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Luke 2:34-35
In these verses it was said to Jesus' mother, "This child
will cause the falling as well
as the rising of many in the Church, and he would also be
spoken against, so the
thoughts of hearts would be revealed."
In the church at-large today it seems to me we are far more
concerned about
offending someone than we are about preaching and teaching
truth and then urging,
requiring, and helping each other to live it out. We are so
afraid someone will be
offended we hold back the very thing that would insure
growth in spiritual matters.
I have never read in the Word of God that we should guard
against proclaiming truth
if it might offend someone. And not just teaching it, but
also making it a practice in
our daily lives. How can we expect to have strong, secure
men and women who can
stand tall in difficult times if they are not subjected to
truth even though it might
cause distress of spirit? I believe the Word tells us this
is a necessary pain we need
in order for growth.
Jesus in His own words recorded in Matthew and again in Luke
tells us:
For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a
daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man's
enemies will be the members
of his own household.'
I would think, knowing how important the Father and the Son
felt about families and
their high place in the Kingdom principle, the last thing
they desired was to destroy
them. Yet His truth would do just that and still does.
However, Jesus had no qualms
about telling His followers, "It is truth that sets you free
and I am Truth."
We say truth hurts and offends, but until we can recognize
it is not truth that is
offensive rather it is our own egos and pride that brings
pain and offences, we can
never experience what real truth is. The simple fact is we
are not willing to embrace
truth when we see it. We prefer to lay blame on the
truth-deliverer.
Jesus was crucified for that offense and there will be times
when you and I will be
as well at least in some circles; that is what the "Truth"
tells us. The question I must
answer is; will I put myself on the line and embrace truth
when it shows up in my daily
living or will my pride and ego feel so much pain I become
offended? Actually the
choice is mine and I often make the wrong one! Who can save
from this miserable
state? The Holy Spirit of God redeems me every time, Praise
be to Him!!!!!
Luke 4:22-31
Jesus had begun his ministry of preaching the good news of
the Kingdom. When He
returned to His hometown the people began to question His
authority even though
they saw or heard of His wisdom and power. "Isn't this
Joseph's son they asked?
Jesus knew their thoughts and knew in their hearts He would
not really be accepted
by them if He did not do for them as He had done for others.
It appears they were
saying "Prove yourself to us then we will believe."
Jesus knew their hearts and would not be put in their "box"
even though He was the
promised "Prophet." He reminded them of a prophet they would
readily recognize
who was genuine who did not amass a huge following by
attending to the masses.
Elijah did not provide food for the masses, only one widow
in Zaraphath. Likewise for
Elisha who cleansed only the leper Naaman while the area was
full of lepers. They
were great God-sent prophets yet they went only to the ones
God directed them to.
Now what has that to do with us? Perhaps we should be more
selective about who we
choose as the object of our zeal for the Kingdom. It is
evident here with Jesus and in
our time as well the masses are not always ready to hear the
Good News. At the same
time there is always one or two who are ready to accept the
message we have for
them. Perhaps our efforts would be much more productive if
we could focus on the
one that is open and ready for truth rather than trying to
convince the masses of
something they do not want to hear.
Luke 5:1-16
I have much to say about boxes. I do not like to be put into
a box. I make a big deal
out of it and yet I am so guilty of putting God in a box and
expecting Him to act in the
same way time after time.
This incident recorded by Luke is a perfect example why
"boxing-up" is not always
the best for us.
Jesus was doing His thing teaching the crowds of the Kingdom
of God. When He
finished He asked Simon to put out into deep water for a
catch of fish. Simon's reply
was a "boxed" answer, "Master we have done the entire normal
things fisherman to
do, in fact we have been at it all night. There is just no
fish to be caught this time."
Now if Simon had not gotten out of the box and gone beyond
the traditional exercise
he would have gone home that day as he had so many times
before, perhaps
discouraged, certainly empty handed, and nothing to show for
his labors. But
wonderful for us and the rest of Christianity, when He
followed Jesus instructions
not only did he reap success but his whole life was changed
and he helped to change
the face of the religious world of the times.
