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Category Archives: Luke

Luke 6:43-49

13 Sep

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

Luke 6:43-49

Dear God, I don’t normally follow the gospel readings for the Catholic church day to day so faithfully, but these are from the mini-Sermon on the Mount and I’m loving it. I almost wonder if I shouldn’t read the Sermon on the Mount–the OG in Matthew–every day, as a discipline. Or maybe record it and listen to it in my earbuds as I go to sleep at night. Yeah, maybe. I’ll think about that.

Okay, I just took a moment to go to YouTube and find it. Of course, someone put it up.

I’ll need to bookmark it and try that. In fact, my wife and I were talking this morning about bad dreams and things to help. Maybe this is a way to go.

Now, back to Luke 6. Two things here. First, fruit [of the Spirit] that comes out of us as we live how you taught us. It’s interesting how I can see two people who disagree on a lot of things, but when they are both really pursuing and loving you with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving their neighbor as themselves then they can be very close and loving to each other. The good fruit rises above any disagreements. I fact, I’ll see them influence each other. I think about how my wife and I have influenced each other over the years even though we don’t agree on everything. Our good fruit (what I hope is good fruit from me and I know is good fruit from her) reigns.

Now, for the foundation built through following you. I remember when I had a plumbing issue with my first house over 20 years ago. It had a slab, but a sewer pipe in the slab that was made of cast iron collapsed. They said we had to choices. One was to dig into the slab and repair the line at that point, or we could run a new drainage line through a wall and then go underground with it, tapping into the original sewer line in the yard in front of our house. Someone warned me I didn’t want to mess with the foundation, and I agreed. So we ran a new line. A year or two later when we sold that house, the inspector told the buyer about the problem we solved and indicated that we had chosen the correct path. We didn’t want to tear into the foundation.

A few years later, I was at a relative’s home where they were faced with the same situation, but they chose to cut into the slab and repair the line. There were all sorts of cracks in their walls. The foundation was shifting and unpredictable. The house wasn’t on the verge of falling down, but it had been weakened.

So if Jesus says when the storms come and not if, then how do I make sure I have a foundation ready for the storm? I think it goes back to my prayer from almost exactly a year ago about the “floor.” What is the least I need to be doing to worship you. Here is what I wrote at the time:

  • The prayer journals. Spending 15-30 minutes a day in a concentrated time of prayer like this has become a have to for me. And it didn’t used to be that way. A year ago I would have said that I need to do it 4-5 times a week. But since Lent I haven’t missed a day because I know I need this time meditating on you, listening to your Holy Spirit, and learning from the bazaar thing you left us called Scripture.
  • Giving. Ten percent of our gross is a minimum. Not that we are giving away even 20%, but we try to be generous when we see needs arise. Giving 10% is a floor.
  • Intentional time in conversation with my wife at least once a day is a floor. If we are available around each other at a meal, we each make it a priority to sit with each other, even if one of us isn’t eating at the time.
  • At least one sermon/Bible teaching a week. I need to hear someone else I trust teaching me the Bible in a way I wouldn’t see on my own (this homily is a perfect example of that).
  • Communication and contact with at least one of the two male friends I have. It doesn’t even have to be a conversation, but I need to touch their lives in some way–even if it is to text about sports.
  • Avoiding sexual temptation/lust. This has to be a floor. When you look at the lists of sins Jesus and Paul talk about, it’s always on there. I must do this.
  • Exercising at least four times a week. I am mentally better when I am taking care of myself physically. I should probably make better eating habits a floor, but I haven’t chosen to do that yet. Perhaps it will be one day.
  • Doing the things I know bless my wife like fixing things around the house, managing our money and then sharing with her what our status is, doing my laundry, making the bed, etc. Even listening to things I like but I know she doesn’t care for on my headphones instead of subjecting her to it. There’s a whole set of “floor” issues for my relationship with her that are important for her to feel loved.

So then what are some of the things I “get” to do, but aren’t necessarily something I “have” to do every week?

