I Corinthians 1

It seems that the world we live in is not that much different than the world of First Corinthians. At the time that Paul wrote this letter, he says that the Jews were still looking for signs and miracles and the Greeks were looking for wisdom. How is that any different than our world where people watch religious channels and read self-help books in search of a miracle and the more intellectual among us debate the finer points of agnosticism?

The world doesn't change. The wisdom of the world doesn't change. And the gospel of Jesus Christ simply doesn't make rational sense. How could a man that lived and died 2,000 years ago influence my life today? It's foolish. Anyone that has any bit of logic in their head has to agree that it's foolish. But those that have actually believed. Those that have heard the call. Those that follow Christ know that His power can reach across space and time and He can very directly influence our lives here and now.

I think it's just amazing to try and imagine the amazing power of God. His foolishness is still more wise than the best we can come up with. His weaknesses are still stronger than the most power we can muster. And He continually chooses to shame our attempts at intellect by turning our thoughts of wisdom into folly. Will you be wise like your peers? Or will you be truly wise and follow Christ?

Luke 24

Christ was resurrected physically. That was hard for the disciples to understand, and hard still for us to understand. It is an important point, though. It's not enough for Christ to remain dead and return simply as a Spirit. If that were the case, then He would not be as powerful as death. He had to come completely back to life to prove His authority as God over creation.

When He first appeared, though, the disciples believed that He might simply be a ghost. After all, He had entered a locked room without anyone noticing. To prove His identity, though, He asked them all to see His crucifixion scars and to touch His flesh. And to remove any lingering doubt, He told them that He was hungry and asked for food. Eating in front of them, He dispels any notion that He was not physically alive since ghosts do not eat.

Luke 23

In order for Christ's sacrifice to take the place of the traditional Passover lamb, He had to be both innocent and put to death. How could that be accomplished, though? As it turned out, the Israelites were under the rule of the Roman Empire at the time and they shared legal responsibility for the citizens with the Jews. Therefore, Jesus was able to stand trial before the Romans and be declared innocent while still being sentenced to death by the Jews.

This is a critical role for the Jews to play. They were the ones that believed in sacrifice for the atonement of sins. They were the ones that had the relationship with God. They were the ones that were looking for a Messiah to bring salvation. They were the ones that had to actually perform the sacrifice. What the Jews did by demanding Christ's death was to fulfill the scripture. It wasn't a bad thing; it was a necessary thing.

The Romans could no more have sacrificed Christ than they could have performed the sacrifice of lambs or oxen in the temple. It would have been unthinkable, and it would have simply been murder. I can't completely understand how the sacrifice works or why it is necessary for the atonement, but I can say that I am glad that it happened so that we can all have salvation.

Luke 22

It's easy to stand up for your beliefs when you are surrounded by like minds. It's unbelievably more difficult when you are left alone. Christ told Peter that he would deny knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, and Peter was immediately defensive. Peter, sitting a room of believers, told Christ that he was willing to go to death with Jesus if that's what it took. In fact, Peter did end up denying Christ, though, as Jesus predicted.

I wonder, though, where were the other disciples when this happened. The twelve were supposed to stick together. They've been through a lot with Christ, and when He is finally arrested they are nowhere to be found. At least none of them could be found except Peter who was following Jesus at a distance. I'm sure that they were all scared about what was going to happen to Christ and by extension what would happen to them. It just seems odd to me that they all ran and hid. What if they hadn't? What if they had all followed Jesus? What if Peter was surrounded by friends when he was accused of knowing Jesus? Would he have responded differently?

I think that he might have, but we'll never know for sure. I can say for sure, though, that standing up for what is right is much easier when you have the support of those that believe the same as you. I believe that the biggest lesson to learn here has less to do with Peter and more to do with the other eleven. Christ has put us all in a body of believers for support, and when we go out alone or allow our friends to go out alone, it makes it immensely difficult for them to succeed. We should all be more like Peter: following Christ wherever He leads. We should all be less like the other eleven: watching our friends go off on their own and not being there for support.