We read of these fantastic events in the lives of others and
we are in awe. We really
want to be a "fishers of men."
I see two things that stifle our desires. Perhaps they are
one and the same. We will
not go into the deep waters at the Holy Spirit's bidding. We
want to stay where it is
comfortable even though no fish are being caught. We think
we must stay within a
certain boundary and never go beyond it. We keep doing the
same thing with the same
results. When will we ever learn it is the obedience to Word
and the Spirit that
brings the fish into the nets? Think!....where is He asking
you/me to go? Is it out of
the "box"?
Now certainly there are times when the box is a perfect
place in which to operate.
By all means don't jump out just to be out. Many times the
Spirit allows and desires
us to work within boundaries already established. The
important thing to remember
is; "Follow Him" wherever and whenever He leads whether in
the shallow water or
the deep; in the box or out of it, follow Him. Results come
when we are obedient to
the leading of the Spirit.
Luke 5:36-39
If you had a new shirt that was perfect you would not even
think of cutting a patch
out in order to mend an old shirt. Two things about that
would not make sense. First
you would ruin the new one and secondly the patch would not
match the old shirt's
material.
If we look at this in spiritual matters the same would be
true. If the Holy Spirit
gives us a new life, (radically changed) why would we try to
take a portion and try to
work it into our old life? It sounds ridicules when we think
in terms of the natural but
we all too often never stop to think how ridicules it is in
the spiritual realm. When I try
to live in the Spirit while remaining true to the traditions
or rules of man I have the
same problem. The new is ruined and that portion of new we
try to add to our old way
of life does not match.
The other portion of this scripture catches us too. We often
tend to remain in a
certain place because it is so comfortable. We drank the old
wine and the new does
not satisfy us, it tastes too different so we prefer the old
to the new. In spiritual
matters we are never allowed to become so comfortable that
we do not want to
change. We must always be on the alert for change that
brings us closer to God and
man. While a new shirt is not nearly as comfortable as the
old one, nor is the new
wine as tasty as the old still in due time the new becomes
old as we accept its fit or
its flavor.
Spiritually speaking it happens in the same manner. The new
chaffs us for a while but
soon it becomes a way of life and we are comfortable with
it. Then the process
begins over again.......and again........and again ......all
the while becoming more and more
what God wants us to be.
How about drinking in a new revelation today, how about
trying on a new shirt? How
about becoming radically changed? How about becoming a
person who cannot be
ignored wearing a bright new shirt, drinking a huge
container of new wine?
Luke 6
tells us so much about the difference between the Lord's
ways and the ways of men.
Look at the opposites here:
Jesus says blessed are the poor, woe the rich---man says
rich is blessed and poor is
cursed,
Jesus says blessed are the hungry and woe to the well
fed---man says eat plentiful
another 1/4 pounder, please!
Jesus says blessed are those who weep and woe to the
laughers---man says do what
it takes to make you happy now.
Jesus says blessed are you if men hate and reject you
because of Son of Man and
woe to those who speak well of you-----man says flattery
will get you everywhere
and falseness, lies, deception will bring you success!
Jesus says love your enemies, man says hate them
Jesus says pray for those who mistreat you--man says get
even with them
Jesus says if someone steals your gas card give him the car
as well (my paraphrase)
Jesus says if someone asks for a dollar give him two (again
my paraphrase)
Jesus says treat other like you want to be treated--man says
get him before he gets
you (mine again)
v. 39...
Can a blind man lead a blind man? Is a student above his
teacher? Can speck of
sawdust be removed by a plank? Can a good tree bear bad
fruit and visa versa?
Can Jesus really be Lord to us if we don't do as He asks?
The answer to each of the questions was no doubt easy for
you to answer.
If you said no to each of them you were right on target.
That was my answer too.
On further thought I realize it is one thing to say it and
quite another to do it.
Too often we recognize and are recognized as blind men
leading blind men. How do
we change that? We need a radical new shirt or radical new
wine or in other words
we need a radical make over. Our thought and action patterns
must change on a
regular basis. Who can help us here? Certainly we can help
each other to an extent.
