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Category Archives: Luke

Luke 18:1-8

19 Oct

18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Luke 18:1-8

Dear God, I have a couple of things I’ve prayed about for years and years, and they haven’t been answered in the way I want them to be answered. Why not?!? I put that exclamation point in their intentionally even though I don’t really mean it. I’ve prayed about you not giving me the answer I want before, so I don’t want to go there. What I’ve finally come to is that answering my prayer the way I want it answered would either not be the best for the people I’m praying for or for myself.

So, in relation to this parable, that leaves me with continuing to pray. Continuing to bring my heart to you. But I shouldn’t just pray for what I want. I should let your Holy Spirit mold my prayers into looking for what is best for those I love and for your plan regardless of what it costs me. And that is where I am, at least in this moment. I’m leaning into Acts 20:24 (I consider my life worth nothing to me…). I’m here to do your bidding. You aren’t here to do mine. Yours isn’t to figure out how you can indulge my selfishness. Yours is to love me and offer me relationship with you and then eternity with you, and to accomplish everything you can through my life in the meantime.

Father, as I sit here now, I ask that you not let the pain and sorrows of my life be wasted. Use them. Use them for your good in the world. Use them for those I love, to draw them into you and help them lead whole lives in relationship with you. Use them to mold me into the man you are calling me to be. My wife and I were talking about Moses raising his staff during Joshua’s battle with the Amalekites. When the staff dropped the Amalekites had the advantage. But when your staff in Moses’s hands was high the Israelites had the advantage. Why? Because it was your reminder to them that their victories were about you and not them. So help me to remember that everything good is from you and everything that is a challenge is not of you but you want to walk with me and support me through it. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 19, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 12:1-7; Romans 4:1-8

17 Oct

12 Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.

6 “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Luke 12:1-7

Dear God, duplicity is such an interesting thing. Being on thing behind closed doors and another thing in public. Hypocrisy. It’s so easy. We want so badly for people to think well of us because we want to be liked and admired. I still have that in me although I’ve tried to wrangle it out of myself. But the more I look to you as my source of self-worth the more I let go of my public image and make my private life reflect who you want me to be because you are with me all the time. So the more I figure out how to find my worth in you the more my hypocrisy shrinks.

I want to also take a moment to look at the other New Testament reading for the church today. It is Romans 4:1-8:

4 Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. 6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

7 “Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sins are put out of sight.
8 Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

It’s all about faith over obedience. Love for you over achievement for ourselves. Abraham did some terrible things. So did Jacob. So did David. But here they are, pillars of your people’s history? Why? Not their works. It was their faith. Honestly, I still don’t quite get Jacob, but that’s up to you, not me.

Father, help me to lean into my faith in you today. You know I’m still working through some tricky things at work. Help me to know how to be a blessing to each person who needs me there. Help me to be a blessing to those whom you love (which is everyone). Help me to worship you well. Help me to love my wife and children well. Help me to be the man you need me to be.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 17, 2025 in Luke, Romans

 

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Luke 11:45-54

16 Oct

45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”

46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’

50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.

52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”

53 As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.

Luke 11:45-54

Dear God, I’ve said many times that, if I had been there 2,000 years ago I can see in myself the kind of person who would have been against Jesus. I wouldn’t have trusted him. I wouldn’t have believed he was the Messiah. If I literally saw or even heard about some of the miracles, then maybe I could have been swung around, but I am slow to accept new paradigms, and Jesus was teaching a whole new paradigm.

So I have two thoughts this morning as I read this passage. First, thank you for protecting me from myself and my own pessimism by having me born now and not then. Second, help me to know who to trust and who to oppose now. There are different teachers who teach very different things. They all carry your mantle, but they can’t all be right because some are diametrically opposed to each other. Okay, I know that none of us are completely right. Even the best of us have problems in our theology somewhere because you are simply too big for our human minds to know completely. So lead me to the teaching you want me to have, speak to me in these times and at other times throughout the day and show me the way you have for me, and help me to just humbly love others and not teach any heresy when I have an opportunity to speak to others about you.

Father, I’ve been thinking the last couple of days about compassion fatigue and wondering if we aren’t all just boiling in the pot a little. If our collective societal psyche isn’t damaged and warping our sense of reality. And I think it’s affecting all of us. It’s making our patients more irritable. It’s making our staff and volunteers more irritable. I think it’s affected my overall outlook. It’s made me feel more tired and discouraged than I probably should be. So bless us as we are poor in Spirit. Comfort us. Make us peacemakers. Help us to receive and extend mercy. Help us to not fight against persecution for your name’s sake, but delight in it.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 16, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 11:42-46

15 Oct

42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”

45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”

46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.

