Our study for March is to daily read and study Luke chapters 19, 20 and 21.
Our study for March is to daily read and study Luke chapters 19, 20 and 21.
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Jesus teaches us to always pray and not give up. He taught this by giving an example of a widow who was wronged and who repeatedly demanded justice from a judge who neither feared God nor cared about people. Finally, the judge declared she was driving him crazy because of her constant demands of him. He said he would be sure she received justice.
(I wondered about all the things we repeatedly go to the Lord with. Maybe we want a car, home, new job or such and I wondered if such requests were also including in this teaching. I tend to not think so. As we see here, her request was for justice and "that" request was what was honored. She was not begging for new shoes so her requests were not for stuff. She begged for justice and that is what she received.) Jesus taught, surely they could expect God to give justice to His chosen people who continually cried out to Him (I believe He is referring to the Jews who cried out for justice while under Roman rule) for justice just as the woman. She never gave up pleading for justice and even received justice from an uncaring, godless judge. How much more could they expect from a caring and loving God? Persistence, in both cases, is an expression of faith that justice will someday be given. The woman kept going to the judge filled with faith expecting justice. The people of His time also cried out for justice and their persistence would be an expression of their faith. Even we at this time want justice and Jesus closed this teaching with this thought. (vs8) "I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! (those who have faith). But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on this earth who have faith?" (At time of Jesus return, how many will He find who have cried out in faith for justice such as this?) Jesus presented the teaching of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee publicly seen as a righteous and religious man and a tax collector seen as a sinner and one who cheated and stole from the people. They both came to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thanked God he was not a sinner like everyone else, for he did all the right things. He didn't cheat, he didn't sin, he didn't commit adultery and certainly wasn't like the tax collector. He even fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of his income. On the other hand, the tax collector could not even lift his eyes toward heaven while he prayed. He beat his chest in sorrow asking God to be merciful, admitting he was a sinner. Jesus teaching was this, (vs14) "I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Whenever I see teachings such as this, they take me back to Romans 12:3. " Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better that you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." Sometimes, because of our religious practices and place in the church, we can be tempted to think we are better than those around us. We may be critical of those who sit home on Sundays while we "sacrifice" our time and go to church. We may appear to be righteous to ourselves and others when compared to those who don't even attend or serve. While they may sit home, their hearts may be better aligned with this story and they may be more righteous than we. Jesus was teaching in verse 17; "I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." How would a child act? What is a child's relationship with his/her father like? A child would look to their father for everything. For protection, needs, care, love, compassion forgiveness, instruction, help and so on. A child would love, respect, treasure and be submissive to their father. (To name a few but you get the idea) We must come to our Father with hearts as those of a child. Our Father must be everything to us and be the one we recognize as the giver of all goods things. We must rest in our Father and allow Him to guide and direct our lives while loving Him and revering Him. (Also, to name a few but you get the idea) A man asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him he must obey the commandments. The man answered He had done that since he was young. Jesus then told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor and that doing such he would have treasure in heaven. Then he should leave home and follow Him. The man became sad for he was very rich. (To me, this was not a matter of doing an act but a matter of the heart. All must have a heart that is in tune with Christ in such a way that they would be willing to give all they had to help others. This was Christ's example for He gave all He had, even His life, to help mankind.) Jesus commented on how very hard it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Those who heard this encounter with the rich man asked then who in the world could be saved. (vs27) "He replied, "what is impossible for people is possible with God." Salvation at the hand of man or by any act of man is impossible. Salvation is only possible only by, with and through God. Jesus again spoke to the disciples of His death. He told them all the predictions of the prophets would soon come true. He would be turned over to the Romans who will mock, treat Him shamefully, spit on Him, flog Him, whip Him and kill Him but on the third day He would rise again. The disciples didn't understand any of what Jesus told them nor the significance of His words for understanding was hidden from them. ( I had wondered about this. If understanding was hidden from them, who hid it? Would God have kept them in the dark? Living in an evil world and being human, I think the evil one may have been the one who robbed them of any understanding. He was keeping them blinded by the thoughts that Jesus would destroy the Romans and return them to a life of freedom, just as the rest of the people believed. They all believed in a savior that would overthrow Roma and set them free. None of them could any thought that Jesus would die and not destroy Rome. As Jesus continued to Jerusalem, a bling beggar in the crowd, cried out to Him. Even though people told him to shut up, he cried out. Finally, Jesus had the man brought to Him and asked him what he wanted. The beggar told Jesus he wanted to see. Jesus said, "All right, recieve your sight! Your faith has healed you." Instantly theman was healed znd he fiollowed Jesus praising God. And all who witnessed this, praised God too. Such teachings touch my heart and cause me to reflect on me and my relationship to Christ and my recognition of all the good things in my life because of Christ's love for me. Do I praise Him for all He does and has done? Am i at all like the blind beggar in my gratitude? Sadly, no I am not. I take far too many things for granted. Far too many things pass me by with little or no recognition of the Giver. Does my recognition and praise of God cause others who see what He is doing in my life? Does my praise cause others to also praise God? Again, Sadly, no. This is a great lesson regarding our relationship with God and about our hearts, Are our hearts filled with praise and gratitude? A point to ponder. - With the very first verse of this chapter, Jesus presented something that I believe most of us give no thought to. (vs 1) "There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the4 sea with a millstone hung around your neck that to cause these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves!"
