Day 23 Reflection

No matter how many times I read this chapter its always a tough chapter to read. I know the story and you think it would be easier to read the more times that I read it, but the fact is I know what sent Jesus to the Cross, My SIN. Knowing that and know a little about Crucifixion the pain and what His body went through on the Cross it's a tough read. That being said the interaction on the Cross with the two other criminals is a favorite picture of mine to read and think about. What is cool is that Jesus was impacting and changing lives during this horrible event that turned into a beautiful event because of the Gift he was giving to us, A fitting thing to think about this time of Year. The interaction takes place in Verses 26-43, there are 2 other criminals next to Jesus, one mocking Jesus, and who Jesus is claiming to be. The other realizing the situation that he is in, and watching what Jesus has gone through makes a couple of realizations, first what he has done to find himself on the Cross was a fitting punishment for the crimes he committed, and the Man next to him named Jesus did nothing wrong, there was not guilt. The second thing that he realized next to Jesus on the Cross was that Jesus was who He claimed to be the Savior of the World. Asking Jesus for forgiveness, Jesus replies to him " Today you will be with me in Paradise" What a must have been going through the Thief's mind as he was taking his last breath after Jesus said this to him must have been of deep gratitude and peace. What Gift Jesus was to us on this Christmas Holiday.

Day 22 Reflection

Prayer is what stood out to me in this Chapter, I am sure that it has a lot to do with just where I am at in life. Let me ask you if this sounds familiar in your life, it's busy, day seams to not slow down, there are lots of things pulling for your attention, your prayer life then becomes very short, and slipped in when it fits. That is my life to a tee the dishearten thing for me is that my prayer life seams so disconnected , and not genuine it's been on my mind for a while so I am sure that is why God was convicting with a certain portion of this Chapter. Verses 39-46 tell us about Jesus going out to the Mt. of Olives to remove Himself from the chaos that was around Him, to get away and have intentional time with the Father. Jesus knew exactly what was happening actually we get a glimpse into the Character of Jesus. What I thought stood out in Jesus prayer to the Father, was not asking for what He wanted He asked God for His will to be done. Thats so impactful for me because it's my natural tendency to want to ask God for what I want, rarely do I ask for God's will to be done, probably because I am afraid of what God may ask of me. I am thankful for this Journey through Luke, there has been fruit in my Life because of it, there have been times that I have not wanted to read the chapter or post, I have not been motivated through this Christmas season for many reasons, but because of this season of Advent God has been doing work in my heart. For me know it's a test of my faith do I truly believe what God is teaching me, or would I rather just continue to live a comfortable life, or one that is chasing after Jesus.

Day 21 Reflection

After reading this Chapter I started to think I am sure during this time things were getting a little tense, obviously Jesus was wearing out His welcome with the religious leaders of the time. They knew that Jesus message was a threat to they way they lived and status the they were looked upon. Jesus new entering in to Jerusalem that He was to fulfill what the Father had asked of Him, Jesus was busy preparing His follower for what was to come and we find that in this Chapter. Two verses stood out to me in that regard the first one was V.13 " This will be your opportunity to bear witness" Jesus is telling them of some of the trials accusations that are to come as the Kingdom is restored upon Jesus Return. Tough times await. What struck me about this verse as well is how many times I miss opportunity to bear witness, to me it is a clear indication that my faith is in need of growth, there are so many times that I do not take advantage of opportunities, what's frustrating is that I can look at myself sometimes and feel like I am at a place spiritually that is Good. I heard a quote "don't trust the confidence of a Man's heart" how true is that in my own life many times. It's is only the Faith I have in Christ that there is any Grace in my own life. V.19 was also another verse that was stuck out to me "By your endurance you will gain your lives" Jesus is speaking this as and encouragement to his followers knowing what many will endure, but I think that we can gather encouragement from this as well from Jesus. Many times in my life I have wanted to think that my being a Christian that life should be easy for me, actually I feel like for me that is just a selfish desire. the Christian life is not about things being made easy, but about who do I have trust in my life. Following Jesus is something to find strength and redemption in, knowing that in the toughest of times there is something to turn too, to find hope in in the hopeless, to release some of life's burdens, because I know what Jesus sacrificed for me, and in that I am forever thankful.