Luke 11:42-46

Dear God, I’ve had a frustration rolling around in my head over the last 12 or so hours that my first temptation is to take these verses and apply them to the people who are frustrating me, making them the Pharisees and experts in the law and me, well…, Jesus. Okay, even on the face of it, that is absurd. But one thing you’ve taught me to do when I read a biblical story that includes clear delineations between good people and bad people is that I need to first consider that I might be the bad guy in the story. How am I like the Pharisee or expert in the law? Does Jesus have an admonition and correction for me in his words here?

So let me start with the idea that I might be missing the important things. Are there important things I’m missing? And how do we define important? I might tend to think of great political policies as important. I might even think of programs in our city that could help the poor. That could be important (and I think on Jesus’s “important scale” that might be closer to important than the political policy issues). But maybe the most important is the person right in front of me and their need. Am I missing them.

Here’s an example that you just brought to mind. There was an elderly woman in our clinic yesterday. She was there for a dental appointment. She was frustrated that she paid $30 for her first visit in over a year, which by policy was an exam and x-ray only when it’s been that long since a visit, and now she was having to pay another $30 for a separate visit, which was a cleaning. She mentioned that she only had $37 left in her account. We told her she could owe us for the cleaning, but she was still upset she was being charged at all and clearly frustrated. I felt badly for her, but I let her go on her way. I was a little annoyed at how abrupt she was with the staff so my compassion meter got turned down a bit. Now, as I sit here, I’m wondering whether we missed an opportunity to help her. Should we have taken a beat to talk to her about her financial issues and talk with her about resources in the community available to her–utility assistance, food, financial counselors, etc.? Did I miss what’s important?

Father, I am sorry for missing that opportunity yesterday along with so many others. Help me to have real eyes to see and ears to hear what is important. Help me to love. Help me to also re-think our policy and question how we charge patients for their appointments. And find this woman today. Meet her where she is. Help her. I think of the widow and her mite. If this woman is another version of her, help us to be part of your blessing to her.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 15, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 11:37-41

14 Oct

37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.

Luke 11:37-41

Dear God, I’ll admit it can be hard to figure out which rules I’m supposed to follow and which ones I’m not. First, let’s be clear, Jesus was walking into a situation where he knew he was being set up. He knew he was going to have to argue about something. Did he do this so he could set the stage for the argument he wanted to have? Did he intentionally violate the handwashing ceremony so he could launch into the cleanliness of the heart? If so, it’s pretty clever (of course it was clever–it was Jesus).

I think about the things that we do that grieve you and vs. the things we focus on. I think about the parts of Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus does the list of “You have heard it said ______, but I say ______” as he references hate/murder, lust/adultery, etc. Then I think about the things the church is fixated on today. On the LGBTQ+ issue, for example, what would Jesus say? “You have heard it said, ‘Don’t like with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable,’ but I say, ‘If you don’t love your wife as I love you then you are detestable.” That’s just an absolute guess made for effect, but I can’t help but Jesus’s target in the LGBTQ+ issue would be the accusers more than the accused. Heterosexual married couples are grieving your heart as much as anyone. I have grieved you sexually as much as anyone. And that’s just one example.

Father, as I go through this day, and as I prepare to teach the Christian Men’s Life Skills class tonight on Motivation, help me to be loving and not judgmental. These men are all guilty of some crime and this class is part of their sentence. They need to see you in me tonight. They need to see both your grace and your “Go and sin no more.” Help me to be that deliverer. Help the men leading tonight to be those deliverers as well. Prepare hearts to be yours. Prepare hearts for the seeds you are planting. Give us the seeds and help us to sow them generously. And teach me through the other men there tonight as well. Let your Spirit reign in my place of work, in my home, in my vehicle, and in that place tonight. And also thank you for answering our prayers from yesterday. Thank you, Father, for everything–even what I cannot see.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 14, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 11:29-36

13 Oct

29 As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. 30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God.

31 “The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.

33 “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.

34 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. 35 Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. 36 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.”

Luke 11:29-36

Dear God, I need to remember to repent well. Do I? Do I have some areas of my life that I’d just rather not think about? Or that I’ve accepted as good enough to make it through until death? Are there corners of darkness I refuse to light? Is there dirt behind some of the furniture of my soul that I refuse to move the furniture so I can clean? Am I just clean enough for appearances, but I still have some vices that rob me of the life you have for me and the world for what you might want to do through me?