We know of temptation. We experience it regularly and often fall to it but do we ever consider the repercussions of us being the one who does the tempting? Sorrow awaits the person who seduces another persons spouse leading them to commit adultery. Sorrow awaits those who publish all the pornography in print or on line causing others to sin. Sorrow awaits the one who entices another to steal of cheat. Those are direct actions but there are also indirect things we can do. What if we dress in a way that causes another to lust after us? What if we regularly sin causing another to think it is okay to do what we are doing? This scripture gives us an opportunity to stop and look at how we live and evaluate if we cause others to sin. Jesus taught us to rebuke another believer if he/she is sinning. We are also to forgive that person if there is repentance, even if they sin over andover but continually ask forgiveness, we must forgive. He taught us to not think highly of ourselves when we do what we should be doing. He gave the example of a servant coming in from plowing a field. Does that master invite him to join him for supper? No. The master expects him to continue with what his tasks are. He should prepare the masters meal and serve him. Then the servant could eat. Jesus asked, should the servant expect a thank you and expect to be praised for doing what he is charged with doing? No. It is what is expected of him and for that, he should not expect praise. Jesus continued by teaching it is the same for us. When we obey Him and do as we are told and taught we should say, "We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty." (vs10). We should do what we are here to do and not think we are special and expect praises. On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered ten lepers who cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus told them to show themselves to the priests. (He told them to take action) and they obeyed, heading off to see the priests. As they traveled, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One ran back to Jesus shouting "Praise God!" He fell at Jesus feet thanking Him for healing him. That man was not a Jew, he was a Samaritan. (as we know Samaritans were thought of as low class people worth very little. The Jews despised them) However, the one who was considered to be scum expressed his gratitude with thanksgiving while the other nine (perhaps all Jews who should know enough to respond the same way) went on their merry way, thankless. We can again use this teaching as a mirror to look at ourselves. Do we cry out for the mercy of the Lord but go on our way after receiving blessings from the Lord or do we return to Him filled with thanksgiving and gratitude? Jesus response was (vs17-19) "Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And Jesus said to this man, "Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you." We are taught to praise God for our blessings as the one did. I can't help but wonder if the nine lost their healing as these verses imply. Perhaps they kept their healing but received no further blessings. The rest of this chapter speaks to the coming Kingdom of God. The Pharisees asked Him when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus taught them the Kingdom of God couldn't be detected by visible signs for it is already among them. No one could point it out and say it is over there or over here. Jesus then addressed His disciples saying, they would long for the day when the Son of Man (Him) returns but they wouldn't see it. People will tell them He is over here or over there but warned them to not follow such things. He taught, just as bold as lightening lights up the entire sky, so it will be when He returns. His return will be announce boldly and clearly so that all will know He has come. First, He must suffer greatly and be rejected by the people of that time. When He returns it will be like the time of Noah. People ignored the warnings and went on with life as normal. The people did not heed Noah's warning and the floods came and destroyed them all. He also likened His return to the time of Lot. People were carrying on and living life as always. Buying, selling, eating drinking and living life as normal. Until one morning, Lot left Sodom and heaven rained burning sulfur on the town and destroyed them all. So it will be when He comes. People will be carrying on as usual with no concern for His coming and many will perish. Such are the warning signs of the end coming near just as circling vultures are the sign of a carcass below them. lyThe first parable in chapter 16 is given to the disciples by Jesus. It instructs them how to use their wealth to help others and further the Kingdom. I was a little stuck on one point in this parable. My sticking point was the idea of the disciples using their wealth. I have been under the belief the disciples had no wealth because they had given it all up when they left their former lives behind. I might conclude they still had property and funds but had not brought them along.
