Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

Thestory of the prodigal son is probably one of the most read and liked stories inthe Bible. We can relate to it in some way! Either we have strayed ourselves,or someone in our family that is dear to our hearts has wandered far away fromGod. This parable, told by Jesus, is about a young man who demands hisinheritance, leaves his father's house, and squanders everything in recklessliving. By verses 14-19, he's hit rock bottom—broke, alone, and feeding pigs, adegrading job for a Jewish man. Yet, in this low moment, something shifts. He“comes to himself” and resolves to return to his father, not as a son, butas a humble servant. This is a story of sin's consequences, repentance, and thehope of restoration. Theprodigal's journey shows us the deceptive nature of sin. Interestingly, he lefthome, like many young people, thinking they are looking for themselves, but inthe process they in reality lose themselves. He thought leaving his father'shouse would bring freedom, wealth, and joy. Instead, it led to slavery,poverty, and despair. Sin promises much but delivers little. It lures us withthe illusion of control and happiness, only to leave us empty, like theprodigal longing for pig food. This passage reminds us that a life apart fromGod is a “far country”—a place of spiritual famine where nothing trulysatisfies. The prodigal's hunger wasn't just physical; it was a soul-deeplonging for meaning, love, and home. Yet,this low point becomes a turning point. His suffering wakes him up. Heremembers his father's goodness, and how even the hired servants have bread tospare. This contrast between his misery and his father's generosity sparks achange. It's a powerful reminder that God often uses our struggles to draw usback to Him. The prodigal's pain helped him see his father in a new light,stirring hope that maybe, just maybe, he could return. Didyou notice the phrase “he came to himself”. It suggests he'd beenliving as someone else, lost in sin's madness. Repentance begins with thisawakening—a moment of clarity where we see our true condition and God's betterway. The prodigal didn't just feel sorry; he acted. He resolved to arise, go tohis father, confess his sin, and humbly seek a place in the household. Truerepentance involves the mind, heart, and will: recognizing our sin, feelingsorrow for it, and choosing to turn back to God. Thispassage challenges us to “arise and go” and examine our ownlives. Are we in a “far country,” chasing things that promise happiness butleave us empty? Maybe it's a habit, a mindset, or a pursuit that's pulling usfrom God. Like the prodigal, we need to “come to ourselves.” What's onearea where you've wandered? What's keeping you from returning to the Father'shouse, where there's bread enough and to spare? God's grace is waiting, but itrequires us to humble ourselves, admit our sin, and arise and act. I'llnever forget the old invitational hymn we used to sing in our churches, “Lord,I'm Coming Home”. I've wandered far away from God, Now I'm coming home; Thepaths of sin too long I've trod, Lord, I'm coming home. I've wasted manyprecious years, Now I'm coming home; I now repent with bitter tears, Lord, I'mcoming home. I'm tired of sin and straying, Lord, Now I'm coming home; I'lltrust Thy love, believe Thy word, Lord, I'm coming home. Coming home, cominghome, Nevermore to roam, Open wide Thine arms of love, Lord, I'm coming home. Prayer: Heavenly Father, thankYou for Your relentless love that calls us home, even when we've wandered far.Open our eyes to see where we've strayed and give us the courage to arise andreturn to You. Forgive us for chasing empty things, and fill us with Your graceand truth. Help us take one step toward You today, trusting in Your goodness.In Jesus' name, Amen.

InLuke 15, Jesus tells three parables about lost things. The first, the lostsheep, shows Jesus, the Good Shepherd, pursuing a foolish sinner far from God.The second, the lost coin, pictures a believer still in God's house but hiddenin the dirt, perhaps useless to Him through carelessness, sin, neglect, ordistraction. The woman, a picture of the Holy Spirit, lights a candle, cleansthe house and finds it. This third parable, the Prodigal Son, portrays a childof God out of fellowship with the Father, a backslider who, through love forthe world, willfully chooses separation, reckless living, and ends in misery,enslaved to sin.  Theparable of the Prodigal Son reveals both the heartbreak of a child strayingfrom God and the boundless love of our Heavenly Father. This story speaks tobelievers like you and me, who, like the prodigal, may slide back into theworld, losing fellowship with God through our deliberate choices. Let's explorethree lessons from the younger son's journey: First,the deliberate choice to stray in the younger son's demand for his inheritance(v. 12), was a bold rejection of his father's authority and presence, as ifsaying, “I'd rather have your wealth than you.” This wasn't a careless mistakebut a willful choice to separate from his father, driven by a love for theworld's pleasures. As believers, we can make similar choices, prioritizingworldly desires, such as materialism, status, or sinful pleasures, over ourrelationship with God. This backsliding begins in the heart, where we value“the far country” over the Father's house. Scripture warns, “The wages ofsin is death” (Romans 6:23). Choosing the world over God breaks ourfellowship with Him, setting us on a path away from His love and purpose. Second,notice in verse 13 how this reckless path led to ruin. The son “wasted hispossessions with prodigal living” in the far country. His reckless lifestyle, squanderinghis inheritance on fleeting pleasures, led to spiritual and physical poverty.This mirrors the backslider who, having given their substance (time, talents,devotion) to the world, ends up enslaved to sin. The son's love for the worldpromised freedom but delivered bondage, leaving him isolated and desperate.Isaiah 55:2 asks, “Why do you spend your money for what is not bread, andyour wages for what does not satisfy?” As believers, we risk wasting God'sgifts when we chase what cannot fulfill us. The world's husks and its emptypromises leave our souls starving, far from the Father's provision. (ReadGalatians 6:7-8). “Sowing to the flesh reaps corruption”.  Byverses 14-16, the son experiences the misery of broken fellowship. A faminestrikes, his resources are gone, and he's reduced to feeding pigs, longing toeat their food, with “no one giving him anything.” Having given hissubstance, he now gives himself, becoming a bondslave to a citizen of the farcountry. This is a picture of sin's enslavement (v. 15). This is the misery ofa believer out of fellowship with God: spiritually lost, dissatisfied, and cutoff from the Father's care. Yet, even in this despair, there's hope. The son'smisery prepares him to remember his father's goodness, a reminder of Romans2:4: “God's kindness leads us to repentance”. Our Father waits torestore us when we turn back, ready to renew our fellowship with Him. Thisparable should challenge us as believers to examine our fellowship with God.Are we, like the prodigal, drifting into the far country, choosing the world'sallure over our Father's presence? Have we made deliberate choices that lead toreckless living, wasting God's gifts and landing in spiritual misery? The goodnews is that our Father's love never wavers. He longs to restore us, just asthe father welcomed his son home.  Godbless!

Todaywe celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.. This morning, we'llreflect on seven incredible truths that reveal the depth of God's love andgrace toward us—truths that change everything TheAmazing Truth That God Loves Us – John 3:16 John 3:16 isn't just a verse; it's the heartbeat of thegospel. God loves you—personally, deeply, eternally. Before we go further, letthat sink in. The Creator of the universe loves you. That's the foundation ofHis amazing grace. TheAmazing Truth That God Became Flesh – John 1:1, 14 “In the beginning wasthe Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word becameflesh and dwelt among us.” This is the miracle of the incarnation. The eternal Goddidn't stay distant—He stepped into our world, taking on human flesh. Why? To bridge the gap between a holy God and a broken humanity. God's Amazing Grace came down to us in the person of Jesus Christ.The Amazing Truth of Jesus Christ and His Virgin Birth – Isaiah 7:14; Matthew1:18-25 Thevirgin birth isn't just a detail—it's a cornerstone of God's plan. Jesus wasn'tborn with a sinful nature like us; He was holy from the start. This set Himapart as the perfect Savior, born to be “God with us.” God's Amazing Graceentered the world through a humble manger. TheAmazing Truth of Jesus Christ and His Sinless Life – 2 Corinthians 5:21;Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22 Jesuslived a life none of us could—a sinless life. Hebrews says He was tempted inevery way, yet without sin. Peter declares He committed no sin, nor was deceitfound in His mouth. Jesus' sinless life qualified Him to be oursubstitute. That's amazing grace—He lived the life we couldn't live. TheAmazing Truth of Jesus Christ and His Vicarious Death – 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter3:18; Hebrews 10:10 On the cross, Jesustook our place. The word “vicarious” means He died for us—the innocent for theguilty. Every sin we've committed, every failure, every shame—He carried itall. The cross is the ultimate display of amazing grace: Jesus paid the price we owed, so we could be forgiven and free. TheAmazing Truth of Jesus Christ and His Victorious Resurrection – Matthew 28:5-8 Eastermorning changed everything! The tomb is empty, death is defeated, and Jesus isalive! The resurrection proves that Jesus' sacrifice was accepted, that sin anddeath have no power over Him—or us. Grace doesn't end at the cross; it bursts forth in victory at the empty tomb. TheAmazing Truth of God's Holy Spirit – John 16:13-15; John 16:8-9 God's amazing gracedoesn't leave us to figure things out alone. The Spirit convicts us of our sin, showing usour need for a Savior (John 16:8). He reveals the truth about Jesus and guidesus into a life of faith. Without the Spirit's work, we'd never see our need forgrace. Even today, the Spirit is drawing us closer to God'samazing truth. ClosingThought: Thismorning many of us will observe the sun rising over the ocean or thehorizon. But here's a thought: the sun isn't really rising. It appears to be,but the truth is, the earth is turning toward it. In the same way, for us tosee the Son of God—Jesus—rising in our lives, we need to turn. The Bible callsthis repentance: turning away from our sin and turning toward God and His grace.            This Easter morning, will you turn to Christ? Will you believe His amazing truth andreceive His amazing grace? It's not about being good enough—it's about trustingin what Jesus has already done. If you've never surrendered to Him, or if youneed to recommit your life, now is the moment. Let's pray together. Prayer Heavenly Father, thank You for Your amazing grace. Thank You for loving us, for sendingJesus to live, die, and rise again for us. Thank You for Your Spirit, who opensour eyes to Your truth. Right now, we turn to You. Forgive our sins, fill uswith Your grace, and help us live for You.

Picturea woman in a dimly lit Palestinian home, realizing one of her ten silver coinsis missing. These coins were more than money, they formed a headband worn by abride, a symbol of her marriage, like a wedding ring. Losing one was a crisis.So, she lights a lamp, grabs a broom, and searches every corner, sweeping awaydust and peering into shadows. When she finally finds that glinting coin, herjoy overflows.  Inthe first parable of Luke 15, the shepherd seeking the lost sheep shows usJesus, the Good Shepherd, pursuing a foolish lost sinner far from God. Thissecond parable, the lost coin, offers another layer. The coin, still in thehouse but hidden in the dirt, can picture a believer who has lost theirusefulness to God, perhaps through sin, neglect, distraction, or carelessness.  Thewoman represents the Holy Spirit, who brings the light of God's Word to exposehidden sin, sweeps the heart clean through conviction, and restores thebeliever to fellowship with the Lord. Every person, sinner or saint, bearsGod's image, like a coin stamped with a king's likeness. Even when sin marsthat image, God sees their worth and pursues them. Jesussays heaven rejoices when one sinner repents, but this parable also hints atthe joy when a believer is restored. Angels celebrate when a lost soul comes toChrist or when a wayward Christian returns to God's purpose. This challenges usto see everyone, unbelievers and struggling believers alike, as precious toGod, worth seeking and restoring. Thisparable reveals God's heart for both the lost sinner and the believer who'sdrifted. If you feel far from God today, maybe as a believer who's lost yourspiritual fire, know that the Holy Spirit is searching for you, ready torestore you with the light of His Word. If you're walking closely with God,you're called to join this mission.  Peoplearound you, friends, coworkers, or even fellow Christians, may be like thatlost coin, in God's house but not shining for Him. You can help by sharing thetruth of Scripture, praying for their restoration, or encouraging them toreturn to fellowship. (Read Galatians 6:1-5). Thisalso challenges our attitudes. The religious leaders grumbled when Jesuswelcomed sinners. Jesus was saying that God actually searches for lost sinners!No wonder the scribes and Pharisees were offended, for there was no place intheir legalistic theology for a God like that. They had forgotten that God hadsought out Adam and Eve when they had sinned and hidden from God (Gen. 3:8-9).In spite of their supposed knowledge of Scripture, the scribes and Phariseesforgot that God was like a father who pitied his wayward children (Ps.103:8-14).  Dowe ever judge those who've wandered, whether unbelievers or believers caught insin? God pursues both with equal love, and we must too. Let's be vessels of theHoly Spirit, bringing light and hope to those who need it. James ended hisepistle with these words: “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from thetruth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner fromthe error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins”(James 5:19-20). Challenge: Bea light this week and identify one person who seems far from God, either anunbeliever or a believer who's drifted. Pray for them daily, asking the HolySpirit to shine His light and restore them. Look for one chance to showkindness, share a Scripture, or invite them to reconnect with God, maybethrough a conversation or a church invitation. Then, watch for God to work andbe ready to rejoice when He does. Prayer:Lord,thank You for pursuing us when we're lost, whether as sinners or believerswho've wandered. Fill us with Your Spirit to shine Your Word and restore othersto You. Give us boldness this week to pray, love, and reach out. May we joinheaven's joy over every restored soul. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Luke15 has become one of my favorite chapters in the Bible over the years. Thispassage paints a vivid picture of God's heart for the lost. The chapter beginswith tax collectors and sinners, people who are despised and rejected bysociety, are drawing near to Jesus, eager to hear His words. Thisscandalizes the Pharisees and scribes, who see themselves as righteous andabove such “sinners.”  Theirgrumbling reveals their lack of love for the lost, but Jesus responds with aparable that unfolds in three stories about a lost sheep, a lost silver coin,and a lost son, all which reveal God's love and heart for sinners. In these storieswe clearly can see the Trinity. Jesus, the Savior seeking the lost sheep in thewilderness, the Holy Spirit lighting the candle, cleaning the house, seekingthe lost silver coin, and God the Father patiently waiting for the lost son tocome back home to fellowship with Him! Inthe first story, a shepherd with a hundred sheep notices one is missing. Thatone sheep matters so much that he leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness tosearch for it. He doesn't give up until he finds it, and when he does, hedoesn't scold it or drive it back harshly. Instead, he gently lifts it onto hisshoulders, carries it home, and throws a celebration with his friends,shouting, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!” Jesusexplains the punchline: heaven rejoices more over one sinner who repents thanover the ninety-nine who think they need no repentance. Like the shepherd,God seeks out those who are lost, people who've wandered away, whether throughfoolishness, rebellion, or ignorance. No one is too far gone for His pursuit.Second, it reveals the value God places on every single person. The shepherddidn't say, “It's just one sheep; I still have ninety-nine.” Each one isprecious, worth leaving the fold to rescue. Third, it highlights the joy ofsalvation. The shepherd's celebration mirrors heaven's joy when a sinner turnsto God. Angels rejoice, and God Himself delights in the return of His own. Are we like the Pharisees, quickto judge or distance ourselves from those we deem “unworthy”? Or do we reflectJesus, who draws near to the broken and outcast with compassion? The truth is,we're all like that lost sheep at some point, foolishly straying, helpless, andin need of a Savior. (Read Isaiah 53:6). Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to seekand save us (Luke 19:10), carrying us home on His shoulders. And now, He callsus to join Him in His mission to seek the lost.  Thereis a fourfold joy expressed when a lost sinner comes to the Savior. There iscertainly joy in the heart of the person who is found. Both Scripture (Acts3:8; 8:39) and our own personal experience verify the joy of salvation. Butthere is also the joy of the person who does the finding. Whenever you assistin leading a lost soul to faith in Christ, you experience a wonderful joywithin (Psalm 126:5-6). Others join with us in rejoicing as we share the goodnews of a new child of God in the family (v. 6), and there is also joy inheaven (Luke 15:7, 10). ChallengeThisweek, let's live out the heart of the Good Shepherd. Pray for one person inyour life who seems far from God, maybe someone you might naturally overlook orjudge. Ask God to soften their heart and give you an opportunity to show themHis love.  Reach out to that person witha small gesture of kindness, a conversation, a meal, or a note ofencouragement. Show them the same grace Jesus showed the tax collectors andsinners.  Let'scommit to being people who seek the lost, not because we're perfect, butbecause we've been found by the Shepherd's love. Prayer LordJesus, thank You for seeking us when we were lost. Fill us with Your compassionfor those who are far from You. Give us courage to reach out, wisdom to shareYour love, and joy in seeing others come to You. May our lives reflect thecelebration of heaven. In Your name, Amen.