Preachers, teachers, writers etc can also be of help as we
make this journey from
blindness to sightness. However the most powerful teacher of
all is the one who knows
all things. He knows us as we are and He knows what we are
designed to become.
The greatest of all witnesses to is not our friends or
pastor or teacher rather it is
the Word and the Spirit. They teach us in all things. Every
portion of our mind and
spirit is probed for error and radically changed as we read,
hear and act according
to instructions these two witnesses show us.
My friend, my pastor, my teacher and peer can help me see
things in a different light
but any one of them is limited in their knowledge of my
heart and the heart of God as
well. The Word and Spirit are not limited in any way. They
are the ones who open my
heart and mind to a radical change. They are the ones I can
count on to bring me into
the likeness of the Teacher. I will never surpass the
Teacher, but I will be trained to
be like Him. V. 40. If I hear and obey, then the house of my
heart is built on a solid
foundation and the most powerful storm cannot destroy it. In
the words of the
famous watch commercial, "it takes a beating and keeps on
ticking"! That is my desire
and I want it for you as well!
Luke 8
The Twelve were walking around with Jesus and we know a
group of men get hungry
etc. How did they survive?
Here in these verses Luke tells us it was the women who was
helping to support them.
Isn't that just like a mother?
She will take on the cares and needs of others as she denies
herself. I am convinced
mothers are a people all by the selves. They see needs and
do what they can to meet
them even by denying themselves. It may initially begin
within their families but often
it carries over into other places. Mothers care!
A somewhat sad note about this though. I remember my own
mother; long after her
children had left home she would listen to the TV preachers
and was constantly
sending them money. I often chastened her about that but
today I have a bit of
different understanding about it all. Often their own
children are too proud to allow
mom to help out and moms have a real need to be of help
somewhere so they give to
a cause they believe in. I often wondered too if most of the
money the TV preachers
collect comes from mothers who have a genuine giving heart
who have no real place to
give.
Luke 13:24
Jesus says through Luke, "make every effort to enter the
narrow door."
This tells me there is a wide door and many are trying to
get into the Kingdom is ways
that are "user friendly" but are not "Jesus approved."
Matt 7:13-16 says "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide
is the gate and broad
is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate
and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find
it. "Watch out for false
prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ferocious wolves.
By their fruit you will recognize them.
There seems to be a very wide road leading into this
rapture/tribulation event.
Most every TV prophet travels this road and invites others
to follow them. Most
every "religious writer" also gets onto this road. The
scripture says check the
prophet out. Wolves in sheep's clothing they are called.
One great difference I see in a wolf kingdom and the
Kingdom of God---(there are several) God always invites us
to come as we are,
broken, humble, prideful, and so many other issues. He
invites us to come and He
brings comfort and gives us life with no mention of money.
Wolf kingdoms always
require some kind of monetary commitment. Seed money, well
drilling money, hungry
children money and the list goes on.
Wolf kingdoms use fear and intimidation as a path to their
throne, Jesus uses love
and acceptance as the path to His Kingdom. Seems the choice
would be easy, but
somehow man wants to make it complicated.
Luke 14:12-14
Jesus told His host and those eating with Him not to invite
friends, relatives, and
neighbors to lunch. Rather invite the cripple, poor, lame
and blind.
We may look at this in the natural which is still good
advice. But Scriptures always
speak to the spiritual as well as to the natural, in fact
the purpose of the Scriptures
is to quicken our spirits not our bodies. With that thought
in mind think with me about
this passage and what Jesus wanted to get across to those
who would listen. Perhaps
He is speaking to us today for us to listen as well.
While biscuits and gravy are a great food for the body,
(some would say hamburgers
are better) it is the Word of God that is food for the
spirit.
When we have a lesson or message from the Spirit to share
with others we usually
want take it to Sunday School or Church. Nothing wrong with
that especially in the
society we live in today; that is the way it is done.
