Luke 13:6-9

Luke 13:6-9

And He said this parable: “Someone was having planted a fig tree in his vineyard.  And he went seeking fruit in it and he did not find any.  And He said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Behold.  For three years I come seeking fruit in this fig tree and I do not find any.  Cut it down.  For what reason does it deprive the land?’  But the one who answered said, ‘Lord, forgive it even this year until the time I should dig around it and throw down manure.  And if in one case it should bear fruit let it remain.  And if not, you will cut it down.’”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The fig tree is the traditional metaphor for Israel.  When Jesus says that a man planted a fig tree in his vineyard, Jesus is making it clear that He is speaking about the time of the Exodus.  God brought the Hebrew people out and planted them in a place where they should have grown.  They had every reason to grow, become strong, and become faithful.  Of course, we can also apply this symbolically to us.  God has planted faith in us – a faith which we do not deserve.  But He has given us all that we need.  Our response is up to us.

How have you responded to the faith that God has given to us?  When has God shown His desire to bless you in your life?

Second Thought:

The problem is, the man in the parable comes to find fruit and he doesn’t find any.  He desires to cut down the tree.  Metaphorically speaking, Jesus is referring to the time of the exile.  Although the Hebrew people had been planted in a place where they should experience success, they fell away from God.  They were cut away from the land.  Again, we can symbolically bring this into our life.  When God looks into our life, He expects to see fruit.  When He doesn’t see fruit, He can threaten to cut us down.

Where have you been able to bear fruit?  Where have you fell short of fruit?  Where have you felt God’s conviction in your life?

Third Thought:

In the end, the keeper of the vineyard asks the master of the vineyard to give him one more year.  One more chance.  Jesus is talking about the return from exile.  The Hebrew people get another chance to follow God.  They get the opportunity to receive Christ and live according to God’s ways.  Those who receive Christ and follow Him will demonstrate the faith of the keeper of the vineyard.  Once more we can apply this to our life – although we don’t need to do it symbolically this time.  We get the same opportunity to receive Christ.  We get the same opportunity to bear fruit.  We get to display the same results that demonstrates God’s faith in our ability to fruit.

Where do you put God’s faith in you on display?  How do you feel knowing that God desired to give us multiple chances to receive His grace?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 13:10-17

Luke 13:1-5

Luke 13:1-5

And some were present in this time bringing word to Him regarding the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices.  And answering, He said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans became sinners more than all the other Galileans because they suffered like this?  No!  I say to you, except that you all should repent, you will all perish similarly.  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell upon them and killed them.  Do you think that they became sinners more than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?  No!  I say to you, except that you should repent, all will perish in a like manner.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we see Jesus dealing in the relevancy of the culture around Him.  The crowd around Him have questions about the events that are happening.  They want to understand the world around them, and they are curious how that understanding fits into a Judea-Christian perspective.  Jesus doesn’t back away from this.  He handles the questions.  He is willing to make faith relate to the world around Him.

How is your faith relevant?  Where do you have opportunities to make faith relevant to the people around you?

Second Thought:

One of the situations that they ask Jesus about is a situation that we don’t know much about.  Apparently, Pilate mixed the blood of Galileans in with the sacrifices.  This would be an incredibly offensive act.  But do you notice what Jesus focuses upon?  He doesn’t teach about Pilate.  Instead, he turns on the people and asks if they are assuming these Galileans are worse people because such a horrible thing happened to them.  Don’t we all do this?  Isn’t it so easy to assume that a person who experiences lots of turmoil in their life probably either deserves it or brought it upon themselves by the choices they made?  Jesus is telling people to be careful.  Instead of spending so much time judging others, perhaps we should be worried about our own humbleness before God and repent where we need to do so.

Are you humble?  Do you have anything about which you need to repent?

Third Thought:

The other situation is a similar one, although notice that Jesus brings this one up to the crowd.  A tower fell on some people in Siloam.  Can we conclude that they must have been more horrible than all the rest because they died horribly?  Can we conclude that God must have had some vendetta against them because this freak accident came upon them?  Of course not.  Sometimes bad things just happen.  What is important is that we analyze ourselves and make sure that we humble approach our God.

