whatever our physical need is or was, because he healed us. How can we go on through living our daily lives without being in a constant state of thanking our Lord and Master? It is interesting that out of ten who were healed, only one returned to thank Jesus, and he was a foreigner. No matter how everyone else may live their daily lives as a Christian, we will always live thankfully and praise our Savior, Lord, and Master, for his healing work within us. 

friends and Servants

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FRIENDS AND SERVANTS

Luke 17:7-10

7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

NIV

We cannot connect these words of Jesus to anything else he has said or is going to say, so we have to think the disciples were getting a little impatient for what they expected as rewards when he overthrew the Romans and set up his new kingdom in Jerusalem. They had not yet come to grips with the reality of what, where, and when the kingdom of God would come. In fact, it would not be until years later that John would get the revelation. However, the point Jesus made was that the servant is unworthy to sit at the table with the master. This still relates to today because we have nothing to bring to the table. We have nothing to offer to benefit God. Although we talk about what we do that will benefit or advance the kingdom of God, as in being the light of the world, and the salt of the earth. We also talk about being an effective witness, but that is about witnessing of the grace of God and has nothing to do with how much we do or think we do. If we consider whatever we do as our duty, rather than as doing so that we will get a reward, then are thinking correctly. However, on the other hand, Jesus said that he no longer calls us servants, but friends. The reason is said was a master does not tell his servants what he is going to do, but he tells his friends, and he has told us everything. This is why we can say, and sing, we are friends of God. Still, we have to come to grips with the fact that we are unworthy of any reward and we should not expect to have a reward even though we know we will have a reward greater than anything we could imagine. All that we are, all that we do, and all that we have and will have is because of the grace of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Alone, without God, without the work of Jesus, and without the indwelling of the Spirit, we are but poor lonely sinners unworthy of the crumbs from the master's table. But, praise God because he had favor on us, as we say, we can say, we have the unmerited favor of God, Jesus shed his blood for us, so that our sins are washed away, and forgiven and we have this favor, this influence of God on our hearts and thus our lives now reflect his glory. Everything has changed, yet we still have our duty, to follow the call on us, to obey that which we have been tasked to do, to be the part of the body of Christ that God has determined for us for His purpose, not ours. He is still God and we are still but his creation to do his will. Then are we friends and servants? 

Have Faith

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HAVE FAITH

Luke 17:5-6

5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

NIV

This is the same teaching that Mark records, although it is slightly different. However, the point is that if we have faith, it does not have to be giant faith or overwhelming faith, but simply faith without doubt. This begs the question; do we believe Jesus? He said that if we have the smallest amount of faith, but as long as we have faith without doubts in our heart, we can tell a tree or as Mark uses, a mountain to go throw itself in the sea and it will obey us. If we believe what we say, it will happen. This does lead to that old, “Name it and claim” false theology, which was prevalent in some denominations during the ‘70’s’ and maybe still exists in a few churches, at least from our personal experience. Still, the fact remains that Jesus did teach that if we have the smallest amount of faith, we can do things beyond the natural. This also makes us wonder if we have gone too much the other way and do not express our faith to overcome situations in life, but rather look to our abilities, talents, education, and wealth. Have we left our faith to live under the rules of this world? What is the purpose of our professing we are Christians if we are simply going to try to accomplish everything in our efforts. Why do we claim to have faith in God and faith in Jesus if it is just for the life after this life? Jesus did say that we were to have faith in God and in him for he was going to prepare a place for us as there are many residences in his father's house. However, Jesus also said that we are to express, or exercise our faith, no matter how small it is, as long as we do that without any doubt, we can accomplish things beyond our abilities, talents, education, or wealth. It seems some would put limits on what we can do, putting conditions on who can do what based on human qualifications, rather than allowing faith in action. Let us move forward in faith doing what God has for us, leaving doubts behind, as we live by faith, simply believing God. Faith will always insist a transformation in our lives will happen.

 

Truth of Forgiveness

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TRUTH OF FORGIVENESS

Luke 17:3-4

"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." 

