Transplant Needed
It has been a day of diligence, Father, but much was accomplished in getting ready for the beginning of the school year. Thank You, for the progress I made.
Luke 14:1-6 (<<click here to read the passage)
Did you ever hear the story about the pastor who was invited to have dinner with one of his church families? There were several older children in the home and the mother had laid out a wonderful spread of delicious foods. The main course was broiled pork chops and they were out of this world! Things were wrapping up and there just happened to be one pork chop left on the platter. The pastor was eyeing it but was hesitant to take it. All of a sudden the lights when out and the room went dark! Out of the darkness, there arose a blood-curdling scream and then the lights popped back on. There sat the pastor in excruciating pain with his hand over the pork chop and a half dozen forks protruding from his hand!
Now the pastor wasn’t deliberately set up for this situation, but he definitely became the victim of the circumstances!
In today’s passage, Jesus was invited to a leading Pharisee’s home for a meal. And their goal was nefarious! The Amplified Bible states,
“…they were watching Him closely and carefully [hoping to entrap Him].” v1
First of all, to me, that just sounds nasty! They really didn’t care who He was. They had no intention of learning anything from Him. The just wanted to get rid of Him…so they set Him up.
Strategically placed right “in front of Him was a man who had dropsy (extreme swelling).” v2 AMP
Today this poor man may have been diagnosed with edema (retention of fluid). Many people struggle with it. This condition usually occurs in your feet, legs, or ankles. However, it can also occur in your hands, your face, or any other part of the body.
It can be attributed to heart failure, kidney disease, liver issues, such as cirrhosis, thyroid disorders – to name just a few serious illnesses with which an individual could be dealing.
That’s serious stuff! But that was of no concern to the “religious” leadership. That poor man was just a tool to be used to meet the desired end.
Of course, Jesus knew what they were up to. So, He flat out asked them,
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” v3
The rats that they were, were caught in their own trap. What were they to say? They wanted to yell, “No!” but they knew Jesus’ take on it so “they kept silent.”
Jesus not thwarted in the least, “took hold of the man and healed him, and sent him on his way.” v4
Then Jesus turned to those ne’er-do-wells and said, and the New Living Translation puts it so well,
“Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” v5
It is easy to wonder how their vision could have become so skewed! The purveyors of the Law were totally out of touch with the Law. Sure, they could rattle off all kinds of questions and answers, but it was all in their heads, and very little, if any, had trickled down to their hearts.
Deuteronomy 9:10 tells us that the core of the Law, the Ten Commandments, were given to Moses on “two tablets of stone written with the finger of God.” AMP The problem was our hearts became stone. That was not God’s intent.
Eventually, through the words of Ezekiel the prophet, God said,
“I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” Ezekiel 36:26b NLT
Lord Jesus, we need a heart transplant! Write Your words on our hearts so that we may not just know them but that we may live them! Amen!
Sept 1st, 2020, Tues, 7:28 pm
Love Doesn’t Hesitate
Your love for me is unfathomable, Father. To even begin to take in a snippet of it overwhelms me! May I rest in Your arms, basking in the wonder of it all! Amen!
********
Does love ever give you pause? Do you ever ask yourself why you love? Or maybe why you should continue loving?
As I sit here in my ponderings, it came to me that one of the few people on earth who could possibly love without a single ounce of hesitation would be a mom – especially a new mom.
In earlier years I interacted with many young women, some still in school (as their pastor or a father of a classmate) and a few, that come to mind, were just out of high school (with whom I worked at Kohl’s). In the last year or so, these women have become mothers. I am friends with them on Facebook and have followed their discourses prior to birth and now afterward.
I’m not excluding new dads, but we would all have to admit that there is a most sacred connection between a mom and her child. Many, as they share, are in awe of it all! They simply cannot fathom the beauty, the perfection that they hold so gently in their arms.
Now for many even as their children grow, the awe remains…not all mind you, but many. Yet as the years advance, life happens, and…that love can wane. Things are said. Things are done. And what is left in the aftermath is changed.