Day 20 Reflection

Things as far as opposition are starting to pick up as we get further along in this story. What I see and think is most interesting is the integrity with which Jesus carries Himself when talking to these men that are trying to find anyway to get rid of this Man who is threatening a culture shift that would most definitely change how people viewed them. Jesus was teaching and exposing these men to the end, pointing out that these men of Status were more concerned with how they looked, how they were viewed in society, what their status among the people were. Jesus was here to destroy that way of life, and brought one that revealed to the world that everyone mattered. That we were to love others more than we love ourselves, what a beautiful message and way to live out our lives. I know for me personally this is something that I have had to work out and grow to desire in my own life. I am thankful to God for Working this out in my life.

Day 19 Reflection

What is interesting right now is Jesus is slowing preparing Himself for the end, in the last couple of chapters Jesus has talked about His death, and now we seeing him triumphantly riding in a a colt. A Kings entrance, many along the way cheering and praising him, little did they know what was to come in the next few days. Jesus knew this was His Death Sentence, He still was carrying out what He knew was needed to be done. The people needed a Hero and here Jesus came ready to sacrifice it all. I can only imagine watching this event seeing Jesus come in a Hero's welcome, only Jesus know how this one would end. The wonderful thing is that Jesus is our Hero and how thankful I am for what He did for us.

Day 18 Reflection

Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." It has been cool to read of all the healing that Jesus performs during HIs ministry. In almost every single one, what drove the person to Jesus was this Faith in the fact that Jesus was who He and others claimed him to be. there is no doubt after reading these stories is the Idea of Faith is so important, all be it tough sometimes Faith is what carries us through to a relationship ship with the Father through Jesus. So thankful for these stories because n they help me build my own faith seeing how these peopled believed in Jesus

Day 17 Reflection

When it comes to Jesus, and Faith in God we always want to know more, when is he coming, how do I know Jesus is real, how do I know the bible is Real, there are so many questions many have when it comes to Faith. Reading today that is nothing new even in Jesus day, we see here in this chapter a conversation Jesus is having with a Pharisee about the coming Kingdom of God. A pharisee is probably like a lot of people in our day that would say Yeah I believe in God/Jesus but really has so many questions about God and his existence that deep down they may not believe Jesus is real. Or is unwilling to take the next step until they know exactly what that next sign or step is. Jesus response to this is a great description of Faith in the truest form. We are not going to know when that day comes, it will be like any other day, just like many of God's other signs , at the Flood, and Sodom and Gamora. Point being is we can continue to question and not fully know and have to rely on Faith in the claims of Jesus, or we can release all of that and follow the Savior, chase after Him and believe that what he says in the bible is True. A beautiful story of redemption of those who hold on to a reliance in what they know rather than a reliance in the Savior.

Day 16 Reflection

Chapter 16 has this great interaction between the rich man, and Abraham, it takes place at the end of this chapter. The key learning from this story is that our earthly life isn't about the accumlation of things, status, and stature. This is a great picture here, a rich man has died and is in Hades, he sees Lazarus a man that was afflicted with many things while he was alive, treated poorly and is now sitting with Abraham in heaven, and the rich man is in torment separated from these two and asking for relief, Abraham in there interaction reminds the rich man of the life that he had Lived, one of wealth and focused on satis, and himself. The rich man then asks Abraham to go and speak with his still alive family members to warn them. What I thought was reflective from this conversation is the fact that this life and how we live it matters, we get one chance to live this live and God desires us to make it count, and to worship Him with our lives, and not the things of this world. In the culture that we live in this is a difficult task, but one that takes sacrifice and love of God and others, and not ourselves.

Day 15 Reflection

One of my all time favorite stories in the bible is found in Chapter 15 "the prodigal Son" this story holds near to my heart because this was a story that impacted and God spoke to me through as I was turning my life over to Him. Something that I want to point out in this story that I think is a theme that in this Chapter is Grace, amazing Grace that God has for us, and for the Lost. One phrase stood out the most to me in this Chapter that was spoken by the Son twice which was "I have sinned against heaven and before you" it's the admission of I am a sinner, I need help, I need forgiveness. Many times it's the very idea that is the stumbling block for many people when it comes to matters of Faith. Really it becomes our arrogance to believe that we are good people or I can do it my self. What is cool about this statement that the Son makes that it comes in the most desperate time of realizing I do need help, I am sinner. What is cool about his parable is the Grace that is model by the Father, and yes this story is a metaphor of the Grace that God has shown us through Jesus, that even before the Son arrives home the Father is running with open arms to His son. A picture of what God does every time a lost son or daughter comes running home to the Savior's arms. What amazing Grace that is.

