đ Heavenly Father, speak to us as we listen to Jesus speak to His followers. Your wisdom is revealed to Your humble servants â therefore, let us lay down our personal issues and our proud hearts so we can embrace the privilege of being a disciple of Jesus. There is so much being offered in these sections of Lukeâs Gospel; prepare our hearts and minds to hear Your Word. Clear our useless thoughts and be with us as read and receive Your truth and Your Wisdom. We pray this in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.
Jesusâ Teaching on Prayer
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, âLord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.â
2 He said to them, âWhen you pray, say:
ââFather,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.ââ
5 Then Jesus said to them, âSuppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, âFriend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.â 7 And suppose the one inside answers, âDonât bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I canât get up and give you anything.â 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 âSo I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 âWhich of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!â
Points to Ponder: There comes a time when a child, watching their parent, wants to do what they see them doing. Or an apprentice, as he watches a master might ask, âTeach me to do that.â The disciples seem to ask Jesus here to teach them how to do what they see Him doing. Jesus responds with the assumption that they will pray as He tells them⌠âWhen you pray⌠â Not âifâ, but âwhenâ. And we get Lukeâs version of The Lordâs Prayer.
From V5 on, we also see that Jesus tells them why they pray. Jesus tells us that we pray because Godâs own reputation is at stake⌠He loves us and our relentless prayers will be answered with good gifts from a loving father. As we study and submit to His Word⌠we get to Know God⌠we build a relationship that moves us to being âin Christâ, we see that we are not only permitted, but commanded to Ask⌠Seek⌠Knock⌠for we know how the ideal Father-child relationship should work. We are to trust God as our Heavenly Father, because He answers prayer â for our good and for His sake. His will is always to restore us to Him â Romans 8:28 As we mature and take delight in this new relationship, our hearts soften to His good will. Our hard hearts may start as selfish and self-focused, our prayers sometimes sound like that as well. âLord, give me thisâŚâ But as we grow to understand the love of God, our hearts are humbled as we see what He has done to save us. We grow to see and love others the way He does. And as we take delight in the LORD, He gives us the desires of our hearts. (Psalm 37:4) Be patient as you grow and be persistent in your prayers, because He loves you. For many of us, this is a love we donât understand at first.
Jesus and Beelzebul
14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, âBy Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.â 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: âAny kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 âWhen a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
23 âWhoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 âWhen an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, âI will return to the house I left.â 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.â
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, âBlessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.â
28 He replied, âBlessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.â
Points to Ponder: Here is another amazing sign of Jesusâ authority over evil spirits, yet we see three different responses from the witnesses: amazement, accusation, and demanding a better sign. (Reminding us of Satan testing Jesus in the wilderness with⌠If you really are the Son of GodâŚ)
It is interesting to notice that no one, including Jesus, denies the reality of evil spirits. Remember the lyrics from âGotta Serve Somebodyâ from Bob Dylan? The current Western cultural phenomenon of serving only ourselves is unrealistic. From Genesis 3:15 we got the first hint that we are all placing ourselves either with the offspring of the woman or with the offspring of the serpent.
As always, Jesus knows their thoughts and responds to the accusation of being aligned with Beelzebul by pointing out the hypocrisy of their beliefs. They wouldnât accuse the religious leaders of Israel of such a thing! So apparently, having such thoughts about Jesus incurs judgment â ouch! For those that recognize Jesusâ authority as being granted from God the Father, that recognition is also their realization that the Kingdom of God has arrived! (These are the opportunities we have to exercise our free will to join Godâs will and place ourselves to be in His family, become part of the offspring of the woman.)
Luke constantly shows the different reactions from the crowds. (There are no secret miracle performances from Jesus⌠His ministry is public so that people that have difficulty with an invisible, almighty God can see with their eyes, trust and believe. Yet we see in these Gospel accounts, that many still will not believe, even what they personally witness.)
V21-22 makes sense in the natural world; all the listeners would agree â a strong, armed man can protect! (As long as he is the strongest!) V23 throws a gauntlet, Jesus calls them to pick a side! There are no bystanders in the battle of good vs. evil; no middle ground concerning Christianity. V24-26 is a warning for us all and in light of the previous sections, we remember Paulâs teachings in Ephesians 6:10-18 regarding the armor of God and how we stand strong in such a battle.