But think how much is wasted on those brothers who already
have the same food who
have already eaten it a hundred times. In other words we go
to the appointed place
week after week, inviting the same people, eating the same
spiritual food with the
same crowd. I for one get annoyed by this, yet fail do make
changes.
I hear message after message, lesson after lesson about the
glory of God and His
great love, compassion, patience, longsuffering, power etc.
It all tastes great, but
action is a bit sluggish to say the least. It is like the
cliché, "preaching to the choir."
We seem to like that because we keep doing it. We continue
to preach to the same
brothers and sisters, same neighbors, who have no spiritual
blindness, no spiritual
lameness, who are not spiritually crippled. We keep on
feeding the spiritually rich.
We expect the same spiritual relatives and friends to share
the meal with us because
they can repay our teachings with their teachings. Some have
a different plate to
serve which always makes for interesting conversation. Jesus
made it plain here that
we are to give to those who cannot give back.
Think if we spent as much time eating with those who know
nothing about Jesus and
His Kingdom as we do with those who already know about it
and have either accepted
or rejected it, think how much the Kingdom could spread. One
would not need to go to
the far reaches of the world to spread the gospel of the
Kingdom.
It makes me think; "who have I invited to a spiritual feast
lately?"
Luke 14:26-27
Again we should be looking at this passage through spiritual
eyes and not the
literal/physical.
In verse 26 we read anyone who will not carry his cross
cannot be a disciple of Jesus.
If that were to be taken literally, then we all would have a
huge wooden cross to
carry on our backs. (Those little silver/gold jeweled ones
often seen hanging around
someone's neck don't count)
Surely we can recognize Jesus is talking about spiritual
matters. It is in this light I
will make a couple of statements.
When a person sells out to Jesus-- buys into His Kingdom,
there will be those who will
reject not only the message but the messenger as well. If
you are a Kingdom person
then you are a messenger from it and it is very likely you
will be rejected sometime,
some where. Sometimes rejection comes from those very close
to you.
I can speak from personal experience. My eldest son and his
wife use that excuse to
remain estranged from the rest of the family. Kingdom now
and spiritual baptism are
two matters they cannot accept. If I were to change my
thinking and make a
statement to them how wrong I am and have been, then we
could build a relationship.
I don't "hate" them but in a spiritual sense the Kingdom of
God comes before them.
I will not deny what God has done and is doing in my life
because they don't believe it
is possible. It is easier to give them up than to give up
Truth. It is their choice to
believe and accept what they think is truth and it is my
choice to take a stand for
what I believe to be Truth.
Secondly in the last sentence of this chapter, "Jesus says
he who has ears, let him
hear." Again I will put this in the spiritual realm. We hear
hundreds of lessons,
sermons and the like with our natural ear. Sad to say often
times the message goes
in one ear and out the other; however when we listen with a
spiritual ear we hear
things not necessarily said. It is the Holy Spirit that
takes the words spoken and
translates them into spiritual understanding which we desire
to obey. When that
takes place, we become good salt (v. 34). When we hear with
our physical ear and the
message travels straight through and out the other ear we in
a sense are not fit for
the manure pile spiritually speaking. Good salt brings
flavor, it also preserves. If in
my spiritual life I am not either preserving truths or
flavoring the world around me
with truth, then I am not fit for the dung hill either.
Luke 15:1-10
No wonder Jesus would invite them (sinners) and eat with
them and enjoy their
company, they were so grateful for just being with Him and
hearing His words.
It seems as though they could not get enough of His
teachings while those scribes
and others who knew the law inside and out could not stand
Him. He was so honest
and forthright, rightly dividing the truth it infringed on
their territory of fear and
intimidation they used to keep people in line.
Today I stand with you and readily acknowledge my own sin
(missing the target) in so
many areas of my life, yet I will also stand with you and
acknowledge Jesus has
invited me to dine with Him mainly for that very reason, my
great need for Him. I
give Him praise and honor.
Luke 15:11-32
This is a parable that has been expounded on in hundreds of
ways. Perhaps you have
heard all of them and I can't really add too much but here
is an interesting thought
about it. Jesus had just been chastised by the Pharisees for
eating and drinking
with "sinners".