I want to pray that I want you to come in a reveal every part to me and cleanse me. I want to say that, but I’m afraid to. Am I really ready to go to that level with you. I’m 55 years old. I’ve been following you earnestly since I was 17. Nearly 40 years. I’ve gotten very comfortable with the level I’m at? Are you calling me to still another level?

Father, as I read this passage, I thought about going a number of ways. I thought about wondering what if Jonah had embraced his mission to Nineveh as Jesus did to all of us? And I was thankful that Jesus didn’t ultimately take Jonah’s position and try to run from us and then get bitter when you forgave us in repentance. But instead of praying that, I found myself praying about the dark corners of my heart. So I’m going to go ahead and say it and mean it. Reveal to me the areas of my heart that need to be addressed. As I sit here, I’m not sure what they are, but I have some thoughts. Give me a heart that is ready to deal with them and walk 100% after you with nothing dark so that you might radiantly shine through me. And for good measure, I have a relative who is getting some important medical information today. Oh, my Jesus. Oh, Father. Oh, Holy Spirit. Be with her and her husband today. Love them. Encourage them. Guide them. Heal her. Make her body completely whole. And use the pain and the strain to mold them into your vessels even more than they already are. They have hearts for you. Find them in this moment and help them to find you. Give them a ministry they’d never have otherwise had. But in this moment, Father, I ask that you heal.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 17:11-19

12 Oct

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:11-19

Dear God, “there’s no one more thankful to sit at the table than the one who last remembers hunger’s pain.” That’s a quote from a Steven Curtis Chapman son called “Remember Your Chains.” In the intro to the song from the video I just linked, Mr. Chapman references the depths of the darkness you saved us from. And it’s true. You did. You saved me from being a sad, insecure, worthless feeling boy. And now I hang out with men who have gone through the Christian Men’s Life Skills class who have literally been in chains in jail and are now trying to rebuild their lives. They remember literal shackles, which I’ve never experienced, but they are also either in the darkness or just recently set free from the darkness.

I’ll confess, Father, that I don’t remember the darkness well. I don’t remember hunger’s pain. It’s been almost 40 years that I’ve been following you as best as I can. I haven’t been perfect. I’ve sinned and continue to sin. And now I’m one of those other 9 who has already shown himself to the priests and now I’m just bee-bopping through my life. Yes, I help others. Yes, I volunteer for things. Yes, I worship you and love you. I’m not trying to say I do nothing, but do I need to get back in touch with the depths of what you did for me? I wonder if I shouldn’t maybe go back and spend some time trying to remember who I was before July 17, 1987.

Father, help me to add this depth to not only my current gratitude and experience with you, but to also remember to offer it to the people around me who are in the hole I can barely remember. I want my remembrance to fuel my worship of you and my witness to others. Help me to do that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 11:14-28

09 Oct

14 One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, 15 but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” 16 Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

17 He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 18 You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? 19 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 20 But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 21 For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— 22 until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.

23 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

24 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

27 As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”

28 Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

Luke 11:14-28

Dear God, what an interesting exchange. I don’t understand spiritual warfare as taught and demonstrated by Jesus enough. I’ve read books like This Present Darkness that showed a certain view of spiritual warfare, but I don’t really understand it. What Jesus describes here is a bit foreign to me.

What really struck me as I read this passage this morning was the people in the first paragraph just have no idea what’s going on, but they are trying to figure things out. Their finite human minds are trying to make sense of Jesus and what’s happening. Is he legit? Should he be embraced or feared? Should they follow him or ignore him? They just didn’t know. And while I know that I am to follow Jesus, there is still so much I don’t understand. And frankly, I don’t know that I ever will understand a lot of it on this side of life. The percentage of knowledge and understanding I have against the universe’s reality is so infinitesimally small that I can’t imaging it would even register.

Father, I’m walking into this day today completely ignorant. I know the people I’m worried about. I know what I think the problems are, but I don’t really understand the problems. So please give me the knowledge and insight you need me to have, and then help me to willfully accept thing things that are not for me to know. And help me to know when I need to pray more about demons and Satan messing with different situations. Help me to not miss an opportunity to do something you need me to do.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 9, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 10:17-24

04 Oct

17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

22 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”

Luke 10:17-24

Dear God, it’s fun to see Jesus excited about something. It seems like a lot of the stories are about him teaching or being frustrated with people for not getting it. But, in this moment, he just seems so delighted. Delighted with them. Delighted about them with you. I had a hard week at work. And I know Jesus had much harder weeks while he was here on earth. But it’s fun to see that delight in him in this moment. He seems encouraged and proud of these people he loves. I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed this before, but it’s certainly nice to see.

