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Jonah 1:17-2:10

24 Oct

17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said,

“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
    and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,
    and Lord, you heard me!
3 You threw me into the ocean depths,
    and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me;
    I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
    Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

5 “I sank beneath the waves,
    and the waters closed over me.
    Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
    I was imprisoned in the earth,
    whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God,
    snatched me from the jaws of death!
7 As my life was slipping away,
    I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you
    in your holy Temple.
8 Those who worship false gods
    turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
    and I will fulfill all my vows.
    For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

Jonah 1:17-2:10

Dear God, let’s just jump right into this.

  • “Now the Lord had arranged…” – We’ve closed the scene with the sailors and they’ll not be heard from again. But you already had this worked out for Jonah. The sailors thought he was dead. Jonah thought he was being thrown to his death, and he’d rather have had that death than go to the Assyrians in Nineveh. But you weren’t going to let him off that easily. To quote Washington in the musical Hamilton, “Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder.” But you had made this plan “Jonah-proof.” It is so comforting to know that your plans are “John-proof” too. Even in the midst of my sin and mistakes, you have already made arrangements for my foolishness.
  • 7 “As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.” – It turns out that he did want to live. He wasn’t ready to repent. He just asked for mercy over his life. But did you answer his request for his sake or for yours? You had a plan and he was part of it whether he liked it or not. In that moment, he might have thought you were loving him and rescuing him–and maybe you were–but you also had something you needed him to do. I note, there’s no repentance in here. He doesn’t regret running from you. It’s more like Cain when you banish him after he killed Abel and he says, “My punishment is more than I can bear.” (Genesis 4:18)
  • 9 “But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” – He relents, but he doesn’t repent. There’s a fine line there, but it is definitely a line. He agrees to fulfill his vows to you because you are God and he is not, but he never repents. I would love to sit here and judge him 2,800 years later, but maybe I need to consider how I’m doing in this area. Are there place in my life where I relent to your will, but I do not repent or joyfully submit to you? If there are, please open my eyes to see them.
  • 10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. – I’ll confess that this is a weird story, but I have no reason to doubt it except for the fact that it’s unreasonable to believe it. But I believe all kinds of unreasonable things, but I wholly believe them. At the end of the day, I could argue with someone vehemently about this whole “big fish” aspect of this story and it wouldn’t take away from the lesson the story teaches.

Father, I guess I can think of one way I’m like Jonah. I can think of something in my life that I do grudgingly. I’m doing it, but I don’t want to do it. And here’s the thing. I have a feeling that the doing of it will not only bless others, but somehow you’re going to bless me in the process. I think we’ll see by the time we get to chapter 4, Jonah refuses to participate in the blessing you have for him in sending him to Nineveh. It wasn’t only for the Assyrians. It was for him too. But he missed it. Help me to not miss you and the growth into being Christlike you have for me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Jonah 1:4-16

23 Oct

4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10 The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”

12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”

15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

Jonah 1:4-16

Dear God, I want to stop before verse 17, when we first hear about the big fish. If the story were to just stop here, it would still be interesting. Man runs from God. God kills man through storm. Gentiles worship God when they are saved through miraculous end to storm. The end. So I want to sit with that for a second. I want to sit with Jonah and his willingness to die rather than go to Nineveh. It’s almost as if he kind of wants to die, but he’s just not willing to throw himself overboard (which was an option). He wanted some other Gentiles to do the dirty work for him.

I guess my first question would be to ask why you chose Jonah. He doesn’t seem particularly likeable. He runs from your request. He is resting peacefully while the sailors are scared. If the crew had been Jewish, would he have cared more? Was he just indifferent about all Gentiles and hostile towards the Assyrians? Yeah, it’s hard for me to understand why you chose Jonah in the first place. It seems like you could have picked someone else.

So you picked Jonah, but he was a bitter mess. So you decide to correct him through these other people. I wondered for a moment why you didn’t just strike him personally until he knuckled under. You could have given him leprosy or something like that. But then again, you knew how hard his heart was, and you knew that he would sink, even to death, before he obeyed you. So you set up a situation that was simply so miserable for him that, while he never will quite repent, he will agree to obey.

Then there are the men who are seemingly moral men. They don’t want to just kill a man on the “chance” (playing off of the idea that they cast lots) that it will end the storm. They are willing to look at all of the solutions available to them before they get to their last resort: throwing Jonah overboard.

Jonah gives them the solution. He doesn’t confess his sin, but he does acknowledge that this is between you and him and has nothing to do with the sailors. I wonder if they hoped he would just throw himself overboard. I’m sure at least a few of them did. I would have if I were them.

Their human efforts to survive are proving to not be enough, so they chunk Jonah into the sea. He will surely die. But when Jonah path finally diverges from theirs, you leave them alone. Did you do it to save them, or were you indifferent? I’d like to think that you didn’t cause Jonah to run, but you made the pain count and used the situation to impact these men’s lives. I wonder how those changed lives that day flowed into history.

Father, show me if there are ways I’m obstinately not obeying you. Reveal to me whether or not I have a hard heart. As I get closer to you I can feel less and less hate in me. I’m grateful for that. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any left. Help me to love as you commanded me to love. Help me to obey when you command me to do something I don’t want to do. Give me ears to hear you. Give me eyes to see. Give me a heart to love. Grow your fruit in my life so that others my see me and join the path that goes through the narrow gate.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 23, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Jonah 1:1-3

22 Oct

1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

Jonah 1:1-3

Dear God, I’m teaching on Jonah coming up. I was inspired by the Catholic Old Testament readings a couple of weeks ago, so I’m going to do Jonah one week and Habakkuk the next for the two weeks I’m teaching. So I thought I’d go back and spend some more time with these stories and marinade in them a bit as I put together my lessons.