WhenJesus left the Pharisee's house, great crowds followed Him, but He was notimpressed by the size of the crowd or their enthusiasm. In this passage, Jesusspeaks to a large crowd following Him, saying, “If anyone comes to Me anddoes not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters,yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bearhis cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” He uses parables aboutbuilding a tower and a king preparing for war to emphasize counting the cost offollowing Him, concluding that disciples must forsake all and be like salt thatretains its flavor. Imaginea massive crowd buzzing with excitement, trailing Jesus as He walks away from aPharisee's house. They're drawn to His miracles, His teachings, maybe evenhopes of a political revolution. But Jesus stops, turns, and delivers asobering message: discipleship isn't a casual fan club. It's a costly, all-incommitment. First,Jesus demands supreme love. He says we must “hate” our family and even our ownlives. This isn't about despising people but loving Jesus so fiercely thatevery other affection pales in comparison. Think of a parent who sacrificespersonal dreams to follow God's call or a believer who risks family ties tostand for Christ. Our love for Jesus must eclipse all else, making us willingto surrender even what's dearest. I love how Oswald Chambers puts it: “The onlyright we have is the right to give up the right to ourselves”.  Second,Jesus calls us to bear our cross. This isn't just enduring life'sannoyances—it's a daily choice to embrace shame, suffering, and God's will,just as Jesus did on His way to Calvary. It's saying no to selfish ambitionsand yes to serving Christ, even when it's unpopular or painful. Picture earlyChristians facing persecution or missionaries leaving comfort for danger.That's the cross we're called to carry. Then,Jesus uses two parables to drive home the need to count the cost. A buildermust ensure he has enough to finish a tower, or he'll face mockery for ahalf-built ruin. A king must assess if his army can defeat a stronger foe, orhe'll need to seek peace. These stories challenge us to consider: Are we readyto follow Jesus fully, knowing it may cost our reputation, possessions, or evenour lives? Half-hearted commitment won't do. Jesus wants disciples who'llfinish the race, not quit when the glamour fades. Finally,Jesus compares disciples to salt. Salt preserves, purifies, and adds flavor,making people thirsty for God. But if salt loses its savor, it's useless, fitonly to be thrown out. A disciple who compromises their faith becomesineffective, unable to impact the world for Christ. We're called to stayvibrant, devoted, and true, reflecting Jesus in our character and actions. Discipleshipis serious business. Jesus doesn't coerce us, He invites us to choose Himdeliberately, knowing the cost. He's looking for quality, not quantity, fordisciples who'll be stones in His church, soldiers in His battle, and salt inHis world. As He spoke these words, Jesus was heading toward His own cross. Heasks nothing of us that He hasn't already given. ChallengeThis week, reflect on what discipleship costs you personally. Ask yourself: Isthere something—family, comfort, ambition—I'm holding back from Jesus? Take onepractical step to deepen your commitment. Maybe it's prioritizing prayer overdistractions, serving someone despite inconvenience, or boldly sharing yourfaith. Count the cost, then choose to follow Jesus fully. Be salt that flavorsthe world around you. PrayerFather, thank You for Jesus' call to true discipleship. Give us courage to loveYou above all, bear our cross, and count the cost. Help us be salt thatglorifies You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Imaginesitting at a Pharisee's table with Jesus when one of the guests exclaims, “Blessedis he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus responds with aparable: A man prepares a great supper and invites many guests. When the timecomes, he sends his servant to say, “Come, for all things are now ready.”But the invited guests make excuses. One bought land and needs to see it,another bought oxen and must test them, another just got married and can'tcome. Angered, the host tells his servant to go into the streets and lanes,bringing in the poor, maimed, lame, and blind. Still, there's room, so he sendsthe servant to the highways and hedges to compel others to come, declaring thatnone of the original invitees will taste his supper. Thisparable is a vivid picture of God's invitation to His kingdom, a feast ofgrace, salvation, and eternal joy. The host represents God, the supper is thegospel, and the servant is like Jesus or His messengers, calling us to come.The first invitees, likely representing the religious leaders of Jesus' day,had every reason to attend. They'd already accepted the invitation, yet whenthe time came, they prioritized worldly concerns, their property, work, andfamily over the feast. Their excuses weren't just polite refusals; they wereinsults to the host, revealing hearts more devoted to temporary things than toGod's eternal offer. ButGod's grace doesn't stop with rejection. The host opens his table to theoutcasts, the poor, the broken, those society overlooks. When there's stillroom, he extends the invitation further, to the highways and hedges,symbolizing the Gentiles and all who seem far from God. This shows theboundless reach of the gospel: no one is too lowly, too distant, or toounworthy to be invited. Notice the host's urgency, “go out quickly,” “compelthem to come”. It reflects God's heart to fill His house with people who willaccept His gift of salvation, freely offered through Jesus' sacrifice. Yet,the parable ends with a sobering warning: those who made excuses were shut out.God's invitation is open, but it's not indefinite. Saying “later” to Jesusrisks missing out entirely. The excuses in the story, land, oxen, marriage, weren'tbad things, but they became idols when they took precedence over God. Today, wemight make similar excuses: “I'm too busy with work,” “I'll follow Jesus whenlife slows down,” or “I have other priorities.” This parable should challengeus to examine our hearts. What's keeping us from fully embracing God's call?Are we settling for good things at the cost of the best, God's eternal kingdom? Thebeauty of this story is the feast itself. God's kingdom isn't a duty; it's acelebration! Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, so all things are nowready. On the cross, Jesus declared, “It is finished”. Salvation is complete! Thetable is set, and there's room for you. The question is: Will you come? Andwill you, like the servant, invite others to this feast, sharing the gospelwith urgency and love? Today'sChallenge for us:Identify one “excuse” or distraction that is keeping you from fully respondingto God's call. Maybe a busy schedule, a worldly priority, or fear ofcommitment. Pray for strength to put Jesus first and take one step towarddeeper devotion, like setting aside time for prayer or studying His Word. Alsobe willing to invite someone in your life who seems far from God, maybe acoworker, neighbor, or friend. Pray for them, then find a way to share God'sinvitation, whether through a kind word, an act of service, or a conversationabout Jesus. Be the servant who compels others to come to the feast knowing thereis still room.PrayerLord Jesus, thank You for inviting us to Your kingdom's feast. Forgive us forthe excuses we make. Fill us with Your Spirit to prioritize You above all andto share Your invitation with others. May Your house be filled, and may werejoice at Your table forever. Amen.

Luke 14:12-1412 Then He also said tohim who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask yourfriends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they alsoinvite you back, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite thepoor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because theycannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of thejust." Welcometo Pastor's Chat! Today, we're reflecting on Jesus' words in Luke 14:12-14,where He challenges us to rethink who we invite to our tables. This passagecalls us to a generosity that seeks nothing in return, and it's a powerfulinvitation to live differently.  Jesusis at a dinner, surrounded by people who likely invited each other out of habitor to gain favor. He turns to the host and says something radical: when youthrow a feast, don't just invite your friends, family, or wealthy neighbors whocan pay you back with an invitation of their own. Instead, invite the poor, themaimed, the lame, the blind, those who can't repay you. Why? Because trueblessing comes when you give without expecting anything in return, trusting Godto reward you at the resurrection of the just.  Thisisn't about banning dinners with friends or family. Jesus isn't saying thoseare wrong. It's about breaking the cycle of self-serving hospitality, where wegive only to get something back, whether it's a favor, status, or applause. InJesus' day, inviting the poor or disabled wasn't common, they couldn't boostyour social standing. But Jesus flips that logic upside down. He says realgenerosity looks beyond what you'll gain. It's about giving to those who havenothing to offer you, reflecting God's heart for the overlooked.   Thinkabout how this applies today. We might not host big banquets, but we “invite”people into our lives in other ways—through our time, resources, or attention.How often do we gravitate toward those who can benefit us? Jesus challenges usto seek out those who can't repay. Maybe it's a neighbor struggling to get by,a coworker who's always ignored, or someone society dismisses. When we givefreely, we're not losing out; we're storing up treasure in heaven, where Godsees and honors every selfless act.   Jesuslived this out perfectly. He ate with tax collectors, sinners, and outcasts,offering love without expecting repayment. His generosity cost Him everything,yet God exalted Him. That's the kind of heart He's calling us to, one thatgives for God's glory, not our own gain.  So,how do we live this out? Start small: share what you have without keepingscore. It could be buying a coffee for someone who can't return the favor,volunteering time to help a stranger, or listening to someone who's oftenunheard. The point is to give with no strings attached, trusting God for theoutcome.  Here'sa challenge for this week: Do one intentional act of generosity for someone whocan't repay you. Maybe it's a kind gesture for a homeless person, helping astruggling single parent, or praying for someone without telling them. Ask Godto show you who needs your kindness and let His love flow through you.   Prayer:LordJesus, thank You for Your selfless love that gave without expecting return.Forgive us for the times we seek repayment for our kindness. Open our eyes tothose who need our generosity, and give us courage to give freely, trusting Youfor our reward. Holy Spirit, guide us this week to reflect Your heart. In Yourname, Amen.   ClosingChallenge Friends,let's embrace Jesus' call to generosity without expectation this week. Find oneperson who can't pay you back and bless them quietly. Watch how God uses it, notjust in their life, but in yours. Share your story with someone to inspire themtoo!  Let's go love like Jesus todayGod bless!

Welcometo Pastor's Chat! Today, we're diving into a powerful lesson from Jesus in Luke14:7-11, where He teaches us about humility through a parable told at a dinnertable. You can easily picture the scene in this passage. Jesus is at a dinner,watching guests scramble for the best seats, closest to the host, the spotsthat scream, “I'm important!” It's a familiar human impulse, isn't it? We wantto be noticed, valued, respected. Maybe it's not about seats at a table for us,but we chase status in other ways, through titles, likes on social media, orbeing seen with the “right” people.   Jesussees this and tells a parable that flips the script. He says, don't rush to thehead of the table, assuming you deserve it. Why? Because pride sets you up forembarrassment. If someone more honorable arrives, you'll be asked to move down,talk about a humbling moment! Instead, Jesus says, take the lowest seat. Becontent with less. Trust the host to notice and invite you higher if it'sfitting.   Thisisn't just about dinner etiquette, it's about the posture of our hearts. Jesusends with a principle that echoes through Scripture: “Whoever exalts himselfwill be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Humility is afundamental grace in the Christian life, and yet it is elusive; if you know youhave it, you have lost it! It has well been said that humility is not thinkingmeanly of ourselves; it is simply not thinking of ourselves at all.  Petermust have remembered this occasion because later he writes in his epistle  “…Yes, all of you be submissive to oneanother, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, Butgives grace to the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mightyhand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5-6). Proverbs13:10 teaches us that, “Only by pride comes contention…”. Pride is at the rootof all of our sins. Eve was tempted by Satan with pride, “You will be like godif you eat this fruit…” (Genesis 3:5). Jesusis the greatest example of humility, and we would do well to ask the HolySpirit to enable us to imitate Him (Phil. 2:1-16). He didn't grasp for glory,though He deserved it all. He washed feet, served sinners, and died on a cross.Yet God exalted Him above every name (Philippians 2:5-11). That's the kind ofhumility we're called to.   So,what does this look like today? Humility shows up in small choices: lettingsomeone else go first, listening instead of speaking, serving without expectingapplause. It's resisting the urge to promote yourself and trusting God to opendoors. It's recognizing that everyone at the table, whether they're “important”or not, because they matter to God.  Here'sthe challenge: This week, practice one act of humility each day. Maybe it'sgiving up your spot in line, let someone cut in front of you while driving withkindness and grace, complimenting someone without expecting anything back, ordoing a kind deed anonymously. Notice how it feels to step back and let Godtake the lead. We need God's grace to live a life of selflessness every day!And we should remember that, “God resist the proud, but gives grace to thehumble…” (James 4:6). Myfriends, by God's grace, let's go out and live this parable. Choose the lowseat. Serve someone quietly. Watch how God works through your humility.  Prayer:LordJesus, thank You for showing us the beauty of humility. Forgive us for thetimes we chase status or put ourselves first. Teach us to take the lowestplace, to trust You with our worth, and to serve others with love. Holy Spirit,guide us this week to live humbly, reflecting Your heart. In Jesus' name,Amen.   Godbless!

In this passageJesus gives us at least three examples of how to silence our critics. First, we should bewilling to confront criticism with bold truth. The Pharisees invited Jesus todinner not to learn but to accuse. They used a suffering man as bait, hoping tocatch Jesus breaking Sabbath laws. Jesus saw through their motives andconfronted them directly, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Thiswasn't just a question; it was a challenge to their inconsistent beliefs. Theirsilence showed they couldn't answer without exposing their hypocrisy, as theylacked the power to heal, and their rules didn't align with God's heart. Jesussilenced them by speaking truth boldly, rooted in God's priorities. When weface critics, whether at work, home, or in our faith, we can follow Hisexample. Instead of shrinking back, we can answer their questions oraccusations with questions and share the truth that points to God's love andjustice. For example, if someone challenges your generosity, you might calmlyask, “Why should we withhold help when someone's hurting?” Bold truth, spokenwith grace, can shift the conversation and quiet unfair criticism. Second, we can disarm ourcritics with undeniable compassion. The Pharisees thought they had Jesustrapped: heal and break the Sabbath, or ignore the man and seem heartless.Jesus didn't hesitate. He healed the man and sent him safely away, showingcompassion that no one could argue with. Then He pressed further: “Which ofyou, if your ox or son fell into a pit, wouldn't pull them out on the Sabbath?”This exposed their double standard—they'd act for their own interests butcriticized His mercy. Their silence proved His point: compassion reflects God'sheart more than rigid rules. When critics attack us, acts of genuine love canbe our strongest defense. Imagine helping a struggling coworker despite gossipabout your motives. Compassionate actions speak louder than words, makingcriticism look petty. By loving others visibly and selflessly, we can silencedetractors, showing a faith that's impossible to dispute. And third, we can overcometheir criticism with unshakable conviction. Jesus didn't just heal andleave; He justified His actions with logic the Pharisees couldn't refute. Heknew their real issue was His influence, not the Sabbath. By pointing outthey'd save their animals on the Sabbath, He revealed their criticism wasn'tabout principle but envy. Their silence showed they had no comeback. Jesus'conviction in God's truth was unshakable. We face critics who may twist ouractions or question our faith. Like Jesus, we can stand firm, grounded in whatwe know is right. If someone mocks your commitment to prayer or service,respond with confidence in God's call to love and obey. Conviction doesn't needto be loud, especially when it's steady, rooted in faith. When we live withintegrity, critics often run out of arguments, as our lives reflect God's truthmore than their words can counter. Challenge This week, identify asituation where you face criticism, maybe for your faith, choices, or kindness.Instead of arguing or retreating, take one step inspired by Jesus: speak atruthful word with grace, show compassion that can't be ignored, or stand firmin your convictions without wavering. For example, if someone questions yourgenerosity, quietly help someone in need anyway. Ask God for wisdom to respondin a way that honors Him and silences unfair attacks through love and truth. Closing PrayerLord Jesus, thank Youfor showing us how to face critics with truth, compassion, and conviction. Giveus wisdom to respond to opposition with grace and courage. Help us live in away that reflects Your heart, silencing critics through love and faithfulness.Amen. Godbless!

Thescene opens with Pharisees approaching Jesus: “Get out and depart from here,for Herod will kill you” (v. 31). They're likely scheming, hoping to scareHim from Perea, which was Herod Antipas' territory, back to Judea, where theSanhedrin could trap Him. Herod, who beheaded John the Baptist (Luke 9:7-9),was curious about Jesus' miracles but now threatens His life, perhaps fearingHis influence. The Pharisees' warning may carry truth, yet their motives aresuspect, cloaked in false concern. Jesus, unfazed, and with courage, replies, “Goand tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today andtomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected'” (v. 32). CallingHerod a “fox”, indicating that he was sly and despised, Jesus uses sharpsarcasm, not disrespect, fitting His prophetic role (Nehemiah 4:3). Jesus is novictim of Herod's schemes because He knows that He is following a divinetimetable (John 2:4; Acts 2:23). Nothing, not even Herod's threats, can derailGod's plan for His death at Passover in Jerusalem, decreed before time (1 Peter1:20). “Today and tomorrow” mean He'll continue His work, freeing theoppressed, healing the sick, until the “third day,” hinting at His death and resurrection,when His mission is “finished” (John 19:30). No earthly power, neither Herodnor Pharisees, can stop Him. And it will not stop us if we know God's plan andpurpose for our lives! ThenJesus declares, “Nevertheless I must walk today, tomorrow, and the dayfollowing, for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem” (v.33). With biting irony, He notes Jerusalem's grim history as the place whereprophets die, judged by the Sanhedrin as false (Luke 11:47-51; Acts 13:27). “Itcannot be”, in other words, “it's not fitting”, for Him to die elsewhere.This isn't resignation; it's resolve to face His destiny, exposing the city'sguilt in rejecting God's messengers. Jesustone now shifts to anguish revealing His compassion: “O Jerusalem,Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often Iwanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under herwings, but you were not willing!” (v. 34). This lament, repeated later(Matthew 23:37), pulses with love, not anger. Like a hen shielding chicks fromdanger (Psalm 91:4), Jesus longed to protect Israel—His “house,” both thenation and temple. He knew its history, from Melchizedek to the Maccabees, yetsaw its rebellion. Despite countless chances to repent, they refused, leavingtheir house “desolate” (v. 35). The temple, their idol, would burn in AD 70,the people scattered, with no king or priest (Hosea 3:4). Yet,Jesus gives them hope: “You shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is Hewho comes in the name of the Lord'” (v. 35; Psalm 118:26). , This points to His return, whenIsrael will mourn, then embrace Him (Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:1). Jesusdoesn't forsake them; a future awaits in His coming Millennium reign whenthey'll sing His praise.Jesus' courage should challenge our fears. Hefaced Herod's threats, unmoved, because He trusted God's plan. Are we as bold,or do we shrink from opposition? His lament reveals God's compassionate heartwhich is patient, yearning to gather us, yet grieved by refusal. Israel's “youwere not willing” warns us: privilege doesn't save; only surrender does.The Pharisees hid behind their deceit, and Jerusalem clung to tradition. Today,we might dodge God's call with excuses or delay. But the door of grace won'tstay open forever, because now is the time to respond (Hebrews 4:7). ClosingChallengeTodaydo you hear the calls of Jesus? Are you resisting Jesus' call like Jerusalem,or trusting His timing like He did? This week, face one fear or excuse holdingyou back. Maybe sharing your faith or letting go of control. Step forwardboldly, praying for a heart soft to His gathering wings. Don't say “I wouldnot”, but today say yes.

Today, in Luke 13:22-30, we will hear Jesusgive us a call to the urgency of salvation.  AsJesus is teaching, someone, perhaps curious, skeptical, or admiring, asks aboutthe number that will be saved. The scribes often debated this, but Jesusreframes it: “Don't ask how many; ask if you will be one.” He says, “Striveto enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enterand will not be able” (v. 24). “Strive” here is athletic—agonize, like anOlympian racing for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:25). Salvation is free, but it'snot easy. The gate is narrow, demanding a changed heart, a new birth, and adisciplined life (Luke 9:23; Matthew 7:13-14). Most prefer the wide, easy roadto destruction. Thencomes a sobering picture: “When once the Master of the house has risen upand shut the door, you begin to knock, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,' andHe will say, ‘I do not know you, where you are from'” (v. 25). Theyprotest, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets”(v. 26), but He replies, “Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity”(v. 27). These are Jews of Jesus' day, privileged with His presence, eatingwith Him, hearing His words, yet uncommitted. They delayed, trusting theirheritage as “children of Abraham” or their proximity to Jesus. God was patient,but the door shut, picturing Israel's rejection and the Roman judgment of AD70. It's personal too: familiarity with Christ isn't faith. Many seek too late,when mercy's door closes. Theconsequence stings: “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when yousee Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, andyourselves thrust out” (v. 28). Imagine the shock of hearing about the patriarchsand prophets feasting, while they're excluded, and gnashing their teeth inregret over wasted chances (Psalm 112:10). Pride blinded them; they thoughtthey were first, but Gentiles, the “unclean dogs” from east, west, north, andsouth come and take their place (v. 29). “The last will be first, and thefirst will be last” (v. 30). God's kingdom flips human rankings. The Jews'religious tradition couldn't save them; it takes more than reverence for thepast (Isaiah 64:4; Titus 1:16). Whydid they miss it? For the same reason we miss it!  A false sense of security, Jesus was amongthem, yet they didn't trust Him (Luke 10:13-16). Pride kept them from humblingthemselves. Worst, their wills resisted: “Ye would not” (Luke 13:34).Delay hardened their hearts, a warning echoed in Hebrews 4:7: “Today, if youhear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Salvation demands effort, notto earn it, but to overcome sin, Satan, and self through repentance and faith. Forus, this is a wake-up call. The question isn't “How many?” but “Am I striving?”Many seek casually, liking holiness but not pursuing it, banking on religious churchties or past moments with God. Jesus knows His own; the rest He discards as“workers of iniquity,” despite their pleas. Yet, hope shines: people from allcorners of the earth will come, striving against obstacles, and will feast withthe saints. Salvation's door is open now! “And you will seek me and find mewhen you have searched for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). ClosingChallengeAreyou striving or coasting? This week, pinpoint one obstacle to your faith—pride,delay, or complacency. Take a deliberate step through the narrow gate: confessa sin, pray earnestly, or share Christ with someone. Don't wait until the doorshuts—agonize for salvation today. PrayerLordJesus, thank You for the narrow gate of grace, open now but not forever.Forgive us for trusting in privilege or procrastination instead of You. Stir usto strive—wrestling sin, seeking You with all we have. Help us enter beforeit's too late, and may we rejoice with the saints from every corner. Amen.