Now, what is he delighted about? That you are working through their humility and submission to you. They aren’t the “wise and clever,” but they are childlike. They are just doing what they are told and letting the chips fall where they may from there. Jesus told them to go out, visit the towns, heal and cast out demons, and then come back. They obeyed, and look at them now. It worked and they are worshipping you throughout the whole thing.

Father, help me to simply obey you. Help me get out of my head and stop trying to be “wise and clever.” Just help me to be an obedient child. If you give me an assignment, help me to not worry about how the assignment makes me look or to lean on my own understanding, but to simply lean into you and do it with joy and complete obedience. I guess that might start with the Christian Men’s Life Skills class I will co-teach on Tuesday night. Help me to decrease and let you increase through me. Help me to just get up there and tell them about the God I know.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 4, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 10:1-12

03 Oct

10 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. 3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

5 “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ 6 If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. 7 Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.

8 “If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. 9 Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ 10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’ 12 I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.

Luke 10:1-12

Dear God, the gospel reading for the day is actually verses 13-16, but I went back and read this for context. I noticed so many interesting things. One of the things I realized embarrassed me a little bit. I hope it was only something I forgot and not that I never put together when I read through Luke before.

  • Verse 1: This is a second sending out. This is the one I’m embarrassed about. You sent out the 12 at the beginning of chapter 9, and then you sent out the 72 here in chapter 10. Why did I always have these two as the same thing in my head? Oh, there’s so much I still don’t understand or realize. It’s humbling to be reminded in such a simple way how truly ignorant I am. If I’ve missed this, how much more am I missing? One more thing for verse 1 that hadn’t sunk in before. They weren’t just going out. They were going out, seemingly, to 36 (72 divided by 2) villages Jesus planned to visit, preparing the way. It doesn’t say any of them rejected them. I wonder if Jesus was doing this because of the disappointment he felt from Korazin and Bethsaida. Maybe he hoped that building some anticipation by softening up the ground first would help people prepare their hearts to repent by the time he got there. That’s just a guess.
  • Verse 2: The harvest and the workers. I’ve been thinking lately about mission work and the job of not only convincing people they need to follow you, but the difficulty in finding the people who are willing to walk through the narrow gate and then persevere down the narrow road. I know someone who wants to be a missionary to Japan. If they do it so that you can find just one specific soul to invite down that path, is it worth it? Yes, the harvest is out there, but the weeds growing up among the wheat makes it difficult to find the wheat at all. Help me to be looking for ways to find the wheat and invite it to enter through the narrow gate and then persevere.
  • Verses 3-4: Lambs among wolves. He sent them out and demanded they be vulnerable and to not do anything to make themselves invulnerable. It’s the last thing that makes it interesting. He wanted them to be wholly and completely dependent upon him/you. I have a mountain in front of me that I don’t know how to move. It doesn’t involve money or resources, but it involves just a difficult situation. I am completely flummoxed by it. I am not necessarily a lamb among wolves, but I feel like I’m supposed to be a shepherd that will guide the flock through the wolves. Help me to do this. I have nothing within myself that helps me know how to do this. I offer my ignorance and helplessness to you. Please bring a solution that will maximize your glory in all of the involved lives.
  • Verses 5-7: Your peace on a home. I hope we have that here. My wife and I, as empty-nesters, are grateful to truly enjoy each other and live peacefully together worshipping you. I’m so grateful for that. There is a home out there right now that is not peaceful. There are many homes, but I’m thinking about one right now. May you be glorified in all of this.
  • Verses 8-10: The towns and welcome or reject. I think some would look at the politically conservative area where I live and assume it is a town that would welcome you, but a city viewed as a politically liberal area would reject you. But I can’t help but wonder which of us would really accept you and reject you if you came to us today. And which camp would I be in? Am I ready to really experience you?

Father, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51–David’s repentance after impregnating Bathsheba and killing Uriah). Help me to get out of my overwhelmedness and lay it all before you. Simply lay it before you and look for you to do something amazing. In fact, I look to you to do something amazing next week. For your glory, oh Lord, and not mine. And the pain we are experiencing, please use it to heal.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 3, 2025 in Luke

 

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