In our Christian walk, we all have a âBCâ time period when we were lost and one or more evil spirits had control of our thoughts⌠shaped our beliefs⌠and influenced our behavior. (You donât have to think about demon-possession, think instead of something smaller, but equally destructive. Did you ever believe you were worthless or of little value⌠unlovable, irredeemable, just too guilty or too far gone? That belief is a lie. Cleaning out a destructive thought by some external process, whether religious or secular, will not leave us protected. You only erase a lie with the truth.)
To walk in new life, we must submit to the giver of that new life. What will give us new life, then nurse and protect us? V28 â hearing the Word of God and obeying it. Our âhousesâ are protected with the transforming power of saving faith.
The Sign of Jonah
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, âThis is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomonâs wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.
Points to Ponder: Obviously, the Jonah reference foreshadows the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jonah in the belly of a fish for three days⌠Jesus in the belly of the earth for three days. But the Jonah reference also recalls the repentance of the Ninevites. This section begins with the crowds increasing. Why? Where were they before? The Queen of the South traveled great distances just to hear the wisdom given to Solomon â but Jesus, the Son of God, is right there with His signs and wonders done publicly. Unrepentant hearts⌠the mockers and scoffers⌠will not find time in their schedules for Jesus, although their curiosity and eagerness to see a sign might bring them close for their own entertainment. Jesus calls them a wicked generation â we can see throughout Scripture that the seeing of great signs and miracles does not guarantee a repentant, humble heart conversion. Just look at Pharoah or the first generation of Israelites in Exodus⌠then humbly, look at the resurrected Jesus, the empty tomb, and examine our own hearts. Are we still asking for a âsignâ as if His rising from the dead was not enough? (I canât help but hear Bill Engvall talking about stupid people⌠Hereâs your sign.)
The Lamp of the Body
33 âNo one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.â
Points to Ponder: There is nothing hidden from God and that is all that matters. When the light of the Gospel shines on our hearts, we repent, we believe, and we receive Jesus â the light of the world. Embracing this light, guides our steps and helps us grow and mature into new life. This new life is not meant to remain hidden; it is meant to be broadcast; to shed light into the worldâs darkness for the benefit of others. Jesus tells us that our eyes are the gateway to spiritual wholeness. What we are consuming with our eyes, what we are paying attention to, they matter. Luke includes this teaching right along the lessons of good and evil, wicked generations and the command to pick a side. Darkness and light cannot coexist.
While entertainment may have fun with invitations like Darth Vadarâs to âJoin the dark sideâ, there is also a hero, Yoda, who warns⌠âbeware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression⌠the dark side of the Force are they, easily they flow.â Whether itâs Star Wars or Harry Potter with Dumbledoreâs Army vs. the Death Eaters, good entertainment mimics what Scripture has already told us. The hero wins and itâs no different for Christianity, only God has ended this battle by moving the victory scene forward in time. The cross, the empty tomb, the resurrected Jesus⌠It is finished, Satan and his offspring have been defeated.
Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39 Then the Lord said to him, âNow then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside youâbe generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 âWoe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 âWoe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44 âWoe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.â
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, âTeacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.â
46 Jesus replied, âAnd you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47 âWoe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, âI will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.â 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
52 âWoe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.â
53 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Points to Ponder: Here we see Jesus unleashed. After speaking, Jesus is invited to relax with a Pharisee, but the Pharisee takes a position of judging Jesus for not conforming to the accepted practices of the Pharisees. Apparently, the teaching of Jesus is falling on deaf ears only to reveal the condition of the religious leadership in Jesusâ day. They are rule-followers, as long as the rules are theirs. They are performance based and self-righteous. They are greedy, self-serving, and loveless. They were meant to bring people into Godâs Kingdom, but they ignored God, served themselves and kept people out. As long as no one could see their hypocrisy, they considered themselves righteous and in a position to judge others. I would like to say that things have changed since then, but as long as humans have unrepentant hearts, there will always be self-serving leadership, even in some churches. It is crucial to belong to a church, but one that is true to Scripture. (Love the songs from Casting Crownsâ Stained Glass Masquerade⌠or Matthew West, Truth Be Told.) Christian history has left many with a case of ‘church-hurt’ đ But there are many faithful churches and the online sermons that emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic leaves you with no excuse anymore. If you have a phone, you can find a service… or a podcast… or an online audible Bible!