Do you ever judge others based on their circumstances?  Do you ever equate your circumstances with God’s love of you?  Why is this dangerous?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 13:6-9

Luke 12:57-59

Luke 12:57-59

And why do you not judge for yourselves what is righteous?  For as you depart with your adversary to the chief ruler, give some sort of gain while still being in the road to be set free from him, lest he should drag you forcibly to a judge, and he should hand you over to an officer, and the officer will throw you into prison.  I say to you, you should surely not come out from that place until you should give back even the smallest amount.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Again, let’s study this passage in reverse.  We end with a person being dragged before a ruler, who hands them over to a judge, who gives them to some sort of official, who throws them in prison.  The person doesn’t get out of prison until the whole debt – even up to the smallest amount – is completely paid.  I’ve always found this amusing, because I’ve wondered how it is that a person is to pay off a debt from inside prison!  Often, a person couldn’t do this.  Therefore, paying off the debt became a burden thrust on the person’s family.  They couldn’t likely pay, either.  So what Jesus is teaching us here is that when things are made official, consequences are often official, thorough, and harsh.  When we involve people who are not personally invested and are instead merely concerned with upholding the law, we usually get a true judgment, but it is a judgment that is uncompassionate made without true concern for the individuals involved.

Why can this be a bad thing?  Have you ever been involved in a situation where someone who wasn’t really involved had to make a decision and the decision was right but not concerned with the actual people involved?  How did that feel?

Second Thought:

Furthermore, not only is there often a lack of compassion when judgment is made by people who are not personally invested, it also often takes a long time to resolve.  Going through official means usually implies a proper chain of command and a long drawn out process.  It takes time to go from a person of influence, to an actual judge, to a person who can hand out the consequences, to the resolution of those consequences.  When things are unable to be resolved by the people involved, not only do we get the dissatisfaction of having a result that is typically uncompassionate, we get a result that is so far removed from the incident that the conclusion does not usually bring satisfaction, either.

Why is it a good thing to have our problems resolved as closely to the incident as possible?  Have you ever been disappointed – even when winning a dispute – because of how long it took to win?

Third Thought:

Now we return to the beginning.  Jesus’ advice is to settle matters personally among ourselves.  If two people have a dispute, the best solution is for those people to come to an agreement between themselves and to have both parties live up to the agreement.  I know, that is easier said than done, because human beings are always looking out for themselves, not looking out for the interests of others and living up to their word, too.  But it is still the best solution.  Problems are always resolved most satisfactorily when they are able to be resolved between people who care about the issue and in a timely manner so the resolution is still relevant to the issue.

When have you been able to satisfactorily settle a dispute without involving official measures?  How do you feel about such resolution?  Do you agree with Jesus’ teaching here about settling personal matters yourselves versus involving official authorities?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 13:1-5

Luke 12:54-56

Luke 12:54-56

And He also said to the crowds, “Whenever you should see a cloud rising up in the west, immediately you all say that a shower comes and it does become this way.  And whenever you should see the south wind blowing, you all say that a scorching heat will be, and it becomes this way.  Hypocrites!  You all have known how to discern the face of the earth and the heavens; but this present time, how do you not discern?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more Jesus takes the time to talk to the crowds.  Jesus continues to take advantage of whoever would listen to Him. He isn’t necessarily going and hunting people down, but He isn’t afraid to speak to whoever the Father places into His life, either.  Jesus is going to make the most of each situation.

Who is your audience?  Where do you find the people God is bringing into your life?

Second Thought:

We know how to read the signs.  Ever hear the expression, “Red at night, sailor’s delight; red in morning, sailor’s warning?”  Or maybe you have gone outside and smelled rain in the air.  Or perhaps you’ve seen all of the clouds clear out in winter and you’ve known that a cold snap was coming.  The truth is that we do know how to read the world around us.  We’re not dumb.  We can learn and adapt to much of what we put our mind to.  The question that Jesus asks in this teaching is how much we want to put our mind to God and His ways.

Are you focused on God and His ways?  Are you spending time learning to examine your life so you can live more like His ways?

Third Thought:

In the end, look at the adjective that talks about the people who behave in this manner. Jesus calls them hypocrites.  Again, this is a Greek theater word.  It means “actor.”  It means a person who puts on a face or persona that isn’t true within.  When we claim to know truth and discernment, yet we do not know God and His ways, what other word would He use to describe us?