NIV

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever, and that is the gospel truth, for holding a grudge, having unforgiveness in our hearts toward our fellow believers who ask for our forgiveness because they offended us in some way, or as Jesus put is sinned against us. Even if they did it again and again asked for us to forgive them, we must forgive and let it go. That is where the truth if forgiveness lies. The three Greek words that give a greater clarity to this truth Jesus spoke about here, rebuke, repent, and forgive. It is very interesting that the word translated as rebuke, is epitimaoo, which its main or first meaning is to show honor to, to honor. It also is used to raise the price of, to adjudge, award, rate, and finally to chide, rebuke, reprove, censure severely. This rebuking is used in the context of what Paul instructed Timothy to preach the word to be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. What we see here is that when a brother sins against us, which in essence means he has offended us, done something that hurts our feelings, or causes us some kind of mental anguish, or even perhaps does something physical against us, stealing from us, when we go to rebuke him, it is doing so not  looking  down or out of anger, but with honoring him, respecting him as a brother in Christ, correcting with encouragement. This means, not being judgmental, thinking ourselves better then him, looking at this brother with distain because he offended us. We think we should first understand the Greek word, hamartano which is translated as sin, has a direct meaning, to miss the mark, as so not share in the prize, to err, to sin. So then if a brother is not perfect, missing the mark of perfection, in his attitude or behavior toward us, and after with honor, grace, and love in our hearts go to him and reveal how he offended us, and he changes his mind, repents, seeking forgiveness, we have no choice but to forgive him, and even if he does it again and again and every times comes repenting, we are to constantly forgive. Here is where the rubber meets the road when we look into the Greek word translated forgive, forgiveness, forgiving or whatever form of forgive we can use. It is afieemi; and has two major meanings, to send away, to permit not to hinder. When we forgive, we send that offense away, we make it depart, yield it up, let it expire, let it go, let it alone, let it be, to disregard, leave not to discuss, to keep no longer, with the second meaning to permit or allow, not to hinder, to give up, to leave it go. This is the truth in forgiveness, which lies directly on our shoulders. 

Watch Yourselves

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WATCH YOURSELVES

Luke 17:1-3

17:1 Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves.

NIV

This is a little strange as Matthew records this in a larger context where Jesus said that unless we change and become like one the little child, he had to stand in the middle of them that we could not enter the kingdom of God, then if someone were to cause of these little ones to sin, woe to that person. Luke leaves that part out but the principle is the same. However, here Luke records the fact that temptations are part of the air we breathe, it is life, and it is part of living in a corrupt world. It is also a fact that we live in a corruptible body, able to sin, and even having the propensity to sin. This is bad enough as it is, that we are going to fail or fall, for we cannot attain perfection until the resurrection when we are renewed into our glorified form. However, through the grace of God in Jesus Christ crucified we have the forgiveness of sin. Nevertheless, Jesus is warning that the problem is when we cause an innocent person to sin, which is to mean another believer, for in Christ, God sees all of us believers as innocent, blameless, and holy. When a person changes and becomes like a child, having pure faith, believing everything the Father says, being humble like a child, and someone comes alone and does something that would disturb that childlike faith causing that person to become angry, upset, bitter, unforgiving, feeling hurt and then hurtful seeking some sort of retaliation or gossiping about the offender, or some other result from being sinned against, the offender is not in a good place with God. We need to watch ourselves in the warning so that we are not the reason someone sins. We understand that even in marriage we might use that phrase, pushing buttons, when we get upset over our spouses' actions or words. That is not the right way to live in marriage, nor in the community of faith. We should not be trying to push that button, but on the other hand, perhaps we should be looking at not having buttons in the first place, always being in the state of forgiving for we are forgiven by God. If we see forgiveness in light of what Jesus said about if we forgive we are forgiven, but if we do not forgive those who offend us, or push our buttons, then God will not forgive us. So, watch yourselves. 

The heart of Man

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE HEART OF MAN

Luke 16:19-31

19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' 27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" 

NIV

Once again, a very familiar narrative shows us the difference between the sheep and the goats, except this story is about someone in need and with plenty. Interestingly, the beggar is named, and the rich man remains nameless. Perhaps this could be because the name of Lazarus was found in the Book of Life, and the name of the rich man was blotted out. We can see that because the name of Lazarus was found in the Book of Life, he went to the side of Abraham, which represents heaven. The Jews referred to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, the father of the twelve tribes, so this was their lineage to being sons of God, his chosen people. Yet, this poor rich man could have used his wealth to help others, but just like that rich farmer who built bigger barns, thinking he had enough for his own pleasures and thought he could sit back and enjoy life, yet God demanded his soul the very night because he was not rich toward God. It is not that wealth is bad, although Jesus did say it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Perhaps wealth has a way of bending a person’s heart toward their treasure on earth, rather than to store up treasures in heaven where rust cannot corrode. We are seeing how this wealth, or we should say this corruptive wealth which caused a self-centered selfish attitude that led to the fires of hell instead to the side of Abraham. Let us be careful because, once again, we cannot serve two masters, God, and money. That is a simple choice if we look at the result of loving God and of loving money. Who in their right mind would choose to bend their hearts toward what would lead them into the fires of hell, when the free gift of God is eternal life at the side of Abraham, or in heaven with Jesus. The choice is clear, we chose Jesus. Our hearts are bent toward God. It is impossible to split our hearts, for then we would be living with a divided heart, and that would not lead to life, but to death, for a divided heart cannot support life in a body.

