Lk12

"Do you think that I came here to give peace to earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!" - Jesus

So many people believe that Jesus' highest priority is unity. This could not be further from the truth. Unity can only be had among those who embrace truth. He prayed for unity among believers, not unity for the world.

Jesus knew that He was stepping into a furious battle for souls. He never compromised truth, and therefore, His life was almost in constant conflict! He was murdered for what He believed!

Jesus brings "peace" to those who believe. He desires unity among believers. Following Him will bring conflict and division is this world.

The gospel is divisive.

Lk11

The one thing Jesus' disciples asked Him to teach them was "to Pray". The one prayer request that Jesus asked us to pray about was more workers into the plentiful harvest.

Somehow Jesus' disciples were moved by Jesus' prayer life. They observed in Him a connection to God the Father that they wanted for themselves. They saw this discipline displayed in Jesus' life and ministry. They knew is was an essential part of Jesus being able to live an obedient life.

If Jesus needed to pray, how much more is this true for us? My dad always says, "Jesus asked us to fast and pray. We like to pray fast. If at all." I am grateful for daily reminders to pray (the 10:02 prayer, meal time and daily writing to others), but still I fall way short in this discipline.

Pray.

Lk10

Join me in prayer every day at 10:02 in answer to Jesus' one prayer request! Jesus said, "The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, PRAY to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Even though the harvest is abundant, the responsiveness of the harvest can often be hostile. Jesus' disciple encountered some amazing responses to the gospel, but they were most often rejected! This is still true today. The harvest IS plentiful. Gathering the harvest is WORK.

It is God that brings in the harvest. Our job is to Pray and to Work, but it is God that brings in the yield. It is hard to pray daily and not desire to be an answer to that prayer.

Join me please. Let's pray and work.

Lk9

What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? - Jesus

The priority of our pursuits should be Christ. Why do we work so hard to gain only what will be lost and so little to gain what can never be lost? This world holds no promises for the life to come. Pursuing Jesus guarantees a reward that will never be lost.

Spend time today pursuing Jesus. Make time to read His words. Work to obey Him.

Lk8

Fear was the number one response of people to Jesus' power! Today, we have reduced Him to a gentle, powerless, "good guy"! 

Jesus' disciples were both amazed by and afraid of Jesus. To be in the presence of God without some level of fear is to not realize we are in the presence of God. Only when we are free from our sinfulness and in heaven will fear be totally removed from our relationship with God.

To not "fear God" now, is either to not understand His holiness and His power, or to not recognize our sinfulness and need. 

Solomon summarized all of life with this statement. "Fear God and obey His commands."

Lk7

Jesus loves to forgive sins! He came so He could bring life to a dead and broken people. The Centurion's servant, the widow's son and the "sinful" woman are just a few examples.

Jesus declared to the woman. "Your sins are forgiven." Then He said to her, "Your faith has saved you." Only God can forgive sins and only God can save. Why did Jesus NOT say, "Your sins are forgive because I have saved you."? What part did the sinful woman's faith have to do with her salvation.

Jesus was "amazed" at the Centurion's faith! I am amazed at the Centurion's humility. Everyone thought that he was "worthy" to receive healing for his servant because of his good deeds. He considered himself "unworthy" to even have a conversation with Jesus. His humility and faith were commendable to Jesus.

Only God saves. We must respond to Him with humility and faith.

Lk5

What have we left behind to follow Jesus? Peter was a fisherman. When he was first called Jesus has just provided his best business day ever! Peter left everything and followed Jesus.

At Jesus' death, Peter denied Jesus 3 times. After the resurrection, Peter went back to fishing! Once again Jesus provided a huge catch for Peter. Once again he left it all to follow Jesus.

At the first catch Peter fell to his knees and said, "Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord!" At the final catch Peter jumped from the boat to pursue Jesus. Both encounters ended with Jesus saying, "Follow me." Both encounters required Peter to leave his catch behind.

We all have to leave and let go of whatever we are holding on to in order to "follow" Jesus. It is not easy. It is worth it.

Lk4

Lk4

If Satan had the power to give us everything we want in this world, would we follow him? This was his temptation for Jesus! How could he tempt Jesus with something that wasn't his? The answer: It was his to give!

It is scary to think about the number of people I know who expect Jesus to give them everything they want in this life. Their desire is for heaven on earth, not heaven. If we are to follow Jesus' example then why would we ever consider such a thing? Jesus lived a simple life with very few earthly pleasures.

We are so blessed. Overly blessed. My prayer is that we would desire the greater blessing of eternity. I pray that no temptation to compromise in this world would cause us to NOT follow Jesus. It is worth it to live for the life to come, even if it means giving up earthy things that won't last.

Lk2

How crazy is it that Jesus, being God, was "obedient" to His parents?! We know that being obedient to our parents is important to God, but did we know that being obedient to our parents was modeled by God also?

We also know that Mary and Joseph were not perfect. They were people. They were godly, yes, but that doesn't mean they didn't mess up. I am confident there were times that they totally blew it with Jesus. Yet, He obeyed them. He made them! Yet, He obeyed them.

God gives us authority in our lives. How we respond to it says much about our understanding of God. God loves obedience.

Lk2

Lk1

Luke is the most careful, thorough and orderly account of the life and teaching of Jesus. Luke wrote both this gospel and the book of Acts to be read together.