Have you ever claimed to be wise and then got the discernment wrong?  Do you think God is in the right to call us hypocrites in these situations?  How can you avoid this in the future?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:57-59

Luke 12:49-53

Luke 12:49-53

“I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what I desire was already being kindled.  And I have a baptism to be baptized, but how I am being constrained until when it should be finished.  Do you think that I became present to give peace in the earth?  No, I say to you, but rather division.  For from now on five in one house will be in dissension. They will be divided three upon two and two upon three, father upon son and son upon father, mother upon daughter and daughter upon mother, and mother-in-law upon daughter-and-law and daughter-in-law upon mother-in-law.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In the New Testament, fire isn’t always a bad thing.  Often we think of fire as judgment.  This is largely because we are trained to associate fire with the concept of Hell.  But if that is our application here in this passage, then what we really are reading is that Jesus is saying that He came so that people could be judged.  That just isn’t true, you can read passages like John 3:17.  The Father will be the judge of His creation, not the Son.  So how do we read this instance of fire?  The other use of fire is as a symbol of purification.  You can read Mark 9:49-50 or 1 Corinthians 3:11-13.  In other words, what Jesus is saying here is that He came in order to help purify the earth.  He came to help us see ourselves and discern what is of God and what needs to go because it is our human sinfulness.  He came to redeem us and open our lives up to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Of course, judgment is the natural end of this process for anyone who doesn’t heed Jesus’ purification.  But we should understand that this passage is not meant to cause us to fear the fires of Hell.  This passage is about causing us to recognize the refining process and to appreciate what it does within us.

Where is your life being refined?  Are you appreciative of this process or resentful?  Why can this process be enjoyable?  What makes this process difficult?

Second Thought:

Jesus talks about being constrained until the time is right.  What is Jesus talking about here?  There are many possibilities, probably more than I can lay out here.  If we understand the fire in light of my first point, we know that Jesus was only doing this work in person with His disciples and anyone else who was willing to listen.  Compared to the population, of the world, He had a limited audience.  I can understand how Jesus would feel constrained knowing that the whole world was out there but He was to focus on a very narrow population.  This leads us into another layer of understanding.  We know that the Holy Spirit doesn’t come until after Jesus is died and resurrected.  At that point, this refinement becomes truly open to the whole world, not just those people that Jesus has met face to face.  Jesus was constrained.  But now, Jesus can work everywhere at once as He tries to refine people.

Why do you think the Father constrained the Son and asked Him to work in the way that He did?  What does this teach us about God and His relationship with us?

Third Thought:

The rest of this passage talks about division.  The reality is that refinement always brings about division.  When I change my life and begin to follow a truth that is God’s agenda and not a human agenda, it can challenge the people around us.  Some people receive that challenge and imitate.  Other people reject that challenge and become antagonistic to our change.  Other people simply disassociate.  But the point is that when we change our life, we cause other people to react to the change.  That reaction can be favorable, but it isn’t necessarily that way.

When have you encountered dissension when you have been refined by Christ?  When have you found a friend who is sympathetic to your change?  When has your change been imitated by another?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:54-56

Luke 12:41-48

Luke 12:41-48

Peter said to Him, “Did you say this parable for us or for all people?”  And the Lord said, “Who, therefore, is the faithful steward who is wise, whom the Lord will appoint upon the household service – to give him his portion in due time?  Blessed is that slave, whom after his Lord shall come He will find him doing similarly.  Truly I say to you that upon all His things that He possesses He will make him a ruler.  But if that slave should say in his heart, ‘My Lord delays to come’ and he should begin to beat the young male servants and the young female servants, to eat, to drink, and also to become drunk, then the Lord of that slave will come in a day which he does not expect and an hour which he does not know.  And he will cleave him into two parts and he will set his parts in with the unfaithful.  But that slave who knew the will of his lord and after not preparing or doing his desire will be greatly beaten.  And the one who does not know, and after doing things worthy of a beating, he will be beaten lightly.  And all to whom much was being given, much will be sought from him.  And to whom much is being set in front, even more will be asked of him.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Peter’s question strikes me as interesting.  Peter is concerned that Jesus told this parable for just the disciples.  Now, make sure that you get this right.  Peter isn’t asking because he thinks the disciples are better.  Peter is asking this question because he is thinking that he and the other disciples are behind the rest of the world.  Remember that this last parable that Jesus spoke about was a warning to be prepared.  Therefore, Peter is asking if everyone needs to worry about being prepared or if it is just a deficiency among the disciples.  Peter is doubting.  He is concerned.  His mind is being opened to the difference between his humanity and the ideal of Christ.

Do you ever doubt yourself and those around you?  Do you ever worry that you are behind in your development?  In what way is this a good thing and can be useful in your spiritual development?

Second Thought:

Notice that the message Jesus gives us is very much in line with the messages of the last few sections.  Those who are obedient will be rewarded.  Those who are not obedient will be punished.  We who know what we should be doing when nobody is looking bear the burden of actually doing it!  We should do the right thing because we have the character of God within us, not because we are afraid that he is watching and might punish us.

