Today's Bible reading is the 13th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here on bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+13&version=NASB
Throughout the Book of Luke and the other Gospels we often see Jesus giving the right perspective on a matter. God's perspective. In today's passage we have another account of Jesus healing on the Sabbath while teaching in the synagogue. The recipient of His healing is a woman who had a sickness which had caused her to be "bent double" for eighteen years. The text says that this particular "sickness" was caused by a spirit. We read that Jesus said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness" and then He laid His hands on her and she was immediately made erect again. The synagogue official is described as being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. The official then speaks to the crowd of people in the synagogue, telling them that they should come to be healed on any other day, but not the Sabbath. Jesus then appears to address the synagogue official and all those who may be of the same mind as he was. He calls them hypocrites. He challenges their thinking by reminding them that each of them unties their ox or donkey from their stall and leads them to water and that they do so even on the Sabbath. Putting things into their proper perspective, He asks them if this woman, "a daughter of Abraham" should not have been released from her bond on the Sabbath day. We read that those who were in opposition to His teaching were humiliated. They would untie their animals on the Sabbath and lead them to water but they would stand opposed to Jesus releasing or "untying" this woman and leading her to Himself, the giver of living water.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Today's Bible reading is the 12th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012&version=NASB
Each one is used in today's chapter to teach us a lesson,; a sparrow, a raven, the lily and grass. The apparent insignificance of the sparrow was reflected in the ability to purchase five of them for just two cents. But we see that God pays attention to the sparrow despite its small monetary worth to men. To God we are more valuable than many sparrows the text says. Later in the passage we read about another bird, the raven. They neither sow nor reap, have no storerooms or barns to keep their food and yet God sees that they are fed. We read that we are much more valuable than the birds. And then we are told to consider how the lilies grow and to take note of how God clothes them although "they neither toil nor spin". Lastly we read that God even concerns Himself with clothing the grass of the field that is alive one day and thrown in the furnace the next. Each of these examples is intended to teach us and/or remind us that if God cares and provides for the sparrow, the raven, the lilies and the grasses of the field, His concern for us is greater still.
Each one is used in today's chapter to teach us a lesson,; a sparrow, a raven, the lily and grass. The apparent insignificance of the sparrow was reflected in the ability to purchase five of them for just two cents. But we see that God pays attention to the sparrow despite its small monetary worth to men. To God we are more valuable than many sparrows the text says. Later in the passage we read about another bird, the raven. They neither sow nor reap, have no storerooms or barns to keep their food and yet God sees that they are fed. We read that we are much more valuable than the birds. And then we are told to consider how the lilies grow and to take note of how God clothes them although "they neither toil nor spin". Lastly we read that God even concerns Himself with clothing the grass of the field that is alive one day and thrown in the furnace the next. Each of these examples is intended to teach us and/or remind us that if God cares and provides for the sparrow, the raven, the lilies and the grasses of the field, His concern for us is greater still.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Today's Bible reading is the 11th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+11&version=NASB
Although we read of how Jesus would go away and pray while alone, there were certainly times when He prayed while in the presence of His disciples. In today's passage we see that after one of those times, one of His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. The disciple was aware that John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray and he asked Jesus to do as John had. I can't help but think that when His disciples heard Him pray that they were struck by both the content of His prayers and the manner in which He prayed. I can only imagine that the intimacy in which He prayed was unlike anything they had ever witnessed or experienced. In fact, there is a part of me that believes that what moved the disciple to ask the question was his desire to find the intimacy with the Father that Jesus demonstrated in His praying. Jesus graciously responded to the disciples request and taught them how to pray. The words that He gave are often referred to as "the Lord's prayer" although it may be more accurate to call them the disciples prayer. It gave them a guideline as to how to pray. May we grow in intimacy with the Father through the relationship that we have with Him in His Son Jesus and learn to pray as He did.
