Friend of 'Sinners'
Luke 7
Building a Community centered on Love
This blog is where I do a Bible Reading. I read a passage from the Bible and then I write down my own thoughts on what I read. I would love to know your thoughts as well!
Showing posts with label Luke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luke. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 May 2016
Bible Reading #182 - Friend of 'Sinners'
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #140
Storing Treasure
Luke 12
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 32-34) " 'Sell your material possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don't wear out! Make a treasure for yourselves in heaven that never loses its value! In heaven thieves and moths can't get close enough to destroy your treasure. Your heart will be where your treasure is."
My Thoughts
Jesus is talking to His disciples about not worrying, and this is where that section of this passage ends: with Jesus saying to store up treasure in heaven. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Isn't that just so true? I mean, you don't normally put your heart into things that you don't care about, now do you? What you treasure is what you set your heart on.
So what kind of treasure is it that Jesus wants us to store up in heaven? You can''t take anything with you when you die, it all gets left behind. All your money, all your possessions, all stay behind when you die. Even your athletic ability or strength or appearance doesn't really matter when you get to heaven, that kind of stays here as well. Not even knowledge matters when we die.
Love is a treasure that stays with you. Your spirit is what goes to heaven, so the things of the Spirit are what you should treasure. Things like love and peace and hope and faith. 1 Corinthians 13 says that the greatest of these is love. Love for God, love for your friends and family, love for the world and for nature and animals, love for strangers and even your enemies.
That is the kind of treasure we should gather and hoard. Showing love to others can be done in a great number of ways. By helping, guiding, teaching, serving, protecting and standing up for them. Even just a smile or a kind word of encouragement or a hug. All that shows love and all of that makes a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, and matters to God greatly.
Love is the one treasure that I can think of that you cannot hoard for yourself. If you give away love, you get more back. Though if you try to keep it and never give it, you will lose it.
So what kind of treasure is it that Jesus wants us to store up in heaven? You can''t take anything with you when you die, it all gets left behind. All your money, all your possessions, all stay behind when you die. Even your athletic ability or strength or appearance doesn't really matter when you get to heaven, that kind of stays here as well. Not even knowledge matters when we die.
Love is a treasure that stays with you. Your spirit is what goes to heaven, so the things of the Spirit are what you should treasure. Things like love and peace and hope and faith. 1 Corinthians 13 says that the greatest of these is love. Love for God, love for your friends and family, love for the world and for nature and animals, love for strangers and even your enemies.
That is the kind of treasure we should gather and hoard. Showing love to others can be done in a great number of ways. By helping, guiding, teaching, serving, protecting and standing up for them. Even just a smile or a kind word of encouragement or a hug. All that shows love and all of that makes a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, and matters to God greatly.
Love is the one treasure that I can think of that you cannot hoard for yourself. If you give away love, you get more back. Though if you try to keep it and never give it, you will lose it.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #133
Peace be in this House
Luke 10
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 5-6) "Whenever you go into a house, greet the family with the words, 'May there be peace in this house.' If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting will accepted. But if that's not the case, your greeting will be rejected." (v. 16) " 'The person who hears you hears me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.' "
My Thoughts
When I read this chapter of Luke, verses 5 and 6 stuck in my head. I want to focus on just those two verses, without taking them out of the context in which they were written. So Jesus had sent out seventy-two people to the places which He was about to go to. He told them to say these words when they go into a house, and then to stay there.
That was a way that Jesus had told these people to greet the families which they were going to staying at. What came to my mind is that, why can't we do the same thing whenever we enter a place? Even if we just say it to ourselves, "May there be peace in this place." By saying that, we are declaring peace in the place we are in, which is a good thing.
Even if saying this only ends up giving us peace inside, and others are unaffected, that is still a great thing. Through each person's own actions, they affect the world around them, or rather the people, and can leave a positive impact.
