The good news of Luke

Luke 11:27-28   Mary is blessed for bearing Jesus and feeding Him but Jesus says even more blessed are those who ear and do.  In other words, more blessed are those that hear God's voice and do what He tells them to do.  Lord Jesus please help us to walk the walk.

  Luke 11:21-26 Be leery of temporary fixes.  In our lives we need to eliminate satan from being in control and then we need to put Christ in control.  If we don't we leave ourselves vulnerable to satan coming back and making it worse than before.  Lord Jesus, please help us to put you Lord of our lives.

  Luke 11:14-20 The folks are no longer disputing that Jesus has power but now there is a question of where the power comes from; satan or God!  Given that he's just healed a mute man I'd say this is something that God wanted not satan; but the choice is left up to us.  Jesus says if you choose God " the kingdom of God  has come upon you"  May we experience the Kingdom of God.

  Luke 11:11-13 Think about it; if we're created in God's image and want to give good things to those we love why wouldn't God.  All we have to do is ask.  Lord Jesus, please give us a sense of purpose in Your Kingdom. Amen

  Luke 11:5-10 Here Jesus illustrates the idea that we should be persistent in prayer.  When we believe it's important we should never give up on prayer.  Lord Jesus, I pray for the younger generation.  Please provide harvesters and open their eyes to see You.

Luke 11:1-4    The disciples asked for a lesson and this is what they got. “‘Father, [ a ] hallowed be your name, Help us to respect who You are by honouring Your name your kingdom come. [ b ] May your Kingdom come to earth so it's just like heaven. 3  Give us each day our daily bread. Give us what we need like food and shelter and help us to be thankful for what we have 4  Forgive us our sins,      for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. [ c ] Forgive us to the degree that we forgive others And lead us not into temptation. [ d ] ’” And please don't lead us into temptation In Jesus Name Amen

  Luke 10:38-42 What does Jesus want us to do in the Kingdom? For Martha it was preparing an awesome meal and being hospitable but for Mary it was sitting at His feet listening.  I'm reminded of how important listening is; listening to God and to each other.  Jesus chose listening over a meal being prepared for Him.  It might even be bigger than listening here as it was the job of women to prepare, and Jesus allowed Mary the positioning of listening which was typically reserved for a man.  Lord  Jesus, thanks for treating men and women equally and thanks for being the type of man who has something to offer when we listen.  Please help us to listen well so we learn new things in Your Kingdom.

  Luke 10:29-37 During this year of covid we've been forced to slow down.  I'm wondering if it's helping us to see our neighbours in need.  Lord Jesus, please help us not to be so busy going about Your work we miss seeing our neighbours in need.

  Luke 10:25-28 “‘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.’ ” This is how an expert of the law summarized the law and Jesus agreed with him.  It's that simple yet that hard.  I like the balance between self love and the love of a neighbour.  I find sometimes this balance is off.  Lord Jesus, teach us how to love you with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and help us to balance the love of self with the love of others.  Amen

Luke 10:21-24 Jesus is happy to see his mentorees happy with their success. He also highlights that they could only see such miracles because God allowed them too see...more importantly folks can only see God if Jesus let’s them see God. Lord Jesus please give us God eyes so we can see what You are doing in the Kingdom and show us how we can join You. Thanks

  Luke 10:17-20 It worked.  The disciples won over satan, even the demons obeyed them.  Yet Jesus warned them, the real victory is their names are written in heaven!  We must be cautious that miracles don't get more attention than God Himself.  Lord Jesus, thank You for introducing us to Your Father.  Help us to never take our relationship with You and Your Father for granted. Amen Victory in Jesus

  Luke 10:3-16 The truth is in Kingdom work you can be rejected but don't take it personally; they're really rejecting God.  Go and bring peace among the people; heal the sick, raise the dead, allow the power of God to work in and through you but if you are rejected leave the town.  These are strong words for the disciples.  Stay tuned to see how they handled their assignment.