In this parable there was a wealthy man who had an employee that managed his business affairs and property. He was given the ability to use his financial resources to improve the owner's holdings along with all authority in business dealings. The rich man saw some of the ways his manager was handling things and found him to be wasting his money and fired him. He didn't accuse him of being a thief or being dishonest. It appears he thought the man was not doing things responsibly and fired him. The manager realized he had no other skills and would never get another job. He also admitted he was too proud to beg. So he devised a way he could use other people to provide for his needs. Immediately we can see how irresponsible he was because he did not take responsibility to provide for himself, he planned to use others instead. He called in some of the men who owed the owner. He told them to take their bill and lower the amount owed. He felt by doing this, the men he helped would be obligated to him and give him a home once he left his job. When the rich man heard what the manager had done he saw he was also dishonest as well as irresponsible. However, he was impressed the manager had acted shrewdly, prepared ahead by planning for his unemployment and using what was at hand to provide for his future needs. Jesus lesson to the disciples was that they be honest rather than dishonest in their dealings. He also taught them to use what they had for Kingdom work. They should put what they had to work to win people into God's Kingdom. They would have to be shrewd because the worldly are more shrewd that the people of the light. Just as the rich man had been impressed with the managers shrewdness, perhaps the people of the world would respect the disciples shrewdness, not dishonesty, opening a door to lead them to the Kingdom. Do that and they would be welcomed into the eternal kingdom. Jesus also instructed them if they would be faithful in little things they would be faithful in big things. If they were dishonest in little things, they would be dishonest in all things. If they were not trustworthy with earthly things then who would trust them with the things of heaven. So their dealings must be done in a way that people wold trust them and then trust them in the things they told them of the Kingdom. Last, if they could not be faithful with other people's things, why should they be trusted with their own things. He then taught then they could not serve both God and money. No one could be devoted to God while being devoted to money. They should use their money to serve God. Jesus taught the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus the poor man. There was a rich man who wore expensive clothing and lived in all kind of luxury. Outside his gate there was a poor man named Lazarus (meaning "God the Helper) who was covered with sores. He lay there hoping the rich man might give him the scraps from his table. Apparently the rich man never gave him anything. One day, Lazarus died and was taken to Abraham by the angels. Then the rich man died and was buried, his soul sent to the place of the dead.(The place of constant torment, hell) In his torment, the rich man saw Abraham and Lazarus. He cried out to Abraham to send Lazarus with a drop of water to cool his tongue, for he was suffering in the flames of the place. Abraham reminded him when he was alive, he had everything and Lazarus had nothing. Now Lazarus was being comforted and he was in anguish. Also, there was a great divide between the place he was and the place Lazarus was which no one could cross in either direction. (If the rich man could see Lazarus, then we might believe those in the place of torment could see what going on in the heavenly place which wold be of even greater torment.) The rich man then asked Abraham to send Lazarus to tell his family these things so they could avoid the place of torment. The rich man thought if someone came from the dead to tell them, surely they would believe. Abraham replied, saying the man's family had all the teachings of Moses and the prophets to learn from. If they wouldn't learn from that then no one could save them not even someone from the dead. That last part carries a lot of weight even today. We can whine and blame others for not telling us the truth, however, the truth has been given to us in the Word. If we choose not to study it and learn what it teaches then our future in on us. Everything we need to know has been given. We have to study and learn and live accordingly. Our study for February will be to daily read Luke chapters 16, 17 and 18. Keep working at it, there are only 24 chapters in Luke and we can see the end is near. Keep up the good work!!!!! hChapter 15 offers three parables that express the joy in all of Heaven among the Lord and angels when a sinner repents, turns to God, accepts Christ and is given eternal life. This happens for each one of us at the time we reach that point. Once we have be made right through Jesus we are part of His family and are forever treasured.Every time a lost person comes to faith there is great rejoicing and celebration. The three parables are the Parable of the lost Sheep, Parable of the Lost Coin and the Parable of the Lost Son.