These parables are oftentaken out of context and misinterpreted, but they have much to teach us aboutGod's work, Satan's schemes, and our call to discernment.  First, Jesus asks, “Whatis the kingdom of God like? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a mantook and planted in his garden; and it grew and became a great tree, and thebirds of the air lodged in its branches” (Luke 13:18-19). On the surface,this sounds like success—a tiny seed sprouting into a towering tree. Butsomething's off. Mustard seeds grow into shrubs, not trees. This abnormalgrowth hints at distortion. The Jews knew their Scriptures: a mighty tree oftensymbolized a world power (Ezekiel 17:22-24; Daniel 4:20-22), and birds, as inthe parable of the sower (Luke 8:5, 12), represent evil—Satan and his forces(Matthew 13:19). Jesus isn't picturing triumph here, but a kingdom infiltratedby falsehood. Then He says, “Towhat shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman tookand hid in three measures of meal until it was all leavened” (Luke13:20-21). Leaven, in Scripture, consistently symbolizes evil (Exodus 12:14-20;Luke 12:1).  Think of the Pharisees'hypocrisy or Herod's corruption (Matthew 16:12; Mark 8:15). A woman hidingleaven in meal suggests stealthy contamination, not godly influence. Theseparables, echoing Matthew 13, don't show the kingdom conquering the world.Instead, they warn of Satan's two-pronged attack: abnormality (the oversizedtree) and adulteration (the hidden leaven). For context, Jesusspoke amid opposition. The synagogue ruler had just fumed over a Sabbathhealing, clinging to dead traditions. These parables counter that mindset:“Your rules won't stop God's kingdom, but Satan will distort it.” Historically,Israel rejected Christ, and during this church age, God's program facesfailure—not in its ultimate victory, but in its present form. The mustard seedreflects “Christendom”—the visible, professing church—growing unnaturallylarge, like after Constantine, when the “Organized Church” became a politicalpower, not a humble “little flock” (Luke 12:32). Like birds, the false teachersnest in its branches.  The leaven showscorruption creeping in: Pharisees with empty rituals, Sadducees denying thesupernatural, Herodians bowing to Rome. Today the church battles similardistortions, such as legalism, skepticism, and compromise. Jesus isn'tcontradicting Himself here. He'd already called leaven evil (Luke 12:1). Nor dothese parables promise global permeation; population growth outpaced by truefaith. The kingdom's seed often falls on barren soil, Satan sows counterfeits,and the net catches good and bad fish (Matthew 13). Yet, there's hope: God'strue kingdom endures, despite the mess. These stories challenge the crowd, andus, to look beyond appearances. The religious leaders saw only theirtraditions; Jesus saw Satan's schemes and God's bigger plan. What does this mean forus? We're in a mixed age where truth and falsehood grow together. We mustdiscern the real kingdom from its counterfeits, not confusing size or influencewith godliness. Satan attacks with abnormality (prideful bigness) andadulteration (subtle lies). Our job isn't to fix the whole tree or the meal butto be faithful, bearing true fruit in a crooked world, trusting God for thefinal harvest. Closing ChallengeThis week, examine yourfaith: Are you swayed by the “big tree” of flashy religion or the “leaven” ofwatered-down truth? Pick one area of your life, maybe a belief, habit, orinfluence, and test it against Scripture. Root out any distortion and commit toauthentic, humble faith. Be a seed of truth in a tangled world. PrayerLord Jesus, thank Youfor revealing the kingdom's reality of growth amid corruption. Open our eyes toSatan's schemes and keep us from false traditions or lies. Help us bear truefruit, faithful to You, not the world's show. Strengthen us to stand firm untilYour victory comes. Amen. 

As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem, He enters a synagogue in Perea,teaching on the Sabbath as was His custom. There, He encounters a womancrippled for eighteen years, bent double by a spirit of infirmity. This momentbecomes more than a healing, it's a lesson in freedom, compassion, and theclash between God's heart and human tradition.  Youcan imagine the scene. Jesus is preaching when He notices this woman, bowedover, unable to straighten herself. For eighteen years, she'd endured thisaffliction—likely caused by Satan, as Jesus later reveals. Yet, she's faithful,present in the synagogue week after week, seeking God despite her pain. Jesus,ever sensitive to need, calls her forward. It might have seemed harsh to exposeher publicly, but He has a purpose—to defeat Satan, free her, and teach atruth. With a word, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity,” and atouch of His hands, she stands straight, glorifying God. The synagogue eruptsin awe, except for one voice. Theruler of the synagogue, indignant, scolds the crowd: “There are six days towork; come and be healed then, not on the Sabbath!” Too cowardly toconfront Jesus directly, he masks his anger in tradition. His outburst isalmost laughable, did he think healings were routine? Could he have freed herhimself? His bondage to rules was worse than hers to Satan; her body was bent,but his heart and mind were shackled. Jesus calls him out: “You hypocrite!Don't you loose your ox or donkey on the Sabbath to water it? Shouldn't thiswoman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen years, be loosed onthis day?” The argument is simple yet profound: if mercy is shown toanimals, how much more to a person made in God's image? Thiswasn't random timing. Jesus chose the Sabbath deliberately, repeating “loose”to drive home the lesson—freedom is His gift, not tradition's prisoner. Thewoman, a “daughter of Abraham,” likely had faith, marking her as one ofGod's own. Her healing wasn't just physical; it mirrored spiritual liberation.Sin, sorrow, and suffering bow us down (Psalm 38:6; 42:5), but Christ lifts usup. Satan oppresses, sometimes for years, even believers (think of Paul's thornin 2 Corinthians 12), but Jesus' power is greater (John 10:10). Not everysickness is demonic (Luke 6:17-19), but when it is, Jesus can break itinstantly. Theruler's reaction reveals a deeper issue. He saw the Sabbath as a checklist, nota gift of rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Tradition became his excuse to avoidcompassion. Jesus exposes this hypocrisy, shaming His critics into silencewhile the crowd rejoices at His “glorious things.” The synagogue ruler'spetty clock told yesterday's time, blind to the new era Jesus brought (Luke12:56). This was no violation; it was God's work, fitting for the Sabbath. Whatdoes this mean for us today? Jesus still calls the bowed-down—those crippled bysin or grief—to come to Him. He offers freedom, not just from physical chainsbut from spiritual ones, often before we even ask. Yet, like the ruler, we cancling to rules or routines that block mercy. The Sabbath here isn't aboutlegalism but heart-rest through grace. When we see suffering, do we respondwith Christ's compassion or hide behind excuses? His adversaries were ashamed;His followers rejoiced. Which side are we on? ClosingChallengeThisweek, look for someone “bowed down”—physically, emotionally, or spiritually.Don't let tradition or busyness stop you; take one step to “loose” them withkindness—a call, a helping hand, or a prayer. Reflect: Are you free in Christ,or bound by your own rules? Act in His mercy today. PrayerLordJesus, thank You for seeing us in our infirmities and calling us to freedom.Forgive us when we prioritize tradition over compassion, like the synagogueruler. Loose us from sin, sorrow, and self-made chains, and help us lift othersas You do. May we rejoice in Your glorious works, living out Your grace thisweek. In Your name, Amen.

Jesusbegins, “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he cameseeking fruit on it, and found none. Then he said to the vinedresser, ‘Behold,these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none. Cut itdown; why does it cumber the ground?'” In Jewish law (Leviticus19:23-25), a new tree's fruit wasn't eaten for three years, the fourth year'scrop went to God, and the owner enjoyed it from the fifth year on. This ownerhad waited seven years—far beyond the norm—yet the tree remained barren.Frustrated, he orders it cut down, tired of it wasting good soil. Butthe story doesn't end there. The vinedresser intercedes: “Lord, let it alonethis year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bears fruit,well; and if not, then after that you shall cut it down”. Theparable stops abruptly, leaving us to ponder the outcome. Did the tree bearfruit? Was it spared or chopped down? Jesus leaves it open-ended, shifting thefocus from the tree's fate to ours. Thisparable speaks on two levels: to the nation of Israel and to us as individuals.For Israel, the fig tree was a symbol (Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:18-20). God,the owner, had lavished it with unique blessings—covenants, commandments,patriarchs, prophets, and priests (Romans 9:1-5). Unlike Gentile nations leftto fend for themselves, Israel was planted in fertile soil to bless the world.Jesus, the vinedresser, spent three years of ministry crossing the land,teaching with unmatched wisdom and working miracles like no one else. Yet, thenation remained barren, rejecting Him in unbelief. “Why does it cumber theground?” it was asked—Israel wasn't just fruitless; it spoiled the soil byfailing its calling. Still,God's patience shines through. The vinedresser pleads for one more year—moretime to dig, fertilize, and nurture. This mirrors the forty years after Jesus'ministry when the early church, starting with a Jewish remnant at Pentecost,preached the gospel powerfully to the nation. But rejection persisted. By AD70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple—the tree was cut down. God'sgrace had limits; judgment came when the borrowed time ran out. Ona personal level, this parable is a mirror. God is gracious and long-suffering(2 Peter 3:9), doing more than enough to draw us to repentance and fruitfulness(Matthew 3:7-10). He has every right to cut us down for our barrenness, yet inmercy, He spares us. The three years might reflect Jesus' ministry in ourlives—His presence, teaching, and Spirit working to produce fruit like love,faith, and obedience. The extra year is His ongoing patience, giving us time torespond. But we can't presume on His kindness forever—judgment will come (James5:9). Theopen ending is intentional. Like the Book of Jonah, it forces us to finish thestory with our own lives. The question isn't “What happened to the tree?” but“What will happen to me?” God seeks fruit—real, tangible evidence of a changedlife. He won't accept substitutes like excuses or good intentions. When we hearof tragedies claiming lives, we should ask, “Am I just taking up space, or am Ibearing fruit for God's glory?” The time to repent and grow is now—“Now is theday of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). ClosingChallengeReflecton your own “fig tree” this week. Where is God seeking fruit in yourlife—perhaps in your relationships, service, or devotion? Identify one barrenarea and take a step to nurture it—pray for strength, serve someone, or rootout a sin. Don't let this extra year pass fruitlessly; respond to His patiencewith action today. PrayerHeavenlyFather, thank You for Your patience, sparing us when we deserve judgment. Likethe vinedresser, You tend us with grace, seeking fruit. Forgive our barrennessand stir us to repent and grow. Help us bear fruit that glorifies You—love,faith, and obedience. Give us urgency to act now, trusting Your mercy won'tlast forever. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Jesus is nearing Jerusalem when some in the crowd bring up agruesome tragedy—Galileans slaughtered by Pontius Pilate, their blood mingledwith their sacrifices. Pilate, a harsh Roman governor, was notorious forclashing with the Jews. He brought Roman ensigns into the Holy City, seizedtemple funds for an aqueduct, and quelled protests with violence. Thisatrocity, possibly during a feast when nationalism surged, saw soldiers strikedown unarmed Galileans at the altar—a shocking sacrilege. The crowd, especiallythe Pharisees and Judeans, assumed these Galileans were worse sinners,deserving such a fate. They expected Jesus to agree. Instead,Jesus replies, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than allother Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unlessyou repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-3). Then He brings itcloser to home: “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killedthem, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt inJerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”(Luke 13:4-5). The Siloam tower collapse—workers killed on Pilate's aqueductproject—stung the Judeans. They'd judged those victims too, thinking they gotwhat they deserved for working with Pilate. Jesusflips the script. He doesn't defend Pilate or the Galileans, nor does He diveinto political debates. He lifts the issue higher: tragedy isn't always divinepunishment. The Galileans weren't worse sinners; the Siloam workers weren'tuniquely guilty. Suffering doesn't always mark God's wrath—Job's friendsmisjudged that, and so did the crowd. Even Jesus, sinless, suffered. If everydisaster signaled sin, how would we explain the trials of prophets, apostles,or Christ Himself? Jesus debunks their logic, then drives deeper: all aresinners, and all face judgment unless they repent. The real question isn't “Whydid they die?” but “Why are you still alive?” Thisurgency echoes through Scripture. Jesus' first message was “Repent, for thekingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). His last, to the church inLaodicea, was “Be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). Paul preached “repentancetoward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). The Greekword for repentance, metanoia, means a change of mind and heart—a turning fromsin to God. It's not just confessing; it's forsaking sin and trusting Jesus.The Bible calls for repentance 969 times—it hasn't dropped out of God's vocabulary,even if it's faded from ours. TheGalileans' fate and Siloam's collapse foreshadowed a greater judgment—likeJerusalem's fall to Rome in AD 70. Jesus' warning was clear: repent now, orperish. Today, we're tempted to judge others' misfortunes—“They had itcoming”—while dodging our own guilt. But Jesus cuts through: “Unless yourepent.” We're all in the same boat—one death per person. “Now is the day ofsalvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). As Jesus neared the cross, He urged thecrowd—and us—to wake up, stop pointing fingers, and turn to Him. He didn'tpromise a life free of towers or tyrants, but a way to stand forgiven beforeGod. ClosingChallengeHaveyou truly repented—changed your mind about sin, owning your guilt before God?This week, pick one area needing a turn—maybe a hidden sin, a bitter attitude,or a neglected faith. Confess it, turn from it, and trust Jesus to transformyou. Don't delay; the time to repent is now. PrayerLordJesus, thank You for Your urgent call to repentance, preached from Your firstwords to Your last. Forgive us for judging others instead of facing our ownsin. Stir our hearts with metanoia—a true change toward You. Help us turn fromsin, place our faith in You, and live as Your children. Give us courage to acttoday, trusting Your mercy. Bless us as we follow You to the cross and beyond.Amen.

Welcome to today's pastor's chat as we conclude Luke 12. Jesus closes with a sobering call: beware of spiritualdullness.  First,let's consider discernment (Luke 12:54-57). Jesus turns to the crowd and says, “Wheneveryou see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower'scoming,' and so it is. And when you see a south wind blow, you say, ‘There'llbe hot weather,' and there it is.” The people could read the sky like abook, predicting storms or heat with ease. Yet, Jesus calls them hypocrites: “Youcan discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do notdiscern this time?” The Jewish nation had centuries of prophetic Scripturespointing to the Messiah, yet they missed Him standing right in front of them.Their religious leaders led them astray, blinding them to the signs of thetimes. Isn'tthis a mirror for us today? We live in an age of incredible knowledge—humanscan predict planetary movements, split atoms, and land on the moon. We'vemastered getting to the stars, but so many are clueless about getting toheaven. Our world boasts scientific brilliance but often lacks spiritualwisdom. Jesus challenges us: if we're so quick to prepare for a storm we seecoming, why aren't we discerning the spiritual reality around us? The King hascome, and He's coming again. Are we awake to what God is doing? Next,Jesus calls for diligence (Luke 12:58-59). He paints a picture of a lawsuit: “Whenyou go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the wayto settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge delivers you tothe officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall notdepart from there till you have paid the very last mite.” The message isclear—if someone sues you, you'd hustle to settle out of court, hiring a lawyerto avoid jail. You'd do whatever it takes to escape that fate. But how muchmore urgent is it to prepare for the ultimate Judge—Almighty God? Jesusknew Israel was marching toward judgment. He wept over Jerusalem, foreseeingthe Roman armies that would destroy the city and temple (Luke 19:41-44), yetthe people wouldn't repent. Their debt to God was piling up, and they'd pay theprice. Today, the stakes are just as high for us. The storm of God's wrath iscoming, and as James 5:9 warns, “The Judge is standing at the door.” Ifwe'd prepare for a physical storm or fight a lawsuit with all we've got,shouldn't we be even more diligent about our souls? “Behold, now is theaccepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).The time to act is now. So,what does this mean for us personally? Spiritual dullness creeps in when we getcaught up in the busyness of life, relying on science, philosophy, or worldlyanswers to fill the deepest need of our hearts—a need only Jesus can meet. Healone offers salvation, a new heart, and eternal hope. We can't afford to belike the crowd, sharp about the weather but blind to eternity. As stewards inthese last days, we must stay alert, discerning God's work and diligentlypreparing for His return. ClosingChallengeTakea moment this week to examine your spiritual sharpness. Are you discerning thesigns of the times, or are you distracted by the world's noise? Pick onepractical step—maybe a focused prayer time, a Scripture reading, or aconversation about faith—to sharpen your focus on what's eternal. Act now,trusting Jesus to guide you. PrayerHeavenlyFather, thank You for Your Word that wakes us up. Forgive us for the timeswe've been spiritually dull, chasing worldly answers instead of You. Open oureyes to discern Your work in our lives and the world. Give us diligence toprepare our hearts for Your return, settling our debt through faith in Jesus.Help us live for what lasts, not what fades. Bless us with Your wisdom andpeace today. In Jesus' name, Amen. Godbless!

Welcome to today's pastor's chat on Luke 12, where Jesus speaks to the heart ofwhat it means to follow Him in a broken world. As believers, we are called towait, watch, and work for His kingdom, but this calling comes with a challenge:it won't be easy. We are aliens in enemy territory, living as stewards of God'sgrace while engaged in a spiritual war. Jesus doesn't shy away from thisreality—He confronts it head-on, addressing the struggles that threaten toderail us and the battles we must face. First,Jesus warns against hypocrisy, covetousness, worry, and fear. These creep intoour lives when we pretend to be something we're not, when we chase the thingsof this world over the things of God, or when we let anxiety take root.Coveting, at its core, is idolatry—placing anything above our Creator. Theresult? Restless, insecure lives, always chasing the next thing but neverfinding satisfaction. Yet, there's hope. True fulfillment comes through anintimate relationship with Jesus Christ. He loved us, died for us, and roseagain, filling the void within us and making us new creations. Only He cantransform our hearts and give us lasting peace. InLuke 12, Jesus shifts to a story of stewardship. A master returns to find hisservants either faithfully waiting, watching, and working—or distracted andunfaithful. He concludes with a principle: “To whom much is given, from himmuch will be required” (Luke 12:48). The more God entrusts to us—be it time,talents, or opportunities—the more He expects us to use them for His glory.We're accountable for what we've been given, and that accountability shapes howwe live. Butstewardship isn't just about diligence; it's also about warfare. Jesus says, “Icame to send fire on the earth… I have a baptism to be baptized with… Do yousuppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but ratherdivision” (Luke 12:49-51). Fire represents judgment, and His baptism points toHis suffering on the cross—a death He endured in our place, pictured by Hisbaptism in the Jordan. He didn't need to repent, but He identified with us,taking our sin and rising victorious on the third day. That's the triumph wecelebrate at Easter. Yet,His coming also brings division. Families may split—father against son, motheragainst daughter—because faith in Jesus demands a choice: “If you're notwith Me, you're against Me.” The Gospel of Luke begins with “peace onearth” (Luke 2:14), and yes, Jesus offers a peace that calms our hearts andovercomes worry as we seek His kingdom first. But in this world, He warns, “Youwill have tribulation” (John 16:33). He was persecuted, and as Hisservants, we won't escape it either. We're at war—against the flesh, the devil,and the enemies we face as believers. Taking a stand for Christ may cost us,but there's a promise: if we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him. So,where does this leave us? We're called to be faithful stewards, watching andworking for Jesus, even as we navigate a world that opposes Him. The peace Hegives isn't the absence of conflict but the presence of His strength within us.As aliens in this territory, we live differently, trusting that our battles aretemporary and our victory is sure. ClosingChallengeReflecton what God has entrusted to you—your resources, relationships, oropportunities to share His love. This week, choose one specific way to stewardthese faithfully, even if it means facing resistance. Stand firm, knowing Jesusis with you in the fight. PrayerLordJesus, thank You for the peace You bring to our hearts, even in a world oftribulation. Help us turn from hypocrisy, covetousness, and fear, and find oursatisfaction in You alone. Strengthen us to be faithful stewards, watching andworking for Your glory, no matter the cost. Give us courage for the battles weface and hope in Your promise of victory. In Your precious name, Amen. Godbless!