 

One Husband

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

ONE HUSBAND 

Luke 16:18

18 "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

NIV

Although Jesus may have been speaking to the issue in the law that was given in Deuteronomy where if a man is displeased with his wife and writes her a decree of divorce and puts her away and she marries another man who after a while becomes displeased with her writes her a degree of divorce if she goes back to her first husband after being defiled that would be detestable to God. However,  there is something else going on here that is implied against the Pharisees and the law. In some sense they profess marriage to the law, however, they do not completely live by the law perfectly, in fact, they have developed their own form of the law, adding so many rules that were not in the law, such as exactly how many steps one could take on the Sabbath. What Jesus was saying was that they had committed adultery against the law, by marrying their form of the law. This could be applied to the modern-day church as well.  Of course, most denominations want to make this strictly an issue about marriage and divorce. They use the words of God spoken through the prophet Malachi. “I hate divorce” in the context of not breaking faith with the wife of your youth. Once again, this is not about the marriage of a man and a woman, but about the people of God being the bride of Christ, and when we go out into the world looking to that system for our lives, then we have committed adultery with the world, and broken faith with our first love, Jesus. When we trust in the world, or as Jesus put it, money, we are not trusting in Jesus for we cannot serve two masters, or in this sense, be married to two husbands. According to the preacher of the book Hebrews, it is impossible once a believer goes to the world for love, he cannot come back to God for they are crucifying Christ all over again and putting Jesus to public disgrace, paraphrased. Of course, we do not turn our back completely against God just because we want to trust in the world, investing in the world system to advance our financial security. Sure, we have to work for our sustenance, however, Jesus made the point about God looking after the sparrow and whether are we not more valuable to God. Money itself may not be evil, but if we are trying to be married to it, then it is evil, for we are committing adultery against Christ.   We have to be careful not to try to be married to two husbands, for we are the bride of Christ, and he is our husband.

 

Give Me Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

GIVE ME JESUS

Luke 16:16-17

16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

NIV

This is one of those teachings of Jesus, or we should think of what he said as prophetic regarding himself. This is also difficult to grasp the whole of this meaning unless we were to be able to read and write the Hebrew letters as they were written and as they were transcribed or copied by scribes so more rabbis would have copies of the law. We understand that some Hebrew letters have little marks attached to them, or dots, sort of like our apostrophes, we have rules about when and how to use them and for what purpose. Without that jot or tittle which some translations use, as well as it is in the Greek, the Hebrew letter, thus its meaning would be incorrect. If a scribe missed one little jot or tittle the whole manuscript would have to be destroyed and he would need to start over. How does this apply to us? How can we take this into our way of life? Are we still bound to the law? For the heaven and earth have not passed away yet, although we know that someday they will and a whole new creation will exist, so then does Jesus mean that the law is still in effect? Luke does not record these words of Jesus in the same manner as Matthew does which gives us a little more insight into what Jesus was meaning. All the Law, which is meant as the first five books of the Old Testament, the Law given to Moses, and the other division of the Old Testament, the Prophets were all designed to point to Jesus, which the Pharisees were missing completely. We cannot pay too much attention to the law either for if we keep looking to being obedient to all the law, or as we like to think, the rules and regulations of Christianity, we might be missing the whole of Jesus and the truth about the kingdom of God. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly and became the perfect sacrifice to fulfill the justice of God, so that we can live in the grace of God, not judged by every jot or tittle of the rules to live by, the doctrine of good works, or any other method of trying to be a “Good Christian” because we live in Christ and He lives in us, and grace in this context means we live in favor of God, as his loved children, in His house, His kingdom, for he sees us in Christ, washed in the blood of Jesus, cleansed, clean, without fault, blameless, not held accountable to the law that in one sense brings life, as it points to Jesus, but in another sense brings death without Jesus. Let us always live in Christ, and preach Jesus Christ crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father and coming back for us. There is no Jesus plus anything, no rules, no laws, no regulations that can be added to Jesus for our salvation or our lives in the kingdom. He has fulfilled everything. Just give me Jesus! 