  • Church. A lot of Christians would probably disagree with me on this one. While I feel like it is important to have a church you belong to and to be involved in that church, I don’t feel like the foundation in my life is cracking if I miss a week.
  • My extra writing projects. I get joy from writing and thinking about how to bless others, but it’s a “get” to and not a “have” to.
  • Teaching. Similarly, I enjoy taking what I get from you during my prayer journal time and sharing it with others through preaching or teaching, but those occasions happen infrequently, and, while they help me and teach me, they aren’t the floor.
  • Engaging healthily through prayer and action in my community. This is close to a “have” to because it is part of me loving others as I love myself, but it’s not something that is foundational. Well, maybe it is. It actually might belong in the “have” to list.
  • Listening to Christian music. I mix it in during the week, but I also listen to secular as well.
  • Listening to Christian podcasts. Similar to music, I mix it in, but it’s a “get” to.

Father, help me to be mindful of the work I need to do to build the best foundation I can, and help that lead to your best fruit in me. Let that fruit bless others around me, starting with my wife. Love her well through me. Give her what she needs through me. Be glorified in my life regardless of what it costs me. I consider my life worth nothing to me, Father. It’s all yours. Use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 13, 2025 in Luke, Matthew

 

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Luke 6:37-42

12 Sep

37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

39 Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? 40 Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

41 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Luke 6:37-42

Dear God, I’ve heard all these verses about not judging before, but what’s catching my eye today are verses 39 and 40. I’m blind. I’m foolish. I know so little. Can I really claim to have the ability or authority to lead others? And I love the idea that, although I am your student and certainly not greater than you, if I am fully trained I can become like you.

So how do I let you train me? I think it happens in times like this. Times when I honestly try to look at myself and pray that you will reveal my faults to me. When I read the Bible and look for myself in the bad examples and not just the good ones. Then it comes when I engage in relationship with like-minded people in whose faith and relationship with you I trust. My wife comes to mind. I have a few friends that come to mind. I need them to challenge me. To change me. And this has certainly happened over the years. Then there’s the media I consume. I must confess I’ve spent too much time violating my abstinence from social media and looking at some comments that last 24 hours. I’m sorry for that. It has not helped me to grow. Even Christians are fearing. If I get afraid, let it be on behalf of others and not myself.

Father, help me to take one more step through the narrow gate and on the narrow path today. Help me to simply be in your presence at all times, share your love at all times, and then be a source of comfort and clarity to others around me as i figure it out too. Let me be someone who is taught by you so I can become more like you and then help me to take that and teach what I learn to others so they can be more like you as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 6:27-38

11 Sep

27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Luke 6:27-38

Dear God, I have a pastor friend who likes to talk about walking around with leaky buckets and letting you flow through us to the people around us. I would think verse 38 here might be at least one of his inspirations for that metaphor, and I like that. I think about it sometimes when I’m interacting with people.

I was actually thinking about this passage and its corresponding passage from Matthew 5 yesterday when I heard the news about Charlie Kirk. Frankly, I didn’t know who he was when I heard the news he had been assassinated. From what I can tell, he was a Christian who felt a calling to admonish those he felt were going down a liberal path. Assuming that, like everyone else in the world, that there would be things he and I would agree on and disagree on, the thought that kept going through my mind when I thought about the tragedy was, Would Christians be willing to lean into Jesus’s words here and in Matthew 5? Will we be able to love our enemies and lean into their abuse (verses 27-29)? If he was truly representing you in his life and in the moment he was killed, then will we be able to rest on Jesus’s assurance that you bless us and blessed Charlie “when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted the same way”? (Matthew 5:11-12) Will our Christian leaders lead us in this to follow these principles? Will we take the momentum out of the pendulum that is swinging wider and wider between the right and the left and bring it back to the middle so we can show the world who you are and how you designed us to live–getting our freedom, peace, and joy through submission to you? Will we be “the salt of the earth”? (Matthew 5:13) Will we let our good deeds shine for all to see so that everyone will praise you? (Matthew 5:16)

I was talking once again to someone the other day about Ted Lasso. I still think the show is so remarkable because the main character exhibits almost all of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and people are amazed by it. He forgives quickly and easily. He loves. He is patient. Nearly all of them (except peace, which I think is only really felt through accepting your love and redemption). Can we, as Christians, do that in this moment?