Day 14 reflection

In this Chapter two things stood out to me, first I found in V. 11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" I think the reason that this stood out to me, is because of how we treat people in society and this was really starting to bother the people that thought they were important in Jesus day. It was the fact that Jesus didn't care who you were, what you looked liked, what you had, He had time for everyone. That is something that is not a quality that you see very often in our world. Specially when people feel like they are more important than someone else. I think that is why we have such admiration for people who do care about everyone, it's a quality that I think many desire but few know how to do. The next thing that stood out to me was the fact that Jesus talks about a cost of discipleship, I think that sometimes we have this idea that following Jesus is easy, it's like if I commit my life to Jesus it's like hitting the red easy button in Life. That is just not the case, I think what happens when we commit our lives to Jesus we start to see the world through a different lens, and also as we become a disciple of Jesus possibly our hearts change and move away from some of the destructive patterns that we may have been following along before we trusted in Jesus. I think we start to see God working in the storms, when before all we could see was the storm. Or the storms look different when we know we have Jesus to turn to when we have always turned to ourselves in the past. It's work that is so worth it for our savior Jesus.

Day 13 Reflection

On time to day with my Reflection, and I am not playing catch up. Glad to be able to do that, also God has been doing some things in my heart through this blog, it's one of those times that it really feels like God is cutting out some of the junk that I have been carelessly allowing to build up inside of me. Part of me doesn't really like it, partly because of the frustration that I have been ignoring this build up in my heart for a time, and partly because sometimes when God works on you it isn't the most pleasant thing. I had someone tell me once that God is going to change you one way or the other, whether you like it our not. Whats great about this is it's coming through the Word of God, a great reminder of the power of Scripture. On to the reflection from Chapter 13, Jesus is in the midst of His ministry and that means his boldness and belief in what He has come to do on earth and because it is going against the cultural norm of the religious leaders of the time the thing Jesus is doing and saying are really starting to bother these Leaders, what is so inspiring about Jesus is that doesn't affect His mission. To me that is what stood out to me today, two times where I really see Jesus boldness 1 when He heals the crippled women on the Sabbath, and the religious leaders call Jesus out, Jesus speaks with great courage to people that I would bet were not spoken to that way in this time. 2 is when some Pharisees tell Jesus to leave, He basically tells them it doesn't matter, what you tell me to do, I will go and complete my mission no matter who tells me different. What these guys didn't know was that Jesus was sent by the Father to complete a rescue mission, and there was nothing no matter how hard they tried could do to stop him. Jesus had the Courage of our Heavenly King.

Day 12 Reflection

I thought that this was a great Chapter of encouragement as well as warnings, what I read about Jesus is so cool in the sense that his love for people and his disciples was so heart felt and real, but also the way that Jesus warned and taught His disciples was a way of know how much He truly cared for them. It was very evident in the way that Jesus was speaking in Chapter 12. The devil will often times comes at us with things like "your not Good enough", "know one loves you" ultimately Satan wants us to feel worthless. Twice in this Chapter Jesus gives us words of is deep Love for us , and the encouragement that we are well taken care by our Father in Heaven. Verse 6-7 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. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. How comforting is this that God knows us that well and cares for us. Then again in verse 4 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!Jesus is telling us that He even takes care of the birds, and how much more valuable to God are we then the ravens. What a gift these two verses are to many of us, specially when there are many times in our lives that we do not feel worthy or valuable to God. Here are two promises straight from the Saviors mouth that you are valuable to Him. Thank You God.

Day 11 Reflection

I will be the first to day this reading of Luke 11 was a bit confusing to me, I have read it a couple times, and for some reason this time it was hard to understand. Some of you reading through Luke may find this happening to you some times, For sure there will be times that reading the Bible may be confusing and difficult, my encouragement to you is to keep reading, maybe it will take a couple of times reading through the same Chapter, it may mean coming back to this chapter after a little while to read it again, or asking a trusted friend or Pastor, the point being if you don't understand something don't give up and say it's too hard, keep working through you never know when God will reveal something to you. That being said there was a portion of this Chapter that did catch my eye. Verses 33-35 was interesting to me this time around. 33 “No 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,[h] 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.” I think what is relevant to me in this section is the importance of what we take in with our eyes. "When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light" A warning from Jesus that we are to protect what we watch, what we spend our time looking at , I think in our culture that can mean many things from the time we spend watching things, maybe it is what are we looking at, whether it be in magazines, the internet, on TV, It could also mean where are our eyes leading us, we can't go where our eyes don't lead us. As a follower of Christ there is a standard that God calls us too, and in these few verses I truly believe this is a warning to keep track of where we let our Eyes go or lead us. That is a Good reminder the next time we are on the internet, or what we are finding our selves watching on TV. The eyes and mouth can be two of the most dangerous parts of our Bodies when it comes to Sin.