Prideful or Humble

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

PRIDEFUL OR HUMBLE

Luke 16:14-15

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.

NIV

Here we have religious men who love money. How can that be when they are supposed to be men of God, keeping themselves separate from the common people whom they considered religiously unclean. In fact, the Greek word Pharisaios means a separatist. Yet, they not only loved money, but they also wanted to look good in front of men. That was one of their prideful issues, even the way they dressed, with their long tassels, coats, and headgear, looking as if they were special men of God, studying and teaching the law. If it only were not true today that there are Christians who love money and want to look spiritual in front of men. However, we think it might be truer than we want it to be, yet we have seen Christians filled with pride over their titles, higher education, positions in the church, or their influence because of their large amounts of giving, which may be more rooted in their love for money because of the power and influence it affords them to look good before men.

Let us not get caught up in that game of life, but rather be completely sold out to Jesus, for we do not want to be detestable in the sight of God.  Of course, we want to reflect the glory of God in ever-increasing glory, but that is only to be a reflector of God’s glory, for we do not have any reason to have any of our own glory. We have nothing, can be nothing, and do nothing unless we remain in Jesus, always giving him all the praise and honor for anything, in fact, for everything we have, are, and do. If we believe in Jesus, we come to church not to be served but to serve. We are the least among men in our society of believers we commune with. We have nothing to be proud of because everything we can do is completely because of God doing the work in us. Alone, we are not qualified, and yet God can do everything he desires to accomplish in our lives, it is God who began this work in us, and it is God who will bring this work within us to completion. How can we not humble ourselves before God which means we should also humble ourselves before men. Let us remember who we are, and why we do what we do because of Jesus being in us, and working through the power of the Spirit to do what he desires in us and through us. 

Make a Choice

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

MAKE A CHOICE

Luke 16:1-13

16:1 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' 3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' 5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6 "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' 7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' "'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' 8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 "Whoever can be trusted with very in the little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? 13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." 

NIV

This parable could be misleading if we were to look at it in the sense of a worldview. It could be seen as an excuse to be shrew with finances, investing in the world, and making as much money as possible for our own purposes and gain. We might even attempt to use a scripture or two out of context to justify our being wise money, thinking that if we have been wise with a little, God will give us more of the world’s money to be in charge. The whole problem is this last statement of Jesus or the conclusion or point of the parable. However, that is another point that Jesus makes as well, regarding the difference between the people of the world and the people of light. The people of the world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light. Of course, we are the children of light, we live in the light, and we live in Jesus as he is the Light of the World. Jesus makes it clear that we are to use our money to make friends so that when it is all gone, which indicates that we are not supposed to store up our wealth for our own future, so we can sit back, take life easy, as the rich farmer through to himself, and then God demanded his soul that night and he would leave all his worldly gain behind for others to enjoy. Instead, Jesus made the point that we should give our wealth to those in need so that when we have nothing left for our future, we will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Just a thought regarding a way to look at what Jesus is telling the people. All that fits quite well with his final point of not serving two masters. We can serve God and money. We cannot use God as the reason we store up for the future, so we can retire with ease, having enough to live a good life until we die. He never said that is what we are to do, that if we would be shrewd managers of worldly things, He would bless us with more money to gain more for our future. Jesus made it clear, that we cannot serve or live according to the world’s system, and fully serve Him, for he has a whole different system to live by. It is one or the other, both feet in the kingdom of God instead of one foot in the kingdom of the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. We cannot ride the fence either. We have to be all in for one or the other. We must decide who we are going to serve, God or the world, we are either children of the light or children of the world, which is children of the dark. We must make a choice. 