Why do you live according to the ways of God?  Have you ever done the right thing out of resentment?  What helps you do the right thing for the right reasons?

Third Thought:

Jesus ends with a very convicting message.  People who are given much need to act within that gift.  There are many people in the world who lack basic resources.  They lack access to basic knowledge of God.  God has little reason to expect great things from people in such circumstances.  However, there are some people in the world who have been given great things, great resources and great access to the knowledge of God.  These people have no excuse if they do not live within God’s will.  God has every reason to expect much from them.

Do you consider yourself richly blessed or scantly blessed?  Do you consider yourself a person who is richly working for the kingdom or scantly working for the kingdom?  How do these answers compare?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:49-53

Luke 12:35-40

Luke 12:35-40

Be as having girded yourselves at the hip and while lamps are burning.  And you all are like men waiting for their Lord, when he should return from the wedding feast, in order that after coming back and knocking immediately they should open for him.  Blessed are those servants, who after the lord comes he will find them watching.  Amen, I say to you that he will gird himself and he will sit them down and after coming forth he will serve them.  And should he come in the second – or even the third – watch and he should find them, they are blessed!  But know this!  If the master of the house had not known at what hour the thief comes, he would not permit his house to be broken into.  And you!  Become prepared, because you do not know the hour the Son of Man comes.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus tells us to “be as having girded yourselves at the hip and while lamps are burning.”  This is a really confusing statement, especially removed from His.  When we talk about girding oneself, we are talking about being dressed with a belt around the waist.  Often that belt would contain pouches for money, paper, and things like that.  It might also contain a small knife or dagger.  Jesus point is that a person who is girded is ready for normal living and being called upon.  A person with burning lams can see around them.  They can respond to the needs of others, react to danger or threats, and continue with life even in a dark world.  Jesus is telling us to be ready.  We don’t know what we’ll be asked to do.  Being prepared is part of our job.

Are you ready for action?  What has God asked of you?

Second Thought:

Next, Jesus talks to us about the servants whose master has gone away.  Notice that they continue living as if the master was still there.  Ever hear the old adage: “When the cat’s away, the mice will play?”  What Jesus is telling us is that such a statement has no place in a Christian life.  A Christian does what is expected of him or her, not because they have to but because they have a responsible character.

Are you responsible?  Do you do what is expected of you regardless of whether you are checked up on or not?

Third Thought:

Finally, Jesus makes the statement that the master of the house doesn’t know when the thief is coming.  If he did, he wouldn’t let the house get broken into.  Since we cannot know when the thief is coming, we must always be ready.  There is one sure statement about thieves in this world today.  They know our security better than we do.  They know when our guard is up and when our guard is down.  Sometimes we aren’t even aware when our guard is down!  But they do.  Coming at this from a spiritual angle, Jesus is telling us that we must be prepared.  Our spiritual guard must always be up.  We do not know when Satan – or even the world – will slip in and try and take away our faith.

Are you ready to keep the thief from stealing away your faith?  Where are your places of strength?  Where are your weaknesses?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:41-48

Luke 12:32-34

Luke 12:32-34

“Do not fear, little flock, because your Father took pleasure in giving the kingdom to you.  Sell the things you possess and give donations to the poor.  Make moneybags for yourselves that do not grow old – unfailing treasure in heaven – where a thief does not draw near nor a moth destroy.  For where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s start at the end.  Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.  In other words, Jesus is telling us that human beings are results oriented people.  Before we do anything, we figure out what we want.  Once we figure out what we want, we sell ourselves out for that.  Some people want big bank accounts.  They do what it takes to get it.  Other people what material possessions that demonstrate their success in the eyes of others.  They do what it takes to get it.  Other people want tons of education.  They do what it takes to get it.  Other people want lots of free time for relaxation.  They do what it takes to get it.  Want to figure out why you do the things you do?  Figure out the outcome you are pursuing and you’ll figure out why you are behaving the way you are.

What drives your life?  Where is your treasure?  What is your treasure?

Second Thought:

Not that we are talking about treasure, Jesus tells us to store up our treasure in heaven.  Nobody can touch the treasure that we have in heaven.  Nobody can touch the joy we have in our Father and His joy in us.  Nobody can touch our eternal life.  Everything we pursue here on this earth – material goods, popularity, intellect, free time – will eventually ass away, end, or no longer satisfy.  But our eternal treasure is simply that: eternal.

