Thoughts From the Bible

Read Luke 14: 7- 14 -   In this passage, Jesus gives us a little more direction on how we should view other people. Verses 12, 13,14 say, 'Then He also said to him, who invited Him, " When you give a dinner or a su pper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. (13) But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed , the lame , the blind. (14) And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just ."  Many today want the government to be responsible for caring for people in need. Jesus is showing us it is our responsibility to be looking out for the needs of others. We have a responsibility to care for "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind." How we care for those less fortunate than us can be show n in many ways, but we all have that responsibility. We also need to continue to not see ourselves as more imp...

Luke 14: 7- 11-   This parable Jesus shares with the people is a finite lesson on how we should act in life. If you want to know how a Christian should behave, this parable gives you a chance to see. We need to maintain a spirit of humility in all circumstances. Some in our society today see that as a weakness but in the eyes of Jesus, practicing humility consistently is how we should live.  We should not make assumptions about our importance. In verse 11 Jesus says, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." We need to work to develop an attitude of humility. We do not want this to be seen as something we falsely assuming but something we understand within ourselves. We need to understand how important we think we are   is not importan t but what we do for Christ is important.   Proverbs 15:12- A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.  

Read Luke 14: 1- 6-   This passage gives us another instance where Jesus heals a needy person on the Sabbath and then asks the leaders if they would not rescue a member of their family on the Sabbath. In verse 5 Jesus says, ' (5) And He said to the, " Which of you, havi ng a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" '   How many times do we find ourselves in situations where we think there are certain expectations about how we should behave in that specific setting? Many times, we are more interested in meeting the other's expectations rather than pushing those expectations aside and doing what Jesus would have us do to meet the needs of someone else.  This may require us to exercise a certain amount of courage to defy the expectations of others so Jesus' name can be pushed to the forefront .    we need to grow to be confident in our knowledge of Jesus Christ and be prepared to respond to the prompting...

Read Luke 13: 31- 35-   Jesus knew He had upset the religious equilibrium of the time .   He had also earned the fear of the Roman government and the people following Jesus wanted to protect Him. Jesus then talked to the people of how hard the history of Jerusalem had been on prophets . In verse 35, Jesus tells he people, "(35) Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."  So, I ask myself, when I come into a group of people or go to work, am I coming into that situation representing Jesus Christ? Is my intent in life to represent myself or am I coming in as representing Christ? Would other people say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord?" Would people say here comes a selfish person? What type of person would they say I am when I come into a situation. Would others say I am coming in the name of the Lord? If they are not saying this, I need to work hard...

Read Luke 13: 22-30-   "(25) When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us,' then he will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.'"   Je sus is telling us there is a finite end to life as we know it. We need to fully understand that our lives are not open-ended. There will be a day when we die or when Jesus returns, that will be faced with our decisions. Am I prepared for this point in life? Have I accepted Jesus with no qualifications? Am I ready to be invited into His presence, or do I believe at all? I need to make sure my heart stays ready for Jesus Christ today, not sometime in the future. I need to be working to ingrain Jesus Christ into my life now, not a time that I may view to be more convenient.   Proverbs 15: 7- The lips of the wise spread knowledge, not so the hearts of fools.  

Luke 13: 29-30-   Jesus continues to teach about living in the actual presence of God. He is teaching He has a different way of determining the importance of some people. Verses 29 and 30 says, "And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at the table in the kingdom of God. (30) And behold, some are last who will be first , and some are first who will be last ."  We place temporal importance on people and classify people according to things Jesus may not consider a great. As I think about who will be first and who will be last, I need to be primarily concerned about simply being there and not caring about my perceived place in line. The other question I ask myself is, "How many of the people who will be considered first are those who choose to focus on being a prayer warrior rather than someone recognizable?"    Proverbs 15: 8- The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acc...

  Read L uke 13: 22- 30-   "(24) Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. "   This passage of Jesus' teaching has a couple of different lessons for me this morning. This one verse tells me that all who have been born and heard the me ssage of Christ, will not find their way into heaven. They will be making a choice to deny or not accept that Jesus is the Son of God. These people may be very antagonistic about the whole idea of who Jesus Christ is or they may simply choos e to not believe a person could feasibly be God. They may also not believe a God exists. These individuals may be living what many would consider a good life, but they will not allow Jesus Ch rist a place in their lives. According to this passage, they will not find eternity in the presence of God.  Who can enter? Not everyone will want to follow Christ's teachings. They will not see the presence of God. Not everyone will believe . They...

Luke 13: 18-21-  He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again, he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.””  Ask yourself a question, how big is God? Jesus is trying to get us to understand the enormity of God. It takes a small effort on our parts to see God do huge things in our lives. Many impactful organizations have accomplished much for the kingdom of God when just one person felt God would have them do something for Him. God blesses the work done for Him. This kind of work focused on bringing people to a knowledge of Christ permeates more than what we can see. It moves through many people and shows people the love of God. Proverbs 15:5- “A fool despises hi...

Read Luke 13: 10-17- Jesus was ready to help people. He was also ready to confront the religious leadership when necessary. Jesus was prepared to help the religious leaders focus on people rather than rules. After healing a woman on the Sabbath, the religious leader wanted to rebuke Jesus.  In verses 14, 15, and 16 we read this, “But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?””  Jesus is teaching us to be more concerned with the needs of people and not so much the rules and regulations we create. Jesus also expects the religious l...

Read Luke 13: 6-9-  Jesus shared another parable just a little different from many of those he used to teach Biblical lessons. Jesus taught of the man who saw a fig tree that did not bear fruit and wondered why it was not destroyed by the owner. In verses 8 and 9, we see the vision of the owner, "(8) But he answered and said to him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. (9) And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down."  It is sometimes easy to give up on people while we wait to see if they are going to be productive or not. Jesus is showing us in this parable, we need to actively work to cultivate others and do what we are capable of doing to make people better. We are not to simply sit around and watch but pour into others so they can learn and be given the chance to live well for Christ. We can apply this in other areas of our lives; we must work to help make things better. Proverbs 15:3- The eyes of the Lord a...

Read Luke 13: 1-5-  Jesus began teaching the people about repentance and the gravity of their sins. Verses one through three say this, ‘There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. (2) And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? (3) I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”’  Jesus is teaching the people about their sinful behavior and their need to repent of those sins. We sometimes want to compare our sins to the sins of others and then convince ourselves we are not that bad. Jesus is wanting us to more clearly see our sins or better yet, recognize our sins and repent so we can remove that obstacle between us and Him. This is what repentance will do for us, it will draw us closer to Jesus and therefore, closer to His love for us. Proverbs 15: 2- The tongue of t...

  Read Luke 12 : 54- 59 -   Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders and teach the people. Je sus then ventures in to the legal ment ality of many people . In verse 58 Jesus say s, “ When you go with your adversary t o the magistrate make every effort along the w ay to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judg e, the judge deliver you t o the officer, and the of ficer throw y ou into pri son.”   Th is is an interest ing directive com ing to us from two thou sand years a go . O b viously , there were problems with peop le thi nking about litigious activities rather tha n working with someone we have legal conflicts w ith . Jesus is telling us to do everything we can to find our own solutions to leg al conflicts with someone else and avoid letting the l egal system decid e our fa tes. Thi s is a simpl istic approach to the se types of issues but we should a pply those principle s in co nflic ts in our lives and a void the harshness that comes with in...