Read the Bible in a Year (28OCT19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, October 28’s Bible reading is Luke 10-11.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, October 29’s Bible reading is Luke 12-13. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

 

LUKE MOMENT – (28OCT19) “Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead’” (Luke 10:30). Jesus gave a parable about a man, who while traveling, ran into some robbers that took everything he had, beat him, and left him for dead. A priest saw the injured man on the road but crossed to the other side and kept on his way. A Levite came across the injured man as well but crossed to the other side of the road and continued on his journey. Finally, a Samaritan came down the road and saw the injured man. He had compassion on the man and tended to his wounds. Then, he put the man on his donkey and took him to an inn to take care of him. Although, he had to continue on his journey, he paid for the man to be looked after and promised to give the caretaker more upon his return to cover all expenses. Jesus posed the question as to which of the travelers were neighborly to the injured man.

In this parable, there were two “religious” people who passed by the man who needed help, but they failed to offer any assistance to the man. They were too busy with their own affairs that they did not have time to allow their religion to be put to practice. But the Samaritan, the one whom Jews considered as unclean and a half-breed, was more honorable in his treatment of the injured man than those who claimed to know God. Unfortunately, this is the state of many who call themselves Christians when it comes to showing compassion, love, mercy, and hospitality.

Recently, a well-known former secular artist became a Christian and wrote a song about so-called Christians who would judge him because of his past lifestyle. He knew that he would be attacked by them for only wanting to come to Jesus. They would basically think that he was unworthy of being saved. Sadly, his lyrics couldn’t be any truer because that is exactly how Christians responded and is often the case when it comes to believers being supportive of their struggling brothers and sisters. Yet, what did Jesus have to say?  “And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’  But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:10-13). Jesus desires for us to put our beliefs to practice by showing love, kindness, grace and mercy to anyone who needs it. We are not to be like the Pharisees and only condemn the lost, but we are to help usher souls to Christ through our actions.

Jesus wants us to love those who are like that injured man in the parable just as He has loved us. We are not to be like the self-righteous religious leaders who crossed the road to avoid lending the man a helping hand, but we are to humble ourselves and meet people right where they are. Anyone can know about God, but to actually know Him intimately reflects in how we deal with one another – including our enemies or those deemed as deplorables. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (28OCT19) “As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Luke 11:27-28). Question: “How many people, especially Catholics, have actually paid attention to this brief dialogue between Jesus and this unknown woman?” It would be of great interest to know, for these two verses totally destroy the Catholic worship and idolization of Mary along with their prayers to saints on all fronts. Jesus had just finished teaching the crowd about demonic entities and how they try to repossess a person only to make that individual worse should they gain reentry. A woman, whom the Bible does not give name to, shouted out to Jesus that His mother was blessed for having given birth to Him. Interestingly enough was Jesus’ response to the woman. His words were very distinguished in that He let her know that God required obedience to the Word that was heard over blessings to His mother. So, what does this tell us? It lets us know that Jesus, in no type of manner, wanted Mary to be worshiped, praised, or lifted up. Jesus taught that his Father was the only One to be worshiped and no earthly being was to be revered. “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Something to ponder….

LUKE MOMENT – (28OCT19) “But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary, Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). Jesus had gone to visit the home of Martha who also had a sister, Mary. Martha was busy making preparations for her guests as Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His words. In a moment of frustration, Martha asked Jesus to tell her sister to help her with the work that she was doing. Jesus, however, did not accommodate Martha’s request because Mary’s interest in the Kingdom was far greater than tending to them as guests.

We can sometimes get caught up in being busy with life’s challenges that we may forget to spend time with the Lord. Martha was doing the duties of a host as one should, but she failed to understand that works will not get anyone into the kingdom of God. Mary was feasting on the Word, while Martha was preparing food possibly for her guests. Yet, which one would last the longest – the physical food or the spiritual food? Jesus was feeding the people spiritually so they would have the spiritual nutrients to sustain them when He left. Likewise, it is important for us to have a well-balanced diet of the Word, so that when all else fails in life, we will have spiritual manna on the inside of us to endure. The Bible says: “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). Something to ponder….