What treasure do you have that is eternal?  What does it look like for you to store up your treasure in heaven?

Third Thought:

Notice that Jesus tells us that God was pleased to give us the kingdom.  He wanted to do it.  He didn’t do it begrudgingly.  He wasn’t coerced.  He didn’t do it out of guilt or pity.  He gave us the kingdom because it was joyful to do so!  He wants to be in relationship with us.

How has God given the kingdom to you?  Where in your life do you feel the presence of the kingdom of heaven?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:32-34

Luke 12:22-31

Luke 12:22-31

And He said to His disciples, “For this sake I say to you: do not be anxious in your soul about what you should eat or in your body about what you should wear.  The soul is greater than meat and the body is greater than clothing.  Consider the ravens, because they neither sow nor reap, to whom is there neither closet nor barn.  Yet God feeds them.  You all are of far greater worth than birds.  And who out of you all, while being anxious, is powerful enough to add even a cubit to his stature?  Therefore, while not being powerful enough in such a small thing, why are you anxious regarding the things that remain?  Consider the lilies: how it never spins nor weaves.  But I say to you all, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as these.  And if God clothes them in this manner, being grass in the field this day and tomorrow being cast into an oven, how much more will He clothe you all, ones of little faith?  And do not seek for yourselves what you should eat or drink, and do not be in a doubtful mind.  For the Gentiles of the world seek after all these things.  And your Father has known that you need them.  Nevertheless, seek His kingdom and these things will be added for you. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Do not be anxious about what we are going to eat and what we are going to wear.  Have you ever watched television lately?  I am willing to bet that over half of our commercials are related to food and clothing.  I might be slightly over stating that, but if so I don’t think I am doing it by much.  Human beings worry about what we are going to eat and we worry about what we wear.  Naturally, eating is important.  It’s not fun being hungry.  But worrying about our clothing is silly.  What compounds this issue is not that we worry if we will have anything to eat or if we will have anything to wear.  What makes our predicament sad is that we worry if our food will be good enough and if our clothing will be in style enough.  That’s what really makes our condition sad.  Jesus tells us point blank: stop it.  Why worry about such trivial things as the kind of food we eat and the chicness of our clothing?

Do you worry about things that you shouldn’t?  How does this speak to our perspective in life and even our priorities?

Second Thought:

I love the analogy that Jesus gives here.  He goes to the natural world.  Takes bird.  They don’t harvest or plant.  Yet they seem to manage just fine.  Or take flowers and grass.  They don’t dig their own holes and water themselves, but they do just fine, too.  In fact, in all of creation there is only one species that doesn’t naturally live on God’s provision: mankind.  Yet how much of the rest of the world is truly in trouble?  The rest of creation, which depends fully on God, is doing just fine.  We can learn that lesson.

Why do human beings have such a hard time fully relying upon God?  Where in your life can you rely more upon God and less upon yourself?

Third Thought:

I really love the way that this passage ends.  Seek His kingdom, and He will add these things to you.  In other words, pursue that which is higher and let God take care of the lower things.  So often we think that we have to worry about the basics before we can ever worry about the higher level stuff.  Jesus is telling us that it is the opposite.  If we put our mind in a position to always be thinking about God and His ways, the small stuff will naturally work itself out!  Jesus doesn’t say it here, but I think a lot of that has to do with the lack of sin getting in our way when we focus on Him and His ways.  But in the end, what Jesus is really talking about here is trust.  He is telling us to trust God and pursue Him.

Are you willing to trust God?  How do you pursue God’s ways instead of the basics in life?  How has God come through with you and given you the basics for your needs when you follow Him?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:32-34

Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

And someone out of the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, speak to my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  And He said to him, “Man, who set me up as a judge or divider upon you?”  And He said to them, “Watch and keep guard from all covetousness, because one’s life is not out of his abundance of his possessions.”  And he spoke a parable to them, saying, “A region produced a wealthy man.  And he was reasoning with himself, saying, ‘What should I do, since I do not have somewhere that I will gather my fruit?’  And he said, ‘I will do this.  I will demolish my barn and I will build a greater one.  And there I will gather all of my fruits of the earth and my good things.  And I will say to my soul: soul, you have much good being appointed for many years.  Rest.  Eat. Drink. Be glad.’  But God said to him, ‘Fool!  They require your soul from you this very night.  And that which you prepared, to whom will it be?’  In this same way is the one who stores up for himself and who is not rich in God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

A man approaches Jesus and asks him to tell his brother to act a certain way.  I love Jesus’ response.  “Who set me up as a judge over you?”  The reality is that He is the Son of God!  He is in a place to judge over us, yet He does not desire that place.  How many of us seek to be that person who is the judge?  How many of us seek to be that person who holds the fate of others in our hands?  How many of us want to be the boss, or the CEO, or the CFO, or the president, or some other position of power?  Yet Jesus knows the truth.  In the end, even if we sit in positions of great power we cannot force other people to behave a certain way.  We can give regulations and expectations.  But we cannot control the behavior of other people.  The only person who can control how I at is me.

Do you ever desire to be in a place of power and control?  Where in your life do you desire this?  In what way is such a place of power unable to deliver on the promises and expectations that it promises?

Second Thought:

Jesus then leads us into a discussion on covetousness and desiring things.  In western culture, we have an expression: “Keeping up with the Joneses.”  Human beings covet easily.  We see something with our eyes and we want it.  We desire it.  Our heart lusts after it.  We work until we can attain it.  We talk to other people about getting it for us as a gift.  Whatever the means, we as human beings all know the pattern of seeing something we want to possess and devising a means to possess it.  Jesus tells us to be careful of this tendency.  Yes, it is good to set goals and work towards them.  But we must be careful in the process that we do not lose sight of God.  I should fundamentally want something because God wants me to have it, not because I crave it in my inner being.  We need to be careful that we do not lose sight of God and God’s desires when we consider what we have and what we want.

Do you ever covet?  When you covet and get what you desire, what is often the result?

Third Thought:

In the end, this parable is all about from where we see our future coming.  There are people who save and save for retirement, thinking that their future – when they are done with work – will be made easy.  However, there are two problems with that.  The first and most basic problem is that it causes a person to provide for themselves and stop placing their trust in God.  It causes a person to see all that they have as a doing of their own hands and their own creative ingenuity rather than as a blessing from God.  That gives us enough problems now.  However, the bigger problem is that such an attitude places us in very rough shape with respect to the eternal.  If we are living in such a way as we are providing for ourselves and not trusting in God, what will become of us in the eternal?  Can any one of us provide for ourselves after death?  No.  We should be storing up treasures with God, because He is the one who can best provide for us now and into the eternal.

Where is your treasure?  Who is responsible for the treasure you do have being in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:22-31

Luke 12:8-12

Luke 12:8-12

“And I say to you, everyone who confesses in my name in the presence of mankind the Son of Man will also confess in him in the presence of the angels of God.  And the one who denies me in the presence of mankind will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.  And everyone who will speak words into the Son of Man, it will be forgiven to him. But into the one who blasphemes into the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven.  And when they should bring you into synagogues and the rulers and authorities, you all should not be anxious as to how or what you should answer or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in this hour what is necessary to say.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus talks to us about the two positions that we can take with God.  The first position is to confess in Him in the presence of the world.  This is not just a position of belief.  After all, as James reminds us, even the demons believe!  This is a position of confessing our belief before others.  This is a proactive, not a reactive or silent, position.  This is a position of living and preaching our faith for others to see.

Are you proactive I your faith?  When does your belief in God shine before mankind?

Second Thought:

The second position about which Jesus speaks is the one who denies God.  Jesus reminds us that if we deny Him in the presence of mankind that we will be denied in the presence of angels.  This is a position of verbally denying our Lord.  But this is also a position of living in a way that God’s ways are denied as well.  When people look into our lives and see a denial of who God is, we are putting ourselves in a position of residing within this judgment.

Where in your life is God not visible?  What can you do about this?

Third Thought:

I love the way that Jesus ends this passage.  “Don’t worry when they drag you in front of the synagogue.  For you’ll know what to say.”  I love Jesus’ advice to tell us not to worry.  Nothing can prepare a person for that kind of rejection.  But at the same time, the reality is that God can protect us in those times.  After all, who in this world can truly harm us on an eternal level?  What good will worrying do?  Yet at the same time, I wrestle so much with this passage.  I am a person who loves to prepare.  What Jesus is asking us to do here is to trust.  That’s sometimes rather hard to do.  But it is worth trusting in god, because He can always deliver us.  Even when they drag us in front of people and accuse us publically.