A Sinner Has Come Home

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

A SINNER HAS COME HOME

Luke 15:11-32

11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. 25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31 "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'" 

NIV

We have heard and read this account and labeled it, “The Prodigal Son” and go on. However, the narrative is not about the son who blew his inheritance on the good life and then decided to come home, and how the father graciously accepted him back, in fact, rejoicing because his son came home. Everyone knows this is all about how we were always children of God, and how we blew our inheritance and went about living our own desires, or squandered our wealth on wild living. Then at some point when we were at our lowest point, realizing our poverty we turned to God, we repented of our way of thinking and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and God embraced us and there was rejoicing in heaven, but, unfortunately, there may not have been as much, if any at all, rejoicing by the oldest children of God. We do wonder if those who have been Christians most of their lives, that is grew up in a Christian home and accepted Jesus at a young age and learned to live under the rules their elders had established in the church, with all the do’s and don’ts of Christianity, and really are rejoicing as much as God is when an older person, who has never lived by any rules in life accepts Jesus and comes into the church filled with faith, and wants to share the joy of living by faith, being accepted by God purely because of faith in Jesus. We wonder if those believers may even be a bit out of sorts, wondering why this youngest is rejoicing so much and is not paying any attention to those do’s and don’ts. Maybe they are even prideful in their rules, and the rules and regulations of their church, or rather their denomination, or their long-standing positions in the church. Still, it is a wonderful thing when a sinner comes home, and there should be rejoicing all around, from all believers, for we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the only way we have eternal life is through faith in Jesus Christ. None of our skills, talents, education, qualifications, or the amount of good works we do matters when it comes to inheriting eternal life. Should a person live all their life as a sinner, and on their death bed accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, without any ability to do anything, or stop doing anything and learn about all the rules and regulations, they are rejoiced over by all the angels in heaven, because a sinner has come home. 

Carried Home

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

CARRIED HOME

Luke 15:1-7

15:1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

NIV

Is this not about that old thinking of us four and no more? Although the Pharisees looked to the law for their righteousness, in fact, Jesus had called them white-washed tombs, or told them about cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside was dirty, or in need of cleansing, they were still trying to obey God in some form or another, while these tax collectors and sinners, needed the gospel. Of course, the Pharisees were also in need of the gospel. There is no question we the ninety-nine should always be in a state of rejoicing. There should be no time in our day that we should not be rejoicing. We cannot stuff our rejoicing until Sunday morning in church. Although we have even seen a muted form, if not a void of rejoicing in the congregation. There may even be the same form of thinking in the manner of the Pharisees, looking to work, and good deeds, as the way of life for the believer. However, we are told to rejoice and told again to rejoice in Jesus. He told the Pharisees that all of heaven rejoices when one lost soul is found and carried with gentleness and joyfully brings that sinner home, into the kingdom of God. Rejoicing should be the way of life for believers for we already live in the kingdom of God. We have changed from our former way of thinking and have turned to Jesus for our salvation. However, we have so much more in that salvation. We have inherited eternal life which includes Jesus having prepared a place for us in the New City of Jerusalem and that he is coming back to take us there so we can live with him. God will dwell with us and be our God and we will be his people forever and ever in this paradise Jesus has made ready for us. We can just imagine and rejoice in that imagining of Jesus putting us on his shoulders and carrying us to our eternal home. 

Being Salt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BEING SALT

Luke 14:34-35

34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 

NIV

It is interesting that Matthew records Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and then goes on to include that salt is good, but if it loses it saltiness. Here is where the rubber meets the road for us believers who follow Jesus, as our Lord and Savior. We cannot speak to every person for we do not know the heart of other people, only the Lord sees our hearts. But we can look at the outside, and we can make some assessment of the evidence of a person’s lives. If we are to be the salt of the earth, we first must conclude what salt is used for, at least in the time of Jesus. We mostly use salt to today as table salt to enhance the flavor of our foods. However, in the time of Jesus as they did not have refrigeration to keep foods fresh, salt was used to preserve food and to purify wounds. If this is the case, then the spiritual significance symbolizes that we are to be a preservative to the world and act to purify the wounds of sin. That means we may also enhance the taste of the world to God. However, that would imply that we must be engaged in the world, have an effect upon the world. We cannot simply be Christians that separate ourselves from the sinfulness of the world, having no contact with people that do not know Jesus, and are acting out their own evil desires, much in the same we did before submitting to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. We suppose there are believers who were born a believer, and never acting according to their sinful desires. But then why did God inspire those words to be written that we all have fallen short of the glory of God, that there are none that are righteous, for all have sinned. Nevertheless, whenever we became a child of God by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we became the salt of the earth. But what if we are not salting the earth? What is we have separated ourselves, isolating ourselves within the community of faith, only making friends with other believers, and if we do have to walk outside our little circle of believers, we remain silent, so that no one knows what we believe? Have we lost our saltiness if that is the way we live? Maybe we think all that is up to the evangelist, or the missionary or even the pastor, and as long as we give them money, we are still being the salt of the earth. However, we cannot escape the fact that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, as gifts to the church for the perfecting og the saints for the work of the ministry, which would include being really salty people in the world, having an influence on the taste or flavor of the world. Salt we are and it is salt we will stay. 

