Today’s reading: Luke 21:29-38, 22:1-13

“Watch out! Don’t let me find you living in careless ease and drunkenness, and filled with the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware.” - Luke 21:34

Alertness seems to be one of the most recurring themes throughout all of the New Testament. Being ready for Jesus’ return at all times keeps us sharp in every way.

When we are ready, we are sharp morally. Every decision we get ready to make is done through this filter: “Is this preparing me to meet my Lord face to face?” The implications of this are massive.

When we are ready, we also will worry less about the uncertainty of this present life. We are assured that all of this is temporary. The possessions. The trials. The temptations. The limitations. The pain. The tears. Even the glory of it all. We are freed from worry and panic. This is because we trust the One whose words “will remain forever”.

Come on the ☁️☁️☁️☁️, Lord Jesus.

We are ready, we are expectant, and we trust completely in your grace and timing.

Today’s reading: Luke 21:1-28

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:3-4‬

One of the greatest temptations when it comes to finances is to let the amounts tell the story. Amounts don’t tell the story.

It isn’t the amount that God is noticing, it is the sacrifice. How much did that hurt to offer? How much did that gift cause you to further depend on God’s provision? Too many times our lack of extravagant generosity causes us to spend whatever margin we have on things we didn’t need in the first place.

I.H. Marshall says it well, “...what matters is not the amount that one gives but the amount that one keeps for oneself.”

Do I lose when my bank account isn’t as full after a generous gift, or is this my greatest gain?

Some (if not all) of the happiest people I know are the most generous people I know. Why? Sacrifice in Jesus’ name = JOY.

Today’s reading: Luke 20:27-47

“So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God does not see some as dead and some as living. He sees all as living. Even better, those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior will pass from life to life when they take their last breath as they are now. Tragically, those who refuse to trust Jesus now, will be living in eternal death.

This is why it so important for us to read Ephesians 2:1-10, Romans 6:3-5, and Titus 3:3-7 on loop to get a better grasp on what it means to experience rebirth right now.

G.B. Caird says it well:
“...all life, here and hereafter, consists in friendship with God … Death may put an end to physical existence, but not a relationship that is by nature eternal. Men may lose their friends by death, but not God.”

The Apostle Paul drives it home:
“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8)

Today’s reading: Luke 20:1-26

“Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The religious leaders spend all of their time and energy trying to trap Jesus with their questions, but He always answers them with ease. Here, He alludes to two different places in the Old Testament: Isaiah 8:14 and Daniel 2:34-35 (both of which they would have known well).

I love the Daniel passage because it pictures the stone taking out the statue that represents every ancient, political superpower and becoming a force that no one else can cope with or match. Jesus is that rock. ☄️

Those who reject Jesus are making a decision to be broken now (no hope presently) and ground to dust later (no hope at the eternal judgment). What we choose to do with Jesus is the most important decision we will ever make, and if this doesn’t motivate us to share the Good News with others, nothing else will.

Hebrews 9:27-28 drives this home.
“...He will bring salvation...”

Today’s reading: Luke 19:28-48

“Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.” - Luke 19:48 NIV‬‬

Jesus has just made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the most humblest of fashions, on the back of a donkey. Yet the fanfare was great. Messianic chants from Psalm 118:26 filled the air: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The children were crying, “Hosanna!” Jesus’ full identity was on display, and the religious leaders absolutely hated it. To them, it was blasphemy. To Jesus, it was fulfillment. They wanted a way to permanently rid themselves of Jesus. If they were going to crucify Him, it would have to be an inside job.

But the people hung on His words. The Greek word for hung is ekkremannymi and can also mean to cling to. The way Jesus spoke was unmistakable. It was those same words that said, “Let there be light!” in the beginning.

Jesus, today we want to do the same as this audience. We have come to hang on every word You speak. Your words feel like home.

Today’s reading: Luke 19:1-27

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Lk 19:10‬

The rescue plan of Jesus was not one that was activated from a distance with a text message, an email, or even a DM on Instagram. His rescue plan was delivered with his feet on the dusty streets of places like Jericho. He delivered it face to face, home to home, sinner to sinner.

It is clear that the personal touch is what transformed the notorious Zaccheus from his life of extortion to a life of repentance through restitution.

Throughout the Bible, saving has always been preceded by seeking. Jacob and the wrestling angel. Elijah hiding in the cave. David among the sheep. The calling of the disciples. The woman at the well. God is proactively seeking to save us.

Is this how we view evangelism?

Are we meeting people where they are or are we waiting for them to come to us?

After this pandemic lifts, we must be better with this. Even now. Who could we reach out to virtually in order to close the gap and seek the lost?

Today’s reading: Luke 18:18-43

“When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

One thing. Out of all the things?

Jesus does the same thing when he talks to Martha (Luke 10:42). The one thing necessary there was to sit at His feet with Mary. Martha needed to slow down.

The One Thing Challenge to this Rich Young Ruler was to sell all he had, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. His wealth was keeping him from complete surrender.

What is our One Thing today?
What has been keeping us from surrender?

One thing that was blinding both Martha and this man was their pride, their self sufficiency.

Jesus is a one-step-at-a-time Lord and Savior. Sometimes those steps are small and sometimes they are macro life changes (as with this man). May we not go away sad from Jesus. May we go ahead and get the surrender to our Lord over with. Life is freest that way, more meaningful.

Today’s reading: Luke 18:1-17

People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them...
‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:15-16‬

In the disciples’ defense, children can be disruptive and distracting when trying to get work done. Ask anyone with small kids who is trying to work from home during this pandemic. They interrupt. They jump on you, unannounced. They talk nonstop. They desire your attention more than anything.

Jesus didn’t view the children as disruptive or distracting. He viewed them as the key for us being able to truly understand the Kingdom of God that He was initiating during His 3-year earthly ministry.

Children remind us of how uncomplicated life should be. They remind us of how serious we have become about our own pride.

Father God, teach us more about being childlike and to cherish moments like these.

Today’s reading: Luke 17:11-37

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭17:28-29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

One of the biggest lies we are tempted to buy into is the one that says, “If business is good, all is good.” We tend not to worry if we have enough (or more than enough). Why would we make a change if everything is going according to plan?

Unfortunately, this will be the mentality that will cause billions to enter into eternity unprepared.

Jesus, frighteningly, compares this to the times of Noah. Apparently they went about business-as-usual right up to the point of water rising.

It isn’t wrong to make money or to have what we need to live, the problem is when that becomes something we are living for and unwilling to surrender.

Verse 33 slams this home:
Whoever clings to this life will lose it,
and whoever loses this life will save it.

Ready us, Jesus!

Today’s reading: Luke 16:19-31, 17:1-10

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’
‭‭Luke‬ ‭17:10‬

When I think about myself, and when I think about God, what races through my mind? So many times it is me wanting to figure out how I can get God to answer my prayers the way that I want him to. Ultimately, I am the servant, and I need to be ready to obey my Master, no matter what.

What a great lesson for us when it comes to our prayer lives. The disciples asked to have more faith. Jesus said the cure was not in the amount of their faith, but a proper use of what they had. Jesus doesn’t need much (actually nothing) from us to do the impossible.

Joshua chapter 10 is such a good example of this. God guarantees victory, yet Joshua asks for more time in the midst of the battle. And God answers in a way that was (and is) rare (Joshua 10:14).

God, get us into the middle of your will, as servants, so that we can win for Your glory and renown.