Remember Luke 12 begins with Jesus warning againsthypocrisy—don't be a pretender. He cautions against covetousness—don't chasethe things of this world, because they only bring pain, worry, and fear. And Heurges us not to be careless. Why? Because He's coming back. “I will go away,but I will come again,” He promises. This isn't just a distant hope; it's acall to action. In verse 36, He paints a picture of servants waiting for theirmaster's return from a wedding, and in verse 40, He declares, “Therefore beyou also ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”This urgency frames our passage today. Jesus wants us waiting, watching, andworking when He returns. Peter has been listening to Jesus' teachings, and in verse41, he asks, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”It's a fair question. Is this just for the inner circle—the disciples—or forthe crowds too? Jesus doesn't give a simple yes or no. Instead, He respondswith a parable that broadens the scope and deepens the responsibility. Hisanswer shows this isn't limited to the Twelve; it's for every follower, everyperson who claims His name. That's you and me, friends. We're all in thisstory. In this parable Jesus describes two kinds of servants. Onewho is faithful and can be trusted and one who is careless and will bepunished. Jesus clearly points this out: “The master of that servant willcome on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is notaware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with theunbelievers” (v. 46) Jesus doesn't stop there. He then speaks of a day of accountability.One day we will all give an account of stewardship at the Judgment Seat. Asfollowers of Christ, we're stewards of God's resources. Jesus isn't justwarning us to stay busy; He's preparing us for accountability. This isn't aboutearning salvation—Jesus took care of our sins on the cross, and by faith, we'resecure in Him. But how we live matters. Some think, “I'm saved, I'm going toheaven—nothing else counts.” But that's not what the Bible teaches. Jesus andPaul both point to a moment of reckoning for believers: the judgment seat ofChrist. In Romans 14:7-10, Paul writes, “For none of us lives tohimself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; andif we die, we die to the Lord… For we shall all stand before the judgment seatof Christ.” This isn't the final judgment for unbelievers; it's an evaluationof our service as believers. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, Paul likens our lives toa building project. He laid the foundation—Christ—and we build on it. “Eachone's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will berevealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is”(v. 13). Good works endure; worthless ones burn up. We're saved, yes, but wecan still “suffer loss” in terms of rewards (v. 15).Then, in 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul again reminds us “Forwe must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one mayreceive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whethergood or bad.” Everything we do will be judged at that judgment seat ofChrist—every idle word, we'll give an account for.” This isn't aboutfearmongering; it's about purpose. Knowing this “terror of the Lord” (v. 11),Paul persuades others to live rightly. It's a sobering motivator. In light of this we should be waiting, watching, andworking. Jesus could come at any moment—His return is unpredictable, like amaster slipping in unannounced. We can't afford to be careless, assumingthere's time to get our act together later. The faithful steward doesn't slackoff; he's diligent, using everything the master's given for His glory. Thecareless servant, though, gets distracted by the world—hypocrisy, covetousness,indulgence—and faces the consequences. 

Welcome to today's Pastor's Chat! In Luke 12, Jesus warns us to beware ofhypocrisy, covetousness, worry, and fear—traps that keep us from pleasing Godin every part of life. These lead to anxiety, but Jesus says, “Do not worry, donot be anxious, do not fear.” His remedy? Believe He's coming soon. He tells astory of a master returning from a wedding, urging us in verse 40, “Be ready,for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” We often get socaught up in temporary things that doesn't last, that we forget this truth. Lest we get the idea that watching and waiting are all thatHe requires, Jesus added this parable to encourage us to be working when Hecomes. The Apostles had a special responsibility to feed God's household, Hischurch; but each of us has some work to do in this world, assigned to us by theLord. Our responsibility is to be faithful when He comes. We may not appearsuccessful in our own eyes, or in the eyes of others; but that is notimportant. The thing God wants is faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:2). Once a believer starts to think his Master is not comingback, his life begins to deteriorate. Our relationship with others depends onour relationship to the Lord; so if we stop looking for Him, we will stoploving His people. The motive for Christian life and service must be a desireto please the Lord and be found faithful at His return. In this passage Peter asks, “Lord, is this parable just forus or for everyone?” Jesus responds with another story: a faithful stewardtends the household well and is blessed when the master returns, gainingauthority over all he has. But if a servant thinks, “My master's delayed,” andstarts mistreating others, indulging in reckless living—eating, drinking,getting drunk—the master will come unexpectedly, judge him, and cast him withunbelievers. Those who know the master's will and don't prepare face manystripes; those who don't know but still err, fewer. “To whom much is given,much is required.” We've been given heaven's resources, how are we using them? I do not think that Luke 12:46 teaches that unfaithfulbelievers lose their salvation, because our going to heaven depends on faith inJesus Christ and not good works (Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Tim. 2:11-13). The phrase"cut him in sunder" means "cut him off, separate him"; and"unbelievers" can also be translated "unfaithful." Our Lordwill separate the faithful believers from the unfaithful; He will reward thefaithful, but the unfaithful servants will lose their rewards (1 Cor. 3:13-15). This ties to 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul describesChrist's return: the trumpet sounds, the dead rise, and we're changed in atwinkling of an eye, receiving immortal bodies like Jesus. He says, “Therefore,be unmovable, always abounding in the Lord's work, knowing it's not in vain.”Jesus could come any moment, friends. We must watch, wait, and work. TheBible's final prayer is, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” If He came today, wouldyou be ready? Would He find you working in His fields, living for His glory? Prayer:Lord Jesus, free us from hypocrisy and worry. Help us steward Your giftsfaithfully, staying unshakable in Your work. May we be ready when You return.Come quickly, Lord. Amen. Challenge:Reflect today: Are you living carelessly or carefully for Christ? Study theseverses, pray, and let's be found working for our Master. God bless you—have awonderful day! God bless!

In these verses, Jesus shifted the emphasis from beingworried about the present to being watchful about the future. It is interestinghow all the themes in Luke 12 go together, for one of the best ways to conquerhypocrisy, covetousness, worry and fear is to look for the return of our LordJesus Christ. When you are "living in the future tense," it isdifficult for the things of the world to ensnare you. In this section, Jesusexplained how we can be ready for His return by waiting and watching (vv.35-40).  In the days of Christ, Jewish weddings were generally heldat night and could go on late into the night and early morning hours. Rememberin John 2 at the wedding that Jesus attended with His mother and His disciplesthat they ran out of wine. It must have been a long wedding! After the weddingthe bridegroom's servants would have to wait for their master to come home withhis bride. The new husband would certainly not want to be kept waiting at thedoor with his bride! But the servants had to be sure they were ready to go towork, with their robes tucked under their girdles so they were free to move.  That is why Jesus said in verses 35-36, "Let yourwaist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who waitfor their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes andknocks they may open to him immediately.” Peter later would write to thesaints and say something very similar in 1 Peter 1:13-16, “Therefore gird upthe loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace thatis to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedientchildren, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; butas He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because itis written, "Be holy, for I am holy." But the remarkable thing that we should also notice in thisstory is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride wastreated like a queen and the groom like a king; so you would not expect the"king" to minister to his staff. Wow!!!!! Our King will minister toHis faithful servants when He greets us at His return, and He will reward usfor our faithfulness. Jesus said the servants who were watching and waiting fortheir Master's returned would be blessed (v. 37). To "watch" means tobe alert, to be ready, not to be caught by surprise. That is the attitude wemust have toward the second coming of Jesus Christ. His coming will be likethat of a thief: unannounced and unexpected. Jesus Himself promised His disciples that He would returnin John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come againand receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” AsJesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives 40 days after Hisresurrection, His disciples were told by two angels in Acts 1:11, "Menof Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who wastaken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him gointo heaven." If we really believed that Jesus would return today, howwould we be living? Prayerfully, if we are living with this “blessed hope”in our minds and hearts, we should purify ourselves and be ready! (1 John 3:2-3).Titus 2:11-14 also promises and encourages us with these words: “For thegrace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that,denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, andgodly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearingof our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that Hemight redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own specialpeople, zealous for good works.” Are you waiting and watching for Jesus return today? We can'tafford to be careless!!!!! God bless!

Again, I want to thank all my dear friends who responded toour pleas for prayer for my grandson Luke and his extensive brain surgery thispast Friday! The surgery and the recovery went well, and “Praise the LORD”, hewas able to go home yesterday afternoon! Your prayers, and the Lord's miraculoushealing hand, made this possible! Thank you! Thank you! It is amazing to me how this passage in Luke 12:22-34,along with Dr. Towns devotion today for April 01, from 365 Ways to Know God,entitled: JESUS: THE LORD OF PEACE, is exactly what we needed for this periodof time, and crisis in our lives. God's timing and reminders are always exactlyon time!!!! You can always trust Him! So far in Luke 12, we have learned that we should “bewareof hypocrisy”, we should “beware of covetousness”, and we should “beware ofworry”. It is interesting to me how all of these sins are linked to each other.And for sure, hypocrisy, pretending to be something that we are not, and covetousness,lusting and desiring things that we really don't need, always lead to this incapacitatingemotion that we call worry! They “strangle” and destroy us, they deceive usinto believing a false view of life and of God. We are attempting to live a lifethat will never ever satisfy or fulfill us. Not only does worry destroy and deceive us, but it can alsodeform us. It keeps us from growing and it makes us like the unsaved in theworld (Luke 12:30). In short, worry is unchristian; worry is a sin. How can wewitness to a lost world and encourage them to put faith in Jesus Christ if weourselves are doubting God and worrying? Is it not inconsistent to preach faithand yet not practice it? The late chaplain of the United States Senate, PeterMarshall, once prayed "that ulcers would not become the badge of ourfaith." Too often they are! How do we win over worry? The first step is to realize thatGod knows our needs, so we can trust Him to meet them. We are sheep in Hislittle flock, children in His family, and servants in His kingdom; and He willsee to it that our needs are fully met. It is His pleasure to give us Hiskingdom, so will He not give us everything that we need? Romans 8:31-32 remindsus of a great promise: “What then shall we say to these things? If God isfor us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but deliveredHim up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” But God's pleasures and our treasures must go together. Wemust look at earth from heaven's point of view and make sure that we put God'skingdom first in everything. The main question is, "Where is yourheart?" If our hearts are fixed on the transient things of earth, then wewill always worry. But if we are fixed on the eternal, then God's peace willguard our minds and hearts (Philippians 4:6-9). We must "hang loose"when it comes to this world's goods and be willing even to sell what we have inorder to help others (Acts 2:44-45; 4:34-35). It is not wrong to own things solong as things do not own us. Worry always leads to fear, and that is why Jesus, in verse32 added, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father'sgood pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Worry is proof that our “faithis little” and that we need to believe God's Old Testament promise in Proverbs3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your ownunderstanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct yourpaths.” We are our Father's “little flock” that He dearlyloves and takes pleasure in! You can trust Him to care for you today! God bless!

Now amazing, the place we pick up in Luke 12:22-29, seemsto specifically be for our family during a time like this! Remember Jesusbegins this chapter telling His disciples to “beware of hypocrisy” (vv. 1-12).Then Jesus tells them to “beware of covetousness” (vv. 13-21). You might havenoticed like me, that in verse 22, this is the second time Jesus specificallyaddresses His disciple in this chapter. In verses 1 and 22, we read, “…Jesussaid to His disciples”. Now, In verse 22, Jesus basically is saying to them,and to us, “beware of worry”. Jesus had just told the story of the rich farmer who was afool, not because he was rich, but because he forgot to consider God and eternity.The rich farmer worried because he had too much, but the disciples might betempted to worry because they did not have enough! They had given up all theyhad in order to follow Christ They were living by faith, and faith is alwaystested. First, we should remember that worry is destructive.The word translated "worry" in Luke 12:22 (or “anxious” in othertranslations), means "to be torn apart," and the word “anxious”,translated "doubtful mind" in Luke 12:29, KJV, ASV, means "to beheld in suspense." It is the picture of a ship being tossed in a storm.Our English word worry comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means "tostrangle." "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow," saidCorrie Ten Boom; "it empties today of its strength." Someone said, “Worryis like being in a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but won'tget you anywhere”. It will emotionally wear you out! Worry is also deceptive. It gives us a falseview of life, of itself, and of God. Worry convinces us that life is made up ofwhat we eat and what we wear. We get so concerned about the means that wetotally forget about the end, which is to glorify God (Matt. 6:33). There is agreat difference between making a living and making a life. Worry blinds us tothe world around us and the way God cares for His creation. God makes theflowers beautiful, and He even feeds the unclean ravens who have no ability tosow or reap. He ought to be able to care for men to whom He has given theability to work. Jesus was not suggesting that we sit around and let God feedus, for the birds themselves work hard to stay alive. Rather, He encourages usto trust Him and cooperate with Him in using the abilities and opportunitiesthat He gives us (2 Thes. 3:6-15). But worry even blinds us to itself. We can get to the placewhere we actually think that worry accomplishes good things in our lives! InLuke 12:25, Jesus pointed out that our worries do not add one extra minute toour lives (Ps. 39:5) or one extra inch to our height. The rich farmer'sfretting certainly did not lengthen his life! Instead of adding to our lives,our worries take away from our lives. People can worry themselves into thehospital or into the grave! Once again, Jesus argued from the lesser to thegreater. If God feeds the birds, He will surely feed His children. If Hebeautifies the plants that grow up one day and are cut down the next, surely Hewill clothe His own people. The problem is not His little power, for He can doanything; the problem is our little faith. The emotion of worry should be like an alarm clock to us.It warns and alerts us that we are looking and thinking more about our needs,and focusing on them, rather than our great God who loves us and cares for us, andis more than sufficient to meet those needs. May the Lord often remind us of His cure for worry in Philippians4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer andsupplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; andthe peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts andminds through Christ Jesus.” God bless!

I want to remind you that this might be my last pastor'schat for a couple of weeks. I would also like to ask you for special prayers forseveral things. For the next couple of days, I will be extremely busy takingcare of some family matters that involve my older sister, Lynda Smith, who wasput into palliative care this past week. Then on Tuesday, the 18th,my son Jonathan and I will be flying to India to take care of a specialsituation there involving both of our ministries. We especially need for you toask the Lord to give us wisdom and for safety as we travel.  On Saturday, the 22nd, we will fly from India toCairo Egypt, to meet some ministry partners there and prepare for our scheduledtour to Jordan and Egypt that will take place this fall from October 14thto the 25th. We are hoping many of you will join us on thisunforgettable journey to places where some of the most powerful revelations andmiracles of God in the Bible took place. For more information on this tour,click on this link: https://www.gpartners.org/tour Also, would you please continue to pray for my grandsonLuke, who is in PICU in the Roanoke hospital, and will be there for the nextcouple of weeks dealing with a terrible infection. When they are assured thatit is gone, Luke will be going through major surgery to replace everything inhis brain and body to keep the pressure off his brain. I believe that this willbe his 31st surgery on his little brain. Your prayers and supportfor all the above are always very important and appreciated!  In Luke 12:13-21, when Jesus was warning us to “bewareof covetousness”, He told the story of a rich farmer that He called a fool,because he forgot to prepare for eternity. Then, it is if Jesus turns to us andbasically says, we are fools if, like this farmer, we only live for money andthings now and forget to live for heaven.This is what Jesus said in verse 21; “So is hewho lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." A number of years ago, as a pastor I led our churchmembership though a series of lessons called the “The Treasure Principle” thatwas written by Randy Alcorn. I highly recommend this little book and theprinciples that Randy shares concerning how we should handle the resources thatthe Lord puts at our disposal. The Treasure Principle that Jesus gives here,and Randy highlights is very simple but profoundly true, “You can't take itwith you, but you can send it on ahead.”  Money is not evil, but the love of money and temporalthings is the root of all evil. Randy reminds us: “Anything we try to hang onto here will be lost. But anything we put into God's hands will be ours for eternity,(insured for infinitely more than $100,000 by the real FDIC, the Father'sDeposit Insurance Corporation. If we give instead of keep, if we invest in theeternal instead of in the temporal, we store up treasures in heaven that willnever stop paying dividends.” “Whatever treasures we store up on earth will be leftbehind when we leave. Whatever treasures we store up in heaven will be waitingfor us when we arrive.” Several of the keys to being a good steward of God'swonderful resources are: “God owns everything. I'm His money manager”.Remember: “My heart always goes where I put God's money”. “Heaven, not earth,is my home”. (Hebrews 11:16). “Giving is the only antidote to materialism”. And,“God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standardof giving.” My friend, remember what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8:“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he whosows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as hepurposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerfulgiver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, alwayshaving all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every goodwork.” God bless!

