Luke 21

Sometimes the best opportunity to witness for Christ is when things are going poorly! 

It is easier to talk with others when everything is going as you want, but what about when things aren't going so great? What should we do then?  Jesus said that even difficulty, and maybe especially difficulty, gives us the best opportunity to witness.

Everyone has good things to say about God when things are going good.  What one says when things aren't going good is likely a better barometer of their faith.  Jesus wanted His disciples to give witness to Him in EVERY SITUATION.

Read it here.

Luke 20

There is a big difference in "pretending" to righteous and actually "being" righteous!  One is rooted in how I want people to perceive me and the other is rooted in who I am in Christ.

The religious leaders thought that if they pretended to be righteous that they could get close enough to Jesus to "trick" him into saying something wrong.  Little did they know that true righteousness could only come through a relationship with Him.

It is a bit crazy that we tend to desire "pretending" rather than actually having the real deal.  True righteousness comes through repentance and faith.  Pretending is for Hollywood.  Let's get real with Jesus.

read it here.

Luke 19

What we do with the money God has entrusted to us is a BIG deal! Jesus talked about money a lot...second only to the kingdom of God.

When Zacchaeus saw Jesus he really wanted to meet him!  His God, "money", had left him feeling empty and lost.  As a grown man, he went to the extreme to get an opportunity to just "see" Jesus. He got way more than that! Dinner and a date... and a NEW GOD.

Our culture is full of Zacchaeuses!  They might not be going to the extremes to meet Jesus, but they are full of the emptiness that comes from pursuing money as a god.  Jesus said, "they are lost".

We should join Jesus today and help others exchange their crummy god, Money, for the real God, Jesus.  They would be eternally grateful.

read it here.

Luke 18

Only one kind of person is justified before God...the one totally dependent on Jesus!

It amazes me how many people feel justified in themselves.  They obviously have never read the scriptures or listened to the words of Jesus.   The model prayer for all of us in this chapter, "God, turn your wrath from me...a sinner!"

read it here.

Luke 17

Gratitude is an attitude that should flow from all of us who know Jesus.  We have been given an awesome gift!  How can I be more grateful today?

Jesus healed 10 lepers and only one returned to say thank you!  Why?  Was it because they were expecting to be healed?  Were they too excited about their healing to remember to say, "Thanks"?

Whatever the reasons, Jesus didn't accept them!  He was stunned at the lack of gratitude from the 9 others!  I don't want to be like them.

read it here.

Luke 16

Faithfulness is measured not in the big things we do, but rather in everything we do! Especially the little things.

Jesus said, "Whoever is faithful in the little things is also faithful in the big things."  It is the little things that we should be measured by.  It is funny how often God thinks differently than man.  Actually it is not funny at all!

Have you ever heard the phrase, "don't sweat the small stuff."  This passage would say something quite different.  

God is looking for faithfulness.  It is the small stuff that matters.

read it here.

Luke 15

There is nothing more desperate than being lost!  Unless of course, you are so lost you don't even know it! So it is with so many these days.

Jesus gives three great stories to illustrate God's heart for the lost; the sheep, the coin, and the son.  In each case there was great celebration over finding what was lost!  

Jesus says, "There is great joy in the presence of God over one sinner who repents."  I believe He is challenging us to be involved in bringing joy to the presence of God!

Share Christ with someone today.  It will give God much happiness.

read it here.

Luke 14

Jesus clearly states three criteria for being "His disciple".  Are you a disciple of Jesus?

The first qualification is supreme love for Jesus.  A disciples love for Christ is even greater than his love for family.  Secondly, a disciple is willing to pay any price to follow Jesus. Even death! And third, a disciple yields all his earthly possessions to the will of God.

These are not simple things!  Maybe you were expecting something like 1) believe in Jesus, 2) pray, and 3) read your bible.  That would be far easier, but it is not what Jesus said.

Discipleship is NOT easy, nor is it inexpensive.  Entrance is free, but the life requires everything we have.