When Jesus was ministering to the people of His time, He often ate with people who were sinners, some even seen as the worst of sinners. The religious leaders of that time set themselves apart from such "awful" people and complained that Jesus associated and ate with such people. Once Jesus said it is the sick that need a doctor not the healthy. Which makes this point; how can one help and heal the sick if one always spends all their time with those who are well? Jesus came to find the lost sheep, coins and sons, heal them and rescue them giving them the hope and promise of life eternal. The first parable tells us of a man who owned one hundred sheep and lost one. We see how hard the man searched for the lost one knowing the other 99 are safe and protected. We also read of how happy he is when the lost one is found. The parable ends with verse 7; "In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away." The second parable is of a woman who had 10 silver coins, each one worth about a days wages. She lost one and frantically searched her house to find it. When she found it she rejoiced over finding it. Tis parable ends with verse 10; "In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents." The third parable is of the lost son. A father has two sons and the younger son asked for his inheritance while the father was still alive. The father agreed and divided his wealth between his sons. The younger son took his inheritance, left home and squandered it all on "wild living" (prostitutes). He ended up in a foreign land, broke and staving, working for a man feeding pigs. He realized he had sinned against heaven and his father. He also realized his father's workers lived much better than he was living and decided to return home, ask to be forgiven and hopefully get a job as a hired hand. The father reinstated him as his son with all the entitlements his position warranted and threw a great feast. The elder son was working in the field while all this was happening and when he was told the reason for the feast, he became very angry. He went to his father and complained explaining how he had remained with the father and done everything that was asked of him while the younger brother was off being wild and wasting his inheritance. (This is a more direct example of how the one who stay s faithful and does his father's will while great rejoicing occurs for the lost one as sited in the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin.) The parable of the lost son ends with verses 31 and 32; "His father said to him, "Look dear son, you have always stayed by me and everything I have is yours. we had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost but now he is found!" In these teachings we get a glimpse from the perspective of the Kingdom of God. Those who are righteous work hard for the Father and while they have all that is the Father's they don't seem to get a great deal of acknowledgement. I believe, because that is precisely what believers should do. In the Kingdom, we should expect great rejoicing and celebration for any one of the lost being found. We should work hard along with the Father to help find the lost and with no ill feelings, then rejoice and celebrate with the Kingdom for the lost one's return. There are many other applications ofd these stories but I wanted to only bring out the main point. We as followers, should work hard to help find the lost ones. We should rejoice when they come to faith for this is the Father's wish, that all be saved. Remember this, if you were once lost, know that all of Heaven rejoiced when you came to faith. If your are lost right now, remember there will be great rejoicing in the Kingdom when you are found. If you have always been righteous, never been lost and have spent your life working for the Father doing kingdom work, you are appreciated and all the Father has is yours. Join Him in the work of rescuing the lost and join Him in the great celebration!!! Chapter 14 begins with Jesus having dinner in the home of the leader of the Pharisees. Jesus again challenged those in attendance with their idea of no work on the Sabbath. He asked them if it was okay to heal people on the Sabbath and they refused to answer. Jesus then healed an ill man. He then asked them who among them didn't rescue a cow or a son if they were to fall into a pit on the Sabbath. Again they could not answer.