With that said, I’m stopping quickly in the narrative this week because I have two things that strike me in these three verses.

  1. Why did you even care about Nineveh and its repentance in the first place.
  2. I didn’t appreciate Jonah’s run from you until I looked at a map and figured out where he started from, where he went to, and where you were sending him.

So, why Nineveh? They were Assyrians. They were the capital of Assyria. They Assyrians were Israel’s biggest Gentile enemy at the time. What were you doing? The truth is, I don’t know. I’m not sure if there are other examples of you sending prophets to Gentiles in the Old Testament, telling them to repent. Okay, I just Googled it, and apparently Obadiah and Nahum got this kind of assignment as well. I’ll need to read those later to see if there is a similar thread. My initial wondering was a more strategic one than just about your mercy. “Maybe you were softening their hearts towards Israel through their repentance before you and worship of you.” But hey, maybe you just loved them. I’ll need to look into this more.

The next is simply Jonah’s run. I didn’t understand that Tarshish was on the Atlantic side of the Spanish coast.

He might have gone to Joppa and just said, “How far does this boat go?” I also didn’t appreciate how far away Nineveh was from Jonah’s home. He really, really didn’t want to help these Gentiles.

The biblical commentary I was reading pointed out that Jonah didn’t believe you were for non-Israelites. Gentiles need not apply for your mercy or grace. Isn’t it funny how our nature is to be so tribal? What is it in your insecurity that drives us to want to separate ourselves from others?

Father, this was a good start. I’ll look into Obadiah and Nahum a little more today and get their stories. But in the meantime, keep me loving others. Help me to love my “enemies.” Help me to be willing to give my life for all.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 22, 2025 in Jonah

 

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Luke 12:35-38

21 Oct

35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

Luke 12:35-38

Dear God, what does it look like to be ready? Am I ready? How do I get myself ready?

The first word that comes to mind is perseverance. I once heard Gary Thomas say during a Sacred Marriage presentation that one of the keys to anything in the Christian life is perseverance. He said that he never hears sermons on it, but it’s critical.

So what does perseverance look like in a life well-lived? First, starting with the spiritual aspect of my life, it means disciplining myself to find this time with you. It also means doing the other things I determined were the least I need to do each day/week to live a life that is complete in you.

  • Do my prayer journals each day
  • Give at least 10% of our income
  • Listen to outside Bible teaching at least once a week
  • Spend quality time with my wife every day
  • Stay sexually pure
  • Volunteer and serve others outside of my job
  • Stay in touch weekly with my male friends
  • Exercise at least four times a week
  • Serve my wife

Coming up with that list almost 14 months ago has been a great thing for me. It has really helped me to be accountable to you on the things I must persevere through in order to be “ready” for your return or when I meet you through death. The only way I will die at peace is not through accomplishing things, but through having persevered in doing at least these minimum things plus the other joys you have put into my life that add on to them like teaching/writing, being part of a church community, listening to Christian music/podcasts, etc.

Father, I have some work to do this morning that combines a “have to” (volunteering) and a “get to” (teaching). I need to finish preparing my lesson for the Christian Men’s Life Skills class tonight. Be with me as I finish this process. Plant seeds through me. Prepare the hearts of the men to hear your word, take it, and let it grow in their hearts. Give me one word that might bless someone there tonight. And do what you need to do in me as well. And I pray for my co-teachers for tonight, my coworkers today, and how I interact with all of them. Be powerful. Be loving. Be merciful. In me. To me. Through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2025 in Luke

 

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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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Leadership

18 Oct

Dear God, I am supposed to be helping teach a class on leadership this coming Tuesday. I’m puzzling over it a little. As I think about the definition of leadership and examples of leadership (both good and bad) in the Bible, I wonder how I should really approach this with the men in the class on Tuesday.

Here are the Bible stories that have disjointedly occurred to me:

  • David and Goliath: Young David setting the example for the older soldiers and Saul.
  • David and the two opportunities he had to kill Saul.
  • David leading his men with the intent to kill Nabal (example of bad leadership).
  • David honoring Israel’s anointed king (both Saul and then Ishbosheth).
  • David not dealing with Amnon’s rape of Tamar (example of bad leadership).
  • Naomi leading her daughters-in-law after their husbands die.

I could go on and on with Old Testament examples, but David is a nice mix of good and bad. When it comes to the New Testament, the gospels give several examples:

  • Herod’s killing of the innocents (example of bad leadership).
  • Joseph caring for Mary and Jesus regardless of what it cost him.
  • James and John wanting to sit at Jesus’s right and left hand in heaven (example of bad leadership).
  • Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.
  • Jesus telling James and John not to cast down fire on the Samaritans.
  • Jesus helping Martha understand what’s important.

Again, I could go on and on–especially about Jesus. Yeah, there are zero examples of bad leadership from Jesus. How could there be?

Father, help me to prepare to teach this class, and teach me through this. I’ve been struggling with my own leadership at work lately, and I feel like I could use these lessons as much as anyone. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see. Be glorified through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 18, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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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 11:37-41

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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