Luke 21

God wants all that we have to give. He wants us to suffer for His sake. Now, don't misunderstand. God doesn't want us to be miserable, but He does want it to cost something to follow Him. How much do we value things that we are just given? We don't think twice about the air that we breathe or the water that we drink because we have a near ubiquitous supply, but what about a person in the middle of Africa where this is no drinking water? Or an astronaut on a spacewalk that has to rely solely on his equipment? Suddenly, the things that mean so little to us have become a great value to them.

The gift of eternal life is just that: a gift. But the relationship that comes along with it takes all of our effort to work through. The rich in the temple gave lots and lots of their wealth to God, and I'm sure that it was appreciated by God and the priests, but the widow who had nothing gave relatively nothing from a monetary standpoint, but she gave everything that she had to the relationship. She trusted that God would use her offering to provide for her when she couldn't provide for herself. The rich, on the other hand, almost make it look like God depends on them for survival. They've got it quite backward.

When you give to God, are you giving all of yourself and trusting Him to protect and care for you? Or are you giving from a place of security and treating God as if He needs you more than you need Him?

Luke 20

Some Sadducees tried to trap Jesus into a problem that they saw with the doctrine of a resurrection of the dead, and they intended to it by using an example of a woman who had been married multiple times as the result of her husbands' deaths. Christ quickly corrected them, though, by pointing out that there basic assumption was flawed. They had assumed that life after the resurrection would be the same as life right now today. Christ pointed out that it will not. There will be no marriage at that point.

Coupling this explanation with the fact that Christ's time on earth was nothing like the Jews had expected of the Messiah makes me wonder how many details we still misunderstand. How many things do we assume about heaven and God because of our limited, human perspective that will prove to be completely untrue? How surprised are we going to be when we get to heaven and find out that it's not what we expected? And will we recognize the signs of the end of the age or will we miss them the same as the Jews missed the signs of Christ's arrival the first time around?

Luke 19

Can you imagine what it would have been like when Jesus entered Jerusalem with a crowd of disciples singing His praises? Can you imagine what it would have been like to hear their shouts of praise and see Christ Himself sitting on the back of a donkey? Can you imagine how confusing that must have been for any of the Romans that might have been present?

I think it's interesting to note that Christ was followed and surrounded on His journey to the city by His disciples. I had always pictured from Sunday School that it was the population of Jerusalem that had come out to praise Him as He rode into the city. In fact, according to Luke, it was His entourage. That makes it no less telling, though, that when Christ is asked to quiet the crowd that He replies that the stones would cry out if His disciples did not.

Really the only question here, then, is whether you are part of the disciples, part of the Pharisees trying to quiet the disciples, or part of the citizenry of Jerusalem trying to remain unnoticed?

Luke 18

A relationship with God is not a formula that is satisfied when you check a list of items off of a to-do list. You can't simply say that you've done these things and not done these things therefore I have a relationship with God any more than you can say that about other people in your life. Sure the rules that God has ordained are important as they serve as boundaries for our relationship, but they do not define the relationship.

It's like this: in the business world, there are certain rules that the company has to abide by and there are certain rules that every employee must abide by. Just because you have not broken any of those rules and just because you might have done great things for the organization doesn't mean that you have any meaningful relationships with of the other employees much less the CEO. Those relationships are forged through communication and dedication.

The same holds true in our relationship with God. Just because the rich man had upheld all of the rules did not mean that he had any relationship with God. To have a relationship with God, he had to make God the most important thing in his life, and he wasn't willing to do that. The apostles were. They left their former lives behind to follow Christ, but the rich ruler was looking for another rule to follow, not a commitment to make. The question for you is, are you looking for more rules or are you looking for a commitment?

Luke 17

So many of us think that God is an eternal vending machine that we just ask and ask and ask for things with no regard for the actual person of God. Ironically, the ones that most often recognize God's power and are grateful for it are the ones who seem to be least familiar with Him. In this passage, Christ heals ten people with leprosy. He doesn't do anything directly. He just directs them all to go and see the priest and along the way they are healed. Only one of them recognizes or acknowledges anyway the power of Christ in this situation and returns to praise God.