Jesus was trying to teach them what He taught many times that the Sabbath was made for the good of the people. It was a time to rest and to do good things. It was not made as a law to hang around the peoples necks that would make life miserable for them. It was a law that the leaders continually bashed and judged others about. However when Jesus posed the questions about whether it was okay to heal on the Sabbath, they could not answer not could they deny they would rescue their son if he was in trouble on the Sabbath thus supporting Jesus teaching that good should be done on the Sabbath. Jesus then taught on living humbly. He gave a teaching that if one was invited to a banquet it would be wise to sit at the lowest place at the foot of the table rather than to sit at the head of the table. He taught this because if one was to seat himself at the head of the table and the host had invited a person who was more distinguished, that person may be asked to move to a less important seat thus being humiliated. However, if one sat at the foot of the table, the host might see them and move them to a place of greater importance honoring him on front of all the guests. In other words be humble and allow others to honor you rather than be arrogant and be humiliated before others. Jesus also addressed the role of the host of a banquet by saying the host should not invite his friends, rich neighbors or relatives for they will return the blessing and invite you to one of their events which will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind then God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you. Do good things to those who cannot repay the favor and God will acknowledge the good you have done and will reward you Himself. Remember, all this time Jesus had been addressing those attending the dinner hosted by the leader of the Pharisees and the type of people he would invite. Most there were sure they would enter the Kingdom of God because of their adherence to the laws, position and their heritage. In fact, one of them commented what a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God as if he would surely be there. Jesus took that opportunity to teach them again while making the point that many of them would not attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God. He spoke of a man who prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When everything was ready, he sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come for the banquet was now ready. The servants came back and told the host of all the excuses those he had inviting were giving for not attending. One just bought a field and had to inspect it, another bought five pair of oxen and had to try them out and another excused himself by saying he had just been married and could not come because he now had a wife. The host was furious and told the servants to go into the streets and alleys and invite the crippled, lame, blind and poor. These people represented those in the Jewish community thought of as inferior and ceremonially unclean. The servants told the host they had done as he asked and yet there was still room so he sent them into the countryside outside the city to invite even more people. Those in the countryside, far from the city, most likely represented the Gentiles. The host then declared none of those he originally invited but declined would never taste of what he had prepared. Jesus told them if any wanted to be His disciple they must love Him above their father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even their own life. If they could not place Him above all others, they could not be His disciple. He also told them if they could not carry their cross and follow Him, they could not be His disciple. (We have looked into this a couple times throughout the NT study regarding carrying your cross. In those times when the Romans crucified anyone, they made that person carry their own cross part of the way to the crucifixion site. This action was a declaration of the prisoner's allegiance and submission to the authority of Rome. Carrying our own crosses in regard to Jesus was to live a life expressing our allegiance to Him and to bend accept His authority over our lives. To be His disciple, one has to submit to Jesus and His authority and pledge our life's allegiance to Him. Without that, a person could not be one of His disciples.) Jesus concluded the teaching on being His disciple with a bit of a warning. He told them if anyone aspired to be His disciple, he should count the cost before making such a commitment. It would be foolish and humiliating to start the process and end up giving up or quitting on what they promised. Jesus began by teaching about death and life. He gave two examples of groups of people who had been killed. One group killed by Pilate, the other was a group of innocent bystanders killed by a falling tower. He was teaching them that everyone can be killed in many ways but the only way to have a life that will keep for eternity is by repenting which would make them ready to live in God's kingdom.
Jesus used a parable to elaborate on what He just taught. He spoke of a fig tree that produced no fruit. Such a tree would be cut down by the landowner for it had not become what he expected it to become. He would not save a tree that was barren. A person who had repented and turned their life toward God would bear fruit. In a sense such a person would stop living a life that was barren in God's eye and their repentance would cause their life to exhibit Godly principles and action. To say one has repented and turned their life toward God would mean little if such a change was not reflected in the way they lived their life. We might see the gardener as either Jesus or the Holy Spirit, pleading with the lan owner (Father) on behalf of the tree (person) and asking to have another year to turn the tree (person) around and thus not be cut down and discarded. Again one of the big issues with the religious leaders popped up, healing on the Sabbath. Jesus continued to heal on the Sabbath and attempted