Day 10 Reflection

I have noticed a pattern in what sticks out to me when I have been reading Luke this winter. I know that it's no accident, I know it's God doing some business with me and getting me to notice where I am at in life, and how I have allowed life, hustle and bustle to take over my life and how it has really affected my relationship with God, which then in return affects all of the relationships in my life. Even though it is showing me some difficult things, I am thankful to God for this, and because of this it has been so worth it. The Scripture that really stood out to me in this chapter is this portions from Luke 10 38-41 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” What is profound about this section to me is at first glance most of us would have the same reaction that Martha has, I know that I would I do many times busy myself with things that I would say are good things in my life. I mean Martha was serving preparing things for Jesus Good Right, but in all of her busyness she was forgetting to slow down and spend time with the Lord. Mary on the other hand realized that it was more important to have quality time with Jesus. That frustrated Martha but the response from Jesus was amazing "few things are needed or indeed only one" All the busyness, all the things we get done, do not compare to the quality time that we spend with Jesus no matter how much we can justify those "things" we are doing. I have been trying to tell myself how busy I have been, and when I look back at some of my days they are filled with good things, but I have been allowing those things to take quality time away from Jesus. I am thankful for this season to have God reveal that to me, it's something that has affected all of the relationships in my life, and made me realize when I relationship with Jesus is growing, all of my other relationships are Strong. Thank You Jesus, My prayer for you that are reading is that you can look at your own life, ask yourself are you sitting at Jesus Feet Like Mary, or are you a busy body like Martha.

Day 9 Reflection

Luke 9:23-26 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Wanted to share this verse during this time for a few reasons. One this is Jesus talking to His disciples right after Jesus telling them about what He is to go through persecution, mocking, and ultimately death, I would think this would be such a sobering conversation, the depth of the relationships that Jesus is forming with these men, I am sure made it hard for them to hear this from Jesus. What I am sure they didn't understand was that this was part of Jesus whole recuse plan for us sinners. Second in this section we see Jesus giving them a command of sort, explaining the Cost of Living a life in submission to God. What is cool about reading this is that we are getting a first had look at what a life like that is about, Jesus is a great model of a life of Submission to God. What I also think is so cool about these verses is this, Jesus is asking his disciples, us that we are to sacrifice our self in order to live a great life. We are asked to sacrifice our opinion for the sake of the Word of God,

Day 7 and 8 Reflection

I have noticed in these last few chapters are a lot of Jesus miracles and healing, I think what is interesting about these stories is a theme that I have noticed. Two words jump out at me, they are Faith and Belief. Possibly it may have been some of these people coming to Jesus had no other place to turn that is possibly where the Centurion found himself in after his servant had fell ill, or the widow's son whom had died, we see these people having no where else to turn, but for some reason they believed in the power that Jesus had, the Faith that in that desperate moment of no where else to turn they came to the Man that many were speaking of. The women who for over 10 years had lived with a constant bleeding in which she seemingly exhausted ever avenue of finding a solution to her ailment. It has been a cool experience reading through these stories, for some reason God this year is showing me what it means to believe and have faith. These stories have been a great picture and humbling to read these stories with this lens this season. Thank You God

Day 6 reflection

What is so difficult about doing this blog is there is so much good stuff to pull from in each Chapter, it's hard to choose from. Chapter 6 is no different, I love the stories/ parables at the end of this chapter. I love the challenges and frankness that Jesus speaks with to his Disciples, the things that Jesus speaks about that I can see to be so relevant in our culture today. There is so much stuff in this Chapter, however I need to focus in on a couple for this post so here it Goes. First thing that stood out to be is that Jesus stood out against culture, in the beginning of the Chapter is the story of Jesus doing things on the Sabbath, I am sure by this time the Religious leaders of the time were getting tired and jealous of the attention that Jesus was receving , but that is the thing about Jesus, he stood out against culture no matter what the situation called for. There are a couple of other instances in this chapter in which that also happens. The part about loving your enemies, or how we are not to Judge others. That was counter cultural in Jesus time, and guess what that is counter cultural in our day and age as well. There are many areas in which this is relevant in our society. First is this Jesus very much stood up for integrity and the Principles in which He lived for, He lived a life that was in full devotion to the Father and the call that the Father but on His Life. His life also though was one of compassion and love for everyone no matter the situation someone found themselves in. Such a different way of life then most of us live. In our society our rush to judgement, and inability to love people who don't agree with our opinions or lifestyles is a crumbling hinderance for us to live like Jesus modeled and desires us to live. I am as guilty as the next, that is why I am thankful for Jesus life and model, and what he accomplished on the Cross for a sinner like me. As I read this Chapter it is a great reminder that my Faith has much further to go, and a great reminder that I must love others even when how they live or think differs from me. Jesus saw no boundaries in how He loved others, it's my prayer that I can take steps to love like Jesus did.

