Tag: luke

“We Have Only Done What Was Our Duty (Lk. 17:10)

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Sometimes we are all about the recognition. Sometimes we just want people to say our name.  To see that we have been holy.  To see that we have spoken truth.  To see that we have studied and put in a great many hours of preparation so that they could feast at the table of God’s Word.  Sometimes we want to be recognized.

Sometimes we just want people to feel inferior. Sometimes we hold grudges.  Sometimes we believe we have a right not to offer forgiveness.  Sometimes we think we deserve a reward when we do forgive. Sometimes we think its an option.  Sometimes we forget that the master told us to forgive.  You see it’s his forgiveness that we offer our brother.  When we find our selves able to forgive, we shouldn’t think that it was anything extrodinary. Forgiveness is a way of life for those who follow Jesus.

Do you forget who you are sometimes?  Do you forget that you were bought with a price?  That you were transformed out of the kingdom of darkness and into the light? That you have been called out, set apart, chosen?  Do you forget that you are to be holy even as He is holy?  Do you forget who you belong to now? Do you forget how He has seen past your sin and forgiven you in Christ?  Do you forget?

Don’t be proud today. Be humble.  When given the praise for what God has done in your life be sure to point to Him and say, “I have only done what was my duty.” You see, in Heaven there will be no shrine set apart for you.  It’s not about you.  It’s all about Him.

Father,

I want to do only what you have called me to today.  I ask that I would walk with you with a joyful heart and a cheerful spirit.  I realize now that I can do whatever you have called me to do.  I am your servant.  Bid me as you will.

“One Who is Faithful in Very Little is Also Faithful in Much (Lk. 16:10)

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Sometimes it is the small things that matter.  It’s the habit of returning small change that makes you credible to handle large amounts of money.  It’s the habit of trying to cheat the vending machine that makes you untrustworthy over larger matters.  Sometimes it is a matter of small things.

To follow Jesus and be in charge of big things is to be trustworthy in the small matters.  Do you read your Bible?  Do you pray?  Do you look for opportunities to tell others about Him?  These are small things.

Maybe it’s not the size of the task that’s the issue, but the character of the one carrying out the task?

Father,

Thank you for the simple, but profound truth that faithfulness doesn’t wait for big things to happen before it kicks in.  Those who are faithful even in the little things can be trusted with greater things.  I ask God that you would make me aware of any “small” area’s of my life that have gone unchecked.  I want to be faithful even in the small things.

 

“It Was Fitting to Celebrate and Be Glad” (Lk 15:32)

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What do you know about God?  Do you know that He is a forgiving God?  Do you know that He delights in running to lost sinners who turn to Him in repentance?  Do you know that He is right and good to celebrate the repentance and return of those who have wandered away?  If you didn’t know this, you don’t know much about God.

The older brother was bitter that his brother had returned.  He was angry that his father threw a party for the “lost”son.  The other brother was comparing conduct.  He counted out his righteousness deeds to the Father, rather self-righteousness deeds.  He missed it.  Somehow there wasn’t any room for love.  No love for his own brother.

This older brother represented the Pharisees.  They were self-righteous.  They thought God had to love and bless them for their deeds.  But they missed the heart of God.  You see there is an unstated message to this parable.  Where was Jesus in this message?  He was right in the middle.

Jesus is the true and better brother who was not content to leave his rebellious younger brother in the far country.  He himself went after the prodigal, leaving the pleasure and comforts not of a farm, but of heaven.  You see, that is God’s heart.  The one thing the story does not contain that is should contain to fit with the other two in this chapter is someone who is searching.  The widow was searching for her coin and the shepherd was searching for the sheep… but who went searching for the son?  Who went to him and said, “come home!”

It was Jesus in that very moment.  He was calling.  He was saying, “Come home!”  Where are you today?  He is saying, “Come Home!”

Father,

So many times I try and take your Word and try to figure out what I need to do to please you.  The truth is that you have satisfied my sin debt and pleased God for me.  All I need to do is trust you and walk in the grace that you have given me.  It really is that simple.  You delight in repentance.  Their are no fancy deeds that I can do to impress you.  I ask for rest in you today.  Let me rest in the gospel, my hope of ressurection.

“Any One of You Who Does Not Renounce All that He Has (Lk. 14:33)

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I think there is more at stake here than meets the eye.  I think there is more at stake than our relationships and our possessions.  I think the renunciation of all that we have is the means by which we find our identity in Christ. We must abandon everything in our lives that would seek to define us apart from Jesus Christ.

Do not let your money define you.  Do not let your possessions define you.  Do not let your relationships with other people define you.  Christ is your identity.  Your identity should be found in following Jesus, not in your favorite sports team, the clothes you buy, the car you drive, or the way you present your family.