Live strong.

read it here.

Luke 13

Have you ever been angry at God? Do you think it is ever OK to be angry with Him?

Often the religious leaders of the day were angry when Jesus didn't do things just like they thought He should.  In fact, they were always "put out" by Jesus.  Jesus was continually doing good, yet nothing was "done right" according to them.

What were they doing?  Nothing.  How many people did they heal? None. How many demons did they cast out? Zero.  It seems as though their only activity was to be angry at Jesus and actually seek to keep Him from doing good.

I would encourage you to evaluate anytime you are angry with God.  Generally anger flows from our selfishness.  When God doesn't do what we want, when we want, we often struggle with our attitude toward Him.  

Guard your emotions today.  Especially toward God.

read it here.

Luke 12

Be on guard against all sorts of GREED! Even when you have much, your life does not consist of what you have.  Be rich toward God. - Jesus

Read it here.

Luke 11

If even bad dads desire to give good gifts to their kids HOW MUCH MORE does God desire to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? - Jesus

__________________________________________

Troy Nesbitt, Lead Pastor

515.232.5488 | troynesbitt@gmail.com

Cornerstone Church of Ames | www.cornerstonelife.com

a local church with a global vision

56829 U.S. Highway 30 | Ames, IA 50010

Luke 10

Be an answer to Jesus' prayer request and share the gospel with someone today!

Luke 9

Absurd = fighting over who was the greatest disciple in the presence of Jesus!  Yet it happened regularly.

What in the world were the disciples thinking?  Later in the passage they asked Jesus if they, "should call down fire and consume people".  They were often totally missing what was happening right in front of them.

Why? I believe it was because they were mostly thinking about themselves.  Jesus made it clear that being a disciple is not a journey into greatness.  It is "denying yourself, taking up your cross daily and following Jesus."

Discipleship is not about what we become.  It is about who we are following.

read it here.

Luke 8

Confession is your opportunity to bring your sins into the light and be forgiven before God exposes your sin and brings His righteous judgement.

This is an amazing verse, "For nothing is concealed that won't be revealed, and nothing hidden that won't be made known and come to light."  

I have discovered that covering your sinful secrets will never produce the life that God wants you to have.  In fact, covering sin only leads to more sin.  Jesus encourages us to step into the light.  Walk in fellowship with Him.  Confess your sins to Him and to each other.  

Everyone who confesses their sin finds forgiveness and mercy.  Anyone who covers sin will discover that God, in time, will make it know.  That will not be a happy day.

read it here.

Luke 7

Faith is not the absence of doubt, rather it is the opportunity to trust Jesus in the midst of doubting.  Everyone has periods of doubting.  Even John the Baptist!

In this chapter John actually sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, "Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?"  Wasn't John the one who declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."?  

Sometimes we allow doubt to erode our faith.  I believe doubt is actually an opportunity to demonstrate greater faith.  Faith is activity in the midst of doubt.  Doubting is human.  Faith in the midst of doubt is a gift from God.

It is nice to know that even John needed encouragement when he was doubting.  Let his story encourage all of us today.

read it here.

Luke 6

Today's question, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and don't do what I say?" - Jesus

Have you ever spent an entire night praying?  Jesus prayed all night!  Then he chose his disciples. Generally, when someone prays five minutes they consider that a long prayer. I find myself convicted to pray for extended periods.

What would Jesus be asking you to do today.  Just do it.

read it here.

Luke 5

Everyone knows only God can forgive sins!  When we turn to Jesus, He brings the true healing we all need...FORGIVENESS.

People who see Jesus as simply a good man or a prophet miss the most critical aspect of His deity.  He is the one who forgives sins!  What is also clear in scripture is that sin causes all kinds of issues in our lives.  It not only damages our relationship with God, it can bring illness and ultimately spiritual and physical death.

Turn to Jesus today for healing.  Don't let sin have its way in your life.

read it here.

