Thoughts on Luke - Day 50

                                                           Luke 11:14-28

¹⁴ Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” ¹⁶ Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
¹⁷ Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. ¹⁸ If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
²¹ “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. ²² But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
²³ “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
²⁴ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
²⁸ He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”


        In this passage I see 4 qualities of a true believer in Christ. Anyone not fulfilling these qualifications is susceptible to the onslaughts of Satan including oppression, ownership, and possession. The first is lack of division within the Kingdom (17) or positively put, oneness as part of a body and member of the Kingdom of God. This is what Jesus prayed for in His high priestly prayer for us in John 17 - "May they be one, as we are one..." Are you part of a body? Are you serving a body? Do you feel one with them? This is what happens when you are saved and if it isn't, you are in danger of getting picked off like the Amelekites picked off those Israelites who weren't part of the group.

       Second, a true believer "gathers with" Christ (23). What does that mean? (really, this is the first time I noticed this- isn't the Bible great!) The Greek implies a gentle, compassionate, kind collecting of  those stragglers or lost people - putting your arms around them, like an armful of wheat, and bringing them into the fold. This is what true believers, those with Christ, are in the business of doing - collecting the lost. I have been collecting more Pokémon then lost people lately. Satan will get especially mad if we are doing this but there is nothing he can do to us because we are under the protection of the strong man.

        Third, the Holy Spirit has come inside and taken residence (26). It isn't just an external change in appearance conjured up by human efforts of character improvement, but an internal transformation by the power of God, revealing a new external appearance. Any human effort is generated from selfish, prideful motivation if you look deep enough. A person shining the light of Christ is a target of Satan because he wants to put out the light of the real thing - but he can't because the strong man has put his bodyguards around you.

      Lastly, a believer is all about the Word of God - reading it, treasuring it, meditating on it, memorizing it, and obeying it (28). How do we know what behavior is acceptable to Christ without reading God's word? How do we get convicted of wrong behavior without God's word? How do we hear from God and therefore be in a two-way relationship with Him, without the Word of God? As we are studying the life of David in Sunday School, I came across a great verse that I never saw before, yesterday -"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD ..." 2 Sam 7:18  Do you have a time for that? Do you have a place for that? Is that an integral part of your life? (I can't stop my computer from typing in caps so until next time, i'm out!)

Thoughts on Luke - Day 49

                                                  Luke 11:5-13

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”


           In this continuing passage on pray, Jesus tells us to think of God as a friend and a Father. I kind of felt, as I looked last blog on the "Lord's Prayer", that although it starts out "Our Father", it gave the impression of us approaching a king. It talked about His kingdom coming to earth. It talked about Him providing food and I was reminded how Pharoah with the help of Joseph provided food for his starving people. It talked about worshipping Him and I'm reminded of how people would bow before a king. It talked about delivering us from our adversary and isn't that the job of a king? I think it is very important that we start with this attitude as we come to God. He isn't "The Big Guy", "The Guy Upstairs", "My Homeboy", etc. but He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the name above all names, and The Lord God Almighty.

        That being said, if we approach Him in reverence, fear, and submission, He would take us by the hand, stand us up out of the prostrate position, and say "Call me Father", "Call me friend." "Ask me anything, don't be embarrassed - all I can say is no." We are encouraged in this passage to be impertinent - to wear God out with the same requests over and over. Didn't our kids do that" Don't our grandchildren do that? Asher, my grandson, always wants to play Talking Tom. It's a stupid App on the tablet that gets you to a cat who mimics you. I really don't want to play it because he constantly touches links that takes you to the internet store wanting you to buy things, so we have a hard time getting back to Tom, but yet, since he continues to ask, we play it. (I better make sure it is charged, he is coming over) Now if the App was bad for him, taught him bad principles, I would direct him to or open up instead, a different App that was edifying. This is what Jesus is saying here. We ask our Father for things and since He is a good, good Father (sounds familiar), if we are asking for things that are bad for us He will substitute things that are good for us. I've heard Tim Keller say, "Thank goodness God didn't answer my prayers as a teen for a certain girl to love me or I would never be married to my wife." It's scary to think what our lives would be like if God let children run their own lives and get everything they wanted. He is a parent - He is a good Father.