God can use anyone! Most often he uses the people who are most "useable" to Him. Both Mary and Elizabeth were eager and responsive to God's call on their lives. It was not an easy task, but they didn't hesitate to obey God's call on their lives.

God is still using people today. He desires to use those of us who are eager to respond in faith to His leadership.

Are we usable and responsive today?

Philemon

Are we more useless or useful when it comes to the work of Christ? Onesimus means "useful". Before he met Paul, he was a useless runaway slave. His meeting Paul became pivotal because Paul introduced him to Jesus.

Jesus said, "apart from me, you can do nothing." We are all useless without Christ. In ourselves we are incapable of doing anything of eternal significance. BUT, Jesus make us all useful. As we give ourselves to Him and His work, we can actually participate in eternally significant work.

This letter is a great challenge to all of us to be committed to being "usable" by God.

Col4

Has anyone ever accused us of being "prayer warriors"? Epaphras "contended" for the Colossians in prayer. He was known as a hard worker and a prayer warrior.

I thank God for the opportunity to pray for others. Thankfully, it's a habit that I am building more and more, but no one has ever accused me of being a "prayer warrior". I know some who I would consider in that way, but I am not there…yet. Are you?

Paul requested prayer! Paul was a prayer warrior. Paul knew that the best way to influence others was through the power of prayer. We need to pray for others.

Col3

"Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on earth."- vs.2 We spend far too much time thinking and worrying about this life. We should be focused on the life that is to come.

Our entire lives should be spent preparing for eternity! Everything we do in obedience to Christ will be rewarded forever. Whatever we do for this life only will be spent at our death.

Consider pregnancy. Whenever a young mom gets pregnant, she begins to prepare for the life that is coming. She lives not for the pregnancy but with an expectation of being a mother and raising a child. In a sense, life is like pregnancy. We should live not for this life, but rather for the life that is to come.

Col2

Christianity is not measured in the number of "do's and don'ts" that we practice, but rather in "Christ in us."

We all know "believers" who measure their "holiness" by the things they do or don't do. But often these same people evidence very little of Jesus. On the other hand, there are those who never measure activity or inactivity, but exude Christ in all they do.

Paul's desire for us is to experience Christ in every aspect of our lives. As we learn to enjoy Him, we will draw others into relationship with Him also.

Is Jesus seen in our lives? Do people experience Him when they spend time with us?

Col1

Jesus will present us "holy, faultless and blameless" before God! Wow, what a thought!

It is a fearful thing to think about standing before God's judgement. Most of us feel guilt almost constantly. We even feel as though someone may accuse us for things we have done long ago. Things regrettable. Things shameful. Some of us even feel guilty for things we haven't done.

To think about being totally holy, faultless and blameless in the presence of God is somewhat overwhelming. AND it is NOT because of us, but because of Christ. We stand "in Christ" before God. When God sees us, He sees Jesus. Nothing is better than this truth.

Rejoice in the work of Christ today.

Php4

"Let your graciousness be known to everyone." Graciousness = pleasantly kind, benevolent and courteous. To be gracious is to be a person who makes others feel valued. It is to respond well in every circumstance.

Are we a people who are marked by God's grace? Does the reality of all He has done for us continue to permeate our lives, attitudes, words and actions? If not, it should.

God has poured out blessings on our lives. We are to be a people who reflect the reality of that blessing to others. God's grace has overwhelmed us. We should overflow with graciousness.

Express grace in every situation today.

Php3

One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - the apostle Paul

If our lives were reduced to one pursuit, what would it be? What do we want in life? How much energy and effort are we putting forward to gain Christ? Not that we have to work to have Christ (this only comes through grace and faith), but to really "know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings", takes a full on effort.

Many pursue things that really don't matter! Pursue the "one thing" that will last forever.

Php2

"Do everything without grumbling and arguing." How many times today will we violate this verse? 

Attitude matters. It is not only "what" we do, but "how" we do it that makes a difference to God. He sees both the "what" and the "why", both the "how" and the "when". Getting our attitude right changes everything we do. 

Paul wrote, "Make your attitude that of Jesus!" Jesus was the King of Heaven and left everything to become a servant of men. He lived a poor human life, died a sinner's death and was mostly rejected by everyone. Yet, His attitude was always to do what God had asked without grumbling or complaining.

Today I will likely even grumble and complain if I play golf! What must that look like to God?

Php1

Wanting "Christ" to be "highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death" was Paul's desire. Is that my desire?

Honestly, I often think my motives are truly conflicted. At times, I feel like I could pray Paul's prayer. Other times, I know that what I want most is for God to honor me! My flesh craves to be honored. My soul longs for Christ to be honored in my life.

Regardless of what is happening in my heart today, I can still choose to live for Jesus. Every day is a choice. Every moment is a choice. Sometimes totally opposite. Other times slightly different. Sometimes obvious to those around us. Other times totally unrecognizable.

Paul writes, "Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." That "one thing" is a great challenge. It's a worthy goal.

Eph6

Are we speaking the gospel boldly? Is there someone who we should be sharing with today?

Paul said, "Pray for me that I may speak the gospel boldly as I should." I can't think of a more bold evangelist than the apostle Paul! He sought to win everyone he encountered. His entire life was wrapped up in sharing Christ. Yet, he asked for prayer.

If he needed it, how much more do we all need it? Decide today to intentionally get into a gospel conversation! Choose to talk about what matters. Not Trump. Not Clinton. Not Bernie. Not NBA. Christ!

Be bold today.