to teach the religious leaders that their view of the Sabbath was twisted. Jesus healed a woman on the Sabbath to which the leaders again complained. Jesus called them hypocrites for they also "worked" on the Sabbath by untying their oxen and leading their donkeys from their stalls for water. He continued by saying the woman He healed had been bent over for 18 years by the hand of Satan and asked if she was at least as important as a donkey or ox? Of course she was even more important and valuable. Realizing that, how could helping such a person on the Sabbath be wrong. Jesus then offered two parables regarding the Kingdom of God and what it is like. He leads us to understand that understanding and accepting the Gospel is a small tiny thing physically, such as a mustard seed. When the truth of the Gospel is planted in our hearts, it is similar to the mustard seed which is the tiniest of seeds. They both work quietly and grow greatly. When the mustard seed is planted, it grows to 15 feet tall in just one season and is strong enough for other creatures to make their nest in it. Likewise when the Gospel is accepted and planted in our hearts, it will grow quickly and quietly making us so strong that we can be there to help those around us find safety in what we have found. He also compared the Kingdom of God to yeast. When just a little yeast is mixed in with flour, it works quietly and quickly and changes every part of the flour into something new. Again, like yeast, the Gospel mixes into every part of our lives turning us into something new that has value and can even be thought of as something that can feed others. Someone asked Jesus if only a few would be saved. Jesus first helped them understand a time would come when the opportunity to be saved would be gone such as the closing of a door. He taught the door to the Kingdom of God would one day be closed by the Master of the house and those left outside would not gain entrance. Those on the outside would knock and plead to be let in but the Master will reply He didn't know them. They would continue to plead saying they had eaten with Him and seen Him teach in their streets. The Master would again tell them to go away and call them evildoers. It is not enough to know of the Christ for many do but they will forever be lost. You must not only know of Him, you must know Him and have a relationship with Him. Many people in His time thought that because they were descendants of Abraham, they would automatically enter the Kingdom but that is not enough, it is a relationship with Christ that is required. Many people today think that because they belong to this religion or that one they will be saved but that will not be enough. There will be gnashing of teeth and great weeping by all those who will not be allowed to enter. People will come from the four corners of the earth to take their place in the Kingdom. Some who the world thought of as nobodies may very well be extremely important persons in the Kingdom while some who the world saw as great may be among the least important in the Kingdom. A few things I wanted to point out.
Jesus was speaking to His disciples saying the hypocrisy of the Pharisees was something to beware of. He said a time was coming when everything that has been covered up, all that is secret, said in the dark or whispered behind closed doors will be exposed by the light and revealed so all will hear. The lesson to the disciples was for them to be open and honest in what they did and how they lived. Additionally they should guard themselves form the lies and untruths the Pharisees continually put our there. That advise is good for us today. We are to be careful to not be pulled away from our faith in God by the lies and secrets of other religions, cults or worldly organizations. God will one day show them all for what they are. We are to use caution in our studies and associations so that things that are false to not intrude on our relationship with God. The follow up was they need not fear the leaders and rulers for they could only kill their bodies. They should stand tall and hold on to their faith in God. If they would fear anyone, fear God who could not only kill them but also throw them into hell. Likewise, we should feel the same way. We should not allow ourselves to be bullied or peer pressured into accepting things we know to not be of God. If we are worried about what others think or how the government tells we should think be nor afraid for the worst they could do is end our life. The power of God goes far beyond that and we choose to fear anyone fear Him. In verses 8-10, Jesus spoke to them about acknowledging Him as God's Son, the Messiah. The Holy Spirit led them (and leads us) to the understanding that Jesus is the Savior. Acknowledging that leads all to forgiveness and salvation. Further yet, should the Holy Spirit convict anyone that Christ is the Savior, as He did the Pharisees, denying that truth and saying Christ was not the Savior would blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Denying that truth would in fact be calling the Holy Spirit a liar. Rejecting that truth would be rejecting God's one and only gift of salvation which would lead to un-forgiveness and no salvation. Jesus told the Parable of the Rich Fool. The lesson there is summarized in verse 15; Then he said, "Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own." Also, verse 21; "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." A person could gain many worldly possessions but die that very night thinking he finally he has it all. If his life was all about possessions he would have wasted his entire life for he would lose them all when he died. However, being poor yet having a rich relationship with God would give him so much more. If he spent his life treasuring God he would gain things he would never lose. Yes, like the rich man, he would also lose what earthly things he had but at his death he would have eternity with God. When any of our lives come to an end, the possessions we have spent our lives working to have will be lost but