And can all of us realize this is happening on both sides and see our own hypocrisy when we are outraged by an assassination on one side of the political aisle and not the other. I’m thinking about the Minnesota state legislator, Melissa Hortman, and her husband who were assassinated in their home along with another one who was shot a few months ago, leaving behind orphaned children. Are the people who were outraged that day as outraged now? Were the people who are outraged now outraged when that happened? When will we let Jesus take the wind out of these outrage sails and love our enemies?

Father, let it start with me. Help me to forgive, to love, and to accept my fate, whatever it might be, as your child and worshipper. If someone wants to take my life or hurt me for my faith in you and in my love for others then I pray that somehow, in the doing of it by them, you would get glory in their eyes and in the world’s eyes. I pray that you will not waste the pain that we are experiencing by this loss yesterday. I didn’t even know of Mr. Kirk 24 hours ago, but now I pray that his family will be comforted. You promised that to those who mourn. (Matthew 5:4) I also pray that they will be able to extend mercy and be peacemakers. (Matthew 5:7, 9). I pray that you will bless them for the persecution they’ve experienced. (Matthew 5:10). I pray that you will use this to teach your believers how to be merciful and to change the tide. There’s a line in the song “My Shot” in Hamilton that has stuck with me: “And if we win our independence\Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?\Or will the blood we shed begin an endless\Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?” Use your people to break this cycle. Use your people to preach love and mercy. Let this be how the world sees us and draw conservatives and liberals alike to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 11, 2025 in Luke, Matthew

 

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Luke 6:20-26

10 Sep

20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,

“God blesses you who are poor,
    for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now,
    for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
    for in due time you will laugh.

22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich,
    for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now,
    for a time of awful hunger awaits you.
What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,
    for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,
    for their ancestors also praised false prophets.

Luke 6:20-26

Dear God, I have probably been too judgmental of The Chosen. One of the things I’ve said about it is that I’ve spent so much time with these stories and I’ve got them so pictured in my head that I don’t want their telling of the stories to taint what I have. But, frankly, that’s a pretty arrogant thing to say. I’ve made all kinds of conjectures about these stories. I’ve tried to read between the lines. I’ve tried to infer tone of voice. Why have I made my interpretation of it so sacred?

I bring this up because someone told me that The Chosen portrays Matthew writing Jesus’s notes down as he prepare the Sermon on the Mount. Help records it as Jesus fleshes it out and develops it into a kind of stump speech that he will give over and over again. Now, I don’t know if any of that is true, but I do like the idea of Jesus honing the message of the Sermon on the Mount down and then giving it over and over again. Today’s passage is an example of Jesus delivering this speech. It’s a little condensed from the Matthew 5-7 version, but the bones are here.

In this case, all of these blessings and warnings of this part of the sermon are all based on circumstances others and life circumstances are foisting upon me. Whether it’s persecution for following Jesus, hunger, or sorrow, there is a blessing to be had at some point. There is hope. Life is not hopeless. Had those people ever heard that before? Had they ever been given a hope of better days (or an eternity) ahead?

And the arrogant who looked down on the poor and reveled in their prosperity, they were warned too. And don’t we still have that sentiment today? Don’t I still get it sometimes? Don’t I judge those who don’t seem to be working hard enough and assume I am better than them? I know some who look at people who are in our country illegally and throw a blanket judgment on them without knowing the particular circumstances that led to their undocumented status. For example, I have a friend from grade school (almost 50 years ago) who was here illegally for a while in high school. She was from England and her father left her, her siblings, and her mother stranded in Texas with no way to get back or means of support. And it took years to get her documentation in order. There are an awful lot of people like that, but we cast judgment on all of them as law breakers who need to “go home” (even though it’s a home they’ve never known).

Father, my point is that I need to continue down this road of receiving your hope in my grief and mourning. Receiving your joy in my sadness. And receiving your mercy in my sin. And then generously giving your mercy to others, sharing my resources with others, and simply letting you live through me. Help me to do that today. Help me to know what it means to forgive those who have hurt and/or betrayed me. Help me to know how to love them–how to love everyone.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 10, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 6:12-49

07 Sep

12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

14 Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
16 Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

17 When they came down from the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. 19 Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.