Before we get into our study in Luke 12 today, I would liketo ask you for special prayer, and your patience for these next couple ofweeks. For the next couple of days, I will be extremely busy taking care ofsome family matters that involve my older sister, Lynda Smith, who was put intopalliative care this past week. Then on Tuesday, the 18th, my sonJonathan and I will be flying to India to take care of special situation thereinvolving both of our ministries. We need especially for you to ask the Lordfor wisdom for us, and for safety as we travel.  On Saturday, the 22nd, we will fly from India toCairo Egypt, to meet some ministry partners there and prepare for our scheduledtour to Jordan and Egypt that will take place this fall from October 14thto the 25th. We are hoping many of you will join us on thisunforgettable journey to places where some of the most powerful revelations andmiracles of God in the Bible took place. For more information on this tour,click on this link: https://www.gpartners.org/tour I hope to be back home in Sneads Ferry NC by Friday, March28th. It will be extremely difficult to post daily chats during thistime while I'm away, but I will post updates on our travels when I can. Your prayers and support for all the above are always veryimportant and appreciated!  Luke 12 begins with Jesus giving us two “beware” statements.In verses 1-12, He tells us to “beware of hypocrisy”. In verses 13-21, Hewarns us to “beware of covetousness”. Both of these two sins can destroyour Christian witness and our lives. Yesterday we learned from Colossians 3:1-7,that “covetousness is idolatry”. Covetousness is the sin of puttingother gods before and between you and the LORD God! This is the very first ofthe Ten Commandment in Exodus 20:2-5; "I am the LORD your God, whobrought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shallhave no other gods before Me. "You shall not make for yourself a carvedimage, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in theearth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow downto them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visitingthe iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generationsof those who hate Me” The sin of idolatry was the number one sin that brought God'sjudgment and harshest punishment upon the nation of Israel and sent them intocaptivity. Jesus told the story of the rich farmer who forgot that it was Godthat gave him his wealth and that when he died, he would leave it all behind.When we are committing the sin of covetousness, we are forgetting that God isthe owner of everything and we are only His stewards over it. “The earth isthe LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm24:1).  We are also forgetting it is God who gives us breath, time,and skills to get wealth. God warned Israel in Deuteronomy 8:17-20, that afterHe had blessed them for their obedience, they would be in danger of forgettingHim and they would: “Say in their heart, 'My power and the might of my handhave gained me this wealth.' And you shall remember the LORD your God, for itis He who gives you power to get wealth”.  We should take the command that Paul gave to Timothyseriously: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to behaughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives usrichly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works,ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundationfor the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy6:17-19). Please Lord, don't let us ever forget that You own it all,and anything we have is a gift and blessing from You, and You gave it to us togive to others and bless them. Amen! God bless!

I believe I remember A.W. Tozer writing about how we live inthe age of a humanistic Christianity. Which means it is all about me! What Godand others can do for me. Instead of what I can do for Christ and others.  The sad truth isthat we have raised a generation of irresponsible, disrespectful people becausethey think it is all about them. “Have your own way”. “Do it your way”. “Whatdo you want to do”. “Follow your heart”. These are all indications of a humanisticheart and philosophy of life. It appears that today most Christians have alsogot caught up in this stream of materialism in America. Someone said it sowell, “We live in the day of rat race! We buy things we don't need, with moneywe don't have, to impress people we don't even like”.  The Gospels are full of verses where Jesus deals with thesubject of money, greed, and covetousness. In His first recorded message in Matthew6:19-21, Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, wheremoth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up foryourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and wherethieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heartwill be also.” Do you want to know where your heart really is? Look in yourcheck book, look in your credit card statements. See what you spend your moneyand time on, who and what you give your money to.  Jesus basically spends the rest of this chapter dealingwith the subject of covetousness and how to avoid this sin of idolatry that hasdestroyed so many families and lives. First, we need to realize that this sinof covetousness is something that comes from within the heart. Notice whatJesus said this certain rich man did. “He thought within himself…”.  He didn't get his friends and neighbors aroundhim and get upon a soap box and proclaim publicly to everyone, “Look at me! I havespent my life working very hard and now am a very wealthy man.” Jesus also said this man was a fool, not because he wasrich, but because he didn't realize the brevity of his life. The very night he thathe thought about what he would do with his wealth, he died and left his hard-earnedmoney and wealth to others, who would probably waste it. Solomon spoke aboutthis in Ecclesiastes 2:15-20. The rich man also revealed his heart by what he said. “Hethought within himself, saying…”.  You can't help but notice all the I's and “My's”.“What shall I do, since I have no room to store mycrops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barnsand build greater, and there I will store all my crops and mygoods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you havemany goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and bemerry." It is obvious that his heart was all about himself and whathe wanted. This is the essence of humanism and the sin of idolatry! The truthis, it is not about making a living, it is about learning how to live. We shouldn'twonder why our children are so materialistic, when we teach them that they mustget a “good education” so that they can make a good living. And we fail toteach them to live for the eternal.  Colossians 3:1-7 is a great reminder of the importance of livingfor the eternal things of God: “If then you were raised with Christ, seekthose things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand ofGod. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.... When Christ who is our lifeappears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to deathyour members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evildesire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things thewrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselvesonce walked when you lived in them.” Idolatry is the worship of anything that gets between youand God. May God help us not to be a fool like the rich man in this story. God bless!

Luke 12:1-12 begins with Jesus giving a warning to Hisdisciples to, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”.Jesus said, “Beware of hypocrisy”! Then He teaches us how to overcomethe temptation of hypocrisy and compromising our Christian faith. Hypocrisy isa terrible sin that destroys our responsibility and opportunities to be a faithfulwitness for the Lord Jesus to the lost world around us. We should take thiswarning of our Lord to heart every day! Today in Luke 12:13-21, the Lord is giving us anotherwarning! Here Jesus says, “Take heed and beware of covetousness!” Atthis point, Jesus is approached by a man in the crowd who interrupted Him by askingHim as the Rabbi or Teacher, to solve a family problem and help settle a legaldispute with him and his brother over their inheritance. Rabbis were expectedto help settle legal matters, but Jesus refused to get involved. Why? BecauseHe knew that no answer He gave would solve the real problem, which wascovetousness in the hearts of the two brothers.  The "you" in Luke 12:14 is plural, which meantJesus is speaking to both of the brothers. As long as both men were greedy, nosettlement would be satisfactory. Their greatest need was to have their heartschanged. Like too many people today, they wanted Jesus to serve them but not tosave them. Jesus also knew the crowd needed to hear this warning, so, “He saidto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's lifedoes not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."  Jesus knew we needed to hear this warning tooand we should “take heed” and listen carefully to what He has to say about thissin of covetousness. Someone said that covetousness is an unquenchable thirstfor getting more and more of something we think we need in order to be trulysatisfied. It may be a thirst for money or the things that money can buy, oreven a thirst for position and power. Jesus made it clear that true life doesnot depend on an abundance of possessions. He did not deny that we have certainbasic needs (Matt. 6:32; 1 Tim. 6:17). He only affirmed that we will not makelife richer by acquiring more of these things. Mark Twain once defined "civilization" as "alimitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities," and he was right. Infact, many Christians are infected with covetousness and do not know it. Theythink that Paul's admonition in 1 Timothy 6 applies only to the "rich andfamous." Measured by the living standards of the rest of the world, mostbelievers in America are indeed wealthy people. Jesus then told this parable of a rich farmer to reveal thedangers that lurk in a covetous heart. As we read and study it, we will noticeseveral things. We need to recognize that Jesus did not say this wealthy manwas a fool because he was rich. He was not a fool because he worked hard and wasfugal and saved a lot of money that he now had available for himself. No, Jesussays he was a fool because after he acquire this money and goods, that he didn'tknow what to do with it. This no doubt is a sin that many of us have in America. Thepoorest person in America is richer that ninety-five percent of the rest of theworld. We tend to waste money, spend money, and invest money to gain more moneyand a better living, but we spend it and invest it for temporal rather than theeternal. I love this quote by the missionary Jim Elliot, “He is nofool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”As we think about this warning from Jesus, we need to look into our own heartstoday and make sure we are not seeking to be satisfied with money orpossessions. Their satisfaction is only temporary and will not meet the deepestneed of our soul that can only be satisfied by our relationship with JesusChrist!  Today, may God help us to “beware of covetousness” and seekJesus first and foremost (Matthew 6:33).  God bless!

I believe that one of the greatest obstacles for lostsinners to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ is the hypocrisy displayedin the lives of believers. When they see us acting like the rest of the worldaround us, and at the same time claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ, theythink we are a bunch of fakes, or flakes, and use us an excuse not to trustChrist. Jesus denounced hypocrisy of any type in the harshest terms possible. Yesterday we gave a summary of how Jesus said we can avoidhypocrisy in our own lives, but it bears repeating: 1) Remember that everythingwe say or do in secret, or behind closed doors, will one day be exposed to everyoneto see and hear (vv. 2-3). 2) Jesus tells us not to fear men, or anyone, and whatthey might say or do against us, but to fear God (vv. 4-5). 3) Jesus reminds usthat despite our circumstances during difficult and tragic times, God stills lovesand cares for us and notices the smallest detail of our lives and all the needsof our lives (vv. 6-7). 4) Jesus tells us to be courageous enough to publicly professand confess our faith openly (vv. 8-9)!  In verses 10-12, Jesus promises us that we have a fifthpowerful “Helper” that we should also recognize and depend on, which is the ministryof the Holy Spirit. (Please watch or listen to our Pastor's Chat today. It probablysays it better than I can write about it.) I also should point out that the OldTestament emphasizes the ministry of God the Father. The Gospels emphasizes theministry of Jesus Christ. And the Acts and Epistles belong to the ministry ofthe Holy Spirit. You might remember in the previous chapter, Luke 11:13, whenJesus was teaching about prayer, that He finished His lesson with these words: “Ifyou then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how muchmore will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Jesus knew the disciples and all futurebelievers and followers would face tremendous opposition and persecution throughouttheir lives (John 16:33). They would find it difficult, and most likely,impossible to “keep their faith”.  That is why Jesus spent much time in His last hours anddays with His disciples assuring them of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In HisUpper Room discourses, Jesus told them He would not leave them “orphans”. “AndI will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abidewith you forever-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, becauseit neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you andwill be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John14:16-18). John chapter 15, finishes with this promise from Jesus: "Butwhen the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit oftruth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” In John 16:7-14,Jesus continues to assure them: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is toyour advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will notcome to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you…, when He, the Spirit oftruth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on Hisown authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you thingsto come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it toyou.” Jesus last words to His disciples before He ascended intoheaven were: “Wait for the Promise of the Father, which you heard of Me… andyou shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shallbe witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the endof the earth." (Acts 1:4-8). Have you ever asked and received the Promise and Gift ofthe Holy Spirit to give you grace, strength, and wisdom, to live for Jesusevery hour of every day? God bless!

 Today, in our passage here in Luke 12:8-10, we have one ofthe most interesting and discussed topics in the Gospels and that is the questionof what does it mean to “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.”  Luke 12 begins with Jesus warning the disciples to “bewareof the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”. Over the next several versesJesus instructs both the disciples and the crowd on how to avoid becoming ahypocrite like the Pharisees of His day. Of course this is very much for usbelievers today. There are some very practical things we can do that will keepus from compromising our faith and going along with the crowd. Sometimes itmight be the crowd in the world with their ungodly ways, or most likely itcould be the crowd in our religious circles with their emphasis on the externalrituals, ceremonies, legalism, and made-up rules and preferences.  First, Jesus tells us to remember that everything we say ordo in secret, or behind closed doors, will one day be exposed to everyone to seeand hear (vv. 2-3). Secondly, Jesus tells us not to fear men, or anyone, and whatthey might say or do against us, but to fear God (vv. 4-5). Third, Jesusreminds us that despite our circumstances during difficult and tragic times, Godstills loves and cares for us and notices the smallest detail of our lives andall the needs of our lives (vv. 6-7). Now in our verses today (vv. 8-12), which begin with, “Also,I say unto you”, Jesus gives us another way to avoid hypocrisy is to be courageousenough to publicly profess and confess Christ openly (vv. 8-9)! And we shouldalso recognize and depend on the ministry of the Holy Spirit (vv.10-12).  We need to remember that one day we will have to standbefore God at the Judgement Seat of Christ and give an account of our deeds. (Notour sins, because they are taken care of at the cross.) If we obediently and courageouslyprofess Christ openly now to the lost world around us, on that day Christ willconfess that we have been “good and faithful servants” before both the Fatherand the angels in heaven. But if we deny Him now, fail to live and stand up forHim, Jesus says we will be ashamed before the angels in heaven on that day.What a great motivation to avoid being a hypocrite!!!!! Now what about the statement concerning the “blasphemy ofthe Holy Spirit'? We need to recognize that this statement is connected withthe ministry of the Spirit in and through the Apostles (Luke 12:11-12). TheJewish nation rejected God the Father when they refused to obey John theBaptist and repent, for John was sent by the Father. They rejected God the Sonwhen they asked Pilate to crucify Him. But that sin could be forgiven becausethere was still the ministry of the Spirit. God did not judge the nation immediately. Instead, Jesusprayed for them as He hanged on the cross (Luke 23:34; see also Acts 3:17).Then God sent the Holy Spirit who ministered through the Apostles and otherbelievers in the church. This was the last opportunity for the nation, and theyfailed by rejecting the witness of the Spirit (Acts 7:51). Luke 12:11-12 wasfulfilled during the first chapters of Acts when the message went "to theJew first" (Acts 3:26; 13:46; Rom. 1:16). Israel's third "nationalsin" was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7), after which the message went outto the Samaritans (Acts 8), and then the Gentiles (Acts 10). Note that Stephensaid, "You always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51). I do not believe that the "sin against the HolySpirit" is committed by people today as it was by Israel centuries ago. InJohn 16:8-9, Jesus told His disciples “that when the Holy Spirit has come, Hewill convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin,because they do not believe in Me. I believe that the only "unpardonable sin" todayis the final rejection of Jesus Christ (John 3:36). Make sure you have trusted Jesustoday! Tomorrow might be too late. God bless!

Fear God not man! First, we need understand thatGod created us as emotional creatures which is an aspect of being created inthe image of God. God has emotions! One of the most powerful and motivatingemotions we have is fear. There is a good benefit about fear, and there is abad aspect about fear. The good thing about fear is that it warns us of impendingdanger so we can prepare for it. I should fear getting to close to the edge ofthe cliff, getting in deep water if I can't swim, jumping out of a plane with afaulty parachute, or someone threatening to kill me with a gun. I get verymotivated to response in a proper way. But there is a fear that is not good.That is why the phrase, “Do not fear” or “do not be afraid” appears several hundredtimes in the Bible. There is a fear that paralyzes us or keeps us from doingthe right thing. There is a fear that indicates that we are not trusting Godfor His presence, protection, or His provision. In this passage in Luke 12, it first appears that the Lordmight be teaching us and addressing fear as one of the basic causes of hypocrisy.You might notice that Jesus mentioned "fear" five times in theseverses. When we are afraid of what others may think or say about us, then wetry to impress them in order to gain their approval. If necessary, we will even lie to accomplish our purposes,and this is hypocrisy. We often get caught up in the moment and follow a crowdto do evil, so we don't get ridiculed for being different or being a religiousnut. We also might fear what the crowd or our enemies could do tous physically, to our body, if we don't compromise our faith and say what theywant to hear or do what they are demanding. It is very possible that this iswhat the Lord is referring to in these verses. For sure the Pharisees weremotivated to be hypocrites because they were more concerned about theirreputation rather than their character, what people thought about them ratherthan what God knew about them. If we are not careful, we easily fall into thesame trap. A good verse to remember when we face this temptation is Proverbs29:25: “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shallbe safe.” The remedy for hypocrisy is to forget about what people maysay or do and fear God alone. The fear of God is the fear that conquers allother fears, for the person who truly fears God need fear nothing else. Allthat men can do is kill the body, but God can condemn the soul! Since He is thefinal Judge, and He judges for eternity, it is logical that we put the fear ofGod ahead of everything else. We also need to remember that the body is only temporary,but the soul is eternal. And that eternity is more important than time. In verses 6-7, Jesus also gives us the answer to what mightbe our greatest fear, and that is, that God really doesn't care about us. Jesusassures us God's amazing love and care. “Are not five sparrows sold for twocopper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God (v. 6). Godsees a sparrow fall from the sky and attends it in its hour of death. Mosestells us that God actually counts how many eggs a bird has in its nest (Deut.22:6-7). Coming closer to home, God “numbers the hairs on our head”. Goddoes not merely count them; He numbers them. The Greek word for “number” isarithmeo (from whence comes our word arithmetic). The word means that God notonly counts our hairs (a virtually impossible task) but He also labels them.  Think of it! God actually knows each separate individualhair on our head as separate and distinct from every other hair. That's ourGod! If He is that concerned about us, we must trust Him even when persecution orthe temptation to compromise comes. We have a God who loves us with aneverlasting love.  Jesus by His own life, death and resurrection teaches usthat we can always trust God  God bless!

In the closing verses of Luke 11, Jesus was dealing withthe hypocrisy of the religious leader, but now in opening verses of Luke 12, Hewarns His disciples of a greater danger, and that is the hypocrisy of His followers. Remember what a hypocrite is. The word hypocrite comes froma Greek word that means "an actor," "one who plays a part."There are hypocrites in every walk of life, people who try to impress others inorder to hide their real selves. In the Christian life, a hypocrite is somebodywho tries to appear more spiritual than he or she really is. These people knowthat they are pretending, and they hope they will not be found out. TheirChristian life is only a shallow masquerade.  Maybe one of the reasons that Jesus turned His attention toHis disciples in the midst of all this commotion, with an “innumerablemultitude of people” gathered around them, is that the Lord knew that theymight be tempted to either gain popularity by pleasing the crowds, or to avoidtrouble by pleasing the scribes and Pharisees. All of us want people to likeus, and it seems such an easy thing to "act the part" that otherswant to see. Jesus compared hypocrisy to leaven (yeast), something thatevery Jew would associate with evil. (See Ex. 12:15-20). Paul also used leavento symbolize sin. (See 1 Cor. 5:6-8; Gal. 5:9.) Like yeast, hypocrisy beginsvery small but grows quickly and quietly. As it grows, it infects the wholeperson. Hypocrisy does to the ego what yeast does to bread dough: it puffs itup (see 1 Cor. 4:6, 18-19; 5:2). Soon pride takes over and the person'scharacter deteriorates rapidly. Hypocrites are people who are trying to cover up something intheir life. I have found that most hypocrites are also bitter people or guiltypeople trying to cover up their sin. They are people who have “failed thegrace of God.” In other words, God gave them grace to deal with their hurtthat caused their bitterness. Or their sin that has caused their guilt.  We are instructed in Hebrews 12:14-15 to: “Pursue peacewith all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: lookingcarefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root ofbitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled”. Hypocritesare trying to cover up their sin and bitterness and are troublemakers. And theadded tragedy is that it spreads and “defiles” those around them. The greatest obstacle between a sinner and the Savior is usuallya hypocrite, a Christian who has one foot in the church and one in the world.That is why Jesus gave this warning to the Laodicean church in Revelation3:15-17: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wishyou were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold norhot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have becomewealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched,miserable, poor, blind, and naked”.  Jesus would rather that we not even claim to be a Christian,“cold”, or be on fire as one, “hot”,  thanto be a “lukewarm” one, in the middle. Like the Laodiceans, hypocrites becomedeceived, thinking they are rich, wealthy, and have no needs. That is why lostpeople often say, “I would go to church, but there are too many hypocritesthere”. And the sad thing is that in most cases they are right. In verses 2-3, Jesus goes on to say that hypocrisy isfoolish and futile. Why? Because nothing can really be hidden. This is anotherway of saying, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Thesin of hypocrisy will one day be uncovered. Hypocrites with be exposed sooneror later. The real person will come to the surface. This is not good news forpoliticians, religious hypocrites, and others who prey on people by their pretending. May the Lord help us humble ourselves, confess our sins,find forgiveness, give forgiveness, and be real! God bless!

