The good news of Luke

  Luke 6:32 It’s a good rule...do to others what you want done to you...yet there is something else. We experience love in 5 ways. Healthy touch, gifts, appreciation, quality time, and acts of kindness yet the order May differ for  each of us so if your partner’s number one language is acts of kindness you should give acts of kindness even if your number one language is quality time.  Google the 5 love languages for more information,

  Luke 6:29-30 This is when it gets tricky because we don’t want to be in abusive situations but at the same time we are called to live a selfless life. I think the key here is to love your neighbour as much as you love yourself...and if you don’t love yourself much raise the love of yourself so you can love others more...all at the same time as loving God with all your heart soul and mind.

  Luke 6:27-28 It’s easy to love someone who loves you but the test is in how well we love our enemies.

  Luke 6:26 If everyone is speaking well of you watch out.  You may be a false prophet.  God's words are hard.  He wants the very best for us so He disciplines.  Do we want the best for others or are we just trying to fit in?  What a challenge!  Lord, help us to remain true to You and what You would have for us.  Amen

  Luke 6:25   I find these teachings of Jesus interesting.  He seems to be saying if you're up you will come down but if you're down you will go up.  Is He saying life is full of it's ups and downs so recognize that when you're up be careful because you will come down?  Lord Jesus, help us to appreciate our ups knowing that with every up there is a down. Thanks.

  Luke 6:24 Jesus says if you're rich you have already received your comfort.  Does this mean the rich are missing out on a relationship with the King of Kings?  Lord Jesus, please reach out to my rich friends and help them to develop an awesome relationship with You as they discover ways to step out in faith beyond what they are capable of on their own.

  Luke 6:22-23 Have you ever been insulted because you are a Christian?  We'll Jesus says rejoice because heaven is watching and you'll be rewarded for it. These verses are reminding me of the persecuted church.  Lord Jesus, help us not to hide our faith because we're afraid we'll be insulted and give those in the persecuted church courage and wisdom to know when to speak and when to remain quiet.  Thanks

  Luke 6:21 I have to confess I don't fully understand Jesus' blessed statements but in reading these two today I realize there is a difference between the past tense and the future tense...and when we've been without we really appreciate it when we get it.  Jesus says "we will get it"; be patient.

  Luke 6:20 Is it true, when we aren't driven by what we can get next materially we are driven by something far greater?  "Blessed are the poor because theirs is the Kingdom".  May we see God's Kingdom in the world today and discover where God is working and join Him in His Kingdom.

  Luke 6:17-19 After Jesus chose His apostles He went to be with more disciples and other onlookers.  They were most impressed with His healing.  Those touched with impure spirits were cured and touching Him healed the sick. So was Jesus popular because He healed the sick and cured those with impure spirits?  Is this what gave Him the teachable moments?  Lord Jesus, show us how we too can have teachable moments in Your Kingdom.

  Luke 6:11-16 It is interesting that before Jesus selected the 12 disciples He went to pray alone.  It is also interesting that He chose 12. Group dynamics suggest this is a good number for a small group.  And finally, it's interesting that He chose a traitor; even after prayer.  Was Judas's selection an error or a divine assignment?  The plan for Jesus was fulfilled through this traitor.  We also can't use the excuse that Jesus was fully God so He knew how to choose a perfect group. Note that there were other disciples but he chose the 12 to be His apostles.  They were: " Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,     Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,     Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor." NIV It is also interesting to note their relationships to each other.

  Luke 6:1-11 This is an interesting portion of scripture as Jesus lets His disciples break one of the 10 commandants as determined by the leaders in the temple.  Jesus was trying to teach the purpose of the law.  For me the sabbath rest is a blessing.  We have a well needed excuse to take a break from our daily routines but if it's carried too far it becomes an enslaving rule. How are you doing in obeying the 10 commandants?  Do we respect God for who He is?  Jesus did a wonderful job of summing up the law "Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself"

Luke 5:35-39   This is an interesting passage.  Jesus is preparing His disciples for something new yet in the end He says people prefer the old.  I see the old versus the new challenges between generations so I find it a blessing when a congregation is filled with folks of all generations.  In reading this passage it seems to me that it's okay to stick with your own generation and not mix the generations but it's also important to have room for the new generation so the "new wine" can be kept.  God is a creative God and so it's obvious that He is about producing new things; Lord Jesus, help us not to discourage the younger generation from going deeper with You.

  Luke 5:33-34 I went to a school where they fasted breakfast and lunch once a month.  They then had us pray at 7:14 in the morning so we'd remember the verse 2 Chronicles 7:14.  Little did I know this verse is on my Grandparents tombstone!  " if my people, who are called by my name,  will humble  themselves and pray and seek my face  and turn  from their wicked ways, then I will hear  from heaven, and I will forgive  their sin and will heal  their land." What does it mean to be humble?  And when do we fast?  When we don't sense that God is with us or when Jesus is physically not on this earth? or is it something we do to loose weight?   It has been suggested that fasting can be more than about food.  We can fast technology for instance.  Can I encourage you to give up something for a little bit to give more time for Christ in your life?

  Luke 5:27-32 Have you ever thought about who Jesus hung around?  The temple leaders did and they observed He hung around tax collectors and sinners.  This observation went to the disciples and ultimately to Jesus and He responded “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.   I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  Does this change the way you look at who you hang around?  Jesus engaged in two way relationships with the folks He wanted to reach.  Jesus invited Levi to follow Him then Levi, a tax collector, threw a party and Jesus and His disciples attended.  Lord Jesus, help us to form two way relationships with those You want to reach for Your Kingdom.  Teach us how to be agents of healing and give us the courage to be part of the solution.  Open our eyes to see where You are working and how we can help.

