Getting Through the Narrow Door
8 The Lord is good and does what is right;
….he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
9 He leads the humble in doing right,
….teaching them his way.
10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
….all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. Psalm 25:8-10 NLT
I am so grateful for promises such as these!
Luke 13:23-30 (<<click here to read the passage)
In our world, there are many places where one must meet prerequisites to be able to enter. Some places one must have a ticket in hand – movie theaters, amusement parks, concerts, museums, etc. Some places one must pay a fee – golf clubs, campgrounds, and so forth. Some places one must meet certain requirements to get in – places of higher education, Mensa (anyone with an IQ in the top 2% of the population can join!)
What if I told you that I know of a great place that, anyone who desires to, can get into? No tickets are required. There is a fee, but it’s been taken care of. The only thing you have to do is to meet certain requirements. The wonderful thing is that there are no physical or mental requirements. Gender, race, age – none of it matters! The only requirement that everyone who enters has to meet is to accept Christ as Lord and Savior! Doing so will grant you eternal membership in His family. What a deal, right?
The thing is, we can’t buy our way in, we can’t work our way in, we can’t sneak in. Accepting Christ is the one and only stipulation to gain entrance. He paid the price for all who are willing to accept His offer.
But it needs to be made very clear that it is not a walk in the park. Once we accept Christ’s gift of salvation, it will take work on our part to be obedient and stay in line with His guidance and direction. We won’t be thrown out because we struggle. We won’t be thrown out for falling flat on our faces even. The only way to be thrown out is to reject Christ and defiantly turn our back on Him, rejecting who He is and what He has done for us. But it will take work…
Jesus said in verse 24,
“Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. NLT
“Strive to enter through the narrow door [force aside unbelief and the attractions of sin]; for many, I tell you, will try to enter [by their own works] and will not be able. AMP
The work we are required to do is diligently striving to force aside unbelief and the attractions of sin. Trying to enter by our own works – our own efforts, rejecting Christ’s gift – that is where we will fail, and we will not be able to enter.
It is not at all easy but the reward for our efforts is literally out of this world!
But one last warning from our loving Lord and Savior in verse 30,
“And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.” NLT
Our world has twisted many things. We bow down and worship those in authority, those with talent and power and wealth. We grovel before them and hang onto their every word. But in God’s eyes, “all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags”. Isaiah 64:6 AMP (emphasis mine)
We cannot pay the price. Our only choice is to reject the lies of the world and to embrace the truth of Christ. Amen!
Aug 27th, 2020, Thurs, 10:54 pm
Pressing On
A long day does not even begin to describe it, Father. But I am reminded continually that Your hand is guiding and sustaining me through it all! A thank You does not seem sufficient…
Luke 13:22 (<<click here to read the passage)
A seemingly common desire amongst humanity is the desire to know what lies ahead of us. We think that if we only knew those things that we could avoid pitfalls and take advantage of surety. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to sidestep heartache and pain or know that if we could just stand firm that victory would be ours?
Maybe…but where advanced knowledge could benefit us, it could also hinder us, stopping us in our tracks.
Some things would surely be debilitating. What if we knew that before us lied excruciating pain and suffering that no matter what we did or didn’t do would overtake us. Then every moment up until that time would be stilted as we waited for the inevitable. What joy we might have had would dissipate with our fear and trepidation. Truly I think it best that we don’t know what lies on the path we travel.
In today’s verse, Jesus knows. Yes, He is fully God and clearly sees what lies ahead, not just His tomorrow, but He knows what He has to accomplish if His task of bringing us salvation is to be fulfilled. Nothing prohibits Him from seeing the unavoidable pain and suffering that will belong to Him and Him alone. And being that He is fully man, as well, it could have stopped Him in his tracks. I could have been utterly debilitating…but it wasn’t!
Despite His knowing, He was resolute in His mission.
Read through today’s passage.
Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
If you press on…you continue with a task or activity in a determined way, and do not allow any problems or difficulties to delay you. – collinsdictionary.com
Did Jesus stop teaching? Did He stop healing? Did He stop preaching to the eager crowds? Did He stop loving? No!
