Archive for July 2021
Keep Looking Up!
Guest Post My husband’s grandfather was a godly man, an example to us. He had a saying: “Keep looking up!” I’ve often found this advice to be tremendously helpful, with God repeatedly helping me when I look up to Him in the Word and prayer. There are so many valuable postures for prayer—kneeling, being in…
Read MoreJuly 26-31, 2021
In keeping with the Bible reading plan we are using, the last days of each month are designated as “free days.” July 26-31 then are intended to allow you to catch up on reading you may have missed or to study passages more in depth that intrigued you during the first 25 days of the month.…
Read MoreLuke 12:49-59: Settle with Him on the Way
2 Chronicles 34-36, Psalm 150, Luke 12:49-59, 2 Thessalonians 3:14-18 Luke 12:49-59: The passage this morning contains summaries of three separate pieces of Jesus’ teaching. First, the necessary divisiveness of Jesus’ ministry of the cross (12:49-53). These words about Jesus coming to “cast fire on the earth,” or that he had come to bring about “division,” are surprising.…
Read MoreLuke 12:35-48: An Hour You Do Not Expect
2 Chronicles 30-33, Psalm 149, Luke 12:35-48, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 12:35-48: Stay dressed for action and keep your lamp burning. These are the words that ring through this paragraph like a peel of bells awaking us from our sleep and calling us to action. There is hard, cold, truth: you do not know when Jesus will return.…
Read MoreLuke 12:22-34: Seek First the Kingdom
2 Chronicles 28-29, Psalm 148, Luke 12:22-34, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 Luke 12:22-34: This is perhaps some of the most relevant teaching for our anxiety-driven, pressurized, stressed society today. Jesus tells his disciples not to worry, but he does not just instruct them to do something; he also explains to them why and how to do it (12:22-34). In…
Read MoreLuke 12:13-21: The Dangers of Prosperity
2 Chronicles 25-27, Psalm 147, Luke 12:13-21, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 Luke 12:13-21: At the heart of so much human interaction and tension in this world is squabbles about and passionate drive towards attaining money. Few things, then, are more disturbing than when a family becomes split about an inheritance matter. Someone in the crowd following Jesus has…
Read MoreLuke 12:1-12: Hypocrisy
2 Chronicles 22-24, Psalm 146, Luke 12:1-12, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-12 Luke 12:1-12: Having so strongly critiqued the Pharisee, Jesus now exposes the heart of the matter. The real center of the problem for the Pharisee is “hypocrisy” (12:1). This is the “leaven,” the part that seeps through everything else and gives power to everything else. Hypocrisy…
Read MoreLuke 11:37-54: Woe!
2 Chronicles 20-21, Psalm 145, Luke 11:37-54, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 Luke 11:37-54: In this section, Jesus pulls no punches in his denouncement of false religion. Characteristically, Jesus reserves his most stringent judgment for those who are fake religious leaders. The “Pharisees” and the “scribes” fell into traps that it is worth all those who are “religious” taking…
Read MoreLuke 11:29-36: Making the Most of What We Have Been Given
2 Chronicles 17-19, Psalm 144, Luke 11:29-36, 2 Thessalonians 1 Luke 11:29-36: People are crowding to hear Jesus speak, and as they do so, Jesus realizes that some of them are asking for a “sign.” Jesus has certainly done many miracles and taught in many miraculous ways that point to his identity—so to ask for a “sign” now…
Read MoreLuke 11:14-28: The Finger of God
2 Chronicles 13-16, Psalm 143, Luke 11:14-28, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 Luke 11:14-28: Jesus does an extraordinary miracle and the people marvel. But some come back to this miracle questioning how it is that Jesus accomplished it. “By the prince of demons he cast out demons.” This line of logic has often been used to dismiss the work of…
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