Thoughts From Luke - Day 99

                                                      Luke 23:26-31

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
    and to the hills, “Cover us!”

³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

 

 

            There is an expression we use - "When the cat is away, the mice will play". Have you ever seen that play out? No doubt you have. Probably the earliest memories we will have of this is in school. The teacher would get called out to the office and tell the class to work on an assignment while she was gone, and the moment she leaves the room we all go crazy. Then a few minutes later, she would come back and say she heard us half way down the hall and proceed to ball us out and punish us with an assignment. It doesn't change much as we get older. When the boss is present, we work a lot harder. When he is absent, our work deteriorates.

 

          The boss of the universe arrived on our planet 2000 years ago, and wasn't recognized. He was like that show Undercover Boss, where He got to see what was really going on in men's hearts without pretense. What did He see? Just in these last few chapters he would see an innocent person being whipped, beaten, spit on, mocked, falsely accused, and led to the cruelest execution imagined to satisfy a crowd and due to peer pressure. He would see soldiers commandeering a man, in the midst of his work day, to carry someone's cross for them just because they had the right to tell anyone to do whatever they wanted them to do, because they were in power. He would see friends betraying friends and places of worship turned into ways to make money.

 

          Jesus tells the women who were grieving for Him that if all this evil is going on while the boss is present, evil will not be restrained when He leaves. They had better run for cover because no one will be safe when that happens. A common view is that people are basically good and when they act evil it is probably due to some flaw in their upbringing or society has failed them. Maybe if they received proper education we could remedy evil. Unfortunately this is not true. Another misconception is that religion is the leading cause of trouble in this world and if we just get rid of religion, the world would be a better place. Pilate felt he could stop a riot by getting rid of Jesus and in the twentieth century, many societies have tried to do the same. From the Russian, Cambodian, and Chinese communists to the French Revolution and Nazis, societies that get rid of God will be just as, if not more evil. Mankind is evil and needs a change at the core and this is what Christ came to bring. By taking all the evil and sin upon Himself at the cross, He gave all mankind an opportunity to be free from our sin nature and be reborn with the life of Christ inside of us. We can accept this free gift of salvation and someday leave this sinful world behind or we can reject it and experience what it is like when God removes His goodness completely from this world. That will be Hell. You see, even though this world is extremely evil, there is so much goodness poured down from God, that we have sunshine, picnics, birthday parties, fireworks - everything that is good in life is from God. That's why we are appalled when people are brutally killed or children abducted that we cry out, "Where is God?" "Is He powerless"? "Doesn't He care?" Don't you see that this would be the norm except for the goodness of God? Do you want to see that day of evil? Do you want your friends to see that day? Spread the good news of salvation. Receive the good news of Christ in you and the forgiveness of sins.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 98

                                         Luke 23:12-25

That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
¹³ Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶ Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”
¹⁸ But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹ (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
²⁰ Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹ But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
²² For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
²³ But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.


        It's amazing what peer pressure can make you do. From lynch mobs to riots, we can be influenced to do things we would never even consider doing on our own but somehow because other people are doing it, we participate without a second thought either to fit in or because if everyone else is doing it, it can't be wrong. Think of all the crimes done by the Nazis carried out by normal people who somehow turned a blind eye, and after the war were so horrified at what they had done that many committed suicide. It's easy to accuse them but I bet you have done some things, in groups, that you are ashamed of now, particularly when you were a teen. So before you judge people, like Pilate in this passage, for the things that they have done, remember that by the standard you judge people, you will be judged. I have heard it said, at judgement day, God wouldn't even need the Bible to judge us, He would just remove that invisible tape recorder that He has hanging around your neck, and judge you by the standards that you have judged other people. For me, as a teen, I became friends with a kid who liked to vandalize and steal. I joined in with him because he was my only friend, as my family had just moved to a new city. I did stand up against drinking, sex, smoking, and bad parties though, so I felt that I was a good Christian. It's funny how we see some sins as lesser so we can still consider ourselves good.

       What did Pilate do here? It appears that Pilate wanted to impress Herod and become his friend so he participated in some behavior that maybe normally he wouldn't do. He sentenced an innocent man to death and put a murderer back on the streets because of peer pressure. Legend has it that Pilate could no longer live with himself after what he had done so he killed himself. It appears from this passage and other gospel accounts that such a ruckus and uprising was occuring out in the streets that Pilate, wanting to appear to Herod like he had control of the people to impress him, ended the riot by doing the wrong thing. Herod, wanting to impress Pilate that he could treat people however he wanted, had Jesus beaten and dressed Jesus in mocking clothes. We are not talking about an average joe here, which would have been reprehensible in and of itself, but we are talking the Creator of the Universe, the one to whom Pilate and Herod owed their very existence, unjustly treated and executed due to peer pressure. On a side note, it's fascinating to see that God knows our weaknesses so well that He used them to accomplish His divine purposes. God knew that orchestrating the arrival of Herod, whom Pilate wanted to impress, at just the right time, would send Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Pilate wasn't a puppet used by God but a man, just like us, who desired to be accepted by his peers.