This reminds me of something another pastor, who is a friend of mine, said at my church one time. He was saying that whenever we enter a room, we should invite Jesus into that room with us. He was talking to the children at the time, and it was a way for them to remember Jesus and to keep Him at the forefront. Whenever you ask Jesus to be with you, you can rest assured that He most definitely is.
Saying "May there be peace in this place." is a declaration, or a strong prayer, in God. It is also a blessing in that place which is, obviously, better than a curse. Asking Jesus to be with you wherever you are is not redundant. Yes, He already is with you, but when you ask Him to be, it helps you to focus on Him andremember know that He is there.
That was a way that Jesus had told these people to greet the families which they were going to staying at. What came to my mind is that, why can't we do the same thing whenever we enter a place? Even if we just say it to ourselves, "May there be peace in this place." By saying that, we are declaring peace in the place we are in, which is a good thing.
Even if saying this only ends up giving us peace inside, and others are unaffected, that is still a great thing. Through each person's own actions, they affect the world around them, or rather the people, and can leave a positive impact.
This reminds me of something another pastor, who is a friend of mine, said at my church one time. He was saying that whenever we enter a room, we should invite Jesus into that room with us. He was talking to the children at the time, and it was a way for them to remember Jesus and to keep Him at the forefront. Whenever you ask Jesus to be with you, you can rest assured that He most definitely is.
Saying "May there be peace in this place." is a declaration, or a strong prayer, in God. It is also a blessing in that place which is, obviously, better than a curse. Asking Jesus to be with you wherever you are is not redundant. Yes, He already is with you, but when you ask Him to be, it helps you to focus on Him and
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Monday, 28 December 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #97
Cornerstone
Luke 20
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 17) "Jesus looked directly at them and asked, 'Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ' 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?"
My Thoughts
So in the last post, yesterday's, I mistakenly thought that the capstone, cornerstone and keystone were all basically the same thing. They are not. I wrote about Jesus being the Keystone in actuality yesterday, so today I will write about Jesus being the Cornerstone. Please take a look at the previous post to see the changes.
In construction, the cornerstone is stone on which the structure will be built. It is basically the foundation of the structure. In referring to Jesus, I believe this has two meanings. The first being that Jesus is the foundation of our lives, personally. The second being that Jesus is the foundation of our faith. Both are true, but only one is objectively true.
Jesus is most definitely the cornerstone of our faith in God. If we reject the Son, we cannot know the Father. Jesus has said that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Jesus is the Son of God. To reject Him and what He did and What He stands for means to reject God.
In the Christian faith, there is something called the Holy Trinity. That means three, and those three being God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three are one and the same and if you reject one, you reject the other two. We cannot say that we believe everything that the Bible says, except that Jesus is God. If you choose not to believe one thing from the Bible, then your faith is flawed because you don't believe everything that your belief is based in and on.
The first way I mentioned that Jesus is the Cornerstone is that He is the foundation of our lives. I can say that I believe this is true for everyone, but really I can only say that it is completely true for me. If someone else does not believe the same thing for them, then that is their choice. I do not believe that a person can build their life on anything but Jesus because of what the Bible teaches.
My life is built on Jesus. Jesus is the foundation of my life; the cornerstone. Jesus is the keystone of my life, holding everything in place.Without Jesus, not only does my life fall apart, but I would have to start over because you cannot remove the foundation of a structure without compromising the entire thing.
If you've built your life on Jesus, then you've done a wise thing. If you haven't, you still can. Everything will change, yes, and that is okay because everything will change for the better. Jesus can hold up your life while He comes in to remove the bad and replace it with good.
In construction, the cornerstone is stone on which the structure will be built. It is basically the foundation of the structure. In referring to Jesus, I believe this has two meanings. The first being that Jesus is the foundation of our lives, personally. The second being that Jesus is the foundation of our faith. Both are true, but only one is objectively true.
Jesus is most definitely the cornerstone of our faith in God. If we reject the Son, we cannot know the Father. Jesus has said that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Jesus is the Son of God. To reject Him and what He did and What He stands for means to reject God.
