Lk2

I can't imagine what it would have been like to raise Jesus from a baby to manhood!  He was God from the beginning, but he came as a baby!  He had to grow in wisdom, stature and in favor both with God and people.

It is crazy to think about!  I would have loved for God to have recorded some of the conversations that Mary and Joseph had with Jesus the boy.  Or something that happened when he was with his siblings growing up.  Yet, we have nothing in scripture but silence.

In fact, Jesus' family would struggle to become worshipers.  Likely, only Mary believed before He died!  Jesus withheld Himself from exercising deity until His time had come.  These are interesting things to think about.

Lk1

Are helping the next generation become "spiritually strong"? It won't happen without purposeful effort on our part.

Luke begins his gospel with two incredible stories. The first, of John the Baptists' parents, Zechariah & Elizabeth, and the second about Mary. These were amazing people who God considered faithful and capable of raising the a great prophet and the Lord of the universe! These were entrusted with the fragile infancy and childhood of God's chosen leaders!

God has entrusted little ones to us. What are we calling them to become? Are we working hard to see them become men and women of God? Are we modeling for them lives lived to please Jesus? Will they value obedience to Christ because that is our highest value? Or will it be something else? I pray we all will take our responsibility seriously.

Invest in what matters forever in the lives of our children!

LK23

Saving faith is not a formulaic prayer. It is not a card you filled out at a middle school retreat. It is not something you have to renew like you would a driver's license. It is an attitude of the heart that says, "I am guilty and I need you, Jesus, to have hope!". This simple gospel transcends color, culture, and language barriers. This simple gospel overcomes any sin, any skeleton in the closet, and any catastrophe of our past.

Set yourself low and Christ high today. Consider your sin, hate it, and "repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Be like the criminal in heart. Encourage believers and non-believers alike with the simple truth of the gospel.

--Shane Kelly

Lk22

What are you willing to argue about in the presence of Jesus Easter week?  The disciples chose, "which one of US is the greatest!"

Luke records in this chapter that the disciple went from arguing about which one would betray Jesus to which one of them was the greatest!  These arguments are not even separated by a single verse.  How absurd.

Jesus has just washed their feet, shared the final supper with them and given them clear instruction in His final hours.  They totally missed it.  As do we.  It is Easter week.  Are you arguing and distracted by foolish things?  I know I am.

Let's focus!  Easter is upon us.

Mk16

Fear has lost its place in our hearts! Most no longer fear God.  Few think of God when asked, "What do you fear?"  It is reflected in the way we live our lives without regard to God's desires and purposes.

The thought of Jesus being alive front the dead brought fear to Jesus' own mother and sister.  In fact, they were "trembling, astonished and overwhelmed"!  Jesus had conquered death!  His power was unprecedented and He had now accomplished all that God had sent Him to do.  Mary, His own mother, could say nothing because she was afraid!

As we come to Easter we need to realize that we are dealing with a powerful and holy God.  He is not about looking nice in our Sunday best, He is about conquering sin and death for us all.  His desire is to give us life, which begins with faith and radically changes everyday thereafter.  He is not a God to be secure around when we are not living for Him.  If you don't fear Him, I doubt you actually know HIm.

We fear our earthly fathers when we know we are living outside of their desires.  Why would we not fear our heavenly Father when we are living outside of His desires?  Each one of us will give an account to God.  He is a risen Savior!  He is to be feared.

Just saying.

Mk15

This week is Easter week!  Live your life to please Jesus.  Who knows, maybe it will be this Easter that Jesus chooses to return.  Wouldn't that be awesome!  Talk about a busted bracket!!!

I always have wondered what Jesus' siblings were thinking at His crucifixion.  Mark tells us their names, but doesn't give much detail about them other than they shared the same mother.  Their names were James, Joses and Salome.  We know that James became a leader in the church and wrote the book of James, but what about the others?  I haven't heard much about them.

Something to study someday.

For now, think about Easter.  Maybe there is brokenness in your family that needs to be healed.  Maybe there is a sin that you have been hiding that needs to be revealed.  Maybe there is a bitterness that you have been nursing that needs to be let go of.  Whatever it is, choose to obey Jesus this Easter.  He is alive.

Mk14

Everyday God gives us opportunity to stand for Jesus.  Will you speak up for Christ today or will you deny Him with your words or actions?

In a sense, we all have betrayed Jesus.  Every disciple deserted Him and, like them, we all have times of doing the opposite of what we know Jesus would have us to do.  The disciples struggled with both a desire to follow and a desire to run!  They knew they wanted to stand for Jesus, but they were captured by the fear of man. 

In my opinion, the disciples had a pretty good excuse to be afraid!  Even though Jesus had told them that the worst that could happen is that they would die, they actually were afraid to die!  They were watching Jesus being illegally and brutally beaten and slaughtered!  Standing for Jesus could have literally cost them their life!

What will it cost us though?  Why are we so cowardly to stand for Christ?    The answer to this question is that we care more about what others think than we do about God.  I suggest that is a poor way to live.

Live to please Jesus.