Day 4 and 5 Reflection

My apologies for not posting yesterday, so today I will post about both Chapters 4 and 5. First Chapter 4 some things that really stood out to me centers around the Devils tempting of Jesus. What I found to be most interesting where two of the ways that the devil tempted Jesus. I really think it's realistic to think that the devil tempts us still in the same way today as we walk through our lives. In verse 5 we see the Devil offering Jesus power and splendor if Jesus would worship him. Now I would say that in our present time it's not so much making a deal with the devil, but it's more success, power and splendor (material wealth) become god's in the lives of many replacing the One True God in whom our focus and worship should be centered on. The 2nd is this in verses 9-11 the devil actually uses God's word to tempt Jesus. I think that in our day the devil wants us to test the word of God to question it, to twist and conform in to our own opinions, to believe that what the Word says doesn't pertain to us. Sometimes convincing us to change what the word of God actually says. Which then can change the way we view and believe in God. Chapter 5 the one thing that really stuck out to me this time was v.16 " But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." I rarely do this, rather then remove myself from my day what I am doing, I try instead to pray when I have time. Often times it becomes a hurried and very unfocused prayer. I often times feel pretty disconnected. What a great example Jesus gives to us in this chapter. Solitude when we are praying is important, getting somewhere that is removed from the busy world and the demands on our lives. A place to connect with our Father in Heaven. My Prayer is that we can Pray more like Jesus in this season.

Day 3 Reflection

Luke 3:21-22 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Todays reflection is a picture of the only true perfect relationship that exists. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity. What is cool about this is that you we are privileged to see the them come together for this awesome event of Jesus baptism. What an experience that must have been for John the Baptist to be a part of. God knowing what is to happen to Jesus as he starts His ministry saying to his Son " You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" what love the Father has for us that he would send his Son to die for us. How cool is that. Thanks to God

Day 1 and 2 Reflection

I thought I would group day 1 and 2 as one since I posted yesterday, and this allowed me to sit and think about both chapters for a little bit. The theme that I pulled out of both chapters is the Idea of Faith. Recently I was looking at Hebrews 11 the whole chapter is listed full of Characters of the bible and the Faith they had to have in God, through the jobs and circumstances God gave to them Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen" Chapter 1 and 2 of Luke is packed with the same Faith stories. Zechariah and Elizabeth being told by the Angel Gabriel of a child to be born to them when Elizabeth was well past child bearing years,and Barren. Gabriel making another appearance to Mary telling her of a baby to be born to her from God. Both times God orchestrating events that seamed impossible to very normal people that by Faith accepted the roles of being parents to these 2 special individuals. As well as the Shepard's being visited by the angel of the Lord telling them of this baby King born, and these shepherds dropping everything to go and see Him. The bible stating that they went in Haste to find Mary and Joesph. Another story of the man Simeon waiting on the promise of God to him to see the Savior before he died. Simeon says in 2:30 "for my eyes have seen your salvation" talking about the baby Jesus. So many stories of Faith through out the Gospels to me are so inspiring and get me to think why do I lack faith like this at many moments of my life. It's easy to reflect on my life and see where God orchestrated things in my life, many times when I was oblivious to Him working in my life. Often times the problem in my life is My inability to slow down and look for God in the most obscure places in my life. Much like how Jesus entered into the world in a very unassuming way , but not with out a job that the Father had Given Him, one that would require courage and a humble spirit. Two qualities that I need to reflect in my life. What a perfect start to these chapters to allow us to slow down and reflect on Faith and how Jesus entered into the World.

It's that Time of Year

Hey All welcome back, over the next 24 Days I encourage you to join me in reading through the Book of Luke. I have been doing this very thing for some years now. Each year God teaches me new things through doing this. Each day I will be posting thoughts questions, and reflections on my reading of each chapter. The cool thing about Luke and the month of December is that the night of Christmas Eve you will have read the entire Gospel of Jesus. We are in the Church season of Advent which means a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The Coming of Jesus, through these 24 days we will read of Jesus Coming, life and gift in which He gave to us in through His life on earth and through the Cross. Join me in this adventure.