Luke 5:18-26   This is a story about friendship and how friendship led to the forgiveness of sins for an individual and ultimately physical healing! So from this story can we conclude that if a group of people bring someone before the Lord in prayer He will be willing to forgive the individual's sins?  This adds some power to intercessory prayer! Can we also conclude that sin is a significant cause of physical illness?  My observations say yes. The results of this, again personal, miracle is the temple leaders were suspicious seeing blasphemy but the rest of the crowd were amazed and praised God.  Note that even when something wonderful is happening you can have your critics; don't let them get you down. Lord Jesus, I bring before you my friends and family that don't know You in a real and personal way.  Please connect with them in such a way that they will reach out to You this Christmas. Amen

  Luke 5:17 It's interesting to note here that the leaders of the temple had come to hear Jesus.  It also sounds like there were a number of them because it says they came from every village in Galilee and Judea.  They wanted to know what Jesus was up to and Jesus had the power to heal upon Him.  What would you do if you had the gift of healing and you weren't a doctor or nurse?  Would you understand that this was greater than a physical thing and realize that it is ultimately about spiritual healing?  Lord Jesus please raise up spiritual healers in Your Kingdom today.  Thanks

  Luke 5:16 In all of Jesus's popularity He made time to be alone and pray to His Father.  This is a significant lifestyle verse.  Do we have time to be alone with God. I also find the fact that some versions used "lonely" to describe where Jesus was.  Although He had the 12 disciples around Him did He feel lonely?  Is this a requirement to come before God in order to build our relationship with Him? The next time we're feeling lonely let's tell God about it.

  Luke 5:12-15 During this time of covid I’m reminded of the healers in our culture who dare to embrace the sick. That’s what Jesus is doing here. A leper was an outcast in society for fear that others would catch the disease yet Jesus was willing to to help him and ultimately heal him. I find it interesting that Jesus again, didn’t want the publicity. He just wanted to heal an individual...but when the news got out He became very popular. How about us? Are we willing to do the right thing without seeking attention? At times I just want the world to know that Jesus is alive and loves them...but then I’m reminded that actions speak louder than words. “May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our heart be acceptable in Your sight oh Lord”

  Luke 5:4-11 I suspect as a thank you to Peter Jesus gave him a fishing experience like non other...You’d think Peter would want to capitalize on Jesus fishing miracle but he didn’t. He recognized Jesus as a Holy man because he told Jesus to leave him because Peter was a sinful man. Jesus response, however, was to call Peter into the ministry of fishing men (and women).  So how would you respond if you encountered a work miracle that made you wealthier than you’d been before. Would you try to capitalize on it or would you recognize where you stood before God?...and after recognizing that God was performing the work miracle would you give up your job to follow Him? This is another personal story so God may only be calling Peter to follow Him...but you and I need to be open to God calling us. May God reach us in His typical personal way this Christmas,

Luke 5:1-3   Jesus had a crowd and He needed some way for them to hear Him and not crush in on Him so He creatively saw a boat and borrowed it to teach from!  How about you?  Have you got a creative idea for spreading God's word?  Maybe you need to risk asking someone to borrow something in order to complete this idea.  Take courage and do what you sense God telling you to do. This story is reminding me of the series  Chosen

John  4:46-53 Jesus is concerned about us having a belief that is bigger than observing miracles yet He continued to perform a miracle for one family.  A royal official's family.  I don't understand how God chooses who gets the miracle but maybe it has to do with the potential for belief.  In this case the Dad in the story believed because he experienced a miracle.  Many time, in Canada, I think we dismiss miracle as works of science and we don't come closer to God because of that and as a result we experience fewer miracles.  How about you?  Do what draws you closer to God?  Can you come closer to Him even if you don't experience a miracle?  Are you missing every day gifts from God because you're expecting one big miracle?  This Christmas we have a special gift.  The Christmas star.   Enjoy God's blessings that are being poured upon us, even during this seemingly tough time.

John 4:45 Remember Jesus had a hard time in His home town of Nazareth so He might have had a hard time in Galilee, as it's only 25 km from Nazareth, but folks from Galilee were in Jerusalem and saw Jesus in action.  I'm reminded of the phrase "you always have to be good because you never know who knows who"...or can I change it to "you always have to be good because you don't know who's watching".  The truth is people were observing Jesus and liked what they saw so they spread the good news.  How about you?  Are folks liking what they see?  Are they spreading the good news because of you?

  Luke 4:42-44 Now that the news is out that Jesus can heal He's very popular but Jesus figured out how to manage His time.  First He made time to be alone with His Fathers and second He recognized His purpose "to preach the good news of the Kingdom".  He stuck to His purpose by visiting various towns and preaching in their synagogues.  How about you? Do you have time for God alone?  Do you know your purpose? Can you stick to it amongst the distractions?

  Luke 4:41 There is a spiritual world around us.  In the west folks have their fortunes told and read horoscopes but they don't really think of this as engaging in the spiritual world but in the time of Jesus, and in other parts of the world like Africa people believe in demons...and what's interesting today, is these demons know who Jesus is!  What's even more interesting is Jesus didn't want others to know who He was.  How about you?  Are you proud of the fact that you know Jesus?  Remember even the demons knew Jesus. This leads to the question what is the difference between a demon and an angel?  Could it be the side they are fighting for?  Are you fighting for good in this world or are you letting evil rule?  Lord Jesus, help us to usher in Your Kingdom here on earth.