an investment in God will never be lost but bring us great rewards. Verses 29-31; "And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don't worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need." First, Jesus mentioned "unbelievers" all over the world worry about their needs. Believers should not worry about such things but rather should have faith and trust in God that He does and will give us all we need. Unbelievers would, of course worry because they have no faith in anyone but themselves. The second thing that stands out is the last word of verse 31. Notice the word is "needs" not "greeds". He will provide for our needs but not indulge us in our greeds. We need to learn the difference. Too many of us expect God to provide our earthly indulgences and comforts. What more do we really have to have than having our needs met? Nothing. Oh, we may want more or like more but the truth is we really don't need more. If we invest our life in our relationship with God, we will have more than we can ever imagine. There is no one or nothing more valuable than our walk with God. Jesus introduces what is known to us today as the Lord's Prayer. He was praying when the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray and that prayer is what He gave them. Jesus teaching on prayer didn't end with the prayer. He went on to teach them more on prayer using an example. He presented a scenario where one of them went to a friend's house at midnight to borrow three loaves of bread. The need arose because a friend just showed up for a visit and there was nothing in the house to feed him. When the friend heard him knocking he told him it was too late, the doors were locked and they were in bed and he could not help. Jesus told them, if the friend would not get up and get the bread for friendship's sake, his continued knocking and asking for the bread, would get up because of his "shameless persistence". Jesus lesson on prayer was if you keep on asking you will receive what you were looking for. If you keep on seeking, you will find it. Keep knocking and the door will eventually be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. and everyone who knocks will have the door opened to them. He was teaching persistence in prayer through a story of persistence in a real life situation. Following that teaching, Jesus continued with more on prayer and what to expect. in verses11-13, Jesus sais; "You fathers-if your children as for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." If you men, who are sinful, give good things to your children, why would your heavenly Father who is pure and holy do anything less? Here is something that stands out to me. Jesus didn't say how much more stuff will your heavenly Father give you. He said "how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. In my mind Jesus was telling us how abundantly the Father would give spiritual things, things of heaven, things like the Holy Spirit if we ask such of Him. There was a man who could not speak because of a demon within him. Jesus cast out the demon and immediately the man spoke, amazing the crowds who were watching. Someone in the crowd yelled out that Jesus could do that because he got his power from Satan. This riled many others who demanded proof showing He could do this through heavenly authority. Jesus sited a few things that showed how foolish it was to say his power against demons came from Satan . First, if any power or kingdom fights itself or is divided against itself, it is doomed. So if Satan gave Jesus the power to destroy his demons, his kingdom would be doomed. It makes no sense. Then Jesus said if His power came from Satan, what about their exorcists? Surely they would condemn the accusers because that would imply their power must also come from Satan. Jesus said, however, if He was casting out demons by the power of God then the kingdom of God is among them right now. For Jesus to do damage to the kingdom of one as powerful as Satan, that person would have to be even more powerful which the Father certainly is. Jesus told them, not only was anyone who opposed Him not working with Him, they were actually working against Him. Jesus accepted an invitation to visit the home of a Pharisee for a meal. The Pharisee was alarmed that Jesus did not perform the customary hand washing ceremony prior to eating. Jesus responded by talking about how the Pharisees and leaders worry so much about doing things that clean the outside but ignore the filthy things on the inside. He asked him, "Fools! Didn't God make the inside as well as the outside?" Jesus instructed them to give to the poor which would clean the inside. (Giving to the poor would be a matter of the heart) Jesus told them once the inside was clean, they would be clean all over. (If the heart is clean, then everything would be clean) Jesus continued to show that they concerned themselves with small matters such as the smallest tithe but they ignored important things such as justice and the love of God. The Pharisees expressed how they felt insulted but Jesus continued telling them how they crush people with unbearable religious demands yet never lift a finger to help people. In fact, they didn't live in the Kingdom of God nor did they teach the people how to get to the Kingdom. Rather the way they taught and related to people actually prevented others from entering. (They concerned themselves with keeping laws and rules and demanded all people do the same. All such demands did was to break the spirits of the people. They placed unbearable expectations on others while making people feel unloved, lost, hopeless and uncared for. They loved the rules but never the people. The way they conducted the things of God were not done the way God would do them. God loves people and whatever He does is done out of that love in order to help people and draw them to Him.) The teacher of the religious law were hostile and retaliated by trying to provoke Jesus hoping to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him. |
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