Today’s Reading: Luke 9
“Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:60 There are good things in this life. God created this world and he said that it is good. He created us and allows us to enjoy this world and spend time with the people here that we love. Yet, nothing, not even family should go before our love for Jesus and our ability to follow Him. Not everyone experiences this sacrifice. Some people live in the same place their entire lives with their family by their side. But, others have to make a difficult choice to move physically away from their families in order to obey what Jesus is asking them to do. Thanks to modern transportation, this isn’t too bad unless you’re across the world, but it still can be difficult to not be able to call your family and have them immediately by your side. The cost of following Jesus is doing whatever it takes to follow him and not look back. Are you willing to do that? Maybe you’ve already moved away from your family, is there anything else that you need to give up in order to follow Jesus? Spend some time in prayer asking God to open your mind and heart to these questions.
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Today’s Reading: Luke 8
“Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Luke 8:48 Typical Luke, he packs so much into a single chapter: parables, miracles, healing, and more! These amazing accounts urge you to keep reading more about Jesus! It was difficult to narrow down a devotional for today, but the portion of the chapter that stuck out to me the most was when Jesus healed the woman with the bleeding disorder. There is a huge crowd around Jesus because everyone knows about his ability to heal and do miracles. So many people were physically close to him, yet this woman pushes her way through because she knows if she just touched Jesus’ cloak, she would be healed. The moment that stuck out to the most is when Jesus asked who touched him. He is God, didn’t he know who touched him? But, still he asked, seeing if the guilty party would step forward. And she did. She spoke up, told of what she did and how she was healed. And Jesus’ response was not reprimand, but compassion. He affirmed her faith and healing, and they both continued on their way. Do you have faith like this woman? Are you willing to push through anything, just so you can come before Jesus with your requests? Do you believe he can heal you if he chooses to? We cannot come before the Lord as if he is a divine vending machine, but we do need to believe that he has the power to heal and has a purpose for everything. Ask God to help you see anything that you need to “push through” to come before him with your requests. Is it your pride, your sin, your unbelief? Spend some time in confession and some time bringing your requests before the Lord. Today’s Reading: Luke 7
“They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” Luke 7:16 You know when Jesus is amazed at someone, they must have been pretty amazing! And this is his response to the faith of the centurion. One of the centurion’s servants needed healing so he sent for Jesus because he believed that Jesus could heal. Yet, before Jesus arrived, the centurion second-guessed his request, not because he didn’t think Jesus could heal, but because he thought he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus come to his home. He simply asked Jesus to heal from afar. And Jesus did just that! He was amazed at his faith and instantly healed the servant! The centurion had such humble faith. He knew Jesus could heal without even being present, but he also knew Jesus was worthy, and thought him too worthy to come under his roof. I wonder if the centurion himself was sick, would he have sent for Jesus or just suffered? He cared for his servant so much that he was willing to take a risk and be bold to send for Jesus. How do you approach Jesus? Do you expect him to answer all your requests and heal or do you come humbly before his throne asking him to do whatever he thinks is right? Spend some time right now humbly coming before the Lord asking him to do what he thinks is right and conveying your trust in his decision. Today’s Reading: Luke 6
“And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.” Luke 6:33 I love how Jesus often answers Pharisees before they can even speak their thoughts. Their mind is trying to come up with ways to trap him, yet he stops them before they can even open up their mouths. In this chapter, we see the theme of doing good. When confronted about healing on the Sabbath, Jesus answers that it’s okay to do good on the Sabbath and heal. To not heal would be wrong. Later, he spends a lot of time focusing on loving others and not judging. One of the most convicting passages of Scripture is this Love for Enemies portion in Chapter 6. Jesus commands us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to everyone without expecting repayment. This is easier said than done! Even when people are completely awful to us, we’re expected to love and forgive them. That doesn’t mean we need to fully trust them again or pretend nothing happened, but we do need to love them with God’s love. He admits this is difficult. It’s so much easier to love the kind people in our lives. But, even sinners love the kind people in their lives, and as Christians, we can strive to do what Jesus would do. Spend some time in prayer and ask God to help you love your enemies. Surrender any hard feelings or anger and ask Jesus to work in them. Today’s Reading: Luke 5
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 Once again, Luke provides a lot of information in a single chapter! He shares how Jesus calls his first disciples, begins his healing ministry, and sets the precedent for spending time with sinners. When reading this chapter, I get the impression that Jesus was very busy. He was healing, serving, and interacting with people as well as standing up to the Pharisees when needed. He was doing so much once his ministry started, but another thing I observed is that he still found time to go off alone, be still, and pray. The Savior of the World, the Creator, the Perfect Healer needed time alone and he made it a priority. There are some weeks that seem busier than others, but let’s be real; we’re always busy! It’s really easy to put everything else as a priority: work, family, running errands, etc. But, are we willing to make time to be alone a priority? Are we willing to make prayer a priority? It’s easier to learn about and talk about prayer rather than actually doing it. We can buy a stack of devotionals, journals, and subscribe to a hundred podcasts with good intentions, but that’s still a form of being busy. It’s more difficult to be still and sit in lonely solitude. Spend time in prayer right now. Don’t hesitate! Even if you only have a couple minutes. Ask God to help you prioritize the lonely times and the times of just being with Him. Setting this time aside may not be easy, but keep persevering! |
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