Nothing stopped our Savior from completed his task of saving! Even knowing his death would be much sooner than later he pressed on.
That was His decision. What will we do with it? Will we disregard it…or will we embrace it for what it is and allow Him to use us and every aspect of our lives so that others may find His salvation, as well?
Aug. 26th, 2020, Wed, 9:22 pm
A Little Goes a Long Way
Father, this has been a different kind of day. I can’t really put my finger on it but… Overall it has been a good day, and I will take a good day, any day! Thank You, Father, for Your blessed presence. Thank You for keeping enabling me to keep my goals, as well.
Luke 13:20-21 (<<click here to read the passage)
Some time back Karen and I started cutting down on certain types of food as mainstays in our diet that we felt were not very beneficial for us. For the most part, we have eliminated starchy foods and sugary foods from the foods we eat.
Now I have never been a big bread eater, but I enjoyed toast with breakfast, and on special occasions, rolls with homemade jelly on them did the trick. We haven’t kept bread in the house for some time but…when we go out to eat, sometimes we will indulge.
One place we enjoy is Texas Roadhouse – good food, great service, and reasonably priced. And they have fresh-baked rolls which they serve hot from the oven with cinnamon butter! Mmmmmmmm! They are yeast rolls, so they even smell delicious!
Just a few weeks back, we looked at yeast. In that instance, Jesus spoke saying “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1 And now He is comparing the Kingdom of God to yeast! What?!
So, when you think about it “the yeast of the Pharisees – their hypocrisy” had a bent to wickedness. It worked as yeast works, permeating our lives through and through to our loss because it is a mentality that goes against what is good and whole and pure. How can one be filled with hypocrisy and love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength? If you are hiding behind a mask, how can you truly love others? You can’t!
Now, if we allow God’s love to permeate our lives – and that is what brings about His Kingdom – it gives us a bent toward holiness! It is wholesome. It is pure. It perpetuates eternal joy! There is not one thing bad in that whole batch! And a little dab’l do ya!
For some of us, our bent to wickedness is hard to overcome. We may think that we’ll never overcome it. But just a little bit of “holy” yeast can impact us greatly!
I was curious as to the ingredients of Texas Roadhouse rolls, so I searched for a “copy-cat” recipe online. For that recipe, one would use 4 cups of flour and 2 ¼ teaspoons of yeast to yield 24 rolls. In that recipe, there is 92 times as much flour as there is yeast! That’s almost a penny in comparison with a dollar!
Take heart! If sin is steamrolling your spiritual walk, go to Jesus! A little prayer may not seem like much, but it is powerful in the hands of a mighty God! Don’t give up if you fall! Keep on keeping on! Jesus and all the throngs of heaven are cheering you on! You can do it! A little bit of yeast goes a long way!
Aug 25th, 2020, Tues, 7:52 pm
Weary and Worn
It was a busy day today, Father. Karen and I were able to donate blood today, which I always feel good about. After that, we were able to run some errands and enjoy the day together. Thank You for the blessings of this day.
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Jesus, I just feel the need tonight to come before You, weary and worn, in a humble attitude of prayer.
At the end of last school year, when things, as we had known them, came to a screeching halt, we were able to handle them. In a way, it was like we had been doing our thing full tilt, so when things changed the momentum of that carried us forward until the end. There were a couple of bumps in the road, but we dealt with them and kept on moving.
Summer has of course been different, too. But we just adjusted as necessary and really didn’t make any waves and were not overly impacted by the waves of others either.
But now we are in a different place altogether, it seems like. Most everyone has been itching to get back to “normal”, so on many levels, we are trying to do that. The problem is, it is all pretty much a semblance of “normal” because, at this moment in time, normal just can’t be had.
Overall, I feel we are doing the right things in being as cautious as we can be in regard to protecting one another from exposure to the virus. Yet, people are all over the place in their reactions.
Some feel we are overreacting big time. They feel that we are being foolish going down that path like dumb sheep just doing what we are told to do without question.
Some feel that we are not being cautious enough! We are rushing too quickly into too great a potential for exposure and that in short order we will fall head over heels into disaster.