He tells parables in order for them to see themselves as
they really are or, for
those who have ears to hear, will hear.
A father had two sons, the elder--the younger. The elder was
by all standards a
good son. He followed all the known laws of son-ship. We
would think of him as an
obedient and dutiful son. The other, younger son we would
consider a "wild thing"--one
who was tired of the same old thing and was ready for
adventure. So we see one
stayed, one strayed.
But a funny thing happened on the road of life to both of
them. The younger soon
squandered his life, living outside the protection of the
father. The elder stayed
under the parental covering. Both were still sons, both were
still alive. But while one
was growing in his appreciation of what he had before his
departure, the other never
seem to realize how blessed he was.
The greatest message I see in this is: the younger son saw
the error of his way,
realized what he had given up, repented and was willing to
return as a slave rather
than a son while the elder never saw a need to repent. After
all he was one obedient
dude.
Sounds like many professing Christians of today who have no
need or desire to repent.
They have been good all their life, followed the prescribed
rules and procedures
therefore making them above the need to repent. When they
see a "sinner" repenting
and being accepted they often get indignant because the
repentant one gets more
attention than they themselves.
Luke 16:14-17
Money is the root of all evil--we have heard this phrase and
repeated it many many
times.
At the same time many of us who voice this phrase are in
love with the idea of making
and keeping money. We want money for a better life, for our
family, for education,
for recreation, for health, for fame, retirement,
for________ you name it.
Mankind will do all sorts of things in order to get and hold
on to more dollars than the
other person. Countries will sell out their citizens for it.
Citizens will sell out their
country for it. No wonder we are told money brings with it
all kinds of sinful acts.
No wonder Jesus said, "That which is highly esteemed among
men is abomination in the
sight of God."
Look at all the things the world praises and take notice how
much is not attached to
money in some form or fashion. The list would be pretty
short.
Take a look at this picture. Jesus told his disciples-- "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.
If Jesus said it I would think it should be believed. At the
same time how much money
would you estimate has been and is being "stolen" from
innocent people who are told
not to believe such nonsense. These include good Christian
persons who have accepted
Christ as Savior but not their King.
All kinds of writers have written book after book and
hundreds of thousands of
words have been spoken that says in essence--Jesus is a liar
and the Kingdom of God
is yet to come-- it will be here soon--we are living in a
time when the Kingdom will be
set up---on and on they go, writing, speaking and living
like Jesus is a liar. He said it
is here---they say it is not. Who do you choose to
believe---the money makers or the
King of the Kingdom?
Personally I will not choose to believe a person who cannot
understand the simple
sentence of Jesus (Luke 16:16) and so many other scriptures
which say the same
thing. And I find it astounding the church at large will
choose to listen to someone
who cannot understand those simple phrases but will listen
and believe someone who
will go off into Revelation and other prophetic writings and
try to interpret events
that are written in symbolism which Christians of that day
would readily understand,
but few if any 21st century Christians can even begin to
understand let alone
interpret; so many of them use the headlines of today's
newspapers in order to
validate their own lack of understanding of the prophetic
writings.
I may not be a prophetic scholar, (who would want to be) but
I know one thing for
sure when Jesus speaks I listen. He said in the 17th verse
it would easier to blow
up the world than to remove one stroke of a pen from the
Law. Meaning to me Jesus
was the fulfillment of the Law that pointed to Him over and
over. It was Jesus and
the Kingdom that all the prophets wrote about nothing more
or nothing less.
If the removal of one tiny pen stroke was so important how
insane is it to remove or
change something of the magnitude of Gods Kingdom. Oh yes
there is history in the
writings but the whole idea was to bring mankind into the
knowledge of the Father's
Kingdom through the Son. When that happens His Kingdom
explodes over the world.
It has and it will continue, perhaps not in every church in
every city, but it is
spreading even now. No amount of lies can stop it. Every jot
and tittle of the law
has/is being fulfilled.