Although we read of how Jesus would go away and pray while alone, there were certainly times when He prayed while in the presence of His disciples. In today's passage we see that after one of those times, one of His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. The disciple was aware that John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray and he asked Jesus to do as John had. I can't help but think that when His disciples heard Him pray that they were struck by both the content of His prayers and the manner in which He prayed. I can only imagine that the intimacy in which He prayed was unlike anything they had ever witnessed or experienced. In fact, there is a part of me that believes that what moved the disciple to ask the question was his desire to find the intimacy with the Father that Jesus demonstrated in His praying. Jesus graciously responded to the disciples request and taught them how to pray. The words that He gave are often referred to as "the Lord's prayer" although it may be more accurate to call them the disciples prayer. It gave them a guideline as to how to pray. May we grow in intimacy with the Father through the relationship that we have with Him in His Son Jesus and learn to pray as He did.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Today's Bible reading is the 10th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10&version=NASB
I appreciate a simple verse out of today's passage that should help remind us of a proper perspective to have in life. Jesus had sent out "the seventy" in pairs to go to all of the cities and places where Jesus Himself was going to go. We read that they returned "with joy" and when they spoke of their journey they said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." I suppose that may have been my response as well had I been amongst the seventy. But the Lord did not want their "joy" to be based on the authority He had given them over demons. Jesus acknowledged the authority He had given them and His awareness of their effectiveness in the work He had sent them to. But in verse twenty Jesus says, "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." Ministry involves both good times and difficult ones. Although we can and should rejoice when we see the Lord work in and through His vessels, the foundation of our joy, and that which is enduring, is that by grace we have found ourselves the recipients of God's kindness in Christ, clothed in His righteousness, forgiven of our sins, children of God and joint heirs with Jesus. What a source for joy is ours in Christ!
I appreciate a simple verse out of today's passage that should help remind us of a proper perspective to have in life. Jesus had sent out "the seventy" in pairs to go to all of the cities and places where Jesus Himself was going to go. We read that they returned "with joy" and when they spoke of their journey they said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." I suppose that may have been my response as well had I been amongst the seventy. But the Lord did not want their "joy" to be based on the authority He had given them over demons. Jesus acknowledged the authority He had given them and His awareness of their effectiveness in the work He had sent them to. But in verse twenty Jesus says, "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." Ministry involves both good times and difficult ones. Although we can and should rejoice when we see the Lord work in and through His vessels, the foundation of our joy, and that which is enduring, is that by grace we have found ourselves the recipients of God's kindness in Christ, clothed in His righteousness, forgiven of our sins, children of God and joint heirs with Jesus. What a source for joy is ours in Christ!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Today's Bible reading is the 9th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway:http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%209&version=NASB
In today's passage we see Jesus sending His twelve apostles out into ministry, Herod "trying to see Him", the feeding of the five thousand, Peter's proclamation that Jesus was "the Christ of God", the transfiguration, the discussion amongst the twelve regarding which of them would be greatest and the expectations accompanying discipleship. The chapter is full of topics that volumes have been written about. My quick thought from the passage is from the instructions given by Jesus to His disciples when He sent them out "to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing". In verses three through five we read His words, "Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." As I consider this "take nothing for your journey" passage, I could not help but think that by telling them what they were not to take the Lord was telling them what to take plenty of. Faith! It was faith that they needed most. Faith to believe God. To trust in His calling them and in His provisions for them. May we not tempt God with foolish and unwise actions and decisions, but may we seek Him first and trust in His gracious provisions for all that He has called us to.