The Samaritans were social outcasts who were not allowed to worship in the temple. Theoretically, the would be the least familiar with God since they were not part of the chosen people, but in this case it was only the Samaritan that returned to praise God for his healing. The other nine, presumably Jews, all just continued on with their day as if God had just given them something that they deserved. They asked for healing, God gave them healing, end of story. They forgot that they were only healed at the discretion of the Lord and for His pleasure.

When we ask for things from God, do we expect that He will grant them simply because we asked? Or are we ever grateful for any mercy or grace that He dispenses upon us as the Samaritan was?

Luke 16

Interestingly, Christ comments on the difference between believers and non-believers in a very different manner in this passage. Normally, when contrasts are made between believers and non-believers the believer is favored as being in a better situation and possessing more eternal assets. The non-believer is generally cast as a fool destined to an eternal death. In this case, Christ turns that on its head.

With the use of a parable about a dishonest man, Christ comments on the lack of worldly wisdom of many believers. He doesn't condone dishonesty. He doesn't encourage believers to start trying to manipulate people around them for personal gain. He just points out that everyone has been given a share of something that is not theirs. We are all managers working for God. Interestingly, non-believers often understand better what it takes to manage relationships with people and relationships with money than believes.

Perhaps as believers we are so afraid of the dangers of money and business that we never learn how to deal with it properly. Perhaps we believe that dealing with those things is inherently evil. Perhaps there is some other reason that I don't completely understand. Regardless, it seems clear here that Christ is telling us to learn how to do those things well. Our role in this world is not to be social outcasts. Our role is to make friends and share the gospel and we can't really do that if we are constantly being taken advantage of by non-believers.

Luke 15

There is an interesting contrast in the parables that Jesus shares in this passage. In the first, He talks about a sheep that wanders away and a shepherd that goes after it. In the second, He tells the familiar parable of the prodigal son.

I think it's interesting to note that in the first parable, the shepherd leaves the flock to find the one lost sheep. After that sheep is found, he returns to the flock and rejoices that his one that was lost is now found. This could be like you and me wandering around in the darkness and Jesus finally finds us and brings us back to His fold. The other believers and angels of heaven rejoice that the one that was lost is now found.

Contrast that to the prodigal son where the father did not go out in search of his son. The son left with his share of the wealth, squandered it, suffered, and then returned home on his own to find his father waiting for him. There was still celebration, but it was different. They celebrated the choice that the son made to return home rather than the success of the shepherd in finding his lost sheep.

I don't know for sure why these are so different on that one point except to say that sometimes God chases us and keeps out of trouble and sometimes He lets us go through a little bit of hard times so that we can choose to come back home.

Luke 14

I love how Jesus says things that capture the essence of the human spirit. As such, He is able to speak directly to us even across the barriers of time. We tend to become familiar with our groups of friends and almost clique-ish in many cases such that we forget the work of the Lord. In fact, we often even go so far as to fall back on the old excuse that we should fellowship with believers to eliminate temptation. The only problem is that that's not what Christ asked for.

Christ asked each of us to be sure to not invite our friends, family, or siblings to our dinners or luncheons. Now, He is not talking about a literal lunch or dinner, though. He is talking about the opportunity to feast on the Word. And He's not talking about our literal family and friends. He's talking about our fellow believers. He's sayin that we don't need to invite Christians to a party that's all about becoming a Christian.

Instead we should be inviting those that don't know Christ. We should be inviting those that do not know Christ, and therefore, cannot walk or feed themselves alone to our dinner parties and feeding them the Word of God. How many times, though, do we hide behind an illusion that we are trying to escape temptation by not associating ourselves with those that are in most need of seeing God's grace? And what does that communicate to them about God? The church? Christians in general?

Luke 13

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of God is like yeast. How can those two things be used as analogies for the kingdom of God? How does that make any sense?

The kingdom of God encompasses all believers, even those that remain here on earth, and when you consider that we are called to expand that kingdom by sharing the gospel, this starts to make sense as analogy. With just one man, Christ, the ministry of God's kingdom was started. It's just like that tiny mustard seed. Through the apostles, the Holy Spirit, and other converts along the way, this kingdom has been spread around the globe. It's no longer a single small seed unable to really support any one person; it's become a huge tree in which everyone can rest if they so choose.