       How far will you go to fit in? How far will you go to be accepted? Just remember, later, when it's all on you and you take the fall for those behaviors, those people who you wanted to impress will be long gone. Do what's right. Impress God.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 97

                                        Luke 22:63- 23:12

⁶³ The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. ⁶⁴ They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” ⁶⁵ And they said many other insulting things to him.
⁶⁶ At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷ “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”
Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸ and if I asked you, you would not answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
⁷⁰ They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”
⁷¹ Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

23 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. ² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”

³ So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
⁴ Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
⁵ But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
⁶ On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. ⁷ When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹ He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹² That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.


           Have you ever been falsely accused? How does that make you feel? What is the first thing that you want to do? Isn't it to set the record straight? You tell as many people as you can find to listen to your side of the story. You might even post it on Facebook, tweet it, or if you are desperate enough, take out an ad in the newspaper. In this day and age people can rate you as a business on things like Yelp, etc. I just googled my name and saw I have a 4.8 out of 5 rating on some site. That is near perfect, yet it bothers me to see that someone didn't think I was perfect. When I go to the site I see someone says that I like to do C-sections. That bothers me because I have the lowest C-section rate in East Tennessee. See, I am defending myself here, I can't help it.

         Jesus, in this passage, is falsely accused of opposing taxes, subverting the nation, saying He is going to tear down the temple, blaspheming, and being nothing but a powerless wannabe. He is beaten, mocked, ridiculed, vehemently accused and yet He doesn't defend Himself. Why? First of all He knows who the true judge is and the true judge knows the truth about Him. Why do we care so much what people think when God, our audience of one, our judge knows the truth. Secondly, it says in Isaiah that this would happen and Jesus was fulfilling scripture. Jesus knew scripture so well that He would never do anything to violate it. How well do you know scripture? Thirdly, His mission was to die not vindicate Himself. He did not want to prove He was God because He wanted to be crucified for blasphemy. He sacrificed His reputation, His manhood, His integrity for God's cause, to save us. Are you willing to be mocked, falsely accused for the sake of the gospel, or is what people say about you the most important thing to you? Aren't you glad that Jesus loved you so much that He didn't defend Himself but just allowed the false accusations to be heaped upon Him in order that you can have His true accolades undeservedly placed on you!

          Thank You Jesus for taking this abuse so that I might be called a child of God. Amen

Thoughts From Luke - Day 96

                                   Luke 22:39-62


Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. ⁴⁰ On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
⁴⁵ When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶ “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
⁴⁷ While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸ but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
⁴⁹ When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” ⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
⁵¹ But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
⁵² Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? ⁵³ Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
⁵⁴ Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵ And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
⁵⁷ But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
⁵⁸ A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
⁵⁹ About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
⁶⁰ Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” ⁶² And he went outside and wept bitterly.


        What do you think about when you think about temptation? If I am watching a "female channel" with my wife, it is usually some kind of dessert. If it is a guy channel it is usually some possession with a double temptation of a sexy woman thrown in. So here, when Jesus tells the disciples to pray so they won't be tempted, and in the Lord's prayer to "deliver them from the evil one", I think Jesus is referring to temptations that don't usually come to our minds when we think about being tempted. What are those?

          I think we can look at Peter to get an idea because previously Jesus tells the disciples that Satan has asked permission to go after Peter. What are the temptations that Peter will be facing? First of all we see in the previous passage, it is greatness - elevation above others. The disciples were arguing about who would be greatest and you can bet Peter was in the thick of that argument, unless he already assumed that he was the greatest. I don't think I have issues with this - or do I? I don't necessarily need to feel superior but I don't want to be treated inferiorly. I demand equal treatment. I don't mind being a servant if it is coming from me but don't make me be a servant. I don't mind being in the least important seat if I choose it, but don't assign it to me. I want to be treated equally. Maybe this is a problem with greatness disguised as equality. If I am the one wanting to make the decisions, doesn't that put me at the top? Think about that one for a while.

         The second temptation we also saw at the Last Supper - the temptation to talk about other people. When they found out that someone was going to be the betrayer, they all wanted to know who it was. Sure, they disguised it as wanting to know if it was themselves, but they knew it wasn't them. And then they told John (he was the youngest) to ask Jesus who it was. Do you like to gossip? Do you like to listen to gossip? Do you like to find out the flaws about someone else so it makes you feel better about yourself? Pray that God delivers you from that desire to be nosey.

