SCRIPTURE: Luke 11:1-4 The Lord’s prayer is a prayer outline, not a fixed form prayer. The foundation of this prayer is God’s honor and kingdom purpose. Everything that follows (our needs and requests) are shaped by, and directed towards, God’s honor and kingdom purpose. Provide for us and help us so that Your Name is honored…
Daily bread?
An unhealthy work focus?
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:38-42 “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.” (Luke 10:41-42) Am I any different from Martha? I am usually so distracted — worried and upset – by all the preparations involved with upkeeping this church for Jesus. And yes, it bothers me that some people don’t…
Go and do likewise
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:29-37 “But he wanted to justify himself… The one who had mercy on him.” (Luke 10:29,37) Notice the direction of the heart: one wants to justify himself, the other has mercy on another. The first is self-focused, the second is other-focused. Looking out for number 1, or looking out to the interests of others. What…
Listening for the voice of truth!
“Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe… the Voice of Truth!”
How badly do you want shalom?
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:25-28 “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” … This man is not just asking about life after death, he is asking about ‘shalom’. According to Strong’s Concordance ‘shalom’ means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. How do we experience…
Pray for who???
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 83 It’s hard to relate to this Psalm. Our situations are not the same, so we cannot imagine the psalmists despair and suffering. Imagine people in Nigeria or Sudan, where lawlessness reigns: a poor farmer crying out to God against the armed groups stealing or burning their crops, taking their sons, raping their daughters,…
Inspired meaninglessness!
SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 5-8 It is important to remember that this book is inspired meaninglessness. As scripture, this book is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17), but this does not mean each thought is God’s. God is using the wisdom of man to show the foolishness of life without God. “Utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) – this is not God’s…
Satan is fallen!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:17-24 Something HUGE is happening here, and Jesus praises God because of it! The tables are being turned on the dominion of darkness; Satan is falling and the demons are running. And wonder of wonders, it is happening at the hands of ‘little children’. Standing with Jesus, the little people have the authority to…
A future filled with regret?
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:8-16 The message I hear today is about unbearable regret when we realize the consequences of our choices. Makes me think of Gordon Stuckless, having to finally face the consequences for the abuses he committed in the past. Jesus is not threatening people here (“I’ll teach you for rejecting me”) but sadly grieving the…