Does love ever give you pause? Do you ever ask yourself why you love? Or maybe why you should continue loving?
A mother’s love can remain immovable. But I would think, though it may never be spoken, and though it may be quickly shut out of mind and heart, thoughts streak across those hearts and minds on rare occasions.
But I will say this, I do know of Someone for whom love never gives pause. He never asks himself why He loves. The farthest thing from His mind is why He should continue loving.
I want this next sentence to stand alone. This is the one that impacted me so strongly this morning.
God’s love doesn’t hesitate
In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus shared the story of the lost son, better known as the prodigal. I’m sure it will come up again when I get to this passage in a few weeks (it’s only a couple of chapters away!) but there’s one line I want to point out.
And while [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. v20 NLT
…he ran to his son…
He didn’t have to think about it. He didn’t pause. The father was looking for his son – he saw him coming! He didn’t hesitate. He ran!
I don’t know who is reading this today, but someone out there needs to hear this loud and clear, God loves you. He always has…
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us…” Ephesians 1:4 NLT
…and He always will!
“I have loved you…with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
I love a line from a song by a newer Contemporary Christian group, Sidewalk Prophets. It says,
Wherever you are, whatever you did
It’s a page in your book, but it isn’t the end
(If you’d like to listen to the whole song, here’s the link: Prodigal)
Though we may find ourselves in the midst of overwhelming storms, cling to this irrevocable truth – God loves you!
Aug 31st, 2020, Mon, 8:06 pm
Sarcasm
Father, thank you for a wonderful day. After services this morning, we went straight home. it was a relaxing day – a restful day. May our time together this evening be fruitful. Amen
Luke 13:31-35 (<<click here to read the passage)
- I’m 99% angel, but ohhhh, that 1%.
- If you have an opinion about my life, please raise your hand. Now put it over your mouth.
- If I agree with you, we’ll both be wrong.
- Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
- Me? Sarcastic? Never.
Sarcasm. Several members of my family would say sarcasm is their second language! They relish bantering back and forth with each other and anyone else who will jump in with them. I do so occasionally, as well. Most often it is all fun and games, but we have to be cautious of not crossing lines where someone is truly hurt by what is said.
The use of sarcasm isn’t always for entertainment purposes. Consider Jesus’ words here in verse 33,
For it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem! NLT
It may be hard for us to wrap our minds around, but His words are blatantly sarcastic. They were most certainly barbed. I’m sure the intended recipients of His statement didn’t miss what He was trying to say. But just in case they didn’t catch it, He expounded His statement, making it unmistakably obvious. He said to the Pharisees,
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I have wanted to gather your children together [around Me], just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were not willing! Listen carefully: your house is left to you desolate [abandoned by God and destitute of His protection]; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed [to be celebrated with praise] is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” AMP
First of all, Jerusalem was the personification of the nation of Israel. This is by no means the first time Jesus has laid this truth out. The ill-treatment of prophets and messengers of God by the leadership of Israel went back millennia. And ill-treatment just didn’t mean that what they said was rejected – many were literally murdered because leadership didn’t like what they had to say. They didn’t care a whipstitch that God had sent them, they were the leaders and did as they pleased.
…but that never turned out very well. …and it wasn’t going to turn out well for them this time either.
As I’ve said before, we shouldn’t be too eager to click our tongues or shake our fingers at said leaders. Our hands may not be red with blood but aren’t we guilty of paying little heed to God’s directives because we know what we are doing and will do as we please.
Jesus is eager to take us under His wing, to guide us and to shelter us, too, but just like small children, we throw our tantrums and demand to carry on how we deem best…with little thought to the consequences of our actions.
Lord Jesus, may we take the time to look intently around ourselves. May we see without rose-colored glasses and blinders and take it all in. And in so doing may we eagerly run under your wings, to be loved and cherished. To be protected and directed in the ways of the wise not traveling the disastrous paths of the foolish. Amen.
Aug 30th, 2020, Thurs, 8:02 PM
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