        And He is our friend. A true friend reasons with us. A true friend comes alongside us and says "you don't need that". A true friend doesn't let you down in times of need. A true friend has your best interests at heart and wants to see you succeed in life even at their expense. This is the friendship that God offers us. At His expense, He brought us eternal success and He is going to answer our requests accordingly so that we will continue to succeed in the Kingdom of God and wants to explain to you why you didn't get what you want, if you would just listen.

       Lord, I submit to your authority today in my life. I know you love me and have my and my loved one's best interests at heart. You do all things well and want what's best for me. Grant the requests that correspond to that and substitute answers that are right for me. Amen

Thoughts on Luke - Day 48

                                                         Luke 11:1-4

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

 

 

          Here in Luke we have an abbreviated version of "The Lord's Prayer". Whole sermon series and books have been written mining this prayer down to each word, it is so deep. Therefore, what my thoughts are, today, on this passage are probably completely different than what I would emphasize the next time I look at it, but isn't that the beauty of God's word! One thing I see is that Jesus didn't just preach on prayer but He did it. People were watching and therefore His words were effective. My parents taught me about Jesus, growing up, but it was seeing them out witnessing, it was seeing them invite neighbors to a Bible Study at our house, it was seeing them having a quiet time that made their teachings have an impact. I hate the phrase that some parents use laughingly, "Son, do as I say not as I do." Why should kids, especially in the future? Kids see that what parents say is meaningless because it had no effect on the parents' lives, why should they listen to it? Jesus prayed. The disciples saw Him pray and they wanted it.

 

       The other thing I see is a continuation of what Jesus has been preaching. There is a Kingdom of Heaven that we are headed to or away from in the future, with a King that loves us so much that He lets us call Him Father and actually cares enough about us to listen to us whenever we call on Him. He loves us so much that He will always meet our daily needs so we will never want.
       That being said, Jesus came to introduce us to the reality of that kingdom and to tell us that it is not just a future reality but it is a present day truth that transcends what our earthly eyes see. Jesus came to, as I said in the previous blogs, unlock the door that is blocking the way into that kingdom, that door being sin. Once we have received the forgiveness of sins by faith receiving Christ's vicarious death on the cross, we have a new citizenship. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We have a new king, we follow new laws, and we have a new adversary. Since our home is not here anymore but in a mansion being prepared even now for us (John 14:2), we don't fear the things we used to - death, evil men, political oppression, poverty, unpopularity, sickness, aging, germs, etc., but what we fear is things that separate us from our king - the one we love and live for, and it is Satan's desire to separate us from Him. Why? Because He hates God and doesn't want us or anyone else to be added to His Kingdom. Therefore if he can make us live a life of sin by tempting us, we can't have a relationship with God. If we live a life of hypocrisy, no one else will want to accept our invitation to join the Kingdom. If we are unforgiving we won't want to give good news to that person. And lastly, if we live a life of disobedience we have to wonder if we really ever wanted forgiveness of sins.

      When the disciples asked Him how and what to pray for, and what He was praying for, this was it. It wasn't about all the prayer requests we get or give like travelling safety, health, stressors, etc, but Kingdom prayers. May we be focused on eternity today and on what things really matter.

Thoughts on Luke - Day 47

                                      Luke 10:38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”


       We have talked a lot in these blogs about getting saved. In review, that just means recognizing that you are sinful and separated both now and eternally from the God who created you to have a relationship with Him because He is perfect and can't be in the presence of sin. Since we can do nothing on our own to remedy this problem, God took the initiative and sent His son to Earth to take away our sins by dying on the cross for them and rising from the dead. If we by faith believe and receive this forgiveness, He forgives us and puts His spirit inside us to make us new Children of His. That is basically what salvation is but I just summarized 66 books of the Bible so we could spend a lifetime mining the riches of what salvation is.

      In this chapter salvation could be compared to inviting Jesus into your house to live. Certainly, growing up, I have seen pictures of Jesus knocking at a door asking permission to enter which was taken from Rev. 3:20,  ^"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Then I heard many messages especially at youth retreats on giving Him access to all the rooms in your house - your library, your entertainment room, your bedroom, your computer room, the room where you keep your valuables like your deeds, money, checkbook, credit cards, etc. The point was and still is, when Jesus comes in, He comes in to take over. That's what it means when we receive Him as Lord or master, it is no longer your house but His. That seems kind of scary and creepy of Him to do that, until you realize, number one it was His to begin with anyway , number two He can manage your life so much better than you can, and number three He wants to make your life the best it can be - He has your best interests in mind.

       One thing all those messages that I heard as a youth missed, though, is what Jesus calls in this passage "the one thing". Rev.3:20 says that He comes in to "eat with us." Martha, though she didn't have the book of Revelation, took this literally and all the time Jesus was there, though she gave Him access to her house, she spent in the kitchen cooking for Jesus. She was busy serving Him yet missed out on hanging out with Him. That's why He comes into our house, not to take over - though He does, but to hang out with us. He comes to talk to you, listen to you, laugh with you, cry with you, teach you - mainly to BE with you.

       I've shared my testimony on this blog before http://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-testimony-at-first-baptist.html  and I've shared the verse Hosea 2:16 which was so integral in my understanding and growth. "...in that day you will no longer call Me 'my master' but you will call Me 'my husband'. What that to me is saying is that there comes a time in your sanctification (growth) process where first of all you realize Jesus didn't just save you to avoid Hell and go to Heaven - though that is true, but He came to be your Lord, your Master. That is a significant, necessary and vital realization - but wait, there's more - something "better". Jesus saved us to be our husband, the love of our life. That's what Martha was missing and though she was doing great things she was missing out on what was "better" and Jesus would say "the one thing" - the whole point of salvation from which the worship, works, and even Heaven flows - being with Him.

        Lord, draw me closer to You. Let me revel in Your presence. Let me soak You in, today. Amen.

Thoughts on Luke - Day 46

                                       Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”


       Everyone, who isn't in denial that there is an afterlife, is interested in what does it take to get to Heaven. Times haven't changed in 2000 years in this regard. The expert in the law is asking, what does it take and not only that but what is the minimum standard. Like the rich young ruler, he is aware that it has something to do with keeping the Laws of God, which when summarized are, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself." To get this far is a good start because many unbelievers would reject the thought of one God who gives a universally applicable law that is a standard to follow and violation of it results in permanent separation from Him. Some would think that everyone, when they die, is entitled to a happy eternity because Love Wins. Some believe that there is no afterlife and when you are dead, you are dead. Therefore, like I said, to get to this point has put him light years ahead of most of the world. But he is just as lost as everyone else so really it does him no good.

       What he doesn't realize is that no one can love God with all (not most, not to the best of my ability) their heart, soul. strength, and mind. Why? Because we love ourselves that way. It is impossible to love God completely when we are busy loving ourselves. It's like polygamy - your love is divided and neither one is satisfied because one wants to be the object of your affection. So if complete and undivided love of God is a criteria for getting into Heaven, we are all out.

        Then he says the next criteria is to love his neighbor as himself, so Jesus gives him a picture of what that means. Your neighbor isn't just your immediate family who you would do anything for. Your neighbor isn't just the family next door who you grew up with that feels like family. Jesus says, in order to get to Heaven we have to love the stranger, the alien, the sick, the diseased, the downtrodden, the forsaken, the people that drain you physically emotionally and financially - as much as you love yourself. On a good day I may do a random act of kindness to those people but to love them like myself or family - impossible. If that is a criteria for getting to Heaven, strike two.

        So what Jesus actually is saying is even though you are searching down the right path to get to Heaven, you are going to find that there is a locked door on that path that says "No one may enter". That is the conclusion that Jesus is wanting people to come to. Yes, if we followed the sermon on the mount or the parable of the good Samaritan, this world would be a better place. However, Jesus didn't come to make this world a better place, that was just a secondary benefit. Jesus came to unlock the door that was blocking our way into the eternal presence of God by doing the things which we were incapable of doing and then ushering us into the presence of God, one by one, as we take Jesus' nail - pierced hand by faith knowing that only He can take us into God's presence. And then an amazing thing happens. He gives us the Holy Spirit, the very life of God comes inside us and starts transforming us to perform or at least get closer to performing tasks one and two which were completely impossible before. This is the gospel. This is what He keeps trying to get across to people that no one seems to be "getting". Thank you Jesus that I am seeing it from the completed picture looking at it from a bird's eye view, otherwise I am sure that I would be as clueless as everyone else.

          Thank you Jesus for loving in a way I couldn't and paying the price for my failures , sins, which were blocking my way to my creator's presence. Thank you for making a way when there wasn't one, when I was hopeless you gave me hope. Thank you for the Holy Spirit inside me and help me now to love you and humanity more completely and selflessly. Amen

Thoughts on Luke - Day 45

                                        Luke 10:17-24

 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
¹⁸ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
²¹ At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
²² “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
²³ Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. ²⁴ For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”


         Trivia question. What is the number one command in the Bible? Answer; "Fear not." I don't know why I tell you this except to tell you that "do not rejoice" is one you wouldn't expect to see in the Bible, but here it is. Why would Jesus burst their giddiness about returning from their mission that we just discussed in the last blog?

          I have some thoughts. Remember when Jesus came down from the mountain of transfiguration and He was frustrated? He was just worn out by the unbelief, self-centeredness, and the fallen-ness of this world and it wasn't just in unbelievers, it was in His disciples. He had just gotten a taste of glory and to return back was disheartening. However, He was soon back to His gracious self gently healing and patiently instructing. Here, although I don't want to humanize Jesus too much, it's almost like He gets a breakthrough in His frustrations. After the disciples rejoice over the fact that they are powerful, so powerful that they can cast out demons (imagine how impressed they were with themselves), instead of the fact that people were repenting or humbly praising God for the power that He has, and has entrusted them with, or praising Jesus that He picked them to be a part of His team - Jesus could rebuke them for not "getting it" once again. They were always about power, prestige, importance here on Earth. They just kept missing the point that He had come to, and therefore they were involved in the same mission to not make this world a better place, although that is a secondary benefit, but to save souls - to bring them into the kingdom of God. This is what the disciples should have been rejoicing in and even more so that they were going to Heaven someday. Jesus says, I've been in Heaven and if you could see what I've seen, this Earthly power stuff compared to that is so overrated.

       So where is the breakthrough I was talking about? I almost feel like Jesus, though He is about to get frustrated again, says to the Father, "I get it. You show Your grace and love by saving people that aren't smart, that are undeserving, that are simple. You show Your love by saving the people that mess up over and over.  You give them preference over prophets and kings and all the important people in the world. Why do You do that? I get it, because Your love and grace is unconditional and the best way You can show that is to show Your love to these juvenile disciples of mine." (not to put words in God's mouth)

      What are you rejoicing in today? Is it that even though you mess up continually, God has revealed Himself to you and you are on your way to Heaven? Or is it that you get to go on vacation next week, you just got a raise, that your team won, that you got a new boy/girlfriend, that you have 100 thousand followers, that you lost 10 pounds...? One hundred years from now none of that will matter, that is so overrated. Picture being in Heaven with God forever and ever and rejoice in that today and say," why me, God?!"

    Why me God, why did you choose to reveal yourself to me. I mess up so much, yet You love me and have showered Your grace on me. Help me to live for eternity and share the good news with people today that eternity awaits them too. All it takes is admitting that they aren't good enough, too. Amen

Thoughts on Luke - Day 44

                                             Luke 10: 1-16

 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
⁵ “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
⁸ “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. ⁹ Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.
¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”


         The disciples had just been sent out, along with 60 other serious followers, to the surrounding areas to tell people about the kingdom of God. Jesus' time on Earth was drawing to a close and He was giving them a preview of what it would be like and how the gospel would spread when He was gone. Thus, we need to pay attention to this because we too live in this day and age where Jesus is not with us physically and we are commissioned to spread the gospel. What are some principles we can learn from this passage?