20 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,

“God blesses you who are poor,
    for the Kingdom of God is yours.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now,
    for you will be satisfied.
God blesses you who weep now,
    for in due time you will laugh.

22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

24 “What sorrow awaits you who are rich,
    for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now,
    for a time of awful hunger awaits you.
What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,
    for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,
    for their ancestors also praised false prophets.

27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

39 Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? 40 Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

41 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

Luke 6:12-49

Dear God, to set the context, the “soon afterward” referred to in verse 12 is the stuff about Jesus being in conflict with the Pharisees about the Sabbath. So he goes away to pray all night. This is one of those times that I suspect he might have visited with you, Moses, and Elijah. But he knew he had some important decisions to make. I’m sure as he was going through the “hiring” process of picking the 12 and offering them the job he was going over the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. Peter: bold but can be impetuous and foolish. John: A bit of a hot-head and immature, but sincere. Thomas: Passionate but overwhelmed and confused. Judas: Well, we probably wouldn’t normally pick him, but we will need him later.

Then Jesus puts the 12 in front of everyone and starts his stump speech. Luke kind of gives us the condensed version of the Sermon on the Mount here, and the closer I get to you the more I lean into this sermon as the foundation upon which I need to build all of my perceptions and attitudes towards life. Don’t be afraid if I find myself suffering in some way. It will end one day one way or another. Love others, especially my enemies. Have mercy. Give selflessly and generously.

And to some extent I do these things, although maybe not as much as I should. So help me today. Help me to love those who have really hurt me. Help me to offer forgiveness and mercy to them. Help me to be what you need me to be for those who need me, regardless of what it costs me. Be glorified in my life.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 7, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 6:1-5

06 Sep

6 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. 2 But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

3 Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.” 5 And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”

Luke 6:1-5

Dear God, so this is an interesting example for Jesus to use when he refers to David and his men eating the sacred loaves when he was on the run from Saul. I say it’s interesting because I was always uncomfortable with that David story. He lied to the priest (which eventually led to Saul killing that priest and all but one of the others). And frankly it’s not even clear from the way the story is told (1 Samuel 21) that he actually had any companions with him at that point. From the way I read it, he only said he had companions waiting for him. But in Luke’s telling of this story, Jesus affirms that David told the truth about the companions and he was justified in getting the sacred bread. In any disagreement between my biblical interpretation and Jesus’s interpretation, I will yield and say that I am wrong, but this is curious to me. It’s the lying in the story that bothers me the most. I can see where taking the bread was justified. But the way he did it was deceptive and set Ahimelech up to be brutally murdered (1 Samuel 22).

Not to harp on this too much, but it reminds me of my feelings on Lance Armstrong’s performance-enhancing drug (PED) use. It doesn’t bother me that he did the PEDs. I truly believe everyone was doing it and the only way to compete was to do it. What bothers me is the lies he told when others told the truth. He ruthlessly destroyed people’s reputations and ability to make a living to protect his lie. That is reprehensible to me. It’s one thing to do something wrong and take responsibility for it. It’s another thing to make others pay for what you did, and he (and David with Ahimelech) made others pay.

Okay, that’s enough of that soap box. Back to Jesus dealing with the Sabbath and the teaching of the day. I’ve sometimes ruminated on the idea of moving to a more Godless area and living as light in the middle of darkness, but then I remember that the area where Jesus lived and taught was actually more like where I live now. What I mean by that is I live in a very conservative area of Texas where calling yourself a Christian is the politically correct thing to do. People are culturally Christian, but many are not actually pursuing relationship with you and working out their faith with fear and trembling. It’s a lot like the Israel of Jesus’s day. There were a lot of philosophies about what it meant to be Jewish and hold to your law, but there wasn’t a lot of deep introspection of how they might be missing you in the process.

So Jesus, in this story, is teaching them that there is a line between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. By the letter of the law, the disciples were wrong. And the Pharisees only cared about the letter of the law. But what was the spirit of the law? What was the why behind the commandment for us to observe the Sabbath? That’s what I think Jesus was trying to get them to consider in this story.

