Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 17-18.

I know that I need to improve my prayer life: I do not pray as much as I should, nor the way that I should.  Overall, I struggle with prayer.  So, passages such as Jesus’ story about the widow and the unjust judge strike home for me.  In this case, it reminded me of the importance of continuing to pray for the people around us and for God to pour out His Spirit upon this nation and the world.  There are many bad things going on today.  We will not fix them by petitioning the government, political activism, or commercial boycotts.  No, the only way we will bring about change is by praying persistently and serving others as God directs us.  I want to point out that the story of the blind beggar receiving his sight at the end of today’s passage provides an example of persistent prayer. So, let us pray persistently for God to pour out His Spirit upon the people of our land, including ourselves.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 14-16.

There is more to the parable of the banquet in this passage than we normally notice.  Jesus tells the story of a man who when he started preparing a feast invited a bunch of people.  They all readily accepted his invitation despite the fact that he was not sure when he would hold the feast.  However, once the feast was ready and he sent out notices to come to the feast, they were all too busy to attend.  We normally interpret the “feast” as being heaven.  While there is nothing wrong with that interpretation, it misses an important part of the message which Jesus preached repeatedly.  By the way, today is the first time I noticed this about this passage.  In this case, the “feast” is to do God’s will (primarily, helping those in need).  Are we too busy to help those in need when the opportunity presents itself to us?  More importantly, do we recognize the opportunity to help those in need as a “feast”, as something not to be missed?  Doing God’s will, helping others, should be something we view as a treat, as a special occasion, like going to a feast/banquet.  Heaven will only be heaven for those who take joy out of serving others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 12-13.

Today a phrase caught my attention which I do not believe I have ever noticed before, or heard anyone comment on.  At the beginning of chapter 12, Luke tells us that a crowd gathered to hear Jesus, “so that they were trampling one another.”  Jesus then starts His message by telling His disciples to be on guard against hypocrisy.  Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but it appears interesting that Jesus preached on avoiding hypocrisy in front of a crowd which was trampling on others in order to listen to a man who preached about the importance of loving our neighbor.

Jesus segues from warning us about hypocrisy, with the help of one of His audience, into telling us not to worry about the future.  He tells us that we should not worry about our lives or about our bodies, God will care for us.  We should not fear those who can, at most, kill us, because God, who can cast us into hell, cares for us.  If we seek God’s kingdom, He will provide for our needs.  Jesus makes a statement at the end of teaching against worry which we often under emphasize. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  So, if we want to truly be heavenly, we will invest our resources in those things which have value there.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 10-11.

We do no spend enough time looking at how the Lord’s Prayer is a model for how we should pray.  I know that I don’t, and I was struck by that insight from an article I read 15-20 years ago.  I want to make it clear that what I am about to write is not original with me, even though I forget the author who wrote that article.

• First, we honor God and acknowledge our submission to His will (some manuscripts include “May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” after “Hallowed be Your name”, however I think that is implied in “Hallowed be Your name” anyway.)
• Second, we make our requests.  These requests should be for our basic needs and for the needs of others.
• Third, we confess our sins and request forgiveness, while acknowledging that we need to forgive others (and asking God to help us do so).
• Finally, we ask God to help us avoid sinning going forward.

Having given us a template for our prayers, Jesus then reminds us of the importance of frequent and persistent prayer.  It is in this context that Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock.  Those who ask will receive, those who seek will find, and those who knock will be invited in.  That sums up prayer, ask, seek, and knock.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 6-7.

The way Luke presents the two stories about the Pharisees confronting Jesus over the Sabbath indicates that he wants us to see a common theme between them.  Both of these stories remind us that we should not allow a rigid adherence to rules, even otherwise good rules, prevent us from caring for ourselves or doing good.  We should take a day each week to relax and worship God, but there is nothing wrong with doing things on that day which bring us joy and there is never anything wrong with doing things which improve the lives of others.

I feel like I need to write about Jesus’ instructions that we love our enemies and the story about the woman who anointed His feet.  My thoughts about them are linked, but I am not sure I am going to be able to actually put that in writing.  When Simon the Pharisee thought that Jesus should not allow the woman to touch Him, Simon was doing exactly what Jesus meant when He told us not to judge others. I want you to consider Jesus’ response to Simon here.  He called him out for what he was thinking about the woman.  It appears to have worked, because how do we know what Simon was thinking?  Clearly we know because Simon became a Believer and told this story on himself.  Simon thought of this woman as the “other”, one of those whom he did not need to love because they had put themselves outside of the acceptable by their actions.  Let us not make the mistake Simon made.  Let us make sure that the “others” know that God loves them and that nothing they have done is so bad that God will not forgive them.  And let us not hold the sins which God forgives against them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 4-5.

Years ago I came across a commentary on Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness which said that they represented shortcuts to bringing about social change, ways in which Jesus could change the world without going through the suffering which awaited Him.  The problem with these shortcuts is that they do not work.  In rejecting each of those “shortcuts” Jesus explained part of why they don’t work.   First, Satan offered Jesus the solution of changing things by meeting people’s material needs.  By changing stones to bread, Jesus could feed the world and no one would need to be hungry anymore.  Jesus’ answered that temptation by telling Satan that the problems of this world were more than a lack of food.  So, next Satan offered Jesus political power over the whole earth, all He had to do was worship Satan.  Jesus answered that temptation by telling Satan that his price was too high.  In order to acquire that much political power one must give up being a servant of God, one must give up one’s integrity.  An author I love had one of their characters say, “It does no good to obtain your heart’s desire if the price you pay is your heart.” (that is a paraphrase).  Finally, Satan offered Jesus the option of forcing God to prove Himself.  Jesus answered that temptation by telling Satan that God is not magic which we control.  Ultimately, Jesus’ answer to Satan’s temptation was that there are no shortcuts to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Many of the problems in our society result from people falling for one of these three temptations.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 2-3.

I will always remember my father reading the beginning of Luke 2 every year on Christmas Eve before we opened our presents (we did that on Christmas Eve because we went to one of my Uncle’s house for Christmas Dinner with all of my Dad’s family).  I love the fact that God sent His messengers to announce the birth of His Son to shepherds in the field, not to kings or other members of the elite.  Then, when Jesus’ parents took Him to the Temple for to be presented to God, it was not the priests and Levites to whom He was made known.  No, it was Simeon and Anna to whom the Holy Spirit revealed who He was.  Like the shepherds, Simeon and Anna were not people of great notice.  Even today, God generally first makes His announcements to those of whom the world takes little notice.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.