Luke 6:45

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Personal Challenge

Who we are, what we think, what we say, and what we do all comes from the state of our heart. We can put a facade in front of the heart and pretend to be something, or someone else, but sooner or later that facade crumbles and the true heart is revealed. Out of our heart can come kindness or meanness, uplifting or putting down, truth or lies, love or hate. It is up to us to relinquish all the depths of our hearts to Jesus so that He can fill it with Himself and therefore create in us a new and righteous heart. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 6:41-42

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to point out someone else’s faults and problems all the while ignoring our own. Just because we can-easily do that does not mean that our issues go away. In actuality, they just get magnified. Jesus instructs us to take care of our own issues before we point out someone else’s. If we can master this then our relationship with others will improve significantly and God will be able to help us clean up our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Luke 6:37

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Command with a Promise

God’s economy, His way of doing things, is always balanced. He is perfection and therefore everything that He instructs us to do is balanced and perfect. Here we are given three things to do in our lives, each with an associated promise. We are to not judge our fellow human, that is God’s job. By doing this, we will not be judged. We are not to condemn others in order to not be condemned ourselves. And we are to forgive others so that we can reap the full benefits of God’s forgiveness for our sins. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Luke 6:32-36

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

Personal Challenge

Loving our enemies, doing good to them, and lending to them expecting no reciprocation sets us apart as followers of Christ from all others. God has done, and continues to do, so much for us expecting nothing from us. Does it not make sense that He asks us to do the same in order to Amore like Him? Glory be to God!

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Personal Challenge

Once again, Jesus gives us a rule to live our lives by that is so contradictory to what the world around us tells us to do. Love our enemies. Why would we want to do that? Treat those who treat us badly with kindness? Why? How? Isn’t this what God does every moment of every day when so many reject Him? In my recent readings of Tertullian, an early church father, he deals with this passage in his book against Marcionism (look it up). He teaches that the Old Testament teaching of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, was the establishment of a law to create fear in us. A fear that drives us to do good in order to avoid the consequences. He teaches that Jesus, by fulfilling the law, gives us the rule to lover our enemies so that we can transcend this fear and choose to treat our fellow human nicely, no matter how they treat us. This is lively a godly life. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Luke 6:20-23

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”

Personal Challenge

God operates from a much different perspective than we humans do. I would guess that this would most likely be related to the fall of mankind. Our world, His creation, was turned upside down when the forbidden fruit was eaten. And we have been in conflict with God and His ways ever since. If we look at all the things that this world holds as blessed, wealth, abundance of food and other pleasantries, laughter, inclusion by those around us, we can see that they are fleeting and easily lost. God’s blessings are based on those things that are permanent and eternal. Glory be to God!

Luke 5:31-36

Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.”

Personal Challenge

We are in an age where everyone is so self-sufficient and self-focused. You may even hear it said, “Who needs God?” or “Who needs Jesus?” There is only one answer to all questions like these, which is, “We all need God and Jesus!” We are all sick from being a part of this fallen world. We are all broken as sinners. We all need Jesus to be our physician. We are all old wineskins that need our God to make us new so that the Holy Spirit can be poured into us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!