Warnings and Encouragements
12 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: âBe on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 âI tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Donât be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 âI tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 âWhen you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.â
Points to Ponder: Thousands are gathering to hear Jesus and He addresses His disciples first. Apparently, the danger of peer-pressure, the desire to be liked by the multitudes around you, the temptation to be less than truthful is nothing new and Jesus both warns and encourages His disciples to remain faithful to the truth of Jesus in public. Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. Yeast â that little fungus that can affect the whole batch. If the purpose of speaking to crowds is self-serving hypocrisy, forget it. God sees and hears everything. Even if youâre tempted to lie and hide the truth to look good on the outside and protect yourself from the opinions of others, Jesus tells us that God sees us and He cares for us â even more than the people we may be afraid of. Even if the threat to us appears to be death, Jesus reminds us that God the Father, the God of both love and justice, sees our struggles. They may not understand the role of the Holy Spirit at this time, but Jesus tells them ahead of time about some of the difficulties they will face after Pentecost. The Pharisees rejected the prophets; the disciples are warned against the rejecting the Holy Spirit. There is a paradox of both fear and comfort in the Christian message⌠fear of walking through this world as a Christian, but comfort in knowing that the victory is already secured for eternity.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, âTeacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.â
14 Jesus replied, âMan, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?â 15 Then he said to them, âWatch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.â
16 And he told them this parable: âThe ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, âWhat shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.â
18 âThen he said, âThis is what Iâll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And Iâll say to myself, âYou have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.ââ
20 âBut God said to him, âYou fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?â
21 âThis is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.â
Points to Ponder: Love how this section starts, where someone calls Jesus to interfere with what, in his opinion, is the right thing to do. Jesus calls him out by first addressing him, not as a son, but simply âmanâ. Yup⌠thatâs where we all start. Greed is just one worldly value that misleads us. Jesus teaches us that the one with the most toys at the end, DOESNâT win. (Eternal life that is.) This is not a popular message for our culture, at least for my generation. I believe the younger generations have already begun to see this. It was part of the teachings in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, but the teacher in that book tells us that even in the abundance of possessions, there is no meaning. All the worldly things that promise happiness, always seem to fall short and fail to deliver.
This parable is not to be used by some shady, selfish preacher to threaten a congregation to donate more money to the church or else. Nor should it be used like a Pharisee justifying himself⌠I give 10% so Iâm good. Think instead of putting God first, getting to know Him and trust Him, so we can turn confidently from our old lives . Remember Psalm 90:12 â Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Barring the return of Jesus in our lifetime, we will all die. And then it is too late to shift priorities. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow, so the time to start is now. Today. (Hebrews 3:13⌠as long as it is called TODAYâŚ) Restoring this God-centered life will help sort out how to prioritize the wise use of all of our riches⌠our time, our talents, and our treasures. It is His wisdom and His spirit that helps guide our actions as we grow in our relationship with Him. Remember, Heâs already died for you â He loves you that much! You canât earn any more than that, you can only humbly submit to accepting the gifts He offers.
Do Not Worry
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: âTherefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 âConsider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe youâyou of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 âDo not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Points to Ponder: One of my favorite lines. We cannot add a single hour to our lives â which Jesus calls a very little thing! LOL!!! If we follow the science and the medical knowledge available today, we now know that stress and worry is a contributing factor in reducing life! Here we see Jesus comforting His disciples again because the Father knows what we need and He loves us. He sees us as valuable. So do not worry and do not be afraid. His eternal Kingdom is one of everlasting treasure and keeping our focus on His eternity will soften our hearts and reshape our desires â from things of this world to the treasures promised in Heaven. (Revelation 21:4)
Watchfulness
35 âBe dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.â
41 Peter asked, âLord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?â
42 The Lord answered, âWho then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, âMy master is taking a long time in coming,â and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47 âThe servant who knows the masterâs will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Points to Ponder: No one knows the time of Jesusâ return. If someone claims to, walk away. This section calls us to perseverance and growth in the Christian life. Everyday we put Him first â learning the truth about the Biblical ideas of service, love, trust, and obedience. By studying and thinking about the stories of people in the Bible, we learn and we grow from the master. We begin to desire these things as we have the assurance that there is an eternity in which our education, knowledge, and practical experience will be rewarded with an eternal life to enjoy all the good things God has created. We honor him in this lifetime, by staying faithful to Him regardless of our circumstances. It gets easier to avoid the temptations of this world as our knowledge of Him grows. When we get frustrated or stuck, we pray for His wisdom and we commune with others on this same journey.