        The third temptation is to act not in love when someone attacks you.How do you respond when someone attacks your beliefs on abortion, homosexuality, politics, etc. Do we respond back the same way or in love? Peter took a sword and attacked and Jesus told him not to. Why? Because Jesus wins in the end. People that don't know Christ are just being themselves. They are just proving that Jesus cause was true, needed, and right. We need not react back to them in the same way but rather weap for them as Jesus wept for Jerusalem. I saw a post the other day of the gay community protesting Chick Fil A. The founder had once in an interview been asked what he thought of homosexuality and he said it was a sin. That must have been 5 years ago now, I'm not sure if he is even still alive, and they are still protesting. I saw a video of an angry college student tearing down anti abortion material on campus. How do we respond to freedom of speech including everyone except Christians. Will we respond like Jesus or like Peter?

       Then there is the temptation to be overcome with sorrow. Do you let this world get you down? What was upcoming were the greatest days in the history of mankind and all the disciples saw was despair. We need to pray that we will not be tempted to lose sight of the forest through the trees. Jesus is coming soon, we are going to Heaven, we are joint heirs with Christ, we will live forever and we are depressed because the stock market is down or our or our roof is leaking.

       Lastly pray against the temptation to deny Christ. All day long we have opportunities to stand up for Christ, represent Him and share the gospel. Yet, most of the time we want to be accepted by the crowd so we don't speak up. The disciples all ran away when confronted by opposition and Peter even denied knowing Christ. Let's pray for boldness today. What are your temptations? Pray that you won't fall into them today.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 95

                                                    Luke 22:23-38


But woe to that man who betrays him!” ²³ They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
²⁴ A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. ²⁵ Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶ But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. ²⁷ For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. ²⁸ You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹ And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, ³⁰ so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
³³ But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
³⁴ Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
³⁵ Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
³⁶ He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷ It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
³⁸ The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.

 

 

So, here it is, the famous Last Supper. As we have seen in previous passages, it was a God ordained, God supplied feast. My wife, who volunteers at the rescue ministry, says people show up all the time from out of town without money, out of gas, no place to stay, and say "Here I am. Meet my needs" Generally they give them gas vouchers to get back home. When we visited Hawaii, we were amazed at all the homeless people. When we asked around we were told that some rescue ministries buy one way tickets for the homeless to Hawaii. Since they can never afford a return ticket, the homeless problem in their community is solved. So when I think of the last supper and this picture, I think of 13 homeless guys coming to town, needing a foal of a donkey, a large room, and needing a spread of lamb, wine, herbs, plates, cups, unleavened bread, napkins, eggs, horseradish, etc. and it is all just given to them, no questions asked. This, in and of itself is a miracle.

 

 Karen cooks a big Thanksgiving meal every year for the family. There are usually 15 people here and my job is always to give the after meal devotion. In her mind, I am sure she pictures 15 people sitting quietly in a tryptophan coma reflecting on God's goodness to us through the year and it turning into a worshipful experience. In actuality, the grandkids start screaming shortly into the experience wanting to get out of their chairs and go play. The men want to get up and go see the football game or NBA game and so the last thing they want to do is sit till some of the slowest eaters known to man finish eating and then sit and listen to me talk for 5 minutes. So I try to do it while they are still eating and my wife tells me to stop because no one is ready. (She is still expecting the worshipful experience that she is due for cooking and cleaning the last 72 hours) And then coming up with a devotion that speaks to young and old alike is usually an epic fail. So what I'm describing is no Last Supper experience, is it. Or is it? Look at the dinner conversation. First of all, they are trying to figure out who is the one traitor in their midst so there is a distrust of everyone there. Then they are all in the midst of a power play and jealous situation probably not liking their seating arrangements or their order of being served and probably being fed up with certain people after spending day in and day out with them. They get in arguments about who will be greatest and end up having a first century discussion on the equivalent of gun control and the Christian.

 

 I like this last supper painting because Jesus appears totally peaceful in the midst of a lot of commotion going on around Him, and maybe that is the point to me today. Am I so in tune with God and in love with Him and yielded to Him, that nothing gets to me? If things aren't coming together like they should be, am I trusting that He will handle the details. If there is turmoil in the family, at work, can I just commune with God through it and not let it get to me. And if I have a stressful tomorrow coming, can I just enjoy the moment I have today in the presence of God?

Thoughts From Luke - Day 94

                                          Luke 22:14-22

 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ²¹ But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²² The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!”