As we continue to share the gospel with others, we are expanding the branches of the kingdom of God and allowing others a place to rest and relax from the stresses that we put on ourselves in everyday life.

Luke 12

The area where I live (DFW) is generally pretty affluent. There is a large population of well-educated, highly compensated workers, and each of us spends a decent amount of time thinking about what do with the money that we have earned. Some of us spend it on our families, some of us spend it on ourselves, and some of us just put it in the bank for later. How many of us are thinking past this life, though? How many of us are being strategic about sharing our wealth with others?

Jesus told a parable about a man that had so much that he didn't even have room to store it all. Rather than share the excess that he obviously wouldn't be able to use, he built new storehouses so that he could hoard it all for himself. I think that a lot of us are like that. We carefully guard the things in life that we treasure and we just figure out new ways to keep more stuff to ourselves as we get older. As with the man in the parable, though, the more important thing is to determine what we are storing up in heaven for eternity.

Luke 11

A question frequently asked by both those that have grown up in church and those that have is, "How do you pray?" On one hand, it seems kind of silly. God is our Father and friend, so we can just talk to Him like we talk to our best bud. On the other hand, it seems quite complex. God is the creator the universe and the most sovereign being in existence, so we must be sure to not confuse Him with our best bud. Thankfully, the apostles had this same question and Christ's response is recorded.

When Jesus modeled prayer for them, He wasn't trying to tell them to literally say these words over and over again. He was attempting to convey a pattern that should exist in our prayers.

We need to recognize the position and person of God. His name is holy along with His kingdom and His entire being. Acknowledge that first.

Second, only ask for what you need. In Christ's example, He asks for food for today without worry or concern over tomorrow. God is not a cosmic vending machine that's waiting for us to push a button so He can deliver a treat.

Third, be sure that your relationship with God is intact. Recognize that you are still a sinner and that you cannot approach the Most Holy God in a state of sin.

Fourth, once your relationship with God is intact, be sure that your relationship with others is as well. It doesn't do you any good to try and approach God when you are harboring sin against another person.

Fifth, walk with God daily. God is not going to lead us to temptation, but we must be willing to truly follow Him.

Luke 10

Anyone with siblings knows that the first time one is left in charge of the others can be a real challenge. Generally, the oldest is left in charge and they may feel that their newfound power and authority over the others is an opportunity to correct all of the mistakes of their parents. They can finally tell their younger siblings what to do, when to do it, and how to get it done. When the parents return, though, the younger siblings are quick to report on these abuses of power and it may be some time yet before they leave the oldest in charge again.

A similar thing can happen to us as believers. Once we realize that we have power, through Christ, over the spirits of evil, we can spend more time exercising power over them than we spend on telling others about salvation. We should rejoice and praise God that we are saved not flaunt our power. When we start to flaunt our power, even over evil spirits, we are giving in to the sin of pride. Generally, we are looking for attention from others as we try to raise ourselves to higher level.

Christ reminds His followers in this passage to remain humble and only exercise their power over the spirits when it is necessary and never from a source of pride.

Luke 9

Luke covers a lot of ground in this chapter. He really doesn't seem to be all that interested in telling the details of Christ's life as much as just making the point that Christ did miracles, his disciples did miracles, and that Christ is the Son of God. All of this is summed up pretty nicely in the stories of exorcisms, feeding five-thousand, and direct questioning of the disciples with regard to Jesus' true identity. The key here, though, is how the disciples handled all of these things.

The disciples were just getting to a point of understanding who Christ was when Jesus asked them what they thought about His identity. And when Peter answered that He was the Christ, the others could have laughed that off or chosen to turn away, but they didn't. When Christ told the disciples to bring Him the bread and fish so that He could feed the five thousand, the disciples could have laughed at Him, called Him crazy, and left before they were embarrassed by Him, but they didn't. And when Christ called each of them to follow Him, they could have come up with a reason why they couldn't do it right then, as did the people at the end of the chapter, but they didn't.