In the Christian faith, there is something called the Holy Trinity. That means three, and those three being God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three are one and the same and if you reject one, you reject the other two. We cannot say that we believe everything that the Bible says, except that Jesus is God. If you choose not to believe one thing from the Bible, then your faith is flawed because you don't believe everything that your belief is based in and on.
The first way I mentioned that Jesus is the Cornerstone is that He is the foundation of our lives. I can say that I believe this is true for everyone, but really I can only say that it is completely true for me. If someone else does not believe the same thing for them, then that is their choice. I do not believe that a person can build their life on anything but Jesus because of what the Bible teaches.
My life is built on Jesus. Jesus is the foundation of my life; the cornerstone. Jesus is the keystone of my life, holding everything in place.Without Jesus, not only does my life fall apart, but I would have to start over because you cannot remove the foundation of a structure without compromising the entire thing.
If you've built your life on Jesus, then you've done a wise thing. If you haven't, you still can. Everything will change, yes, and that is okay because everything will change for the better. Jesus can hold up your life while He comes in to remove the bad and replace it with good.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Sunday, 27 December 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #96
Cornerstone
Keystone
Luke 20
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 17) "Jesus looked directly at them and asked, 'Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ' 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?"
My Thoughts
So I made a mistake and just realized, the day after posting this that it was the keystone that I was actually talking about in this post, not cornerstone. I will leave the verse alone because that is the verse that made me think of all this to begin with, but some changes will be made. The next post after this one will be about Jesus being the Cornerstone.
One of Jesus' many names is 'Cornerstone.' If Jesus was a person and He is called Cornerstone, then we, as people, must be the other stones. Jesus is like a keystone as well. In construction, the cornerstone keystone is the stone that holds all the other stones in place. This is easily seen in an arch. The stone at the top of an arch, right in the middle, is the cornerstone keystone. If that one stone is removed, the entire arch will fall.
Actually, in thinking about it, if we take the arch example, we are each an arch, not part of an arch with each other, per se. Each stone in the arch, our arch, is a part of our own life. There's a great amount of stones representing each part of our lives. Without Jesus, we crumble in on ourselves. We may be able to hold ourselves for a while, or put something in His place, but nothing is as strong and the load will be too much. Only Jesus can hold everything together.
So Jesus is theCornerstone Keystone, right at the top of the arch, that holds us, our lives, together. Those who reject Jesus don't realize that, without Him, they will crumble in on themselves. They try everything to hold their lives together, putting whatever they can in Jesus' place at the top, but nothing else is ever enough.
The arch not only has all the good things in our lives, but also the bad. Those bad stones can be removed though, without compromising the entire arch. As long as thecornerstone keystone is not removed, everything will still hold up. I just thought of this now: This is also another visual for putting Jesus at the center of your life. Our life is the arch, with each stone being another aspect of our lives. The cornerstone keystone is at the very top, right in the center. That is Jesus.
Jesus, theCornerstone Keystone, at the center of the arch, our lives. That sounds really cool to me! What do you think about all that?
Actually, in thinking about it, if we take the arch example, we are each an arch, not part of an arch with each other, per se. Each stone in the arch, our arch, is a part of our own life. There's a great amount of stones representing each part of our lives. Without Jesus, we crumble in on ourselves. We may be able to hold ourselves for a while, or put something in His place, but nothing is as strong and the load will be too much. Only Jesus can hold everything together.
So Jesus is the
The arch not only has all the good things in our lives, but also the bad. Those bad stones can be removed though, without compromising the entire arch. As long as the
Jesus, the
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #69
Not Our Will, but God's be Done
Luke 22
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 41-44) "He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.' An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
My Thoughts
Jesus came to earth to save the lost. He came for each and every one of us. God gave us His own Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Jesus knew that this was he reason He was here and He knew exactly what was going to happen. Jesus still prayed that if there was another way, to let it be so. He went through with the whole thing because of His faith and because of His love for us.
It's a weird thing to think that Jesus would have prayed about something like this. At the same time, it is such an amazing and profound thing as well. This is because Jesus was God in the flesh. He is fully God, but fully human at the same time, and this shows His human aspect greatly.