Luke 17:20-37
Here is this issue about the Kingdom of God once again. It
would seem this was a
volatile an issue in Jesus day as it is today. The one
tremendous difference then was
the King of that Kingdom knew more about it than did the
religious leaders of that time.
Jesus says to the Pharisees, "the Kingdom is not something
you can see, rather it is
something inside a heart that is God filled." Then He turns
to His disciples and makes
several comments on the coming Kingdom. The comments were
mostly of the warning
nature. He warned them not to listen to those who stand up
and say "look here or
there". He also warned them about the days of Noah and Lot
and Sodom.
Different messengers had warned the people of their time to
repent, turn back to
God but they continued on in their sinful ways until that
time when the door was
closed on the ark, the city of Sodom was being consumed with
fire and brimstone,
and Lot's wife who was warned not to look back but she chose
to do so anyway.
They were all destroyed.
Now in His time Jesus was the one with the warning. The
Jewish people had been
warned before by the prophets but now it was the Son with
the warning. He was
telling them they would end up just like the former people
did--the Day of Judgment
would come upon them and they would have no time to make
changes, it would be too
late.
This whole passage is about the urgency of the message of
the Kingdom and the
need to be prepared for its coming. There were those who
believed and those who
did not. One would be taken and one left just like Noah's
day. One would look back
and not be fit for the Kingdom another would not look back
and would be spared just
like Lot and family. Two men working together, one would
believe and be spared;
another would not believe and would perish.
The last warning in this sequence is most interesting to me.
I can think of it in two
different ways.
One is where the Body of Christ is there is where the
Eagles, (believers) gather.
Two is where the dead bodies, (unbelievers) are there is
where the vultures gather
to feed. This to me sums up the whole of Jesus teaching
earlier, some believe and
some do not.
Luke 21:1-4
Here is a thought on giving. Jesus watched as people of
means put gifts in the
treasure box. As He watched a poor widow put in a couple of
pennies. Jesus comment
was "this widow put in more than the others".
One thing comes to my mind. We are taught to tithe our
income. Of course this is
scripturally sound. It is a truth running all through the
Bible. We should tithe our
income. Actually 10 % of our income is very little
considering all the Lord God has
given each one of us. The sad thing about all this is we
often figure our 10 percent
right down to the penny, put it in the offering box and go
away thinking we are such a
great servant of the Lord. We find it difficult to part with
even the tithe let alone a
gift.
These words of Jesus tell us something different. He is
talking about giving gifts
beyond a tithe. With our high standards of living and meager
weekly/monthly salaries
we are prone to think we cannot part with a tithe let alone
an added gift. All our
paycheck goes to support our lifestyle. We have nothing left
over for a gift.
We would never think of doing without a meal or two let
alone giving up a
weekly/monthly savings account deposit in order to give a
gift to the Lord or to one
of His children. The world system demands we make sure we
are saving for our
future. In reality the Lord God is our future, not our
savings account. Am I against
savings, not at all? Save all you want just don't let it
take the place of God for your
future.
The final word here is tithing is a command from the Lord,
giving is a command from
the heart. I believe Jesus is commending anyone who has a
heart to give.
Luke 21:41-43
When he came closer and saw the city, he began to cry. He
said, "If you had only
known today what would bring you peace! But now it is
hidden, so you cannot see it.
The time will come when enemy armies will build a wall to
surround you and close you
in on every side..
I have a question for each of us to ponder for a time. Then
honestly give an answer to
ourselves. When was the last time you "began to cry" for a
city? When was the last time you
"cried for a brother".
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day the window of
opportunity closed for that
city. Will we too be so blind and deaf that we cannot hear
the message Jesus has for
us even in our town and at this time and our window of
opportunity closes as well?
Will we in a sense allow the enemy to surround and
completely destroy our town and
our friends as well?
What can be done you might ask? My answer; Cry out to God
for each one including
those who don't see or hear the same as we do! Cry out to
God for this city that a
vision of His desire for this city will become overwhelming
to all inhabitants even
those who cannot see or hear anything at this time but who
are His creation just the
same.