Luke 12:11 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of peoplehad gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say toHis disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,which is hypocrisy. Today, before we begin looking into Luke 12, I want to giveyou a special invitation to join me and my son, Jonathan Grooms, the presidentof Global Partners in Peace and Development, for an unforgettable journeythrough Jordan & Egypt on a special tour we have planned for this fall, October14-25, 2025!  We will experience seeingand walking through the lands where Jacob wrestled with God, where Moses ledhis people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, where Mary, Joseph andJesus sought refuge.  Imagine exploring the ancient Pyramids, wandering throughthe lost city of Petra, riding through the stunning Wadi Rum desert, and beingbaptized in the Jordan River—all while walking in the footsteps of biblicalhistory!  Our tour highlights will include: In Jordan we will visit: Jerash, Amman Citadel, RomanAmphitheatre, view the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mt. Nebo, Tank and Automobile Museum,Jesus' Baptist Site, float in the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum Desert Tour, andrelax or swim at the Red Sea.In Egypt we will visit the Pyramids, Sphinx, Grand EgyptianMuseum, Nile River Cruise, old Cairo, Coptic Churches, Memphis, and much more! Beyond the incredible sights, you'll have the chance tomeet Iraqi and Syrian refugees, hear their stories, and encourage the dedicatedpeople serving them with love and hope.  This trip is about more than just seeing the world—it'sabout making a difference, deepening your faith, and experiencing God's work inpowerful ways. Are you ready to be a part of this life-changing journey? You can find all the details and sign-up at: www.gpartners.org/tour Now back to Luke! You might have noticed that we didn'tfinish the last two verses of Luke 11. After Jesus' scathing rebuke and condemnationupon the Pharisees and the Lawyers, it appears instead of repenting and seekingHis mercy, they were overcome with rage and anger. Hypocrites do not want theirsins exposed; it hurts their reputation. They deliberately began to attack Himwith "catch questions" in hopes they could trap Him in some heresyand then arrest Him. What a disgraceful way to treat the Son of God. Verse 53 says: “The Lawyers and the Pharisees began toassail Him vehemently”. I can only imagine that they are shouting andyelling at Him very loudly! There was already a crowd outside and maybe Jesusis trying to leave the house with His disciples, but the commotion is so loudthat the crowd grows larger so that, according to Luke 12:1, they are tramplingupon one another.  We are not sure where Jesus was at this time but according toLuke 9:51, He had set His face to go to Jerusalem and it appears that He wassomewhere in the region of Samaria that was between Galilee and the city ofJerusalem. Remember also at this time, Jesus has been ministering and healingpeople for over three years. Hundreds and most likely thousands of blind peoplehave received their sight, the lame and sick have been healed, and hungry peoplehave been miraculously fed! The crowds want to see more miracles and they arecurious with all the commotion going on. Yet with all this happening, Jesus turns His attention toHis disciples and warns them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, whichis hypocrisy”. Not only can the religious leaders have a problem with hypocrisy,but the close followers of Jesus can face the same temptation. If we are not careful,we can become “pretenders” trying to get people to think better of us than wereally are.  May the Lord help us today to heed His warning of hypocrisyin our own lives. God bless!

52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did notenter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered." Luke 11 finishes with Jesus giving a personal, up-close,scathing word of rebuke and declaration of condemnation and judgment upon the religiousleaders of His day. He pronounced three “woes” upon the Pharisees and their hypocrisy,and three “woes” upon the lawyers who were the religious “experts” interpretingthe Law of Moses for the people.  That is why verse 45, tells us that after Jesus spoke His wordsto the Pharisees, the lawyer said, "Teacher, by saying these things Youreproach us also." The Pharisees believed, and were supposedly practicingall the traditional teachings of these lawyers. This opened the door for Jesusto condemn these lawyers too. I'm convinced that the false teachers of the Wordof God will receive the greater condemnation on judgment day from God. We needto know how to identify them and avoid them.  First in verse 46, they don't practice what they teach.They put a “religious works” burdens on others that they ignore themselves.Secondly, in verse 47-51, they glorify the Old Testament prophets as they attemptto identify with them so that they will appear to be authentic. They appear toknow the Bible better than anyone else. And third, in verse 52, they claim becauseof that, they are the only ones who can properly interpret the Scriptures. The internetand social media are full of these false teachers today! Beware! These “lawyers” that Jesus was condemning were guilty ofrobbing the common people of the knowledge of the Word of God. It was badenough that they would not enter the kingdom themselves, but they werehindering others from going in! It is a serious thing to teach God's Word andnot everyone is supposed to do it (James 3:1). Unfortunately, what some peoplecall "Bible study" is too often just a group of unprepared peopleexchanging their ignorance. The lawyers had convinced the people that nobody couldunderstand and explain the Law except the trained and authorized teachers. Wehave some of that arrogant attitude showing itself today. Teachers whooveremphasize the Bible languages give people the impression that the HolySpirit cannot teach anyone who does not know Greek and Hebrew. We need toalways remember that Jesus is the key to the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-48).  When you take away that key, you cannot understand what Godhas written. As helpful and necessary as theological studies are, the mostimportant requirements for Bible study are a yielded heart and an obedientwill. Jesus said in John 7:17: “If anyone wants to do His will, he shallknow concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on Myown authority.”  In John 14:21 Jesussaid: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. Andhe who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifestMyself to him."  The best Bible teachers are men and women who learned thetruth of God's Word on their knees and on the battlefield of life. They wereSpirit-taught, not man-taught. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:13-14: “However,when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; forHe will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take ofwhat is Mine and declare it to you.” A Spirit led Bible teacher will alwaysglorify Jesus and not himself.  So serious is this danger of false teachers that Jesus willhave more to say about it in Luke 12:1. (Also read 2 Peter 2-3)  Meanwhile, let us beware! God bless!

In this passage, Luke 11:42-52, as a guest, in the veryhouse of a Pharisee, Jesus courageously exposes the hypocrisy of the religiousleaders of His day, the Pharisees and lawyers. Jesus is making it very clearthat there is no room for hypocrites in the church, especially in the pulpitand in the church leaders. Jesus is not only exposing them, but He is declaringcondemnation and judgment upon them with these six “woe” pronouncements. Threewere for the Pharisees and three were for the lawyers. The first three"woes" denounce the Pharisees for their wrong priorities. In verse 42, the Pharisees were careful about tithing eventhe tiny leaves and seeds from the herbs, but they forgot about importantthings like justice and love (Micah 6:7-8). They majored on the minors! Jesusdid not say they should stop tithing but that they should put their religiousactivities into proper perspective. In verse 43, Jesus points out that they also put reputationabove character. They thought that sitting in the right seats and beingacknowledged by the right people would make them spiritual. Reputation is whatpeople think we are; character is what God knows we are. But it was the comparison Jesus made in Luke 11:44, thatmust have infuriated the host and the other Pharisees who were present. TheJews had to be especially careful about ceremonial defilement from dead bodies(Num. 19:11-22; note especially v. 16), so they made sure the graves werecarefully marked. But the Pharisees were like unmarked graves that did not looklike graves at all! This meant that they were unconsciously defiling otherswhen they thought they were helping them become holier! Instead of helpingpeople, the Pharisees were harming them. In verse 45, the lawyers felt the sting of our Lord's wordsand tried to defend themselves. Jesus used three vivid illustrations inanswering them: burdens, tombs, and keys. The lawyers were good at adding tothe burdens of the people, but they had no heart for helping them carry thoseburdens. What a tragedy when "ministers" of God's Word create moreproblems for people who already have problems enough! Jesus might have hadthese "religious burdens" in mind when He gave the graciousinvitation recorded in Matthew 11:28-30. The scribes were also good at "embalming" thepast and honoring the prophets who had been martyred by the religiousestablishment to which they belonged. Both Bible history and church historyreveal that true servants of God are usually rejected by the people who mostneed their ministry, but the next generation will come along and honor thesepeople. The Pharisees were like "hidden graves," but the lawyersbuilt elaborate tombs! The first recorded martyrdom in the Old Testament is thatof Abel, and the last is that of Zechariah (see Gen. 4:1-15; 2 Chron. 24:20-27).Jesus did not suggest that the scribes and Pharisees were personallyresponsible for killing the Old Testament prophets. Rather, He was affirmingthat people just like the scribes and Pharisees did these terrible things toGod's servants. Their ultimate crime would be the crucifixion of the Son ofGod. You can only imagine the tension that is in the room atthis point. But the lesson for us today is very clear: Jesus has no patiencefor hypocrisy in religious leaders or even in any of us! God bless!

As we look at this passage in Luke 11:37-54, we need to rememberthe setting Jesus was in where He is declaring judgment, the six “woes”, uponthe Pharisees and religious lawyers, who are also called scribes. In verse 35, Jesushad just made the public statement, “Therefore take heed that the lightwhich is in you is not darkness.” It was then that a Pharisee invited Jesusto come into his house and dine with him. He was hoping to catch Jesus sayingor doing something so that he could accuse Him of breaking the Law of Moses andthen he could expose Jesus as a false prophet or teacher.  This morning, I couldn't help but think how that Jesus notonly accepted the invitation, but when He is in this Pharisee's house sittingat this meal with him that Jesus pronounces these stinging words of judgmentupon all the Pharisees. When Jesus didn't wash His hands before He ate, thePharisee immediately was thinking that if Jesus was a true prophet he would nothave broken the Law of Moses and traditional teaching of the lawyers.  It is then that the Lord gives this message exposing the hypocrisyof the religious leaders of His day. The religious Pharisees and lawyers claimedto have the truth and the light of God because of their “knowledge” of the OldTestament Scriptures. But they needed to “take heed” that the light they haveis not darkness”. In Jesus first recorded message in Matthew 6:23, He said, “Butif your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore thelight that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”  We should take heed also! The greatest darkness is a “religious”darkness. To be deceived into thinking and believing that our religion of gooddeeds of “righteousness” that we can do, will save us. Remember what Paul wrotein Romans 10:1-4: “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israelis that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal forGod, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God'srighteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have notsubmitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law forrighteousness to everyone who believes.” Religion and Bible knowledge without Jesus Christ is what thePharisees of both Jesus' and Paul's day had as they sought “to establish theirown righteousness”.  What a powerfulmessage for us today! We can know the Bible forward and backward and attempt tokeep it in our own way and strength, and think we are “right” with God. Paulwould also write in 2 Corinthians 3:6: “Who also made us sufficient asministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for theletter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Yes, trying to keep “letter ofthe Law” in our own strength brings both deception and death.  There is no greater deception than religious and self-deception!In James 1, we are warned about this kind of deception in several verses. Jamessays this kind of religion is empty, vain, useless! This is basically a warningto believers who have the Bible but are not practicing the love of God in caringfor the poor, helpless, widows and orphans. We look into the mirror of God's Word,but we refuse to clean up the inside and we become hypocrites and at the sametime think that we are “right” with God.  A good verse to end with today is found in 2 Corinthians5:21: “For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, thatwe might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Let's make sure we aretrusting in a personal relationship with Jesus and His salvation and His imputedrighteousness and not an outward religion of “right” deeds and good works! God bless!

44 Woe to you, scribes andPharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the menwho walk over them are not aware of them." From Luke 11:37 to the end of the chapter Jesus is dealingwith the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, scribes, and the lawyers (who were supposedto be the experts in interpreting the Law of Moses). Many Christians today aregreatly concerned about the rising influences of socialism, humanism,secularism, and social injustice. Yet those evils, great as they are, do nottogether pose the threat to Christianity that the so-called-Christians, who arereally hypocrites, and the false shepherds and pastors do.  Throughout the history of redemption, the greatest threatto God's truth and God's work has been false prophets and teachers, becausethey propose to speak in His name. That is why the Lord's most scathingdenunciations were reserved for the false teachers of Israel, who claimed tospeak and act for God but were liars. Take the time to read Matthew 23 wherethe writer gives even a more detailed description of our Lord's words ofjudgment upon the hypocrites. In both Luke 11:37-54 and Matthew 23, Jesus uses the word hypocriteas a synonym for scribe and for Pharisee. He calls them sons of hell, blindguides, fools, robbers, self-indulgent, whitewashed tombs, full of hypocrisyand lawlessness, serpents, vipers, and persecutors and murderers of God'speople. He uttered every syllable with absolute self-control but withdevastating intensity. The word hypocrite often referred to actors in a play. Someonewho played the part of someone else. Later it came to mean deceitful pretense,the putting on of a false front. It was also used to describe pretendedgoodness, that is simply for show. A hypocrite is someone pretending to be onething on the outside that he or she is not on the inside.  In both Matthew 23 and Luke 11, Jesus repeatedly used twowords, woe and hypocrites. Woe is a word to express grief, despair,sorrow, dissatisfaction, pain, and fear of losing one's life. In the NewTestament it is used to speak of sorrow and of judgment, carrying the mingledideas of punishment and pity, cursing and compassion. But Jesus used woeagainst the scribes and Pharisees not as an exclamation but as a declaration, adivine pronouncement of judgment from God. Here in Luke 11, Jesus denounced the sins of the Phariseesand called them hypocrites with six "woes". Jesus started with thesins of the Pharisees (Luke 11:42-44) and then turned to the sins of the lawyers,for it was their interpretations of the Law that formed the basis for the wholePharisaical system (Luke 11:45-52). The Pharisees boasted of their giving (Matt. 6:1-4; Luke18:11-12), but they did not give what was within to the Lord. The way to makethe outside pure is to make the inside pure (Luke 11:41). Kenneth Wuesttranslates this verse, "Rather, the things which are inside give as alms,and behold, all things are clean to you". The way to clean up a dirtyvocabulary is not to brush your teeth but to cleanse your heart. In the first three "woes" denounce the Phariseesfor their wrong priorities. They were careful about tithing even the tinyleaves and seeds from the herbs, but they forgot about important things likejustice and love (Micah 6:7-8). They majored on the minors! Jesus did not saythey should stop tithing but that they should put their religious activitiesinto proper perspective.  Today, if we are not careful, we easily become hypocritesby our outward religious acts while inside we harbor covetousness, greed, anger,bitterness and unforgiveness. The Lord wants our hearts before He wants ourgifts and service. While people look on our outside, God is looking in ourhearts.  What does He see in your heart today? God bless!

From Luke 11:37 to the end of the chapter Jesus is dealingwith the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, scribes, and the lawyers (who were supposedto be the experts in interpreting the Law of Moses). At this stage in Christ'sministry, it is obvious that the Pharisees and religious leaders were bent ondestroying Him. In the previous verses (vv. 33-36), Jesus was exposing thedarkness of their hearts. Their hearts were so dark that they refused to acceptthe very Light of God that was in their midst.  It is reasonable to believe that this “certain Pharisee”invited Jesus to his home for a meal with a devious motive. If he had beensincerely seeking truth, he would have talked with our Lord privately. It seemsobvious that he was looking for an opportunity to accuse Jesus. And sure enough,when Jesus did not practice the ceremonial washing before eating, he thought hehad it (Mark 7:2-3). Jesus, knowing what the host was thinking, responded bygiving a "spiritual analysis" of the Pharisees. A good title for today's chat would be “Truth or Tradition”.You might remember years ago that there was a popular television program called“Truth or Consequences”, hosted by Bob Barker. Jesus exposed the darkness oftheir hearts with the truth. If you want to know or recognize what a lie is,you must know what the truth is. I'm convinced the main reason we have majorissues in so many areas of culture and society today in America is that very fewpeople have any idea what the truth is anymore.  The truth is only found in a Person, Jesus Christ, and HisWord  (John 14:6). When we ignorant ofthe Truth or we reject it after we are exposed to it, we have no choice but tobelieve the lie. That is why Jesus said to the Pharisees and religious leadersin John 8:44-47: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of yourfather you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not standin the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaksfrom his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because Itell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And ifI tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God'swords; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." It is interesting to note that in the above passage the Phariseeresponded to this stinging rebuke by saying: “Then the Jews answered andsaid to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have ademon?"  (John 8:48). This is whatalways happens when truth is rejected. Maybe Jesus had this verse from Isaiah5:20 in mind when He was exposing these Pharisees: “Woe to those who callevil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” In verses 39-40, Jesus exposed the basic error and thinkingof the Pharisees which was that righteousness was only a matter of externalactions, and they minimized internal attitudes. They were very careful to keepthe outside clean, but they ignored the wickedness within. They seemed toforget that the same God who created the outside also created the inside, the"inner person" that also needs cleansing (Ps. 51:6, 10). Jesus called them, “foolish ones”, another way of saying “senselessones”. They lost their sense, their ability to reason in a sensible way. Today,in many of our churches we have done the same thing when we chose our traditionover the Truth of God's Word. I'm afraid many of our churches today are full ofhypocritical Pharisees, and often the biggest ones are the pastors and leaders.They refuse to make any changes in their methods or music to reach a lost worldbecause of their old “traditions”. They are afraid that grandpa and grandma whoare buried in the cemetery behind the church will get upset!  Today, I trust we will choose Jesus over our manmadetraditions and share His love with everyone we can! God bless!

It is very interesting to note that we are introduced todarkness and light in the very first verses in the Bible. Right after we aretold; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis1:1), we read; “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was onthe face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of thewaters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. AndGod saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from thedarkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So theevening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:2-5).  The very first creative act of God on earth was to speak lightinto existence, and we are introduced to the truth and concept that “God sawthe light, that it was good” (v. 4). This statement then leads us tobelieve that just as light is good, darkness is bad. God created the human eyeto only operate while light is present. You can't see anything in the darkness.When Adam sinned, Satan's kingdom of darkness invaded both the human soul andthe earth itself. When we are born into this world, we are literal called the “childrenof wrath” because of our sin nature (Ephesians 3:1-3). In Ephesians 5:8-11, Paul goes on to tell us: “For youwere once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children oflight (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, andtruth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship withthe unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”  When we trust Jesus as the True Light and acceptHim as our Lord and Savior, something wonderful takes place according to Colossians1:13-14 which declares: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness andconveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemptionthrough His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”  When we trust Jesus Christ, our eyes are opened, the lightshines in, and we become children of light (John 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Eph.5:8-14). The important thing is that we take advantage of the light and have asingle outlook of faith. If we keep one eye on the things of God and the othereye on the world (1 John 2:16), the light will turn into darkness! There is no"twilight living" for the Christian, for God demands total submissionand obedience (Luke 11:23). Three men in the Bible illustrate this truth. They began inthe light and ended up in the darkness because they were double-minded. Thename Samson probably means "sunny," yet he ended up a blind slave ina dark dungeon because he yielded to the "lust of the flesh" (Judges16). Lot began as a pilgrim with his uncle Abraham. He ended as a drunk in acave, committing incest (Genesis 19:30-38), because he yielded to "thelust of the eyes" (Gen. 13:10-11). Lot wanted to serve two masters andlook in two directions! King Saul began his reign as a humble leader but hispride led him to a witch's cave (1 Samuel 28), and he died of suicide on thefield of battle (1 Samuel 31). His sin was "the pride of life"; hewould not humble himself and obey the will of God. Each of us is controlled either by light or darkness. Thefrightening thing is that some people have so hardened themselves against theLord that they cannot tell the difference! They think they are following thelight when, in reality, they are following the darkness. The scribes andPharisees claimed to "see the light" as they studied the Law, butthey were living in the darkness (John 9:39-41). In John 12:35-36; 46, Jesus said: "A little whilelonger the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darknessovertake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. Whileyou have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light…”. “Ihave come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should notabide in darkness.” Today, is your life “full of His Light”? God bless!