The Cost of Discipleship

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

Luke 14:28-35

THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. 34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 

NIV

This is all about carrying our cross in that both these examples that Jesus uses are about counting the cost. Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the same point in his book, “This Cost of Discipleship”. Of course, when we first accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we did not sit down and ponder how much it was going to cost us to be a disciple of Jesus. However, once began to read the scriptures and hear the word of God preached, we began to see this was a life that was going to be one where a great change was going to occur in our lives. There was going to be a cost. As we grew more and more aware of the changes that we were going to make within ourselves it could have been possible that we might have decided it was not worth going up all the pleasures of the flesh, all the giving into every whim and fancy of our hearts that were bent toward evil, although, we would not confess that we had an evil heart. However, the cost of allowing Jesus to cleanse us within, and purify our hearts, was more than worth it, for without the cleansing blood of Jesus, we would certainly not be able to enter into the kingdom of God and inherit eternal life in the paradise of God. No cost is too great, and after we began to understand all that was ours within the kingdom of God, we determined to finish the race, to walk all the days of our lives in service to our Lord. How can we say that we are carrying our cross, serving our Lord, and then retiring from that service? We understand when Adam was sent out from the garden that he was told he would toil all the days of his life. Although we have been restored and are once again within the kingdom of God, we still live in this corruptible body, this imperfect self that continues to fail. Sure, we do not look for ways to sin, but it just happens because we have not yet attained our resurrected glorified bodies. Still, we know the cost, and we have made the choice and we will finish the course that the Lord has laid out for us, the path he lights the way, until that day we take our last breath. We will win the prize and be victorious over our enemy for God fights for us. The cost of discipleship is worth it all.

Loving to Carry

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LOVING TO CARRY

Luke 14:25-27

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

NIV

We knew we needed to further consider these words of Jesus, as yesterday time was pressing us to be at church on time considering we are the pastor. What we needed to do is compare how Matthew recorded what Jesus said, and it is different. Matthew’s record quotes Jesus as having said that if anyone loves his father and mother more then him is not worthy to be my disciple. He said the same thing about loving sons and daughters more than him. Because Luke uses hate, it is the same sense as if we love our family more the Jesus. Of course, the Lord expects and demands that we love our father and mother and our children, as well as love our neighbor more than ourselves. The whole of the truth of God is about living a life of love, and not of hatred for anyone, In fact, Jesus warns us about hatred, that it is the same as the command not to commit murder. If God is love, in fact, he loved us so much he sent Jesus to come in the form of man, to go to the cross and take all our sins upon himself, being the sacrifice for us, to satisfy his own justice, reconciling himself to us, paying that price we were supposed to, and then was buried and Praise God, he was resurrected being the firstborn of all who believe in him so that we too will be resurrected into an eternal life where there is no death, no hatred, no sin. Life is all about loving each other, yet we are to love Jesus more than anyone or anything in this life. He must be the first and the last love of our lives, before all else. However, we are still to love one another rather than having any hatred in our hearts whatsoever. Because we love Jesus more than anyone, we can take up our cross and follow him. This means we are willing to carry our cross to our execution or bear our cross to our death. We will never lose our faith, our trust to our last breath. It is doubtful we who live in this country would experience death because of our faith, although believers in other parts of the world have been put to death in horrific ways devised by evil men driven by the power of Satan. Nevertheless, we will carry our cross, and we will follow Jesus all the days of our lives, no matter what. 

Following

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FOLLOWING

Luke 14:25-27

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

NIV

This is not a new concept, the fact is that we need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will added to us. There can be no distractions between us and Jesus. There will always be some members of our family or our extended family that do not get it. They cannot see how we want to live by faith. They do not understand we cannot be invested in the world because we are invested in Jesus and cannot have both. Therefore, there will be some tension, or conflict within the family even though we still love one another. Hate is a strong word that Jesus used here, that if we do not hate our family, we cannot come to him. The Greek word here does mean to hate, to detest, but by extension, it can mean to love less.