Of course Jesus wouldn't want to have to go through what He was about to go through, who would? That is why Jesus prayed about this. He was strengthened by an angel because this was God's plan. Jesus was going to defeat death and disarm Satan. There was a price that had to be paid for this to occur, and that price was for us to pay, not Jesus. But Jesus paid the price for us.
Jesus wanted only what His Father in heaven wanted. That is how we should be as well. Yes, of course we can have our own desires, but we should place God's desires and His plan above our own. God's plan will take place, no matter what, no one can stand in His way. If God wants something to happen, it will, whether we like it or not. That doesn't mean that everything that happens is God's doing, some things are just allowed by Him.
Bad things that happen to us like disease, hurt, loss, are not from God. God allows these things to happen, but He does not cause them. His plan is in what comes after they happen. What is bad right now God will use to create good. We just have to trust in Him and allow Him to act.
Often times we don't have the mindset that Jesus had. "Yet not my will, but yours be done." That is how we should think. That is what we should say to God when we ask for things. Ask for what you want to ask for, but remember that it is God's will that is to be done, not our own.
It's a weird thing to think that Jesus would have prayed about something like this. At the same time, it is such an amazing and profound thing as well. This is because Jesus was God in the flesh. He is fully God, but fully human at the same time, and this shows His human aspect greatly.
Of course Jesus wouldn't want to have to go through what He was about to go through, who would? That is why Jesus prayed about this. He was strengthened by an angel because this was God's plan. Jesus was going to defeat death and disarm Satan. There was a price that had to be paid for this to occur, and that price was for us to pay, not Jesus. But Jesus paid the price for us.
Jesus wanted only what His Father in heaven wanted. That is how we should be as well. Yes, of course we can have our own desires, but we should place God's desires and His plan above our own. God's plan will take place, no matter what, no one can stand in His way. If God wants something to happen, it will, whether we like it or not. That doesn't mean that everything that happens is God's doing, some things are just allowed by Him.
Bad things that happen to us like disease, hurt, loss, are not from God. God allows these things to happen, but He does not cause them. His plan is in what comes after they happen. What is bad right now God will use to create good. We just have to trust in Him and allow Him to act.
Often times we don't have the mindset that Jesus had. "Yet not my will, but yours be done." That is how we should think. That is what we should say to God when we ask for things. Ask for what you want to ask for, but remember that it is God's will that is to be done, not our own.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Saturday, 21 November 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #62
Courage
Luke 1
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 30-35) "But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.' 'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (v. 38) " 'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her.
My Thoughts
There have been many great heroes throughout history and many people recognized and remembered for a wide range of things. You hear about the courage of different people. If anyone had courage, it was Mary. Mary had great courage to say that she was willing to bear God's Son, considering she was a virgin who wasn't even married yet, but only engaged. Can you imagine what her fiancé, Joseph, would be thinking? Not to mention her friends, family, and Joseph's family?
Not only did Mary have great courage to do this, but Joseph did too. He was her fiancé, he was going to have a hard time with people's reactions as well because it wasn't going to be his child. He had a lot of courage to stick by Mary and faith to trust in God. That's another thing, Mary had faith too. This wasn't going to be an easy thing for either of them, but they trusted and relied on God through it all.
The courage that these two had persisted, not worrying or even caring about what others said or did or thought. That is how we should be. We should have such great courage to do God's will, to follow Him, that no one'swords, thoughts or actions could deter us from doing so. God could accomplish so much in and through us! That is how I want to be.
I think often of what other people think, though I have started to think about that less and less. It is hard for me. I don't necessarily worry about it, just think about it. I want to get away from even that and only think about what God thinks and how He feels about what it is I do. That takes courage.
Have courage, friends. Whatever you do, have courage to do it. Courage will help you to persist when things seem bleak, tough, impossible, or when you are facing opposition. Link, from Legend of Zelda, has the Triforce of Courage. He goes on his adventures and prevails because of that courage. He doesn't need the power, that Ganon has because his courage overcomes Ganon's abuse of power.