Don't forget each of us is blind or deaf or both somewhere
in our life. Just because
we claim a salvation experience does not make us totally
immune to the enemy's
attack on us.
Luke 22:24-27
Who is the greatest the one eating or the one preparing? In
the worldly view it is the
one who is eating, presuming he is the owner of the table.
The servants do the
preparing are important only to be used. But Jesus says it
is different in His
kingdom. If one wants to be great; (head or owner) then
serving is the way to
greatness.
Illustration:
In an attorney's office it is the attorney who sits at the
table and signs the legal
documents. He is recognized as the head of the organization.
There are others who
serve, (secretaries) who prepare the documents (food) for
the final signature.
Which is the most important? Without the attorney there
would be no need for the
secretary--without the secretary the attorney would be
useless as well.
It is the same in church and its programs, those who aspire
to be leaders will only be
as effective as they are willing to be servants. In the
kingdom it is the willing servant
who rises to be a leader.
Who is the greatest---you or your leader?
Luke 22:40.He said to them, "Pray that you will not fall
into temptation."
Jesus told His disciples to pray so temptation would not
overcome them.
If it was important for them to pray, how much more
important is it for us to pray?
Are we above temptation? Are we so close to Him we will not
be tempted?
Someone said "prayer was the power which ignites energy".
Are we like the "energizer
bunny" that just keeps on going? Temptation comes in many
forms; I would hope we
have the energy to withstand any of them.
Luke 22:66-71
We read of the total hypocrisy of the scribes, chief
priests, and elders.
These leaders were the ones entrusted to keep the ordinary
people informed about
the coming Messiah. They were keepers of the Holy Scriptures
and knew them inside
and out.
Look what is happening. Right before their very eyes the
scriptures were being
fulfilled and they could not believe it because, it seems,
it was not happening the way
they had envisioned it.
Here were all these learned men, teachers and keepers of the
Law who had either
witnessed or heard about Jesus and all the things He was
doing--healings,
deliverances and teachings--yet they would not recognize Him
as the promised
Messiah even though He was fulfilling every prophecy written
about Him.
It was so true when Jesus told them they refuse to enter
into the Kingdom and they
also prohibit others from entering.
When they ask Him who He was, He would tell them, show them,
and charge them,
yet they could not see Him.
It seems they had their own ideas of how it should all play
out and no amount of
action on His part would change their minds.
Does this sound anything like the modern day leaders of the
Christian faith?
Too me this sounds too familiar. I have lived long enough to
see leader after leader
preach/teach the Living Jesus, yet at the same time deny His
power and authority
when His truth differed from their own agendas. This happens
all too often even
today in modern Christianity.
I often think of what would happen if a group of people
small or large, educated or
illiterate, rich or poor, important or obscure would really
and truly submit to the
authority of the Holy Spirit and follow Him with the faith
and innocence of a child.
Luke 24:32
They said to each other, "Weren't we excited when he talked
with us on the road
and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for us?"
One of the most exciting happenings I can think of is when I
attend a meeting,
whether in a regular church service, a discussion group, a
special meeting of some
kind, a one on one discussion, or even watching a TV
preacher, and the meaning of the
Scriptures are opened up. That time when the very thing
being said in voice is being
registered in my spirit. For me there is something about
that which is not even
explainable. It is such a soothing time. It is also such an
encouraging time. Feeling the
presence of the Holy Spirit verifying the words being spoken
is life-giving spiritually
speaking, for me.
By the same token the opposite is true when words ring
hollow. When the words
being said are contrary to the spirit within me, then it is
often very disturbing and
makes me want to shout out----No! No!
Even if I do not know the person speaking in a personal or
intimate way I can still
enjoy a truth and hate a lie when either is being spoken.
That is not to say I hate the
person, it is the lie I hate.
(Figuratively speaking) Isn't it exciting for you to be
walking along a road and Jesus
walks with you, even unrecognized, and yet shows you the
meanings of scripture?
Isn't there a burning desire to want to know more and more
and more and more? |