In today's passage we see Jesus sending His twelve apostles out into ministry, Herod "trying to see Him", the feeding of the five thousand, Peter's proclamation that Jesus was "the Christ of God", the transfiguration, the discussion amongst the twelve regarding which of them would be greatest and the expectations accompanying discipleship. The chapter is full of topics that volumes have been written about. My quick thought from the passage is from the instructions given by Jesus to His disciples when He sent them out "to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing". In verses three through five we read His words, "Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." As I consider this "take nothing for your journey" passage, I could not help but think that by telling them what they were not to take the Lord was telling them what to take plenty of. Faith! It was faith that they needed most. Faith to believe God. To trust in His calling them and in His provisions for them. May we not tempt God with foolish and unwise actions and decisions, but may we seek Him first and trust in His gracious provisions for all that He has called us to.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Today's Bible reading is the 8th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway:http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+8&version=NASB
God is the author of family and family relationships. He graciously gives instructions to husbands, to wives, to children and to parents for the purpose of fulfilling those roles before God in a Christ honoring manner. We read in Luke 2 that Jesus continued in subjection to His parents while He was growing up in Nazareth. But God is also the author of fellowship amongst the family of believers. In today's passage we find Jesus' mother and brothers unable to get in to see Him because of a large crowd. When He is told that His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to see Him, He replied that His mother and brothers "are these who hear the word of God and do it." He was not lessening the importance of His earthly family but demonstrating the special relationship that exists between believers. We are the children of God. We are, as the word teaches, members of the Body of Christ and members, one of another. Paul encouraged Timothy to consider the older men in the church as fathers, the older women as mothers, the younger women as sisters and the younger men as brothers. We ought to be thankful for the many "family members" we have in Christ. They are often some of the closest relationships we have in this life. A common faith, strengthened by a like mindedness of doctrine and fellowship in ministry can make for a bond that is stronger than flesh and blood.
God is the author of family and family relationships. He graciously gives instructions to husbands, to wives, to children and to parents for the purpose of fulfilling those roles before God in a Christ honoring manner. We read in Luke 2 that Jesus continued in subjection to His parents while He was growing up in Nazareth. But God is also the author of fellowship amongst the family of believers. In today's passage we find Jesus' mother and brothers unable to get in to see Him because of a large crowd. When He is told that His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to see Him, He replied that His mother and brothers "are these who hear the word of God and do it." He was not lessening the importance of His earthly family but demonstrating the special relationship that exists between believers. We are the children of God. We are, as the word teaches, members of the Body of Christ and members, one of another. Paul encouraged Timothy to consider the older men in the church as fathers, the older women as mothers, the younger women as sisters and the younger men as brothers. We ought to be thankful for the many "family members" we have in Christ. They are often some of the closest relationships we have in this life. A common faith, strengthened by a like mindedness of doctrine and fellowship in ministry can make for a bond that is stronger than flesh and blood.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Today's Bible reading is the 7th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+7&version=NASB
The Gospels are full of various accounts of Jesus healing people who have come to Him on their own or who have been brought to Him by others. Today we read of a most wonderful encounter that Jesus has with a woman and her only son. As Jesus is entering the city of Nain, we read that the woman, already a widow, is walking out of the city when the two cross paths. She is walking alongside some men who are carrying the casket that holds the dead body of her son, her only son. The passage also tells us that there is a large crowd accompanying her as they walk. She does not approach Jesus and no one approaches Him on her behalf. No one approaches Jesus on behalf of her son who lays dead in the casket. But Jesus sees the woman and has compassion for her. He tells her not to weep and then He does an amazing thing. He walks up and touches the coffin and then speaks to the woman's son, saying, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" Of course, a dead man has no ability to respond to someone who speaks to them. But Jesus also quickens the woman's son to do two things. To hear His voice and respond to Him. Luke tells us that the man "sat up and began to speak". Praise God that Jesus still speaks to those dead in their sins and trespasses AND quickens them to hear Him and respond to Him.
The Gospels are full of various accounts of Jesus healing people who have come to Him on their own or who have been brought to Him by others. Today we read of a most wonderful encounter that Jesus has with a woman and her only son. As Jesus is entering the city of Nain, we read that the woman, already a widow, is walking out of the city when the two cross paths. She is walking alongside some men who are carrying the casket that holds the dead body of her son, her only son. The passage also tells us that there is a large crowd accompanying her as they walk. She does not approach Jesus and no one approaches Him on her behalf. No one approaches Jesus on behalf of her son who lays dead in the casket. But Jesus sees the woman and has compassion for her. He tells her not to weep and then He does an amazing thing. He walks up and touches the coffin and then speaks to the woman's son, saying, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" Of course, a dead man has no ability to respond to someone who speaks to them. But Jesus also quickens the woman's son to do two things. To hear His voice and respond to Him. Luke tells us that the man "sat up and began to speak". Praise God that Jesus still speaks to those dead in their sins and trespasses AND quickens them to hear Him and respond to Him.
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