Nevertheless, the point is that Jesus has to be the first in our hearts, above anyone else. Now the word of God tells us husbands to love our wives and to manage our children or family. However, the point still is about putting Jesus first, picking up our cross, and following him, which means forsaking our own interests or ourselves for him. This we must ponder on more tomorrow. 

Eating at the Table

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

EATING AT THE TABLE

Luke 14:15-24

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." 16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 19 "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20 "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' 21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' 22 "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23 "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'" 

NIV

Now that we have considered being blessed because we are eating at the table in the kingdom of God, we should look at this parable. It is a straightforward look at the Jews who Jesus came to first, and all their excuses not to see him as their Messiah. Therefore, Jesus sends out the invitation to all the Gentiles all over the world. We know that was God's plan all along because he knows all things, as well if we are to take the words given to John about how God so loved the world, which means that included from the being, all mankind, that he sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for the sins of mankind, so that whosoever believes should not perish, but have everlasting life. that is us, we are the ones on the roads and country lanes, and we are now in the house of the Master. There is one more way we could look at this, which might be stretching it a bit. This idea of making excuses could relate to all the community of faith. We could make an excuse not to do that which God has called us to do. We think sometimes that we have our plan as to how we will live in the community of faith rather than sit at the table with Jesus. When we accept the invitation to come to the banquet, it is not a carry-in, so to speak. That is we cannot bring what we want to bring to the table, we must eat the food the master has offered us. To personalize this, I when I entered the kingdom of God I brought my skills, my talent as a photographer, and my insight into visual communication, but Jesus had something else on that table for me to eat. He said to leave your skills and talents, outside, I want you to eat from the table of verbal communication, I am making you into a preacher. This is where we get the words of a song that says, “Break me, melt me, mold me, and fill me”. When we accept to come to the banquet, we need to eat from the table what Jesus has prepared and placed before us. We cannot make any excuse, but to consume, and devour, the call upon our lives. So there you go, that is the other look into this parable. Let us praise our Lord because we are eating at the table. 

One of the Blessed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

ONE OF THE BLESSED

Luke 14:15-24

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." 16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 19 "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20 "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' 21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' 22 "Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23 "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'" 

NIV

It is always interesting how Jesus tells stories to get a point across, rather than just slamming people, and putting them down for their rejecting him as the Messiah. However, this statement by one of those at the table with Jesus heard about those whom someone invites to a luncheon and how the rich guest could pay him back, but the poor, the lame, and the blind could not, and so which is more of a blessing, this one said, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. We are going to have to wait on the story Jesus responds with although it is all about who responds to the invitation to the luncheon, although Jesus now made it a great banquet. However, the fact still remains we will be blessed beyond measure when we sit down at the feast in the kingdom of God. That may some presumptuous to say we are going to sit down at his great banquet in the kingdom of God, yet because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have received the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to dwell within us and lead us into all truth, and have followed Jesus through the waters of baptism and are people of faith, believing in Jesus, following him, trusting him with our lives, we have the confidence and the assurance that we are one of the blessed who will sit at the table in the kingdom of God. In fact, we have already been sitting at that table many times when we take of the bread and the wine, although we use grape juice to avoid offending anyone’s sensibility about wine. Nevertheless, we are sitting at the feast in the kingdom of God, toasting, or we say remembering all that Jesus did for us, at the cross, and through being buried and then remembering his resurrection. All that is the reason for the feast on the table in the kingdom of God, having abdicated our citizenship of the kingdom of the world and have become a citizen in the kingdom of God, we are feasting at the table in the kingdom of God and thus we are one of the blessed. So when we have communion at church, we must remember we are one of the blessed. 

Temporal or Eternal

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TEMPORAL OR ETERNAL

Luke 14:12-14

12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." 