They key for the disciples and the key for us is that we have faith in Christ. He is who He claims to be, and there is nothing more important in life than spending time with Him.

Luke 8

Jesus decided one day to head across the lake to continue his ministry. On the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the lake) was a culture that was not strongly rooted in Judaism. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few people that didn't believe in God at all. This gives us a hint that Jesus was up to something that other prophets had not been called to do. He was going to preach and teach to Gentiles. He was not confining His message, His healing, or His salvation to the Jews.

This is very similar to the call that He has placed on us, but in this case, He's walking with the disciples to make sure that they understand what he is going to ask them for later. On the way over, though, the boat runs into a storm, and Jesus has to calm the waters. First, this reminds us that even when we are doing what God asks us to do, it doesn't mean that it will be easy. Second, it reminds us of who Christ is. The disciples were still trying to figure it out at the time, and this gave the an opportunity to see that He is not only in control of disease and death (they've seen Him heal and raise people from the dead) but He's also in control of nature. It's just one more clue for them that this is the incarnate God.

Luke 7

One of the most challenging stories in the Gospels is the story of the Roman centurion. It's challenging on a couple of different levels.

First, the centurion was not like anyone else that had approached Christ. For one thing, he wasn't sick. His servant was sick. For another, he didn't want Jesus to go into his house to heal the servant because he wasn't worthy to have Christ enter his home. This tells us that the man, despite being a Roman centurion, had great faith and great compassion. The amazing thing, though, is that he believed that Christ could heal his servant remotely. That testifies to a belief that Jesus was more than just a man and more than just a prophet. No one had ever done such a thing before – healed without being at least in close proximity.

Second, the centurion challenges us to recognize the order of the universe. The centurion recognized Christ as the head of a bigger organization. The commander, so to speak, of legions, and he expected that whatever Christ said should be done would be done. He didn't go to Christ as if he were putting money in a vending machine and expecting the soda of his choice to pop out. He approached Christ as the king of the universe. Someone he wasn't even worthy to speak with. Someone that could heal his servant, but only if it was something that suited Him.

Of course, Christ used this as an example of great faith and challenged all of us with it. Do you believe in Christ as the ruler of the universe or as a vending machine that we can just put in a few hours of church and expect to receive the miracle of your choice?

Luke 6

The letter of the law and the spirit of the law can sometimes be two different things, and God expects us to have enough sense to know the difference. When the Sabbath was commanded, the letter of the law says no work can be done on that day, but the spirit of the law was to make sure that everyone took a break. It's not good to work all day every single day. Everyone needs a break.

When Christ was feeding His disciples on the Sabbath by picking grain the Pharisees viewed this as evil because it was considered working. When Jesus healed on the Sabbath it was viewed as evil because it was considered working. Jesus countered them by saying that the spirit of the law was still intact and that letter of the law could be violated to save lives and prevent evil. The question is, how many things are you holding to and using to judge others where the letter of the law is more important to you than the spirit?

Luke 5

Many of us overlook one of the most radical things that Jesus ever did. He told people that their sins were forgiven. Not that they were forgiven for doing something to Him personally, but that they were forgiven for sins against God and against other people.

It doesn't seem that big of a deal to say, "You're forgiven," when you are the one that's been wronged, but what if you saw someone hit another person and then you told them that they were forgiven. Everyone would think you were a nut or a blasphemer or both. That's exactly what got the Pharisees all riled up. How could Jesus forgive someone's sin? It was plainly known to the Jewish leaders that forgiveness of sin came from the blood sacrifice through the high priest and could not be granted by a mere mortal. Yet here was this man offering forgiveness for sin.

The Bible says that Jesus understood their concerns and confusion and to address them He directly told them that He had the power to forgive sin. Further than that, He proved it by forgiving the paralytic man of his sin and the paralytic walked home. Now, we can't directly forgive sins, but we can show people the way to Christ so that their sin can be forgiven. We can be like the friends of the paralytic and bring our friends to Christ. So, the only question is whether you are like the Pharisees who believe that we should not associate with sinners at all or are you like the friends to the paralytic bringing sinners to Christ for healing?

