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. 

Living Gathered

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

 LIVING GATHERED

Luke 13:34-35

34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" 

NIV

We know these words of Jesus are both historical and prophetic in nature. However, Jesus quotes from the 118^th Psalm, “Blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord”. The whole of that Psalm is about exalting the name of the Lord. The Psalmist also said, “His love endures forever”.  Jesus wants to gather his people together, and of course, he is directly speaking about Jerusalem which represents all of the Jewish people whom He came to. However, Because God so loved the whole world, which includes us Gentiles, that he sent his Son so that whosoever, which again, that includes us non-Jews, should not perish, but have everlasting life. “His love endures forever”. Therefore, we can say that we are blessed because we come in the name of the Lord. We could say rather than we come in the name of the lord that we live in the name of the Lord because “His love endures forever”. Our house is not desolate, because we have been gathered by the hand of the Lord when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We live in the hand of the Lord. He continually blesses our lives, watching over us because we are his people and He is our Lord God. We can also be encouraged, in fact, to live with courageous endurance, and encouragement because we will see Him again. Isaiah said the same thing in another way, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation”. Blessed are those who live in the name of the Lord, who proclaim the good news because we have been gathered into the kingdom of God receiving all the blessings of eternal life and the provisions of the Lord in this life. Jesus has gathered us to Himself as we live in him and he in us. Our lives could not be any fuller because we have been gathered by Jesus and are known as the people of God and we live in the name of the Lord. 

Today and Tomorrow

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

TODAY AND TOMORROW

Luke 13:31-33

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you." 32 He replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.' 33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day — for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

NIV

We know these are prophetic words of Jesus for He is headed to Jerusalem to do that which He was ultimately sent to do, or perhaps we should say that is what He came to do. However, there is a truth here we need to apply to our lives. When Jesus was telling the Pharisees that he would drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow and on the third day he would reach his goal, we see that Jesus would not give up working for the kingdom of God until his last breath. In fact, even on the cross, his goal, he was still teaching and showing that he was the Messiah. It is also interesting that some Pharisees came to warn Jesus that Herod wanted to kill him, is it they just wanted him to leave and somewhere else, getting rid of him and his gathering followers away from their authority over the people.

Nevertheless, what we see here that applies to us is that we should be doing the work of the Lord until we reach our goal, which would be eternal life. That would mean we cannot ever stop doing the business of God, striving for the kingdom of God, keeping going, and never giving up, even if someone wants to kill us. This brings us to think that the devil does want to kill us, however, not in the physical sense of death, although that is his ultimate goal that we experience eternal death in his realm. But, he wants to kill our ministry, our labor for the kingdom of God. He wants us to sit back in our old age and do nothing for the kingdom. He wants us to just be a couch potato, so to speak, just waiting to die, giving in to our aging bodies with their aches and pains, living a tired old life, living retired from being a part of the body of Christ, doing that which God has tasked us to do until he comes for us. Then we will reach our goal, in the heavenly realms with Jesus on that last day or our last breath. Until then we will continue today and tomorrow. 

The Effort

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE EFFORT 

Luke 13:22-30

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, 24 "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' 26 "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27 "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' 28 "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." 

NIV

The first thing we notice is Jesus is telling them to make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Seeing this is Greek, it says to strive, as to compete for the prize to enter at the narrow gate. Paul talks about running the race, finishing the race, completing the task the Lord gave him, the task of testifying to the gospel of the Lord’s grace. He also said that he had kept the faith. Maybe it is more difficult to remain a believer than we think it is. However, we don’t know any other way to live, than to trust God for our lives. Yet, Jesus is speaking directly to the Jews, and how they will reject him and the Gentiles will come and enter the narrow gate and because the Jews refused to accept him now, they may well not get to enter, although they knew the words of the prophets and should have seen Jesus as the Messiah. But once the day of judgement comes, the last day, if a person had not entered the narrow gate before that day, they we never be able to for the door would be shut to them, and would be thrown out into the darkness. So then, what is the every effort we need to make? That almost sounds like saved by an effort, or by some kind of work. We know that is not true for we know the work that God requires is to believe in the one he sent. We believe we  should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness which means to forgo striving for the things of this world. How can we serve two masters? How can we walk the narrow path while we keep looking at other paths, wanting what they have to offer? In this world there are many temptations that seem to satisfy our physical desires, but we must see them as distractions from staying on the narrow path that leads us straight to the narrow gate. This may take some effort to overcome those distractions. Although we have been saved by grace, it still requires us to stay in the grace, or as Jesus said, remain in him and he will remain in us. Let us always remember that we need Jesus before anything else. Let us remember the effort. 

Leaven From Heaven

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LEAVEN FROM HEAVEN

Luke 13:20-21

20 Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." 

NIV

We know of yeast and its effects on the flour, but Jesus is just using that as a way of telling us He is like that yeast and the effects God has on our souls. At first, before the leaven, or yeast we are nothing but flour, inert, just sitting there in our own bag, without any movement. However, when the gospel is mixed into our lives by the Spirit, it begins, it becomes invasive and mixes in our until it completely makes us into a different nature. We grow as that dough in the bowl does because the yeast works throughout until it wholly converts the flour into a new nature. When the kingdom of God is within us we cannot help but grow into the nature God intended us to be when He first created Adam.  We can never go back to being just flour in a bag, ridding ourselves of the yeast of the gospel. There is also another application to this parable and that involves the whole earth. When Jesus came to earth in the form of man and taught the wholeness of the gospel, healed both the physical and the souls of men, then went to the cross, paying the price for our disobedience, the world could never be the same. The gospel is that yeast, Jesus is that leaven that spreads throughout the world, changing its very nature, perhaps one soul at a time. Still, the world cannot go back to a time before Jesus, when man either lived for himself, pursuing his own evil desires ignoring any reference to God, or lived under the burden of the law God gave the Israelites, yet failing miserably to find true righteousness. The world has been changed forever, and in some sense, this and the last parable are prophetic showing us that Jesus will prevail in changing us into his nature. Our soul will expand to overflowing that bowl and spilling out all over the counter. The yeast of the gospel has changed everything, the world has changed because of the leaven from heaven.