A lot of people feel just stuck in the middle. We so want normal, too, but are being pulled all over the place not trying to rock the boat but doing our best to keep ourselves and those we love safe in the midst of it all.
One of the hardest things is that there is really nowhere to escape to where the pressures of all these things don’t exist. Work, shopping, eating, school…even church! There is often outright opposition in all these places and sometimes there is that undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the way things are being handled by those in leadership. To say the least, it is demoralizing…
I must say on every front, leaders are in lose/lose situations. All in all, there is no winning solution. But in most cases leaders are doing the very best they can. They are trying to hear and understand every angle. There are trying to grant as much freedom for normalcy yet keep everyone as safe as possible at the same time!
We are overdoing it until someone becomes gravely ill or dies, then we didn’t do enough!
Those who have taken time to read up to this point, I challenge you. Pray. Love. Have compassion. Show mercy. Forgive. Be humble.
Lord Jesus, did You do any less? When You came to live amongst us, the only way to save us was to lose everything! You held nothing back… Your total sacrifice was required, so that we may receive the gift of salvation, full and free. May we never forget! And may we follow suit, in loving and giving of ourselves. Amen.
Aug 24th, 2020, Mon, 9:14 pm
I Have a Mustard Seed, and I’m Not Afraid to Use It!
A good day, Father, gathering with Your people, interacting with them in so many ways. Thank You for Your many blessings! I pray for the continued blessings of Your hand upon my shoulder. Actually, I know that Your hand will be there…what I earnestly pray for is that I will continue to heed Your will. Amen.
Luke 13:18-21 (<<click here to read the passage)
It is easy to feel small and insignificant in the world. In my circle of friends and associates, I don’t think there are a lot of movers and shakers…at least according to the world’s standards.
We think that we really don’t make a big difference. We are single individuals and standing alone, how can we make any substantial impact on the way things are.
For example, isn’t our world a wreck? Sure, there are pockets of love and compassion. But, specifically here in the United States, we are so divided. We are seemingly incapable of reconciliation. I feel this way. You feel that way. …and never the two shall meet. I say, “Well, I’m not going to change.” And you say, “I’m not going to either!”
So, what are we to do? It is not in the least bit enjoyable to be in opposition to others. This whole pandemic thing and the way the lists of dos and don’ts has become a line in the sand that we dare not cross absolutely drains me. Today I just feel beat… I’ve not had anyone get in my face about their take on things today, but I have sure felt the undercurrent of mindsets running strong.
So, what can I do?
Jesus in today’s passage speaks of mustard seed. The study notes in the Amplified Bible says, “In ancient Israel, the mustard seed was the smallest known seed.” When Jesus referred to it, He was referring to something small and insignificant. In and of itself, it amounted to very little in the eyes of the world but that sure doesn’t stop the mustard seed! When planted “it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”
Jesus was driving home the point that the Kingdom of God wasn’t busting into the world. It wasn’t big and bombastic! It wasn’t screaming in your face so everyone would notice.
My study Bible* notes said,
Then general expectation among Jesus’ hearers was that the Messiah would come as a great king and leader, freeing the nation from Rome and restoring Israel’s former glory. But Jesus said his Kingdom was beginning quietly. Like a tiny mustard seed that grows into an enormous tree…the Kingdom of God would eventually push outward until the whole world was changed.
It still works that way today. Like the mustard seed, when the world looks at me and who I am and what I do, it is not too greatly impressed. I am insignificant. But… when I am working in line with God’s will, when I am seeking His glory and not my own, my smallness becomes His greatness.
I truly pray that burying myself in Him, though seemingly a small thing, little by little becomes a big thing. My attitudes and mindsets when filtered through His love and compassion begin to change things. When I pray for others, as well as myself, change ensues. It may be imperceptible at first – mustard seed in size – but as I said in a sermon a couple of weeks ago, when God gets into the equation, He is not just an addition to our resources, He is a MULTIPLIER!
So, world beware! I have a mustard seed, and I’m not afraid to use it!
Aug 23rd, 2020, Sun, 7:56 pm
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation