Luke 11:9-10

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Personal challenge

Context is so important. These two verses are so often used by those who believe in the “name it and claim it”, or prosperity, gospel. By themselves, it is possible to see why this happens. In the verses prior to this, Jesus gives the parable of the man who has some visitors show up late at night and he has nothing to give them. Hospitality is an extremely important part of this culture. So, he goes to his neighbor to see if he will give him what he needs to entertain them properly. The neighbor is already in bed and refuses to answer the door. However, through persistently knocking on that door and calling out to the homeowner, the door is opened and the request is granted. Jesus tells us to be persistent askers, seekers, and knockers, to pursue Him relentlessly, so that He will take care of us when the time is right. Glory be to God!

Luke 10:41-42

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Personal Challenge

Is there a difference between business and busyness? There definitely is, especially in our relationship with God. What is His business that we should be involved in? It really is simple to articulate. Loving Him and loving our neighbor. If we make this our business, then we too, just like the apostles will change the world around us. Unfortunately, what we so often do is get caught up in busyness. This is doing all those things that look good in the eyes of man as if we are doing His work. We are checking off the lists that we have created that we believe describes the things we need to do to be good Christians. However we become Martha’s and get too busy to love God and love our neighbor. We lose our joy in Him and eventually, if we keep this up, we lose Him. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, hare mercy!

Luke 10:19-20

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

Encouraging Words

We can rejoice in the truth that as followers of Christ, our names have been written in the book of eternal life. This is more valuable than any of the blessings that God would bestow upon us while we live here on earth. Knowing this truth helps us through every trial and tribulation as we take each step closer to our home in heaven. Glory be to God!

Luke 10:9

And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Personal Challenge

What has happened to the Church in the past 2,000 years that has made us so different from when Jesus started us up? In the passage leading up to this verse, Jesus had just commissioned His disciples to go out and proclaim His God News. They were able to heal the sick and perform miracles on His behalf. As we continue reading through the Scriptures we see that after His ascension the apostles and disciples continue to do the same. And yet today, we see none of this. Is it because God can no longer work through us, His followers? God is the same. It is us who have changed. Jesus often showed us that faith was needed to be healed by Him. If we do not truly believe in the power that He has and that He has the power to work miracles through us, then we will not be able to be used by Him. When He said that the Kingdom of God has come near to us, He meant that it is here and now and that we can live in that Kingdom today, if we believe in Him. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and forgive me of my disbelief!

Luke 10:2

Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Personal Challenge

Is it necessary for us to drop everything, sell all that we have, quit our jobs, and become missionaries so that we can be God’s laborers in His great harvest? Sometimes God does ask us to do this. But He also wants us to be willing to do that and to be willing to be used where we are, all of the time, as His laborers. We live in the very midst of one of the largest mission fields that exists. God wants us to be His hands, feet, and mouth everywhere that we go and in all that we do. He wants to be available to Him and to always be doing things that are harvest minded. This is the only way that the harvest will be yielded. Glory be to God!

Luke 9:23-24

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

Personal Challenge

A true Christian walk is a journey of constant denial. If we are to proclaim Christ as our Lord and take up our cross and follow Him, then we must deny the world around us for it is an enemy of Christ. We must deny the desires to be a part of this world and the enjoyment in the many pleasures and joys that it offers us that are contrary to what God offers us. Most importantly, and most difficult, we must deny ourselves. We put God before us. We put the love for our neighbor before love for ourselves. This is how we truly act upon a desire to follow Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Luke 8:16-18

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Encouraging bonds

So often this passage is interpreted in one of two ways: we are supposed to put the light of Christ on display so that everyone can see it; and there is nothing in our lives that we can hide from God. Both. of them are in there. Another one that we might consider is that there is nothing in the Christian way of life that God will hide from us. He wants us to live full lives for Him. So many misguided people are looking for that special secret that God has only for them. What is hidden behind that door? What is the special handshake? God tore down the curtain in front of the holy of holies for a reason, so that through Christ we might see God. The closer to Him that we walk the more of God we see. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Luke 7:31-35

And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Personal challenge

Jesus was preceded by John the Baptist who lived a very ascetic life. Jesus lived His life with more freedom from the law and engaged with the common and unclean people of His day. The leaders of the church in that day condemned them both for their ministries and their lifestyles. They were so ingrained in how they had perverted the laws and covenant with God that nothing outside of their own definition of the church would satisfy them. We must be careful to not do the same in our churches and Christian walk today. We must be careful to not build institutions and rubrics that end up excluding the very people that God wants us to love, as well as God Himself, from being a central part of our life. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 7:13

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Encouraging Words

We do not worship and serve a harsh and mean God, He is full of compassion, mercy, and grace, even to the point where He will weep over the death of a child. God loves us, His creation, so much that He was willing to give up His Son for us. Jesus became one of us so that He could fulfill the law of the first covenant and create a new covenant between us and God, a covenant based upon ultimate love. Glory be to God!