         First, we need to go in pairs. I don't think literally go in twos but we need to not be in this alone. It is so important to have someone to lift you up when you get beat down; someone to share failures with who can empathize and pray for you, and someone who you can share successes with who will rejoice with you and remind you that it wasn't you. Even when I am eating with a fellow believer at a restaurant, I have seen myself be emboldened to share the gospel, pray, and turn my mind to spiritual things, really without even "trying". It is just a true principle of "pairs".

       Second, they were sent ahead to places that Jesus was about to go. We need to realize that the salvation of souls is not dependent on us. In a sense it is, only because Paul says in Romans 10 that they can't hear the gospel unless we speak it, but when it comes right down to it, Jesus is the one coming in after the words. He is the one who saves. He is the one who transforms the hearts. We don't need to get inflated or deflated by results - it is Jesus who accomplishes that.

      Third, we need to recruit. We have these visitation days at our church and the same people go out every time. I send around a list in Sunday School class for people to sign up for visitation and the same three people sign up. Jesus tells us to make this a matter of prayer because the gospel could grow exponentially if we were all involved. The whole, "What about the innocent native in Africa who has never heard?", question, is really our fault because we should have reached the whole world by now. The other thing we can do is call people and say, "I'd like to take you with me on this visit tonight. Will you go?" Maybe this would take their fear away and give them a taste of the joy that comes with reaching the lost for Christ.

     Fourth, our message is politically incorrect and Satanically incorrect, and if we share the Gospel, we will be hated and rejected. But don't take it personally because they did that to Jesus. We are in a time, and I vent on this often, where Christians want to present a watered down gospel and preach a message of love that the world would actually like and embrace Christians. It's not going to happen because number one, Satan opposes the gospel and unless my theology is wrong, I believe he is still the prince of this world, and number two, we say that Jesus is the only way to God and that's offensive, and number 3 we say that there are behaviors that are wrong as if they are violating an absolute moral standard which sounds arrogant. A remnant will accept the truth but most will reject it. Don't get discouraged, just go looking for a new audience to hear. You have done your job of sharing the truth. Remember it's Jesus who does the saving. And don't get bogged down on one skeptic/cynic and spend your entire life trying to reach them. What if Satan put them there to take up all your time so you can't reach others? We are short-timers here. Be sensitive to the Spirit's leading here, I could be wrong, but that's kind of what I get from the feeling of the passage and where He says, "Don't greet anyone along the road."

       Lastly, be low maintenance. Man, there are a lot of Christians out there who shoot their witnessing efforts in the foot because people don't want to be around them. Be congenial. Accept everything. Be flexible. Be deferential. Be humble. Be a blessing to the world not a drain on it. Be such a stellar citizen that although they hate your message, when push comes to shove, they would at least say, "they were a pleasure to be around".

   Lord, give me opportunities to witness the good news that You have entered this world and made a way to bring us back into an eternal relationship with our creator. Help me to do this with boldness yet grace. Help me to be a good example of what I'm proclaiming. Help me not to give up when I get beat down. Deliver me from the Evil one. May others join in with me. Amen

Thoughts on Luke - Day 43

                                                   Luke 9:57-62

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

          Jesus has just set out for Jerusalem, the place where He will eventually get crucified and people are still wanting to jump on His bandwagon because they think it is the greatest show in town. Crowds are coming from everywhere to see demons come out of people (personally I wouldn't have wanted to be there for those because those demons are looking for other hosts), dead being raised, thousands being fed, lepers being healed, and the establishment getting rebuked. The problem is, they still didn't understand why He was here. He had come to die on a cross for their spiritual healing. Even today, people take out of context, "by His stripes we are healed", and think that that relates to our physical healing. Jesus has had enough of these "followers" and tells the kind of followers that He really wants. This relates to us today because the "in thing" in Christianity is to call oneself a "Christ follower" rather than "saved","born again","believer",Christian", or all the old terms I grew up using. Let's look at the three things that Jesus says makes up a Christ follower.