After Jesus gave His lessons on prayer (vv. 1-13), He casta demon out of a mute man, and even though the “multitudes marveled” (v.14), the religious leaders accused Him of doing it “by Beelzebub” (v. 15),another way of saying, “by Satan”. They also “tested Him” and ask for a “signfrom heaven (v. 16). Instead of giving them a sign, Jesus gave them a sermon. Jesushad been giving them “miracles” or “signs” over the past three years, and theystill rejected Him. Signs are soon forgotten and only bred a craving for more! Basically, Jesus said we don't need a sign, we have theBook, and He gave them the stories of Jonah and Solomon. Jesus follows up with this proclamation with anillustration of the light of a candle on a lampstand that gives light toeveryone who come into the room (vv. 33-36). You might remember that in thefirst recorded message that we have of Jesus in Matthew 5-7, He gave this sameillustration. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eyeis good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, yourwhole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you isdarkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23). When light comes into a room the darkness immediately isgone. Darkness never conquers the light. By its very nature, light “overcomesthe darkness”. John 1:1-5 teaches us that God, the Word, and Jesus are indeedthe Light of the world: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word waswith God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All thingswere made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Himwas life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in thedarkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (overcome) it.” In John 6:5, Jesus declared, “I Am the Light of the world”.God is declared to be Light in 1 John 1:5-7: “This is the message which wehave heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is nodarkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk indarkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light asHe is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of JesusChrist His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Light and darkness cannot co-exist! You either have one orthe other. Jesus the Living Word is the Light on the Lampstand. He is the Lightthat gives us light and life! God has given us the Commandments and the Lawlike a switch to expose the darkness of our sin and souls. Proverbs 6:23 says; “Forthe commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are theway of life”. Psalm 119:130 tells us: “The entrance of Your words giveslight; It gives understanding to the simple.” Religion without a relationship with Christ Jesus is afalse light that only allows more darkness! The religious leaders refused tocome to the Light of Christ because of their evil, deceitful hearts. Jesus saidit this way in John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that the lighthas come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, becausetheir deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and doesnot come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does thetruth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they havebeen done in God." The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 11:105: “Your word is alamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Today we have a choice, we caneither walk in the Light or we can stumble around in the darkness! Proverbs4:18-19: “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines everbrighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They donot know what makes them stumble.” May the Lord help us today to “walk in the Light”though His Word. God bless!

When we come to Luke 11:28-32, it appears that Jesus has finishedHis lessons on the subject of prayer and a crowd of both curious people and contentiousreligious leaders have “thickly gathered together” around Him and His disciples. It appears at the point thecrowd really begins to press in upon Jesus on every side and then He gives thema message of condemnation and judgement (vv. 29-36). Jesus was not impressed by the big crowds, but most likely,the disciples were. And because Jesus knew what was in their hearts of thereligious leaders and the crowd, in order to keep the Twelve from being swayedby "success," Jesus gave them some insights into what was reallyhappening as they ministered the Word to the large crowds of people thatsurrounded them. He reveals the unbelief of their hearts despite the signs thatHe had already given them over the past three years of His ministry in Galilee. Like so many people today who say, “Show me a miracle and Iwill believe”, the Jewish leaders kept asking Jesus for a sign to prove that Hewas the Messiah. The only sign He promised was "the sign of Jonah theprophet." What was the sign of Jonah? What was his story? Remember he disobeyGod's command to go to Nineveh and went the opposite direction to Tarshish. Godpunished him by putting him the belly of whale for three days and three nights.He repented and went to Nineveh with a message of coming judgement, and theyrepented. How interesting that Jonah was as displeased by the repentance ofNineveh as the religious leaders of the Lord's generation were at therepentance of people in all parts of the country!  Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He had been three daysand nights in what he called "the belly of hell." When he marchedthrough their streets, it was with a face livid and terrifying from the fierceaction of the gastric juices of the great fish. The man himself was as much themessage as the words that he proclaimed; he was a sign. "God will punishsin!" It was written all over the disobedient prophet. But there he was,alive from the dead, a living epistle. They could infer from that the fact that"God will pardon sinners." But Jonah was also a sign of the coming death, burial andresurrection of Jesus Christ! This is the greatest sign given by “a greaterthan Jonah”, Jesus Christ! It is the resurrection of our Lord that proves He isthe Messiah, the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and this is what Peter preached toIsrael on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:22ff). The witness of the early churchwas centered on Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:22; 3:15; 5:30-32; 13:32-33).Jonah was a living miracle and so is our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus also reminded them of Solomon and the “Queen of theSouth”. The emphasis here is on the wisdom of a king, not the works of aprophet. The Queen of Sheba traveled many miles to hear the wisdom of Solomon(1 Kings 10), but here was the very Son of God in their midst, and the Jewswould not believe His words! Even if Jesus had performed a sign, it would nothave changed their hearts. They needed the living wisdom of God, but they werecontent with their stale religious tradition. When Jonah preached to theGentiles in Nineveh, they repented and were spared. When a Gentile queen heardSolomon's wisdom, she marveled and believed. If, with all their privileges, theJews did not repent, then the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba wouldbear witness against them in the last judgment. The Lord gave Israel so manyopportunities, yet they would not believe (Luke 13:34-35; John 12:35-41). Today, we have the complete Bible, and the historical factsof the resurrection of Jesus Christ, yet still so many chose their sins andreligion over believing and putting their faith in Jesus Christ. How great willtheir condemnation and judgment be?

23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does notgather with Me scatters. So far in Luke 11, Jesus has given us the pattern ofprayer (vv. 1-4). He tells a story and emphasizes the persistence ofprayer (vv. 5-8). He has encouraged us with a great promise of prayer. Ourheavenly Father will give us the good gifts of the Holy Spirit when weask in prayer (vv. 9-13). And Jesus illustrated the power of prayer asHe cast a demon out of a mute man (vv. 14-22).   Now in Luke 11:23-28, Jesus is going to give us a lesson onthe position of prayer. In this passage Jesus is teaching us that wemust choose whose side we are on. I believe that from these verses that welearn that prayer is a part of choosing sides and putting us in the position ofbeing on the Lord's side! In verses 15-22, Jesus was accused by the hypocriticalreligious leaders of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus respondedby reminding them that a kingdom or a house that is divided against itself willbe destroyed and cannot stand. He also likened Satan to a strong man who isguarding the “spoils” in his house but that he can be stripped of his defense, “hisarmor”, by a Stronger Man. And then his spoils can be taken from him. When we pray, we are engaging in “spiritual warfare”. Ourprayers can bind Satan and strip him of his defense and his power and then wecan release those who have been captured by him. 2 Timothy 2:26 speaks of theseprecious souls being delivered from the devil by our Godly living and ourprayers with these words: “And that they may come to their senses and escapethe snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” It is impossible to be neutral in this spiritual war. Jesusmakes it clear in verse 23 that we are either for Him or we are against Him.(Also see Luke 9:50). Neutrality means standing against Him. There are twospiritual forces at work in the world, and we must choose between them. Satanis scattering and destroying, but Jesus Christ is gathering and building. Wemust make a choice, and if we choose to make no choice, we are really choosingagainst Him.  Jesus illustrated the danger of neutrality by telling thestory of the man and the demon. The man's body was the demon's"house" (Luke 11:24, and note vv. 17 and 21). For some unknownreason, the demonic tenant decided to leave his "house" and goelsewhere. The man's condition improved immediately, but the man did not inviteGod to come and dwell within. In other words, the man remained neutral. Whathappened? The demon returned with seven other demons worse than himself, andthe man's condition was abominable. We are either going up or we are going down. When I wasgetting my pilot's license, I learned very quickly that you can't park a planein the air. The moment you stop, you are going down! Any dead fish can float downstream,but it takes a live one to swim upstream. We are either getting closer to theLord every day or we are drifting further away from Him. I've always picturedthe “narrow way that leads to life” right in the middle of the “broadpath that leads to destruction”, except it is going in the oppositedirection. That is why is so difficult to live the Christian life in this oldworld we are in.  In verses 27-28, we learn that taking sides with Jesusmeans much more than saying the right things, like the woman who cried, "Blessedis the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" She wascertainly sincere, but that was not enough. We take sides with Jesus Christwhen we hear His Word and obey it (see Luke 6:46-49; 8:19-21). Praying Biblicalprayers is applying God's Word to our attitudes and actions and give us the powerto do God's will! Praying puts us in the position of being on the Lord's side!Today, whose side are you on? Are you praying? God bless!

We are looking at this wonderful chapter in Luke 11 on thesubject of prayer. The Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray, andwhat to pray, in answer to their request to teach them to pray. As He is teachingthem, we are also learning many aspects about prayer that we should rememberevery day. First, Jesus gives us the pattern of prayer (vv. 1-4). Secondly,He tells a story of some friends and gives a great lesson on the persistenceof prayer (vv. 5-8). Third, Jesus teaches us about the great promise ofprayer (vv. 9-13).  Now in verses Luke 11:14-23, Jesus is going to give us alesson on the power of prayer, along with a live illustration as He castsa demon out of man. Jesus said that He is able to casts out demons with “thefinger of God”. Maybe the Apostle Paul was remembering this passage in Lukewhen he wrote 1 Corinthians 1:22-25: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeksseek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews andGreeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishnessof God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (Alsoremember Luke was Paul's traveling companion on his second missionary journey.Who knows all that they might have discussed as they were walking those longmiles.) We must always remember as believers that we are facing anddealing with demonic forces and the kingdom of darkness as we on mission withJesus in this present world. Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle againstflesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulersof the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in theheavenly places.”  To stand against anddefeat them we must believe in the might power of prayer and use it as a weaponto pull down demonic strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). After Jesus cast the demon out of the mute man, thereligious leaders were there and instead of rejoicing that God had sent aRedeemer, they were rebelling against the truth of God's Word and seeking todiscredit Christ's work and character. They claimed Jesus did this in the powerof Satan. Imagine people being so blind that they could not distinguish a workof God from a work of Satan! "Beelzebub" was one of the names of thePhilistine god Baal (2 Kings 1:1-3); it means "lord of flies." TheJews often used this name when referring to Satan. In verse 16 they “tested” Jesus by basically saying,"If you are really working for God, prove it by giving us a sign fromheaven, not just a miracle on earth." They were tempting God, which is adangerous thing to do.Refutation (vv. 17-22). Jesus answered their charges withthree arguments. First, their accusation was illogical. Why would Satan fightagainst himself and divide his own kingdom? (Note that Jesus believed in a realdevil who has a kingdom that is strong and united. See Eph. 2:1-3; 6:10ff.)Second, their charges were self-incriminating: by what power were the Jewscasting out demons? How do their works differ from Christ's works? On thecontrary, Christ's miracles show that the kingdom of God is present, not thekingdom of Satan! Finally, their accusation was really an admission of Hispower, for He could not defeat Satan unless He were stronger than Satan. Jesuspictured Satan as a strong man in armor, guarding his palace and his goods. ButJesus invaded Satan's territory, destroyed his armor and weapons, and claimedhis spoils! (see John 12:31-33; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8). Though he ispermitted limited authority, Satan is a defeated enemy. My friend, we should alwaysremember, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, becauseHe who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  Today, we should be exercising the mighty power of prayer! God bless!

In Luke 11:1-13, the Lord is not only teaching Hisdisciples about prayer, but He is also giving us some powerful incentives tolearn to pray. I'mconvinced that the best way to learn to be good at anything in life is to workat it, to be disciplined to practice the same thing over and over again. I'm saying allthis to say, the best way to learn to pray is to pray! To pray daily andcontinuously. This is what the above verses in Luke 11:9-13 are about. First, the Lord gives us the pattern of prayer (vv.1-4). Secondly, He gives the persistence of prayer (vv. 5-8). Now Jesusis giving us the promise of prayer (vv. 9-13). After Jesus tells thestory or parable of the friend who is asking his neighbor friend at midnightfor three loaves of bread for his tired and weary friend who has showed up athis house unexpectedly, you might get the idea that our heavenly Father isreluctant to answer our prayers, and we have pester Him to get His attention.But with what the Lord says in these next verses, should put that wrongconclusion to rest. Our Father is heaven is not a reluctant Giver, He is aready Giver. I love verse 9, "So I say to you, ask, and it willbe given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”The tenses of the verbs are important here: "Keep on asking... keep onseeking... keep on knocking." In other words, don't come to God only inthe midnight emergencies, but keep in constant communion with your Father.Jesus called this "abiding" (John 15:1-18), and Paul exhorted,"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). As we pray, God willeither answer or show us why He cannot answer. Then it is up to us to dowhatever is necessary in our lives so that the Father can trust us with theanswer. The main thing about prayer is not getting what we want or need,but true prayer is first and foremost about communion with our holy heavenly Father!Spending time in His presence! God's delays are not always His denials. Maybe Hehas noticed that the only time we spend time praying is when we desperatelyneed something, and He enjoys our asking so much, and our attitude ofdependence upon Him, that He waits to answer so we will learn to spend moretime with Him! We can't help but notice that this lesson on prayer closesagain with the emphasis on God as Father (vv. 11-13). Because He knows us andloves us, we never need to be afraid of the answers that He gives. Again, Jesusargued from the lesser to the greater: if an earthly father gives what is bestto his children, surely the Father in heaven will do even more. Here we arealso impressed with the “simplicity of prayer”. We come to our heavenly Fatherin childlike faith. When a baby or a child cries, the mother instinctively interpretsthat cry and knows the need of the child. The child is hungry and needs milk,or needs a diaper change, or just needs assurance of love and wants to bepicked up!  Our Father in heaven knowshow to interpret our cries in prayer and knows what our need is even before weask! If our human father knows how to give us good things whenwe ask, “how much more” does our heavenly Father know how to give us goodthings. In these verses we are reminded of our heavenly Father's goodness, Hisgenerosity, and His greatness! The greatest gift first given to the earlydisciples was called, “the Promise of the Father which you heard from Me”(Acts 1:4). We are also heirs of this same “Promise” which is the “gift of theHoly Spirit”.  According to Matthew 7:11, I believe this means that I am continuouslyasking and receiving from my heavenly Father “all the good things” that comewith the Holy Spirit who now lives inside of me as a believer! (Ephesians3:14-19).  Have you ever received the “Promise Gift of the Holy Spirit”? God bless!

In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus is teaching us how to pray. One forthe first things we should learn about prayer is that it is based on ourrelationship with God. Creation and our conscience declare to us that there isa God in heaven. That there is a Designer behind the design. But we need morethan an intellectual knowledge of God, we need a relationship with Him. Becausesin has separated us from God, we are empty inside our souls without this relationship. Religion of any kind cannot fill this void. Matter of fact,it is a false substitute that often keeps us from knowing God personally. Weare deceived into thinking that because we have a religion and go to church,preforming ceremonies and rituals, and doing good humanitarian deeds for othersthat this should satisfy God and give us entrance to heaven. But if we arehonest and admit it, we are still empty inside and know that something is missing. Jesus makes it very clear in John 14:6, that He is “theWay, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one can come to the Father except throughHim.” Now my friend, either Jesus is Who He said He is, or as C.S. Lewissaid, "Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He wasHimself deluded and self-deceived, or He was Divine.” In his book MereChristianity, C.S. Lewis famously said, “Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar, orLord.”Lewis chose to believe that Jesus is Divine, and I do too. Religion of any kind never saved anyone, only Jesus can.His very name means Savior (Matthew 1:21). He is the Perfect Lamb of God Whocame to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). In 1 Peter 1:18-19, Scripturemakes it very clear that traditional religion with its ceremonies and rituals cannotpay the price for our sin or remove it from us. “Knowing that you were notredeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimlessconduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood ofChrist, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”In the above passage in Luke 11:5-10, right after Jesusspeaks of our relationship with “Our Father”, He tells the story of a friend,who had a hungry friend without “bread”, who on his journey has come to him at midnight.But he knew he also had a “Friend”, Who had plenty of bread. As we saidyesterday, for sure this story is teaching us the “persistence of prayer” thatis needed to receive God's provisions. But I also believe it also teaches usanother great lesson on about “Praying for Bread for our friends”.  We have friends who are on their journey of life, and ithas become “midnight” for their soul. They are hungry, thirsty, tired, weary,empty, frustrated, unfulfilled, maybe confused, lost and looking for help. Theyhave come to us and are asking for help. We realize we don't have anything togive them. Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Butwe know we have a Friend, Jesus, Who is the “Bread of Life” and we can ask Himto supply this “Bread” for our friend who is weary and hungry. At least four times in John 6, Jesus proclaims that He isthe “Bread of Life”. “And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread oflife. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Meshall never thirst” (v. 35). “The Jews then complained about Him,because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven"(v. 41). “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the mannain the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down fromheaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread whichcame down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; andthe bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of theworld" (vv. 48-51). Have you been praying for this “Bread” to give to yourfriends who are seeking for life? Maybe this is also why Jesus taught us topray, “Give us this day our daily bread”, not only for ourselves, but forour friends who desperately need Jesus, not a religion. 