Donât think that this teaching is just for Peter and the disciples. That last paragraph was spoken to the disciples, but it became written into Scripture for all of us.
Not Peace but Division
49 âI have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.â
Points to Ponder: This paragraph should strike a hard blow to our hearts, but there are so many broken and divided families already that I question whether it does.đ God has already promised not to destroy the earth again with a flood. (Genesis 9:11 đ) But there will be fire. đĽ Fire in Scripture is often meant to represent purification. Jesus would mean to remove all sin from this world, but He is under constraint at this time. When He is no longer constrained, there is silence in Heaven for about half an hour (Revelation 8:1) and then⌠đ˛ I have no intention of being a witness to that.
We fool ourselves to think that Jesus was just a great teacher and if people would just follow His teachings, weâd have peace on earth. He clearly denies that âpeace on earthâ was His intention. Oh no, He is initiating division â a clear division that goes back to Genesis 3:15. Again, there is no middle ground with Christianity. You are either considered the offspring of Jesus or the offspring of Satan. This is tough teaching for sure.
Interpreting the Times
54 He said to the crowd: âWhen you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, âItâs going to rain,â and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, âItâs going to be hot,â and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you donât know how to interpret this present time?
57 âWhy donât you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.â
Points to Ponder: Hypocrisy is how we present ourselves when we desire to live in a manner that is inconsistent with what we know is right. Jesus appeals to our knowledge of nature around us and how we behave. Here in Florida, we have pretty good forecasts for hurricanes and the majority of people act accordingly⌠stock up on supplies, seek higher ground, protect possessions as best as possible, and check on the less fortunate neighbors. Many people will even form a community to shelter together to encourage and help each other during the storm.
Jesus uses the example of our behavior in these situations to call out our hypocrisy in this present time. What is âthis present timeâ â the time between Jesusâ appearance on earth and His return. He came to announce His Kingdom and offer Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice so we could enter that Kingdom, sinless. There is no other way into this Kingdom. We know that⌠so why donât we behave according to that knowledge? Jesus gives us credit for knowing what is ârightâ. After all, God created us in His image.
Summary: These chapters start with a reflection on how we are to pray to our Father â an almighty Father that loves us. Loves us enough to send His Son to die for us so we can spend eternity with Him in His Kingdom. That very Son is speaking to us in these chapters acknowledging the presence of evil in this world that continue to lead us astray. Evil that lies to us and seeks to destroy us. Evil that promises life, but fails to deliver. We have no excuse in denying Jesus as our Savior and the giver of new life, eternal life. We know better. And we know what is at stake. We know what is right, but our desires are just not aligned with His will so we fight the appeal to call Him, Lord.
He tells us not to worry or be fearful about the Kingdom life; but Satan will whisper lies to us, causing us to doubt God, causing us stress, causing us fear and worry⌠all the while, these lies shorten our lives! There is no peace for those trying to straddle Christianity â one foot in the world and one in the Kingdom. Jesus calls for a clear division, fulfilling the promise God made in Genesis 3:15 â the serpent will be defeated by the seed of the woman. That is the victory won at the cross. Some of us have to read and reread and reread these Gospels to renew our thoughts and realign ourselves with the will of God. Some of us have some nasty, lingering, evil thoughts from our old life that need to be fought against with the truth of Godâs Word and with prayer. Some of us have to start each day remembering just how much we are loved.
đ Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank you that Your Son, Our Lord, Jesus can speak to us with truth â whether we like to hear it or not. You call us to pick a side â strengthen us and those around us to choose the side that has already secured the victory. Strengthen us to speak only Your wisdom to those around us so we are not unwittingly spreading lies that have captured our attention. Guard our hearts and minds until we are capable of accepting only Your truth. It is in the royal name of Jesus we pray this. Amen.