One Last Chance

Bible Readings... Luke 13
Highlighted Verse... Luke 13:6-9 - Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' " 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
Thoughts... Jesus didn't really tell parables in a generic story-telling sort of way. Instead, he had a very specific purpose to his story-telling and chose the subject matter to fit the audience. What was his purpose here and by extension, what is his message for me today?
How it impressed me... The message to the Jewish nation two thousand years ago was probably the same call to repent of their ways or be cut off from God that His prophets had issued to the Israelites for hundreds of years. One last chance, once last chance... Fast forward to today, and I guess that the question is whether I'm on that last chance where I'm being watered and fertilized for one last chance to produce fruit before I'm cut down, rooted out, and thrown away. New inspiration for fruit bearing!
My response to God... Dear Lord, thank you for your patience and forbearance over the years giving me more chances, wiping the slate clean each time. Help me to recognize those whom you have perfectly positioned me to reach. Embolden me to speak the words of truth to ears waiting to hear your message.

What Were You Talking About

Bible Readings... Luke 12
Highlighted Verse... Luke 12:2-3 - There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Thoughts... Nothing surprising here from a conceptual perspective, there are a significant number of scriptural references wherein Pharisees or others in Jesus' presence are talking amongst themselves in a manner so as to hide the conversation from Jesus only to discover that Jesus knew exactly what they were saying. In practice there are some interesting and scary possibilities if we apply this same teaching to ourselves.
How it impressed me... Generally speaking, I find that the people that make up the church we attend to be wonderful Christians -- sins and all. However, upon reading this passage the image that crossed through my mind was this:

What if one Sunday, Jesus replayed all of the conversations whispered between spouses, amongst the youth, and between friends that had occurred just during the current service over the loudspeakers right before the alter call. How Christian would that sound? How many individuals would be openly embarrassed? How many would never return? How does God feel each day as he hears us?

My response to God... Merciful God, please forgive me for my words and thoughts that fail to lift others up, that inflict hurt and pain, or that do not edify you. Instead Lord, help me to focus on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— [to] think about such things (Phillipians 4:8) that I may lift your name and give you honor and glory through my thoughts and speech.

I Can't See

Bible Readings... Luke 11
Highlighted Verse... Luke 11:34-36 - Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is bad, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.
Thoughts... These verses very hard for me. I understood the basic point that was being made, but not why the point was being made this way. Specifically, why is the focus on the eye? Reading from several different translations didn't help much. Finally, I ran into an interlinear bible (english and greek) that provided a little help. The greek word Ophthalmos literally means eye, but it is also used metaphorically as the eyes of the mind or the faculty of knowing. But I still felt a little queasy about the why. I search through several commentaries with similar dissatisfaction. Finally, I ran into a commentary by David Guzik. He reasons that in verses 33-36 Jesus warns about inner darkness.

A. This section has application to both what went before it (Jesus answers those who thought His miracles were the work of Satan and those who wanted to see more) and what comes after it (Jesus deals with hypocrisy).

B. No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand: Just as a lamp should be displayed out in the open, so all can benefit from its light, so the word and work of God should be displayed. But when Jesus displays His word and works, the religious people of His day won't accept them!

C. The lamp of the body is the eye: Even as a bad eye will make a person blind, so their bad hearts will make them spiritually blind. You have to be spiritually blind to attribute Jesus' miracles to Satan, to ignore the works of Jesus that are right before your eyes, or to live as a hypocrite. When you are in darkness, there are two possible reasons why. There may be no light source, or the darkness may be within yourself. Jesus says they know that the darkness is within themselves.

D. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light: When we have the light of God's word shining in us, when we see and understand the work of Jesus around us, we won't walk in the darkness of spiritual blindness.

How it impressed me... When I cannot "see" the meaning of Jesus' words and the reading is about hard-hearted Pharisees and Teachers of the Word, I must consider the possibility that I suffer the same disease that they suffered... and guard against it.
My response to God... Precious Saviour, open my eyes, my heart, my mind, and my soul to your teachings. Fill me with your Word, that your light may light my way. Purge all darkness that is within me, that I may be spiritually alive in you.

What's My Mission

Bible Readings... Luke 10
Highlighted Verse... Luke 10:4b - And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.
Thoughts... Jesus has just commissioned 72 other disciples to go out to all the towns and places he planned to visit and pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest and ask Him to send more workers, but NOT to stop and greet anyone on the road.
How it impressed me... At first glance this seems almost unChristian, surely Jesus wants us to greet each other and spread His word, but that would miss the point entirely. Jesus had a very specific mission that he sent these 72 men on. He needed them to go to some very specific places that he would soon be visiting and pray for more workers. When we try to choose our own mission, we move away from God and the mission that He has for us... no matter how much our own mission may seem to be godly, if it is contrary to the mission He has sent us on, it is sin.
My response to God... Dear Lord, Help me to set aside my goals, my purpose, my will and accept the mission that you have sent me on. Help me to clearly see, understand, and obey your will and your mission for me. Help me to view my circumstances from your perspective... to accept your promises... and claim your provisions to further your kingdom here on earth.

Jesus Gave Them Complete Power

Bible Readings... Luke 9
Highlighted Verse... Luke 9:1 - Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them complete power over all demons and diseases.
Thoughts... A couple of thoughts come to mind, but I don’t know if they contradict or confirm each other. (1) I have heard others speak of how the miraculous gifts are no longer present. Could that be because Jesus hasn’t given us the power or that we haven’t asked for it? (2) When we pray for healing and healing doesn’t occur, is it because we don’t have the power or something else?
How it impressed me... When we find that our prayer life is ineffective, or is not producing the results that we expected, even when we thought we were in God’s will, there might still be something missing — God’s gift of power to us. Forty verses later in this same chapter, Jesus, Peter, John, and James are coming down the mountain after the transfiguration and the same apostles that had “complete power over all demons and diseases” couldn’t rid the child of a demon because they were “stubborn and don't have any faith.” Am I stubborn and lacking in faith too?
My response to God... Lord, fill me with your power. Remove the stumbling blocks that get in the way of your will being foremost in my life. Help me to be flexible in bending to your ways and your will. Increase my faith.