To See and Hear

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TO SEE AND HEAR

Luke 10:23-24

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

NIV

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

How Awesome is This

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HOW AWESOME IS THIS

Luke 10:22

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

NIV

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

His Good Pleasure

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

HIS GOOD PLEASURE

Luke 10:21

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

NIV

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

Little Children

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

 LITTLE CHILDREN

Luke 10:21

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

NIV

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

Full of Joy

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FULL OF JOY

Luke 10:21

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

NIV

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

 

Rejoice and Rejoice

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

REJOICE AND REJOICE

Luke 10:17-20

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

NIV

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

The Kingdom of God is Near

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR

Luke 10:1-16

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

NIV

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