NIV

It might be possible that we would have a luncheon or a dinner that we would invite a bunch of our friends to join us, but it is doubtful that we would know any of the poor, crippled, lame, and blind to invite instead of our friends. However, that is different from what Jesus is talking about. There is the temporal realm and the eternal realm and that is what everything is about. When we live in this temporal realm and do all our good deeds, that we think are being a good Christian, it is still may be about looking good before man and expecting some sort of compensation, or recognition for all our hard work. It is also quite possible that we are working, putting much effort into this temporal realm to advance our position, make ourselves more comfortable with all the stuff this world has to offer, and even store up as much as possible for our future days in this temporal realm. Jesus made it clear when he said that we should not work for food that spoils, but rather work for eternal food. This is the whole idea of living in the eternal realm where Jesus will give us this food that endures to eternal life. Living by faith rather than by works is the difference, although we do serve our Lord, doing that which he has called us to do would benefit the kingdom of God. That is far different from working for our benefit in this temporal realm. Who are we inviting to the party, Jesus or ourselves? We might think that if we work hard enough in this world, we will get paid back somehow, with a better position, a raise in pay, more recognition, etc., but what good is that in the eternal realm. We cannot even work hard enough in the spirit realm, thinking somehow, we will get more jewels in our crowns. Jesus made it very clear, that the work that God requires is to believe in the one he sent. So when we believe in Jesus we are given the eternal payback, it is given freely, without labor, except then to love the Lord God with our whole being and to love our neighbor which includes those that have far less than we do, inviting them in, giving them food that endures to eternal life, while still providing for their temporal needs. We do live in the temporal, but we live for the eternal. 

Prideful or Humble

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

PRIDEFUL OR HUMBLE

Luke 14:7-11

7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." 

NIV

As far as a wedding feast in our days we do not get to pick our place at the table, for the seating chart is already made out by the bride and most likely her mother. So they have already decided who gets the upfront tables, who gets to sit far in the back, and maybe even with some of the children. No worries, we would not have this situation that Jesus is discussing. However, the general idea of being either prideful or humble certainly can apply to many areas in life, however, we should focus on the area of the church where we gather and where we all sit, especially when we have a carry-in, or go out together at a restaurant as a group. Then we come to the specific area of pridefulness, and where we might see that in our lives, versus those same areas where we could exhibit humbleness. Of course, as a follower of Jesus, we should always exhibit humbleness because that is what is in our hearts, or that is our nature because Christ is in us and we are in Christ. We wonder how as a believer, as a follower of Jesus Christ, as one who has the indwelling of the Spirit of God could even become filled with pridefulness, and yet that temptation stands before at every turn. We see prideful Christians, we watch them being so puffed up over things they think made them superior to others, their educational level, their position, or title in the body of Christ, their importance in the church because of the amount they give, or how much they do. We have seen it over the years, the puffed-up believers, and we wonder if we have ever joined in with them. Then we wonder if we can become prideful of being humble. True humility understands we are who we are, a sinner saved by grace. It does not matter what title or position or what we do or have in this world, all that is temporary. Humility should mean we are nothing more than a child of God, a friend of Jesus, although it seems we want to see ourselves as a servant of God, serving God. In the realm of the heavenlies, we all stand at the same place, at the feet of the Lord. In the eternal, there is no distinction between any of mankind except whether we are the sheep or the goats, whether we are in our out, whether we have eternal life or perish. If we focus on the eternal then this temporal has no reason for being prideful, but only being humble before God and men. 

Law or Love

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LAW OR LOVE

Luke 14:1-6

14:1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?"  4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?"  6 And they had nothing to say.

NIV

It is always difficult to defend yourself when you attempt to live by an exact list of laws or rules and regulations because it leaves absolutely no room for error whatsoever. Healing on the Sabbath was all about the rules they determined could be done on the Sabbath. We recall the time we spent in Israel and stayed at a hotel on Shabbat. The hotel was full of Orthodox Jews.  The elevators automatically stopped at every floor without pushing any button, because it was unlawful to push a button on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, if they had answered Jesus knew they would be caught in hypocrisy. In most of our denominations of today each has its published statement of faith and may or may not have a published list, but nevertheless have a set of rules and regulations to live by, with any ever higher list of qualifications for any position of leadership that does not have any scriptural basis to justify those qualifications. The point is, that our lives should be based on the word of God, living in a manner that pleases the Lord. No one can follow a set of human-established rules and regulations perfectly and usually will be found out by others as missing the mark and seen as a hypocrite. Jesus set us free from the law, except he did establish that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and that we should love our neighbor in the manner we love ourselves. This would mean we do no harm, and judge no one for missing the mark, especially because we have all missed the mark. Let us live a life of love and then we would not have to be concerned about what rules are for what occasion. If we all tried to live by the rules and cannot do it perfectly, when we are asked about our failure, what could we say, we would have to be silent as the Pharisees were. Let us not get entrapped and entangled by the rules and regulations, that are needed for order, such as the speed limit, but we cannot put the religious laws before our life, rather than the law of love.