When have you had to trust in God’s protection?  Have you ever known a time when you hadn’t prepared a response but yet you still had something meaningful to say?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:4-7

Luke 12:4-7

I say to you, my friends, do not have fear from the ones who can kill the body and after this who do not have anything greater that they can do.  But I will warn you of what you should be afraid.  Be afraid of the one who has authority after death to throw you into Hell.  Yes, I say to you, fear this one.  Are not five sparrows being sold for two insignificant coins?  And not one out of them is being forgotten in the presence of God.  But rather even all the hairs of your head are having been numbered.  Do not fear.  You are worth more than many sparrows.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s deal with the happy message first. We have value.  God values us.  That message should honestly mean more than any other message we can hear.  This message should trump every other message.  This message should be the context that we read everything else in God’s Word.  Regardless of how many hard messages we may hear, the only reason that we are hearing them in the first place is because we have value with God.

Why does God value you?  How can this message help to frame your life?

Second Thought:

There are other messages that we can hear in this passage.  We should fear God.  Fear doesn’t necessarily mean that we dread God.  What Jesus is telling us is that God has a large amount of power.  He has the ability to condemn if it is called for.  We shouldn’t forget this message.  While we have value to God, there are certain things within that message to which we need to adhere.  God’s love is freely given, but there is a proper response.  Truthfully, this makes sense.  Every parent gives their love freely to a child.  But there are proper responses that parents expect to get from their children.  Jesus is telling us to not neglect this side of the relationship.  We have incredible value to God.  We should therefore give back to Him what He expects from us.

Do you fear God?  Do you revere God?  How do you respond to God’s love in ways that He desires of you?

Third Thought:

As we backtrack through this passage, we get to Jesus’ opening comment.  How often do we fear the wrong people?  We fear the bullies in life that we think can make our immediate life miserable.  We fear the government and various other agencies that can make our life miserable should we give them cause.  We fear things we cannot control like the weather and a downturn in the stock market.  But none of those things can affect us into eternity!  We worry so much about the short time we are here on this planet when we should be focused on our eternal life.

What do you spend time worrying about now?  How can that worry help you lose focus?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:8-12

Luke 12:1-3

Luke 12:1-3

In this, after an innumerable crowd gathered, so much that they trampled each other, He began to first teach His disciples, “Give yourselves heed from the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  Nothing is having been covered on all sides that will not be revealed – and hidden that will not be known.  Therefore, whatever you all said – as much as it was in darkness – it will be heard in the light.  And that which you all speak in the closet to the ear will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The first thing that Jesus tells us is that we cannot hide things.  This is really quite true.  Nothing that we are and do is ever completely hidden.  People find ways into our life.  We build walls, but there are always cracks.  If we don’t reveal truth through our words, we certainly reveal it with our actions.  What Jesus is telling us here is that we honestly cannot keep things hidden and buried within ourselves.  It will come out.

Are you hiding anything?  Why do human beings try to hide things about themselves from others?  What do we try to hide?

Second Thought:

The second thing that Jesus tells us is that nothing we say in private ever really stays in private.  I’ve heard the saying, “Loose lips sink ships.”  But the truth is that human beings like to talk.  We like to gossip. We like to share those juicy morsels that we know about others.  When we speak things, we should know that the likelihood that they will be repeated is high – especially the things that we don’t want repeated.  That’s just how most of humanity works.

What have you said that you didn’t want repeated?  Have you ever been surprised when you said something in private and you found out that your confidence was not kept?

Third Thought:

The big message here is one of hypocrisy.  What we do will be known.  What we say in private will be known.  We can’t hide secrets.  But that’s really the point.  The Greek word for hypocrisy is derived from the context of the theater.  It is the word used for what people do on stage.  Today, we call it acting.  What Jesus is warning us about in this passage is acting.  He doesn’t want us living an external life that is different from our internal being.  Who we are should be what people see when they look at us.  There should be no façade.  The only way that our message is in the slightest bit meaningful is when we live the way that we proclaim.

Does your message match your walk?  Where do you live out an example of your faith within?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:4-7

Luke 11:45-54

Luke 11:45-54

Answering, one of the lawyers said to Him, “Teacher, in saying these things you injure us.”  And He said, “Woe to you lawyers, also!  You place heavy burdens that are hard to bear upon men yet you yourselves do not touch the burden with one finger!  Woe to you all, because you all build tombs of prophets yet your fathers killed them.  Therefore, you are witnesses and you approve of the work of your fathers because in one case they killed them and in another case you build the tombs.  The wisdom of God also speaks through this, “I will send into them prophets and apostles.  And out of them, they will kill and persecute in order that all of the blood of the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world will be sought out from this generation – from the blood of Abel through the blood of Zechariah, who was destroyed between the altar and the sanctuary.  Yes, I say to you, it will be sought out from this generation.  Woe to you lawyers, because you all raised up the key of knowledge.  You all did not enter and you all forbid the ones who do enter.  From then on, after departing, the scribes and Pharisees began to grievously quarrel and provoke Him to speak in greater detail, lying in wait to hunt something out of His mouth.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The first woe against the lawyers is their desire to lay heavy burdens on the people.  These are the ones who are saying “Do this” and “Don’t do that.”  But they are doing more than that.  They are saying, “Do it this specific way” and “Don’t do it this specific way.”  There are certainly things that God desires of us and things that God desires us to refrain from doing.  But God’s methods and God’s calling change contextually.  One approach to ministry will work in one area and another approach will work in another area.  We certainly need to keep God’s will before us and attain it.  But we must have flexibility and grace as we implement God’s will for our life.