Father, teach me your whys. I want your law written on my heart, but I don’t want it so that I can just follow your rules so you’ll be happy with me. I want to understand the why behind the commands. I want to fall deeper and deeper into knowing you and letting my knowledge of you and the love and mercy you have for me extend to the world through me. So teach me today. Show me the why in everything you have for me to learn. I want to be able to, in turn, show it to others so we will be the most effective worshippers and followers of you we can all be.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 6, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 5:33-39

05 Sep

33 One day some people said to Jesus, “John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?”

34 Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. 35 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

36 Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.

37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. 38 New wine must be stored in new wineskins. 39 But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.”

Luke 5:33-39

Dear God, what is the role of fasting in my faith? I was having lunch with a friend three days ago, and he asked me when the last time I fasted was. I told him it was about 6 months. He was actually surprised it had been that recently. And I remember that day. I just woke up and as I started my morning it just felt like the right thing to do to fast that day. I had some big challenges at work that I wanted to bring to you at that level. I have the ever-present sorrows in my personal life I wanted to lift to you. So I took the day to fast and pray. And I think it was good. I’ve seen great success with that one specific challenge at work. And while I haven’t seen progress in my personal sorrow, I continue on with faith that you are working in ways I cannot see.

Interestingly, I just did a search for fasting in the New Testament and found only two references outside of the gospels. They were all in Acts and both involved selecting Paul and Barnabas for work.

I wonder why it wasn’t more a part of Paul’s instructions in his epistles. It seems like the kind of thing James would have told people to do. And John might have mentioned it too. Why did it kind of disappear?

Father, I know the point of this passage isn’t necessarily to get me to fast more. In fact, Jesus seems to be introducing a new standard while still saying that his disciples will resume the practice of fasting when he is gone. No, I think the point of this story is more about setting the tone for the difference between what Jesus is teaching us about who you are vs. the perception by the Jewish people up to that point. I’m not sure if I have things in my life that I’m doing that are foolish because they are no longer relevant. I don’t even think I can see those things on my own. So I guess my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will reveal to me the things I’ve made sacred that are irrelevant and the things that should be sacred that I’ve ignored or been reluctant to adopt. I guess I do have something else I need to lift to you before I stop this prayer. I am interviewing two people today and one person Monday for an open position where I work. Help me to see what you see and guide me to the right person. I have someone helping me in this process. Guide here as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 5, 2025 in Luke

 

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John 5:1-11

04 Sep

5 One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

John 5:1-11

Dear God, okay, this is a fun story with a lot of layers. Here’s what I’m noticing when putting it in context with chapter 4:

  • Jesus has been watching Peter for at least a day or two. Maybe more. Maybe he was staying at Peters. but I need to go to John’s Gospel to see how he describes Peter meeting Jesus and how that overlaps with this. Peter’s brother Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and went to find Peter after he met Jesus: 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). 42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”). 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” With this, I presume that John was baptizing in the Jordan near the Sea of Galilea because it doesn’t seem like it was a big decision to go on to Capernaum. Maybe Peter invited them there to stay. And then when Jesus was teaching one day he saw Peter’s boat and the pushed off.
  • This story isn’t about the content of Jesus’s teaching, but about Peter’s (and James’s and John’s) decision to follow Jesus. But I have to wonder what Jesus was saying and how Peter was hearing it. Was he giving his Sermon on the Mount stump speech? Was he talking about how the poor in spirit and mourning would be blessed? Was he talking about forgiving enemies, suffering through persecution, raising the bar on the standards of sin, teaching them to pray, etc.? What did Peter hear before the next part?
  • Jesus uses the miraculous catching of fish to not only impress and recruit Peter, but James and John also.
  • Peter had already seen the healing power. He had heard the lessons. But it doesn’t seem he was very impressed until this moment. He might have justified the healings. Maybe he had seen that before. But he had never seen the obvious power to manipulate nature and bend it to your will. I guess you could say the healings were that too, but these might still be rationalized.
  • Peter’s response to Jesus is to say he himself is not worthy of Jesus’s presence. Maybe he had just heard about all the ways Jesus said you can sin by lusting and hating and wanted Jesus to know up front that he was guilty. Guilty in your eyes. Guilty in Jesus’s eyes.
  • Jesus invited him, James, and John to follow him. Jesus ignored his admonition to leave him because he was too sinful. Instead, he invited him to follow. Jesus knew they would work out the sin part as they walked together.
  • Peter, James, and John decided to follow. They could have easily stayed in their squalor. And their paths would not be easy. It might have been easier to stay and fish. But they were part of changing the world and we are still talking about these simple fishermen from Galilea 2,000 years later.