    #1. Becoming a nomad or a pilgrim- Nomads move from place to place in tents. They have no designated home. Although we don't literally have to live in tents, the Bible does call our body a tent, a temporary housing for our soul. Followers of Christ see themselves as souls inside a body rather than a body with a soul. This makes all the difference in how one sees life. Also, if God tells us to move to another city, state, continent, universe, we leave. There are no such things as establishing roots as followers of Christ because our roots are in Heaven. That's where our home is. Wouldn't it be strange for a marine in Afghanistan to say, "Well, while I'm here I might as well buy a house." No, he has a nomad, pilgrim, alien mindset that this place is not his home. Also, pilgrims doesn't accrue possessions because they can't take them with them to the next place. I remember a fund raiser for some displaced Africans living in tents. They were trying to raise money for mattresses to sleep on so they wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground. Haha. I've been on a mission trip to those people. You know what they will do? They will sell those to buy food the moment they get them. They can't take them from place to place. A Christ follower has the same mindset.

   #2. Becoming single-minded rather than dualistic - What do I mean by that? The second man saw proclaiming the Kingdom of God as something to do after an Earthly task or secular task was to be performed. In the kingdom of God there is no sacred and secular - it's all sacred. I'm not a Doctor and a Christian, I'm a Christian Doctor. I don't live a secular life 6 days a week and give the 7th to the Lord. I live for God all week long. Today I have 2 hysterectomies to do. I will be at the hospital most of the morning. Then I will go to the community center and swim laps. In both of those situations, I will encounter a number of people that I can give the good news of Jesus Christ to, and I should have in the forefront of my mind to represent Him accordingly. That's what it means to be a follower of Christ. He has turned our whole lives into a ministry. I once talked to a deacon lawyer at our church and asked him if, as a lawyer, he gets to share Christ at work. He told me that he tries to separate religion from work. WRONG! Not a Christ follower!

    #3 There is no plan B - Do you get married thinking, "If it doesn't work, I can always get divorced"? Do you get a tattoo and think,"I  can always have it removed."? You don't follow Christ and say, "I can always go back to not following." Well I guess you can if you want to be the rocky soil. I have heard a lot of messages saying check Jesus out or try Jesus - no repentance, no change, no pain, just come and see if He isn't who He said He is. They usually refer to John 1 where Jesus says to some uncommitted, as of yet, early disciples of His, "Come and see" and they don't commit to following until the "fishers of men" passage. OK, I get that. However, they aren't "Christ followers" until they leave their nets, they are merely thrill seekers who are saying what is in it for me. They are the crowd that Jesus is trying to thin out. They are the people getting in the way so the Zaccheus-es and the 4 friends have to climb trees or put holes in roofs to get near Him. They are consumers not followers. Jesus says to them, "You are not fit for service."

        Are you a follower of Christ? It's all or nothing. It's all in. "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."

Thoughts on Luke - Day 42

                                                        Luke 9:49-56

⁴⁹ “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
⁵⁰ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
⁵¹ As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.

 
        A lot of Doctors, when they join a practice, have to sign an exclusivity clause. That basically means that if they leave the practice they can't set up a practice within, for example, 50 miles. The reason for this is that the practice is afraid that someone might use them to steal or recruit their patients for a few years, on the practice's expense, and then start a competitive office down the street. This exclusivity clause tries to make it impractical, because of the distance, for patients to leave the practice and follow the doctor to his new location. I had a doctor do that to me in 1995 because I didn't believe in that clause. The reason I didn't believe in that is two-fold. One, the reason I came to a small town was because I wanted to go to a place where I was needed. In Orlando, where I trained, I heard constant fighting among the doctors about stealing patients and I didn't want that. I came to a county of 50,000 where I was the only OB/GYN. So why wasn't I bothered when he set up a practice 1 block away from me - because I welcomed the help. He brought in a partner and I brought one in and suddenly there were 4 of us serving the county's needs. That was a good thing! Secondly, if patients liked or felt more comfortable with the other doctor, I wanted what was best for the patients, so why would I force them to stay with me?