In your life, where do you cling too closely to the restrictions and turn God’s Law into a burden on yourself and others?  Where are you able to hold up Gods Law in a way that also promotes grace and forgiveness?

Second Thought:

The third woe that is given to the lawyers is about raising up the key of knowledge.  At first, this sounds like a good thing.  When we raise something up, we can think of elevating it and giving it glory.  But that isn’t how Jesus means it in this case.  Jesus is saying that the lawyers are raising it up out of the reach of other people.  They are lifting up the Law in such a way as to prevent other people from having access to it.  In doing so, they are preventing regular people from having a relationship with God.  This is what Jesus means when He says that they themselves do not enter and they prohibit the ones who would enter.

Are you ever guilty of making God seem unattainable?  How can you strive to lift up the ways of God while also still lifting up the idea that God desires relationship with all people?

Third Thought:

I do find the reaction of the Pharisees and scribes sad.  They hear things that they don’t like and they seek a way to condemn Jesus.  Unfortunately, they don’t consider Jesus’ message.  They don’t want to hear that He might be right.  They don’t even want to consider that He might be right.  Their minds are made up.  They are going to get rid of Him rather than consider that He might be right.  That kind of rejection is difficult and sad to watch.

Where have you been willing to listen?  How have you benefitted from listening to criticism?  When have you rejected honest criticism?  How has your rejection hindered your growth and development as a person?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 12:1-3

Luke 11:37-44

Luke 11:37-44

And in saying these things, a Pharisee asked how he should eat with Him.  And after entering, he sat down to eat.  And after the Pharisee saw, he marveled that He did not first wash before dinner.  And the Lord said to Him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and plate.  But within you all are full of extortion and wickedness.  Fools!  Did not the one who made the outside also make the inside?  Nevertheless, give compassion to the things that are within and behold, all is clean for you all.  But woe to you Pharisees, because you give a tithe of mint and rue and all the herbs yet you all transgress the judgment and love of God.  It was necessary to do these things and not disregard the others.  Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the highest seat in the synagogue and the salutations in the marketplace. Woe to you all, because you are as indistinct tombs: the men who walk over them have not known it.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus has a conversation with the Pharisee about the difference between external and internal appearances.  It is as the old saying goes: beauty is more than skin deep.  We can look put together on the outside.  We can put up a façade that covers up what truly lies on the inside.  But that won’t fool God, who can see within.  If we want to truly be beautiful, we need to be worried about what lies within.  If we are beautiful within, then what lies within us will naturally flow to our outside.

What façade do you put up to cover what lies within?  What beauty lies within that you can naturally let out?

Second Thought:

The first woe that Jesus gives to the Pharisees is that they are focused on the Law and adhering to the outward demonstration of the Law.  But what they are missing is the application of the Law.  They are doing the things they should, things like tithing.  But they aren’t impacting the people around them.  They aren’t caring for the poor, the orphan, and the widow.  They aren’t sharing their resources to make sure people have what is needed to live.  They are checking things off of their list; but they are not living out the compassion of God.

Where do you go through the religious motions without actually putting forth compassion and grace?  Where do you find it easy to reach out in compassion and grace?

Third Thought:

The last woe of Jesus is the one that I feel is the most condemning.  Jesus compares the Pharisees to indistinct tombs.  People walk right over them and don’t even know that they are doing it!  In other words, the life of the Pharisees is changing anyone around them.  The Pharisees are having no impact at all on the world around them.  God called His people to put the grace and love of God on display.  What the Pharisees are doing is enjoying when they themselves are being put on display!  What does it say about us if we can go through our life and the world is not changed – or at least shown God – by our presence!

Where are you trying to impact the world around you?  Where have you experienced success?  Where are you excited about your own glory and not so much about the praise of God’s name?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 11:45-54