            The Passover meal, the seder. This is something Jews do every year and the details are fascinating as the Old Testament celebration turned into a scripted feast that has Jesus written all over it. In fact, he had to die during this feast to fulfill it. Here, in this passage, he shows them how the unleavened bread, representing His body - without yeast (represents sin), is broken and has to be taken in to our inmost being to forgive our sins. Then the same is said for the wine representing His blood which we must take into us for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus turned this part of the ancient Passover celebration into a remembrance that the Church today celebrates to signify that we are trusting in His death for the forgiveness of our sins. But it is also a remembrance. How so?

         First of all, we get so caught up in the daily grind and even in the service of the Lord that we forget to remember why we are doing it, how we got there, and who it is we are serving. Just like the 12 tribes of Israel were told to take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River as they passed thru the parted river to remember what God did for them every time they passed those stones, so communion is to remind us of all Jesus did for us. Every time we take it we remember how He suffered and died for us on the cross and we are brought back into that awe, wonder, and love for Him. Also, secondly, the communion ordinance reminds us that Jesus is coming again. Jesus said to the disciples that he would not drink from the wine again until He comes back. We see this in Revelation as we partake at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. During the Seder there were four cups of wine poured. The third cup was the one from which Jesus instituted communion. The 4th was a concluding cup called the cup of praise. Jesus did not drink from this one but says that this one is reserved for when I come back and I call my bride up. Then we will celebrate with praise.

        Do you have remembrances built into your life? Certainly Communion is a great one but if you are from the baptist tradition like me, you probably only do it 4 times a year and if you are from the Catholic or Lutheran tradition you do it so regularly that you have become numb to it. We need something else. I keep a notebook where I record evidences in my life of God working that I go back to and remind myself of His presence in my life. I have a piece of granite rock on my desk that reminds me of God's power. This was given to me by a missionary to Brazil who saved the pieces of rock struck by lightening that seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle to building a church on a piece of land until God blew it up it with lightening. Lately, I have been taking advantage of Christian movies to remind me of what Christ has done for me. I know what you are thinking, Christian movies are lame. I know, but every time I watch something like War Room, God's Not Dead 1&2, I Am Not Ashamed, Case For Christ, I am moved to tears when I think of the reality of what I believe. They challenge me and renew my faith regardless of how critically acclaimed or unclaimed they are.

         What remembrances are you availing yourself to? You need to have some.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 93

                                               Luke 22:7-13


Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
⁹ “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
¹⁰ He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹ and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹² He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
¹³ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.


        I love how God has taken care of all the arrangements for this passion week. He has provided the foal of a donkey, a betrayer, and now a room for the Passover feast. But what is even cooler than that, He has revealed to Jesus these items even down to the man carrying the jar of water. Does Jesus just know all these things because He is God or is He just in such close communion and conversation with the Father that the Father is revealing all this to Him? It's hard to say, but I prefer the latter because that inspires me to seek that same close communication with the Father that Jesus had.

      We see evidences of this in Peter's life where he is led to visit Cornelius. We see evidences of this in Paul's life where he sees in a vision a man begging him to come with the gospel and God closing other doors to different regions. He also is warned by God that when he gets to Jerusalem, there is persecution waiting for him. Have you ever had such specific leading by the Lord? I believe it is available to us but most of us aren't living the totally dependent on God life that those saints who were led so specifically, were. We aren't living a life of prayer like them so we aren't accustomed to hearing God's voice even if He would speak to us.

       My dad once gave a guy a poem about God's love for him and my dad didn't know it till later but the guy was about to commit suicide and my dad by hearing from the Lord and being obedient, saved his life. I was burdened for a doctor who was having issues with his heart rate going 180 and when we were in the elevator, I felt God telling me to lay hands on him and pray for him. Later I saw him and he said, "Your prayer worked, my heart is doing fine." Karen in her quiet times occasionally has a burden for a certain person and will send them a card. One lady in particular was going through a terrible time and her card brought her through it. We recently started a 6 week home fellowship group and invited some couples. Karen was surprised by the people I invited but I just had a burden for certain couples. It turns out by inviting one couple, we were able to be involved with a great redemption story of their prodigal son and the salvation and eventual marriage of his girlfriend.

       I heard a story, once, about a guy who in the middle of the church service yelled out "corn flakes". When asked later why he did it he explained that he felt God telling him to and he had to be obedient. Turns out there was a visitor there who I believe worked at the Kellogg's plant and was deeply depressed and wondering if there really was a God and if He really loved him. When he heard "corn flakes" it changed his life. I can't say I have some Peter or Paul or for that matter Jesus and jars and donkeys or "corn flakes" moments, but as I get closer to Jesus, who knows. Do you have any of those? Seek Jesus' face with all your heart. Ask to hear from Him and be obedient when He does speak.