Luke 4

The temptation of Christ was a pivotal moment in Jesus' ministry. It was really the start, and I'm not sure that I could go through what He went through. The good news for us, though, is that Christ went through it and came out unstained.

During this time, it's important to recognize the depth of the temptation that Christ went through. It's easy to gloss over these few verses and think that it wasn't really that hard, but in fact, Satan hit Him with everything that he hits us just all at once.

First, Satan tempted Christ with food. That seems like an easy temptation to resist when we live in a land of plenty and we can go grab a loaf of bread from the pantry anytime that we want. Christ was in the desert without food, and I think after a few hours (not to mention the days that Christ endured) that I'd be getting pretty hungry. Christ wasn't there to eat physical food, though, He was there to set the stage for the ultimate showdown with Satan. How often are we tempted with things that seem essential to our survival but really distract us from our purpose?

Second, Satan tempted Christ with money and power. The dream of all Americans is to be independently wealthy, and we easily recognize the power of money. Satan knew that Christ would have to build a group of followers in order to succeed, so offering money and power was not superficial at all. How much more quickly could Christ spread His message if He controlled the kingdoms of the world? How often are we tempted to think that forcing everyone to fit into our Christian mold is the right thing to do?

Third, Satan tempted Christ to challenge God. Satan reasoned that God wouldn't let Christ die and then, since they were in the middle of Jerusalem, the people that witnessed that miracle would all be believers. Why would Satan want to give Christ the chance to perform a major miracle and generate believers? Because He knew that Christ came to heal the people not make a spectacle of Himself and invite an audience. Christ's message was one of humility and stepping right out of the gate in pride would have tainted the whole deal. Have you ever been tempted to make your mission be about you rather than the people that you are sent to reach?

Luke 3

How can you tell the difference between a charlatan and a genuine preacher for the Gospel? I think that John gives us a pretty good hint here. John preaches to the people that they should not prize their earthly possessions over people, they should treat each other fairly, and that he is not the Messiah. That last point is where so many televangelists, teachers, and preachers in our society miss the mark. John has ever opportunity to take a group of people on a fun ride and act as their leader, but he gently refuses. John recognizes that he is not the Messiah, and he doesn't overstep his position. In fact, he notes to those around him that he is not even worthy to untie the sandals of Christ.

Are we willing to recognize our place in relation to God? Or are we trying to be God for other people? Many of us seem to believe that we can judge others and dish out penance as we see fit through our eyes, but we are not better than John. In fact, we might not even be worthy of John because we have forgotten our place in the world.

Luke 2

This chapter tells one of the most famous stories of all time: the birth of Christ. I really key in on a repeated phrase here - Luke repeatedly says that Mary treasured these things in her heart. I think that Mary was putting the pieces together from the beginning. From the moment that she first conceived Christ, I think she started trying to figure out what was special about Him, and I don't really believe that she innately knew.

Of course she knew how He was conceived, so she knew He was special. I don't think that she realized the message that He would share or the death that was going to come. Like most other Jews of the time, she was likely looking for a Messiah in the form of a warrior, so I think she was just as surprised as anyone to find out how things were really going to be. The key, though, is that she was listening and watching for the signs and she did not fight against it.

In your own life, are you trying to make things fit into your view of how events should unfold or are you quietly listening and watching and keeping your mind open to the way God wants things to work out?

Luke 1

I always find it interesting to look back over time and see the ways that God has worked to orchestrate events in my life. I'll bet that Mary and the disciples saw the same thing when they looked back on the life of Jesus as this book was being written. At the time, it was amazing to both Mary and Elizabeth that they would have children, but I don't think that either of them realized exactly what their children would do in life. Looking back after the crucifixion, I think that Mary saw how all of the events had been orchestrated and that as she shared her stories again with Luke she realized exactly why things had to happen the way that they did.

When you look back on your own life, can you see God's hand at work? You should. And when you do, then you also realize that that means that wherever you are now is the end result of the design that's always been playing out. So ask yourself, what is it that God wants me to do here, at this point? How can I be of service of Him so that He can continue to orchestrate my life?