To be found in Christ is more than being a dad.  To be in Christ is more than impressing others in a worldly system.  To be found in Christ is to be following Him, worshiping Him, and trusting Him. Christ is our true and better riches, those found in him are wealthy beyond all compare (He is our treasure).  He i s our true and better family who has gone to great links to  to adopt us into his family.

Father,

I am yours today.  I renounce all other claims on my life.  I am what you define me to be.  I am trusting in your plan’s and purpose.  Lead me, I’m following… whatever the cost

“Teaching and Journeying toward Jerusalem” (Lk. 13:22)

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He was on a mission.  He was headed to Jerusalem. Yet all along the way he healed, he taught, he told about His kingdom.  Eventually he had to reveal the meaning. Eventually even the healing had to make sense in a larger picture, a larger portrait.

He was headed to the cross.  The one place where it would all come together.  The one place where it would all finally make sense.  He said he was going there, but they thought He spoke in a metaphor and they did not understand.  They thought He would ride in like a king and take over, the did not know how deep their problem was and they did not know how far He would go to deliver them.

Like a disease or a disfigurement mars the body of an otherwise healthy person, sin has disfigured the entire human race.  Like a blind man who has eyes but he cannot see, we are made in the image of God, yet we have profaned Him. So he came healing and proclaiming that His kingdom was at hand.  In Heaven there will be no more disease.  In Heaven their will be no more sin.  Christ has born it all on his own body on the cross! He stood in our place so we could stand in His!

You see, that was the mission.  The mission was not to heal a few thousand people (if that many) in Palestine a few thousand years ago.  His mission was not to come and make our lives comfortable again.  His mission was to reconcile us to God by taking on our sin debt! His mission was to save and he couldn’t do that without going to Jerusalem first.  Jerusalem was the appointed place and his appointed hour was quickly approaching

Father,

So often I am eager to glean a principle for practical living as if this whole Christian walk has to do with the exercise of my will.  While I know that my will is important, I also know that you have already completed everything I need to be reconciled to you.  Today I rest in that.  Today I rest in the fact that you are God and you know what you are doing.   Thank you for all you have done to bring me to faith in you.

“Blessed Rather are Those Who Hear the Word of God and Keep It (Lk. 11:28)

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Have you ever wondered that hearing might not be enough?  Hearing doesn’t really do anyone any good.  To hear the Word of God is only part of the matter.  To keep the Word of God… now that is something other than hearing.

What does it mean to keep the word of God? Do we hold on to a Bible somewhere for safe “keeping” or do we keep it like we “keep” our wedding vows?  The one who hears and keeps is blessed, more blessed than Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Does all this Word of God “keeping” sound like good works to you?  Maybe it’s just a good relationship.  Those who know God will relate to Him like He is God. It’s a far greater blessing to know Jesus as the Messiah than to know Him like a mother knows her son.  Isn’t that the point.

Keep the Word of God, not because it’s a work by which one merits eternal life… no rather, keep the word of God because one has stood in your place and kept the law for you.  One has made you holy.  One has made you perfect.  One has made you acceptable before God.

Isn’t that the “word of God” we are supposed to hear… the gospel?  And doesn’t the gospel require faith from us? And in that faith we respond to what Christ has done by trusting him to do what He said He would do.  Keeping the Word of God then is to keep Christ as our righteousness.  To keep trusting Him, to keep a hold of Him, to allow him to transform us… change us… make us into his image.  It’s better to know Jesus as a Savior than a son indeed.

Father,

Thank you for working our my salvation.  Thank you that I come to you, not in my own merit and strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ.  I pray that I will not just hear your word today, but that I will keep it.  I pray that I will be the blessed man in Proverbs 1.

“I Have Given You Authority (Lk.10:19)

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“I have given you authority” those were the words.  Authority to tread on serpents, to suffer no harm.  This is a phrase that cuts both ways for those who follow Christ.

The first way it cuts is that it reminds us that we have no authority over evil other than that which has been given us by Jesus Christ.  It’s His authority, we just represent Him.  Our Church growth strategies, our evangelism programs and our best efforts to win our neighbors to Christ are just that… ours. Sometimes we forget that we are aliens in this world.  The power to save, the power to go and make disciples, the power to shine light into darkness doesn’t come from us… it comes from Him.  We go under His authority, “All authority has been given unto me” (Mt. 28:18).

second.  We have authority from Him!  Don’t let anyone tell you that you have no right to speak the truth, comfort the afflicted, and bring healing to those who are hurting. We are doing only what Jesus has told us to do.  It’s His authority.  Who trumps His authority?  No one!

Father,

Today I am both humbled and encouraged.  One the one hand I am humbled to remember that I can do nothing on my own.  I can only do what I see you doing.  I can only act out of the authority that you give.  I am also encouraged.  I am encouraged because I am your man.  You have called me.  You have set me apart and you have commissioned me to share your gospel.  Father, I ask that I would go boldly today in the authority that you have provided.  I ask that I would not act out of insecurity or self-preservation, but that I would be jealous for your glory today.