Luke 4

Is there a difference in being "full" of the Holy Spirit and having the "power" of the Holy Spirit?  Luke says that after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan that he was "full" of the Holy Spirit.  After He was tempted by satan in the wilderness, he returned to Galilee in the "power" of the Holy Spirit.

Personally I believe they are the same thing.  Both mean that Jesus was in totally obedience to the Father and guided by the Spirit.  Believers are commanded to "be filled" with the Holy Spirit continually, which will give them the "power" they need to walk in obedience to Christ.

If you ask me, we need both!  Daily.  The evidence of the Spirit in one's life is not measured by the amount of supernatural acts, or strange behaviors, or even crazy stories they might tell.  The evidence of the Spirit's work in one's life is...obedience to God and submission to His word.

read it here.

Luke 3

What would God verbalize about you? If He were to tell a crowd about your life, what would He say? 

When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from heaven and said, "You are My beloved Son, I take delight in You!"

Was Jesus' baptism a crescendo moment in His life in which God the Father was especially proud of Him? Or, was delight the basic position that God continuously had toward Jesus?  Did Jesus ever feel pressure to please His Father?  What was the emotion that He felt on a daily basis?

How does God feel about you?  Would He express delight or discouragement? Pleasure or Pain?  These are all questions that I believe we should consider as believers.  The way we view our relationship with God will have everything to do with how we live our life today.

I believe the answer when it came to Jesus is simple. GOD THE FATHER WAS ALWAYS AND CONTINUALLY DELIGHTING IN HIM!  Jesus was perfectly obedient to His will and  He was always doing exactly what God desired.  When God spoke about Jesus, it was always an expression of pleasure.

As believers we are covered with the life of Christ!  When God sees us, He sees the work of righteousness that Jesus accomplished FOR us!  Our relationship with God is not based on our good work, rather, our relationship with Him is based on what Jesus did.

Don't let your failure discourage your living today.  Let Jesus' life encourage you to totally live for God!  When He sees you, He sees Christ's work for you.  Live for God today.  Not to earn His delight, but rather, to live in the power that delight in God brings.

Live strong.

read it here.

Luke 2

Today my mind is scrambled by a verse I learned as a child. "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and people." I memorized this verse when I was a child but have never stopped to think about it. 

There are two parts of this verse I get.  First, Jesus grew in stature.  It seems obvious that like every boy, if you spent any time away from him, when you saw him again you would likely say, "You have grown so much!"  Secondly, Jesus grew in favor with people.  Everyone loves a child that is obedient, kind, curious, respectful, intelligent and "angelic". It would be easy for his to grow in favor with others.

Now to the more difficult things.  Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God?  It is amazing that Jesus needed to "grow" in wisdom like all of us.  He had to learn to apply truth to living in a mature way.  Did he make "unsinful" mistakes along the way?  Did he have difficulty learning to read? Math? Interpersonal skills?  These are interesting thoughts.

What about the growing in favor with God!  Does that mean that God was more and more pleased with Him as he grew?  What was God's view of Jesus' childhood.  Did he laugh at His humanity and daily bumblings. Did he hurt when Jesus encountered difficultly with "gaining wisdom".  Hmm.

These are thoughts in my mind today.

Read it here.

Luke 1

Do you find it interesting that Luke begins his gospel with the story of John's birth?  I personally enjoy all the details of this story.  Elizabeth and Zechariah must have been a delightful couple.

Read it here.

Mark 16

Trembling, overwhelmed and running in fear! This is how the gospel of Mark ends.  Yet these trembling, overwhelmed and fearful men would be used by God to change the world!

Mark ends abruptly (especially since vs. 9-20 were not original) and anticlimactically.  The disciples were in no way ready to take on the world with the gospel.  No gospel other than Mark ends like this and no gospel cries out more for the help of the Holy Spirit in weak men.

We all need the Spirit in our lives if we are going to do anything for Christ.  Don't let fear grip your heart today.

read it here.