Be courageous to do the things that seem impossible. Faith and courage from God will help you to persevere and prevail.
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Not only did Mary have great courage to do this, but Joseph did too. He was her fiancé, he was going to have a hard time with people's reactions as well because it wasn't going to be his child. He had a lot of courage to stick by Mary and faith to trust in God. That's another thing, Mary had faith too. This wasn't going to be an easy thing for either of them, but they trusted and relied on God through it all.
The courage that these two had persisted, not worrying or even caring about what others said or did or thought. That is how we should be. We should have such great courage to do God's will, to follow Him, that no one'swords, thoughts or actions could deter us from doing so. God could accomplish so much in and through us! That is how I want to be.
I think often of what other people think, though I have started to think about that less and less. It is hard for me. I don't necessarily worry about it, just think about it. I want to get away from even that and only think about what God thinks and how He feels about what it is I do. That takes courage.
Have courage, friends. Whatever you do, have courage to do it. Courage will help you to persist when things seem bleak, tough, impossible, or when you are facing opposition. Link, from Legend of Zelda, has the Triforce of Courage. He goes on his adventures and prevails because of that courage. He doesn't need the power, that Ganon has because his courage overcomes Ganon's abuse of power.
Be courageous to do the things that seem impossible. Faith and courage from God will help you to persevere and prevail.
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Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #24
Prepare the Way
Luke 3
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 8) "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance..." (v. 9) "The ax is ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
My Thoughts
John the baptist tells the people, and us, to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. What does that mean? We aren't trees, we can't produce fruit. Well, not literally. The fruit that we produce refers to what we do for God. It is what we set in motion, the things that we do that open the door for God to act.
John prepared the way for Jesus. What John did was baptize the people. He prepared their hearts by baptizing and guiding them. He baptized Jesus the same way he baptized all the people. John was helping these people to open their hearts so that God could act within them. I won't get too much into baptizing right now because that would take the focus way off tangent. The point here is that baptism is being born again and a public declaration that you are wanting to be born again in Christ.
To prepare the way means to make straight paths for the Lord. We accomplish this by introducing Him to the world, sharing His word and sharing our testimony; our experiences of Him. What is something that God has done for you? It can be great or small. If it's something from God, that's all that matters.
Don't hide your faith from the world. If you hide your faith, that shows that you are afraid to show that you love God. Think about that. If you were in a relationship with someone and you were hiding it from your friends and family, does that really show love? That shows that you are ashamed or embarrassed to be in a relationship with that person. That's not at all pleasing to God.
You don't have to be big to make a difference. Little things count too. Little things matter to God and to those they affect. Showing love to someone in some way is great to show Christ in you. That opens the door for Him to enter, even if only slightly. Show love to someone this week. Let it make you feel good and that person.
Previous PostNext Post
John prepared the way for Jesus. What John did was baptize the people. He prepared their hearts by baptizing and guiding them. He baptized Jesus the same way he baptized all the people. John was helping these people to open their hearts so that God could act within them. I won't get too much into baptizing right now because that would take the focus way off tangent. The point here is that baptism is being born again and a public declaration that you are wanting to be born again in Christ.
To prepare the way means to make straight paths for the Lord. We accomplish this by introducing Him to the world, sharing His word and sharing our testimony; our experiences of Him. What is something that God has done for you? It can be great or small. If it's something from God, that's all that matters.
Don't hide your faith from the world. If you hide your faith, that shows that you are afraid to show that you love God. Think about that. If you were in a relationship with someone and you were hiding it from your friends and family, does that really show love? That shows that you are ashamed or embarrassed to be in a relationship with that person. That's not at all pleasing to God.
You don't have to be big to make a difference. Little things count too. Little things matter to God and to those they affect. Showing love to someone in some way is great to show Christ in you. That opens the door for Him to enter, even if only slightly. Show love to someone this week. Let it make you feel good and that person.
Previous PostNext Post
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do. Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