Luke 10:1-2   Jesus was popular; He healed the sick and raised the dead.  This popularity required Him to have assistances so He increased His circle to 72 and appointed them to go out ahead of Him.  He saw that the harvest was great but the workers were few.  Today I wonder how the harvest is?  Lord, please send out workers into the harvest field, especially us.  Help us to represent You well and show us how to grow Your Kingdom. Amen.

  Luke 9:57-62 The sick are healed, the dead are raised, people feel empowered yet it all comes with a cost.  To be a part of the Kingdom of God means a full commitment.  Jesus doesn't allow 1/2 hearted folks in His Kingdom.  Lord Jesus, please help us to be fully committed to your Kingdom. 

  Luke 9:51-56 One would think to be like Jesus would be awesome. He had power to heal the sick and raise the dead yet it wasn't all glorious.  He knew His time was coming to go back into heaven and Jerusalem had something to do with it so He headed there, through Samaria.  But the Samaritans didn't like them because they were heading to Jerusalem.  Samaritans were not full Jews so the Jews treated them badly so they were responding to this.  When James saw this he thought they should be punished but Jesus illustrated turning the other cheek and said no.  They went on to another village where it seems they were accepted.  This story goes to show it was not always a fun time being Jesus and/or being a disciple.  Sometimes our traditions and associations with folks in the church bring about negative responses from those on the fringe of the church.  Our response to those folks is important.  Sometimes we just have to move on and not respon...

  Luke 9:49-50 Have you ever noticed some non-church goers are amazing people, doing amazing things?  Jesus says, if they're not against us they're for us.  Lord Jesus, help us not to discourage people who are on the fringes of the church.  Help us see how they are helping in Your Kingdom and celebrate their goodness.

  Luke 9:46-48 Have you ever done it; thought you were better than someone else? If so were you using Jesus criteria? He loved little children in a culture that didn’t treat them with respect. Lord Jesus please help us to be great in Your Kingdom in Your way; with true humility. Amen

 Luke 9:44-45   There are times when God tells us something, to prepare us for the future, but we don't understand until after the event has taken place.  This happened to the disciples.  Jesus tried to let them know that God was okay with Him being delivered to the people but they didn't understand and were too afraid to ask.  Don't let fear stop us from asking God.  He wants us to know what's going on just like a best friend.  Lord Jesus, please help us to understand what You are trying to tell us and teach us so we can be more effective in Your Kingdom.

  Luke 9:37-43 Jesus had left a group of disciples behind when He and a select few went up the mountain.  The left behind group were presented with a challenge; a demon possessed, or maybe in our day in age epileptic boy.  They tried to get rid of the evil spirits but they couldn't...Jesus explains, it was because of lack of faith...maybe the Father's lack of faith in them, or maybe the disciple's I'm not sure.  In Canada we live in a culture that needs to grow in faith.  Maybe the coronavirus is giving us an opportunity to slow down and grow our faith.  Lord Jesus, please help us to not be the reason why someone else doesn't see a miracle.  Grow our faith in Your gentle way so that Your Kingdom may come in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  Thanks.

Luke 9:27-36 I wonder if Jesus knew He was going to be crucified before this encounter? It seems to me that with every triumph there is something tough to endure. Here the disciples were getting a glimpse of the Kingdom of God by seeing heroes of the faith from the past but Jesus seems to be getting the next steps in His mission. Lord Jesus please help us to endure the tough stuff as we experience the wonders of Your gifts.

  Luke 9:23-26 It costs everything to follow Christ but you gain everything when you do. Lord Jesus please give us the faith and courage to surrender everything to You. Amen

  Luke 9:22 Peter has just declared Jesus is the Messiah when they get the news that He is going to be rejected by the church and killed but then Jesus adds that He will rise again on the 3rd day.  Humanly speaking this news doesn't make logical sense.  He has power to avoid the rejection and death but He's saying it will happen.  Can the disciples understand this?  Will they be able to hold on to their faith when everything is stripped away from Jesus?  Lord Jesus, when things our tough, help us to hold on to our faith.