“You Give Them Something To Eat” (Lk. 9:13)

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There they were on the side of the mountain and late into the day.  The people were listening to Jesus preach, but it became apparent that they needed a break to get something to eat.  Eating is necessary after all.  Eating is what sustains us, it keeps up alive. Necessities of life were encroaching upon meeting.  They could go on meeting, but they could not go on without food.

The plan was to dismiss the crowd.  The disciples had determined that.  We don’t have enough, let them go into the villages and purchase food.  Who knows perhaps this would have been an economic stimulus for the area they were in.  But Jesus had other plans.  He looks at his disciples and says, “You give them something to eat.”

I’m sure they looked around at each other at this point.  They thought, “We don’t have anything, well not much anyway… maybe one man’s lunch, but not enough for the crowd.”  But he takes it, he takes those small rations.  He holds them out and blesses them and begins to pass out food to feed the multitude.

But, wait, there is more to this story that just plain old white bread.  Jesus was meeting a physical need.  He was feeding the hungry.  Just like Moses called on God and God provided the manna.  Jesus was saying here that he would provide for all that we needed.  Not just physically, but spiritually as well.  He is the Bread of Life!

So then I remember, this is how ministry works.  I truly have nothing to offer, nothing much anyhow. Nothing apart from His blessing.  Nothing apart from His hands. He is the one that takes my weakness and exploits it for kingdom gain.  He is the one ultimately opens his word before me to feed me and a whole multitude beside.

Father,

I remember today how little I have to offer you and how gracious you are to multiply your grace to me and many more besides.  Use me today to open your word before your people.  I am nothing if I am not in your hands.

Twelve Years (Lk. 8:42-43)

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Twelve years.  Twelve years before, the events of this day were put into motion. Twelve years ago a woman began to have an issue with bleeding that would eventually drain her life savings and leave her feeling broken and without hope.  Without hope, that is until Jesus came on the scene.  She saw Him passing by and reached out to touch His garment… she hoped beyond all hope and she was healed!  For twelve years she had walked with this disease.  For twelve years she had prayed that she would find healing and on this day she was healed!

Twelve years.  Twelve years before the events of this day a little girl was born. She was the pride and joy of her family.  The years passed quickly and she grew by leaps and bounds.  Then on this day, this day, she was sick.  It wasn’t a passing sickness.  It wasn’t one that she could shake.  Her mother was worried.  Her father heard that Jesus was in town healing people.  So he went to fetch the one who could save his little girl.  On the way there he couldn’t help but remember the joy he had seen in his daughter’s face for the last twelve years.  Joy that was being taken away with sickness.  Would Jesus come heal his girl?  He didn’t know, but he had to try…

Then it happened, she was dead.  Dead before Jesus could even come and see her.  Was Jesus too late? Or perhaps he was right on time.  He didn’t heal her, he raised her from the dead!

Twelve years.  Twelve years before, the events of this day were being put into motion.  What is taking place today that was set in motion a long time ago?

Father,

There is nothing that escapes your notice and your timing is perfect.  Guide me today.  I want to walk according to the path that you have laid out for me.

 

 

They Left Everything and Followed Him (Lk. 5:11)

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Peter, James and John had just caught what was most likely the biggest catch of fish in their life and they left it behind.  Not just that, they left off the fishing business all together to follow Jesus.  The call to follow Him was that important!  Forget the boats, the long and tired nights of fishing, put away the nets, forget the fish market…. “come and follow Me,” He said, “I will make you fishers of men.”

Catch the language…they left off the fishing business… “to follow.”  Before they became fishers of men, they were followers of Jesus.  Sometimes in our hype to share the gospel, we forget that following Jesus is the most important part of fishing for men.  You can’t fish, if you don’t follow. It’s really that simple.

The transformation takes place along the way as we follow. We are made into His image.  We are made into fishers of men, but it doesn’t happen until we submit our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Yet, following is costly.  Following Jesus challenges every idol that you are tempted to hold in your heart instead of Him. Do you love money?  Follow Jesus and you will be forced to let go of money.  Do you love security? Follow Jesus and he will bid you to follow him into the deep to depend on Him alone.  Do you picture yourself as better than others?  Follow Jesus and He will lead you to a place where the standard becomes the holiness of God.

The disciples followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem where He was crucified. After the resurrection, many of the disciples would meet persecution as they went about sharing the message.  There came a point where the disciples had to intentionally choose to follow Jesus no matter what the cost.

Father,

Thank you for calling me to follow you.  I confirm in my heart again that I am completely yours.  I give up every claim I ever had on anything else.  I give you my family.  They are yours.  I give you my job.  It is yours.  I am following you today.  Please see fit to transform me to be more like you… whatever the cost.