The Lord is responding to the disciple's question to teachthem to pray. Jesus first gives them a lesson on the pattern of prayer andbegins it with the words, “Our Father”. One for the first things we shouldlearn about prayer is that it is based on our relationship with God. We havethe privilege and honor of prayer because we are sons and daughters in Hisfamily by being “born again” through salvation in Jesus Christ. We should alwayspicture prayer as children coming to a loving, giving, and kind father who delightsin our dependance upon him.  In Luke 11:5-10, it is like the Lord is now taking Hisdisciples up several grades, from elementary and middle school to high school. Hedoes this by telling the story of some friends. In this lesson, the Lord isteaching the disciples, and us, that not only do we have a relationship withGod as “Our Father”, but that we can also picture God as our friend who caresabout us. And in His story of these three friends, He is teaching the disciplesand us the importance of persistence in prayer. In this story, Jesus did not say that God is like thisgrouchy neighbor. In fact, He said just the opposite. If a tired and selfishneighbor finally meets the needs of a bothersome friend, how much more will aloving Heavenly Father meet the needs of His own dear children! He is arguingfrom the lesser to the greater. If we intend to do much through prayer we musthave some endurance. We must persist in our praying, never quit, be steadfastregardless of circumstances. If we quit after praying once because nothinghappened, we will never experience answers to our prayers like we should. There are three friends in this story. There is a friendwho is on a journey. There is a friend who is without bread for this friend whois on a journey. Then there is a friend who has plenty of bread but is at home asleepwith his family. How do you know someone is a true friend? You can tell by theirattitude and actions toward you that they genuinely care about you and theneeds you might have in your life or family.  The argument in this story is clear: If persistence finallypaid off as a man beat on the door of a reluctant friend, how much more wouldpersistence bring blessing as we pray to a loving Heavenly Father! After all,we are the children in the house with Him! The word translated “persistence”, ("importunity"in OKJ), means "shamelessness" or "avoidance of shame." Itcan refer to the man at the door who was not ashamed to wake up his friend, butit can also refer to the friend in the house. Hospitality to friends and even tostrangers is a basic law in the East (Gen. 18). If a person refused toentertain a guest, it could bring disgrace on the whole village. The man in thehouse knew this and did not want to embarrass himself, his family, or hisvillage; so he got up and met the need on the friend on a journey. And so didthe friend who had plenty of bread! Why does our Father in heaven answer prayer? Not just tomeet the needs of His children, but to meet them in such a way that it bringsglory to His name. "Hallowed be Thy name." When God's peoplepray, God's reputation is at stake. The way He takes care of His children is awitness to the world that He can be trusted. Phillips Brooks said that prayeris not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness.Persistence in prayer is not an attempt to change God's mind ("Thy will bedone") but to get ourselves to the place where He can trust us with theanswer. God's first no does not always mean it is His final no. It might mean “wait”.We will study more about this tomorrow.  Today, we need to learn that God is not only our Father,but He is our friend, who has “plenty of bread” for our every need and we shouldnever give up on approaching Him with our request! God bless!

So far we have learned from the Lord's teachings on prayerin this passage in Luke 11, that prayer concerns our Father's presence, ourFather's purpose, our Father's provision, our Father's pardon, and our Father'sprotection. I couldn't help but notice that before we pray for His protection asbelievers, we should have the assurance that we have our own sins forgiven,which only comes because we have forgiven “everyone” who wronged, sinned, hurt,or offended us.  This is crucial if we are going to be able to expect theFather to protect us from the attacks of the evil one. Unconfessed sin in ourlives become a “stronghold” of Satan in our minds and hearts. Those strongholdscan only be destroyed by the mighty weapons of the Word of God and prayer: 2Corinthians 10:3-6 reminds us: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are notwaging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not ofthe flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy argumentsand every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take everythought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, whenyour obedience is complete.” Did you also notice that in this basic model and pattern ofprayer we are not taught to pray for the Father to keep us from experiencing sickness,suffering, pain, or discomfort. We are not taught to pray that we won't die.For sure, no doubt, it is not wrong to pray for our physical, mental, andemotional needs, or even for these needs in our family and friends. But farmore important than our circumstantial needs, it is clear here that the emphasisis on our character needs!  We are all goingto suffer afflictions and pain and one day face death.  That is the reality of life! But we have been promised thatthe Lord will give us grace and strength to go through it all with His presenceand therefore we don't need to worry or fear (Psalm 23:4). What is important isour faith and trust in our heavenly Father to supply for every need we have(Philippians 4:19).  We should also note that when we pray, “Do not lead usinto temptation”, that it means that the Lord is the One who might beleading us to do something wrong or evil. No, this statement is a way of sayingthat we need the Father's protection from the solicitation of the evil one to sinor do wrong. James make it very clear that God does not tempt us with evil: “Blessedis the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he willreceive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Letno one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannotbe tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  1 John 2:16 reminds us that all temptations we face in thisworld concern three areas: “For all that is in the world--the lust of theflesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but isof the world.”These are the same things that the Devil tempted Jesus with(Matthew 4:1-11). Peter warned us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because youradversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”(1 Peter 5:8). Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11-12; For we donot wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hostsof wickedness in the heavenly places.” That is why we pray for our Father's protection against theevil one and his temptations. But we must also do our part by: “But put onthe Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill itslusts” (Romans 13:14).  If we are “drinking of the water of Life” that Jesusgives us in His Word, we not be thirsting for the dirty water from the well ofthe world (John 4:13-14). And remember Psalm 119:11: “Your word I havehidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!”  Today, are you experiencing “deliverance from the evilone”! God bless!

Today, before we discuss this pattern of prayer that theLord was teaching to His disciples, I need to ask all our friends to once againpray for our grandson, Luke as he is scheduled to go back into surgery thismorning at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Yesterday while at adoctor's appointment with Luke, Kimberly noticed the place was extremelyswollen on his head where a shunt valve is located. She immediately took Luketo the hospital ED where the MRI showed that there was a lot of fluid aroundthe valve indicating something was broken.  After our visit and consultation with the doctor at theChildren's Hospital in Boston a couple weeks ago, they had already decided if somethinglike this happened Luke would go to UVA Medical Center for his next surgery. I'mnot sure at this point exactly what time that surgery will take place thismorning, but we sure would appreciate all your special prayers for wisdom forthe surgeons and medical personnel that will be working with Luke. We areconvinced that your prayers have taken care of him this far and will continueto carry him through this time too. Again, we can't thank you enough for yourprayers and support for Luke, Kimberly, Chris and our family during this time!  Kimberly is pretty good with keeping us all updated withher Facebook post at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/744992976946015 Today, I also want to take a couple minutes with this postto ask you to celebrate my spiritual birthday! It was on this day, 54 yearsago, February 21, 1971, at about 4 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, in CincinnatiOhio, that the most important thing in my life happened. For several weeks Ihad been under Holy Spirit conviction for my sin and the burden and guilt ofthem had been very heavy upon me. After church that morning, I finally foundthe courage to call Dr. Harold Rawlings and ask him if I could come by his houseand talk with him.  I honestly can't remember all the details of ourconversation except telling him that I was a wicked sinner and was going tohell. He asked, what did I want to do. I do remember breaking down weeping andsaying, “I don't want to go to hell.” We got on our knees, and I really can'trecall what I prayed but I'll never forget getting up and immediately experiencinga peace with God, forgiveness for my sin, and a joy I never had before. The bigempty spot down in my soul was gone and has never come back!  I recall walking out of his house feeling like for thefirst time in my life I was not walking in darkness and could see! I'll neverever forget that day and I'm so thankful for Dr. Harold Rawlings taking thetime to be there and in his kind and gentle way lead me to my faith in JesusChrist and the cross! One of the first evidences of my salvation was that myfoul mouth was transformed. The cussing stopped immediately. With a new heart Ireceived a new mouth! It was amazing! I went to church that evening and at theend of the service I was baptized by one of the pastors named Bill Talley, (thatas a teenager I never particularly cared for). But that didn't matter anymore!I wanted to be obedient and let the world know that Jesus saved me with this publictestimony of baptism!  As a new believer, only 19 years old, working on a constructionjob with a large group of my very ungodly and wicked men, I knew my great challengewould be dealing with the old temptations of the flesh and sin. The very first verse in the Biblethat I memorized was: 1 Corinthians 10:13 This promise assured me that no temptation would come myway that I would not be able with God's grace to face and deal with. I am sothankful for God's faithfulness in my life. I'm sorry to have to admit that Ihave failed the Lord many many times, but He has never failed me! Thanks for your prayers today: (I just received word thatLuke's surgery is scheduled for 7:30 this morning.) God bless!

To the best of my understanding, here in Luke 11, when thedisciples asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, this was toward the end ofHis first three years of ministry mostly in the region of Galilee. But youmight also remember in Matthew 6, on an earlier occasion at the beginning of Hisministry, as Jesus was giving one of His first recorded sermons, called the “Sermonon the Mount” or the “Beatitudes”, He also taught this model prayer both to themultitude and His disciples. So, this would be the second time that they heardit. In the Matthew passage, the Lord gave even moreinstructions along with this prayer. On both occasions Jesus taught that we areto ask for forgiveness for our sins, which also called our debts or ourtrespasses, from our Father in heaven. I believe this model prayer is primarilygiven for those who have already been saved. We have been born again, we havebeen redeemed, we are in the family of God and that is why we begin the prayerwith “Our Father”.  Now in this prayer, as believers, we are told to keep shortaccounts for those who have sinned against or have offended us. And just as wehave received the Father's forgiveness, “for we also forgive everyone who isindebted to us.” If you go back to the Matthew 6 passage you will find thatthe Lord also added the instruction: “For if you forgive others theirtrespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do notforgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yourtrespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). It becomes clear that we as believers are to keep shortaccounts of those who sinned against us by forgiving them and no longer holdingtheir sin or offence against them. We are able to do this because we have experiencedour Father's forgiveness. We find this also in Ephesians 4:32; “And be kindto one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christforgave you.”   Again, I repeat that this is primarily for believers whohave already experienced salvation and forgiveness of their sins. We shouldnever make this a condition for a lost sinner to get saved. I've never toldsomeone I'm witnessing to, that before they can pray the sinners prayer andreceive Jesus Christ as their Savior that they need to make a list of everyonewho has wronged them and forgive them before they can get saved. It is only afterwe have been forgiven by the grace of God and His mercy through the blood ofJesus Christ, and experienced His resurrection power into a new life, that wehave the ability and grace to then forgive others.  Matthew 18:23-35 gives us a great message on this subjectafter Peter asked the Lord how many times he had to forgive a brother who hadsinned against him. Peter thought he was doing pretty good by saying that seventimes was probably enough. But the Lord responded by saying that that is notenough but you will need to forgive him seventy-times seven. That is 490 times!!!!In other words, you would lose count after the first number of times and everytime you think or experience the pain of the hurt of the offence you must forgiveagain. You remove the offence from their account and not hold it against them.  In Matthew 18:35, Jesus concluded the story of the servant,who after he had been forgiven an unpayable debt by his master, and then refusedto forgive a fellow servant a very small account, and was sent to prison to betortured, with these power words: “So My heavenly Father also will do to youif each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother histrespasses." My friend, this is only possible by God's grace, and the realityof your experience of forgiveness in Christ. The fact that we can forgiveothers, which is never an easy thing to do, is proof and evidence that we have experiencedGod's forgiveness for all our sins and have the perfect peace of God in ourhearts. God bless!

James 5:16-18Confess your faults one to another, and pray one foranother, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteousman avails much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and heprayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by thespace of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gaverain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. In Luke 11:1-13, the Lord is teaching His disciples topray. Over the past few days, we have been talking about the importance of prayerin our lives, and for the world around us! If there is anything we need tolearn to do, it is to pray. We go to school for twelve years to get aneducation so we can get out and get a job to make money. We might go for four ormore years so we can make more money. We might go to Bible College to learn howto preach and teach the Bible, learn to be a pastor or church leader, and thatis all well and fine. But we rarely take classes or spend the time to learn howto pray.  We must realize by now that an education, job skills, moneyand a good economy, is not what it going to take to save your marriage, to bringyour children back to God, to heal your broken heart, to give you mental,emotional, and spiritual peace. They will not save our country either. I know Isound like a broken record, but the answer to the divisions, the economy, the socialand cultural issues in America, are not going to be found in the White House,the Congress, the State Legislators, but in our own houses where righteous believersknow how to pray “effectual fervent” prayers.  When I think of prayer, I can't help but think of James 5and the prayer of Elijah. He was a man just like us; “subject to likepassions”. He had the same type of problems, challenges, emotions, andissues. His country Israel was in a mess under the heathen pagan leadership ofAhab and Jezebel. The whole nation was following the religion of Baal worship.Today, for the most part, America is following the religion of humanism. Theworship of self! We live to please ourselves. That's humanism! The last verse in Judges 21:25 says, “Everyone is doingwhat is right in their own eyes”. The land was filled with chaos,confusion, anarchy, and violence. What is the answer. Like Elijah, we can getright with God and pray! The promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 is still in theBible and available for us today! “If My people who are called by My namewill humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wickedways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal theirland. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in thisplace.” The Lord's model prayer reminds us of our need for ourFather's presence in our lives and families. Of the need of ourFather'sguidance in joining Him in His kingdom work so His will is done on earth asit is in heaven. Of the need of our Father's provision every day both physicallyand spiritually. And of our daily need for our Father's pardon for oursins. In order for us to pray effectual fervent prayers thatavail much, we must have pure hearts and clean hands (James 4:7-10). As wesubmit our lives to the Lord, the devil must flee. As we confess our sins, ourhearts are purified. As we join the Father in His kingdom work, our hands arecleansed.  Amazing and wonderful, miraculous things can happen when wereally learn to pray! In my Bible, Jeremiah 33:3 still says: 'Call to Me,and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do notknow.' And we can never forget the promise of Ephesians 3:20: “Now toHim who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,according to the power that works in us”. By God's grace we should seek to learn to pray “effectualfervent prayers that avail much”! God bless!

Today I want us to think about our greatest need. Whatwould you think is the greatest need that a human being has today? First, I remindyou that originally, we were not created with this need. When God created Adamand Eve, He created them in innocence! They were created without sin. They werein perfect harmony in their relationship with God and they enjoyed pure and unbrokenworship, fellowship and communion in His presence.  But then something happened that broke that relationshipand fellowship! Romans 5:12-19 tells us that when the first man, Adam, disobeyedGod by eating the forbidden fruit, sin entered the human race along with thepronounced judgement of death. “Therefore, just as through one man sinentered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). The word death means “separation”. Thissin separated Adam and Eve from God and from their worship and fellowship withHim. They immediately tried to cover their sin, and hid from God, and He had tolook for them (Genesis 3:6-13).  Because we are all of Adam's seed, we are born sinners,separated from God. We are born “children of wrath”, dead in our trespasses andsins. Paul describes this way in Ephesians 2:1-5: “And you He made alive,who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to thecourse of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, thespirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all onceconducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,..." I never had to teach my children to be mean, to be selfish,or to do wrong. Nor did anyone need to teach me or anyone else to follow thepath of evil in our lives. We are born with the nature of sin that puts us onthis path from our birth! Yes, sin separates us from God! And our only hope is,in someway, to find mercy from God, and His forgiveness for our sin in order toenter back into a relationship with Him.  Thank God, from eternity past, God already had a plan ofredemption that would pay the price for our sin and set us free from the guiltand bondage of it. Again, Romans chapters 1 through 5, go into detail about oursin and how only the blood and death of God's perfect Son, Jesus Christ, wasthe only sacrificial and substitutionary death that could remove this sin fromus and bring us back into a relationship before God as if we had never sinned. Romans5:1-2 assures us of this: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Yes, our greatest need is forgiveness for our sin that we canonly experience by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work onthe cross (Ephesians 2:1-9). This reconciles us to God bringing His peace into ourhearts and lives and restores us to a relationship with Him. I'm convinced thatthe greatest human emotional experience that I can have, is to know that I amforgiven for all my sin, no longer under its condemnation and guilt and penalty.(Read Luke 18:10-14). But just as I need forgiveness from God for my salvation, Ineed daily forgiveness for my fellowship with the Lord. And, that is what Jesusis teaching us to pray for here in Luke 11:4. When we begin to pray and enter “OurFather's” presence, and experience His holiness, we become acutely aware of ourdaily failures and sins. That is what John is talking about in 1 John 1:7-9: “Butif we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with oneanother, and the blood of Jesus “Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If wesay that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Ifwe confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and tocleanse us from all unrighteousness.” My friend, that is why forgiveness is still our great needevery day! So we can enjoy continuous worship and fellowship with our Lord. Areyou experiencing His forgiveness today? God bless!

We can't talk enough about the importance of prayer, the priorityof prayer, the power of prayer, the purpose of prayer, the place of prayer andthe pattern of prayer. Volumes of books have been written on the subject ofprayer. For sure, preaching or teaching about prayer is one of my favorite topics.This is what we have been looking at here in Luke 11:1-13. The greatest teacherthat ever lived is teaching His disciples about prayer by giving them a patternto guide them in their praying. Especially, on how to pray and what to pray for. Jesus first teaches them, and us, to begin our prayers byremembering and meditating on the Father's purity. In the Old Testament theholiness and purity of God is revealed by His name. In the second of the TenCommandments we are warned not to “take the name of the LORD our God in vain”.Which means we are never to use His name in an empty way. James teaches us thatour hearts must be pure as we enter God's presence: “Draw near to God and Hewill draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts,you double-minded” (James 4:8).  After we occupy our hearts and minds with our Father'spurity, we then can focus on our Father's purposes. “Your kingdom come, Yourwill be done…”. It has always been God's purpose to establish a glorious,righteous kingdom here on earth. Our prayers to our Father are used by God toaccomplish this great purpose! Jesus made it very clear that He Himself wassent to only do the will of His Father (John 5:30). In John 6:38, Jesus said, “ForI have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him whosent Me.”  Just before Jesus ascended back into heaven after His resurrection,He told His disciples in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent Me, I also sendyou.”  We are included in thissending! We are here to do the Father's will on earth and fulfill the purposes ofHis kingdom rule on earth just as it is in heaven. Today we are looking at the first personal petition in thispattern of prayer that concerns our Father's provision for our daily needs! Oncewe are secure in our relationship with God and His will, then we can bring ourrequests to Him (Luke 11:3-4). We can ask Him to provide our needs (not ourgreeds!) for today, to forgive us for what we have done yesterday, and to leadus in the future. All of our needs may be included in these three requests:material and physical provision, moral and spiritual perfection, and divineprotection and direction. “Give us day by day our daily bread"(Luke 11:3). Three important truths are tucked in this part of the prayer aboutthe resources of God. First, our Father's favor. "Give." Ourblessings come from God, not by merit but by mercy. God must "give,"for we do not earn. The very nature of God is to give. Remember John 3:16, “ForGod so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….”. Our FatherGod delights to give good gifts to His children. “Every good gift and everyperfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whomthere is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).  Second, our faith is involved because we are to ask, "dayby day." Our request is not for a week's, a month's, or a year's supply,but a daily supply. This requires faith each day. Jesus also taught this truthin His “Mount of Beatitude's” message in Matthew 6:30-34:  Third, our request involves food. “Bread”. Rememberthe manna in the wilderness that fell daily for the people of Israel in thewilderness? But we are not only to pray and trust the Lord for our dailyphysical needs but also for our daily spiritual food! We desperately need ourFather's Holy Spirit to feed our soul and our spirit with the “Bread of Life”,the Word of God, Jesus Christ, to be able to be strong for each day's journeyand all the challenges that come with it!  Are you trusting the Lord today for your physical and spiritualneeds? God bless!