Father, thank you for inviting me to be on this journey with you. Help me to know how to walk it. Love through me. Lead through me. Lead me through others you appoint to teach and show me the way. Your way. Help me to not veer from the path. Help me to show others the narrow way.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 4, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 4:38-44

03 Sep

38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.

40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak.

42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.

Luke 4:38-44

Dear God, after my experience teaching on Saul and David, and then looking at the maps when it came to the seven letters to the churches in Revelation, I am becoming more interested in place. In this case, I am becoming more interested in Capernaum. And I’m also interested in the context of this story of Simon’s (Peter’s) mother-in-law in relation to when Simon was called as a disciple. I probably should have realized this by now, but I never noticed that this story happens before Jesus calls Simon to become Peter. So Simon has Jesus in his house, witnesses not only his mother-in-law’s healing, but also several other healings, and then will later have the fishing experience where there are so many fish the nets tear. So this is a prelude to that.

I wonder what Simon was thinking as this new prophet was in his house and healing all sorts of people. It must have been quite a spectacle. How did it set him up for the experience on the boat and Jesus calling him to follow?

The first thing I thought of this morning was a recent conversation I had with someone about something that is plaguing them. When I saw the description of everyone begging Jesus to heal Peter’s mother-in-law I wondered if I shouldn’t be begging you for the healing of several people I know. And these aren’t just physical ailments. Some are, but the ones that really distress me are the emotional ones. Hurts from the past that are unhealed. Secrets. Nightmares. The truth is, I don’t really know how to pray for this. I don’t have the words to say. But I know these situations need you. I know they need healing. I know they need the Holy Spirit to be praying, ministering, and helping.

Father, I beg you to help the people on my heart right now. Holy Spirit, I beg you to pray to the Father for them. Groan. Moan. Communicate the depths of my heart. Be with them. Break through the darkness. Tear back the lies. Shine light on the secret places so they might be freed. Oh, God, love them. Heal them, please, Jesus. Jesus, please heal them.

I pray this in that same Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 3, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 4:31-37

02 Sep

31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. 32 There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.

33 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting, 34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

35 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.

36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” 37 The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.

Luke 4:31-37

Dear God, to what extent am I supposed to pray like this? To what extent am I supposed to recognize demons and cast them out? Is my prayer life failing you in this way? Am I failing those around me in this way?

I looked at the map this morning to see where Nazareth and Capernaum were in relation to each other and to Jerusalem. Capernaum was on the Sea of Galilea while Nazareth is southwest of there and inland. Then Jerusalem was much father to the south. So the people in Nazareth tried to kill Jesus and his next move was to go to Capernaum. I wonder why. What took him that direction? Was it because it was farther from Jerusalem and he wanted to teach while letting some of the controversy die down a little? These are all wild suppositions. I don’t have the slightest clue. But it’s an interesting thing to note.

But back to demon possession, rebuking, and casting out, this seems like a big deal that I pretty much overlook in present day. I probably need to recognize it more. I probably need to look for it more. And maybe I should start in my own life and the lives of those closest to me. Am I or my loved ones being messed with in the demonic realm, and am I overlooking that in my prayers?

Father, I beg your protection right now. I beg it for myself, wife wife, my children, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, and my parents. For my coworkers. Over my home and the building I work in. Be with me. Be with us. Protect us. Guard us. Heal us. Redeem us to yourself. Whatever lies are keeping us trapped, let them be released. Oh, Father, be merciful, powerful, and healing. Cast out any demons involved in our lives through the power of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Free us, please. Holy Spirit, pray for us. Guide us. Teach us. Love us.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 2, 2025 in Luke

 

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