       It seems in this passage that the disciples wanted an exclusivity clause - if you are one of the 12 or maybe even the others in our group, then you may cast out demons and use Jesus' name. Otherwise you are in danger of violating copyright laws or something to that effect. They still were seeking earthly power. They, in effect, would rather have people be demon possessed than be "treated" by someone else. They wanted to be the only game in town. Jesus in effect said, " We are too small a number to help everyone in this area. As long as they are casting out demons in my name (practicing good medicine) we can use the help. Don't stop them. You know guys, casting out demons isn't the reason why I came anyway - I came to die on the cross. So if a group of people are taking over this ministry, lets head to Jerusalem." Today, we need to be careful about saying the same thing in ministry. I can't remember which country I was in on a mission trip, but I remember the missionaries being fearful of the Pentecostals who were coming in and having an influence on the people, like they were Islam or something like that. As Baptists, we have to be careful of separating ourselves from ministries that aren't Baptist. Hey, the world needs Christ and it's a daunting task. Let's welcome the help. Let's not be the ones discouraging them or fighting with them or as we see in the next few verses, praying judgement on them.

       Last night we were at a Young Life banquet. It was held at 1st Baptist Church. I saw Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Christian Church members all there and probably more. I don't agree with a lot of their doctrines but if they are all about winning kids for Christ, let's join hands - and we did. I think that is what Christ wants.

Thoughts on Luke - Day 41

                                                  Luke 9:37-48

³⁷ The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸ A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹ A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
⁴¹ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
⁴² Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
⁴⁶ An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. ⁴⁷ Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. ⁴⁸ Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

     I can vividly remember the day I gave up my privileges at UT Hospital to deliver babies. I had planned a Cesarean section on a High-Risk patient there on my afternoon off. I figured I could get there by 1:30 so I scheduled it for 2:00. By 9:00 that evening I was still waiting to do it because they kept bumping me for other emergencies or potential emergencies even though they had 3 operating rooms. Their policy was that one had to stay open at all times for an emergency so effectively they were down to two. Then when one was dirty it took them forever to have it cleaned and resterilized. And then they were delivering all premature babies in these OR's and UT was a preemie referral center. Finally by 9:00 with no end in sight, I asked the high risk doctor if they would deliver my patient. I apologized profusely to her - she hadn't eaten or drank for 21 hours - and went home and resigned the next day. Before leaving, I told the young man in charge who has since left, "I've practiced at 8 hospitals in my life and this is by far the most inefficient one I've been at. I'm not telling you this to ream you out, I'm telling you this so you can improve this place. There are better ways to do things  because I've witnessed better ways and you need to make changes. This is the last time you will see me."

       I felt kind of bad about that until I read this passage. Jesus was up on the mountain. He was allowed for a moment to shed his human, confining shell, visit with Moses and Elijah, hear affirmation from His father and get a taste of Heaven. He was reminded how things should and could be. Then He went down the mountain and saw how things are - sickness, demons, injuries, desperation, hopelessness, unbelief, and basically preoccupation with everything that 100 years from now wouldn't matter. But certainly the men whom He handpicked and had spent all his time with and demonstrated His power to - they would certainly be a bright spot in the midst of this, right? No! They were just as bad as the others and even were arguing about who would be greatest. Plus, when He told them about the future, they didn't comprehend it. Jesus, in a rare moment of frustration, rebukes them all for their unbelief and lack of faith and exclaims, "How long am I going to have to put up with you!" Unlike me, though, He doesn't say ,"I'm leaving". He comes back and graciously puts up with their power struggles by giving them a gentle talk about servanthood.

      What's my point? I guess it would be, it's ok to get frustrated occasionally. It's ok to even get mad sometimes as Jesus did at the sellers in the temple. This world is not the way it should be. We look at God's word and we see a better future in Revelation. We see ideal behavior in The Sermon on the Mount. We know there is a better way, yet all around us people are bickering, complaining, gossiping, hating, lying - we have an election in America right now where both candidates are evil. What do we do? Unlike me at UT, we can't throw up our hands and say, "I quit". With longsuffering given to us by the Holy Spirit, we dig in our heals and gently and graciously continue to serve and teach about the Kingdom of God as we eagerly await for His return. Unlike Jesus, though, we don't have to die on a cross to see that day - He did that for us. Trust in Him and you will see the Kingdom of God.

      Lord, give me longsuffering. It is not in me. And help me to be the solution to the problem, not the problem itself. Amen