Luke 15-16 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Luke 15:1-16:31.

“What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses” (Luke 16:3-4).

I know this kind of fear. Sometimes, like the unfaithful steward, it is because of my own mistakes. Sometimes it is just because of the hand life has dealt me. Fear procrastinates. Fear paralyzes. Most of our fears never come to fruition. The ones that do, usually happen because our fears cause us to act in such a way that our fears come about.

How do we deal with that? We do what the steward did. We do something. He faced his fears. He came up with a decision and he started to act. If you fear that you bounced a check, don’t cower in that fear. Do the action of balancing your checkbook and find out. If you fear that you have some sickness, don’t hide from the doctors in fear. Do the action of going to the doctor. You may find out you don’t have it. Then you can move on without fear. You may find out that you do have it. If so, now you can start dealing with it. If you fear that you won’t be a success, don’t isolate yourself in your fears. Start getting input on how to be a success and then take action each day.

Action is the enemy of fear. Take action and watch most of your fears melt away.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can leave your input by clicking here.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is Revelation 19:1-20:15.

“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).

D0 you ever feel like you’re just not going to make it? Like our enemy is too powerful to overcome? Does it ever seem like victory is outside of your grasp? I know the feeling. That’s why I’m glad to be reading Revelation today. What a book of victory. Sure, it seems like the enemy is winning, but in the end God wins. The kings of this world may be reigning, but they reign for only one hour.

If we simply hang on to Jesus, our reign will be as a 1000 years in comparison. We will be victorious in Christ. We will win. Death will have no power over us. We will have life abundantly and eternally. We are the priests of God and of Christ. We can hope and trust in Him. He will lead us to victory. Praise God!

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Revelation 17:1-18:24.

“And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast” (Revelation 17:12).

It is so easy to look at the world and get discouraged. It seems that sin and Satan reign. Atheists and agnostics have the ear of the media. Islam is touted as a model religion. The arrogant and self-righteous often pose as Christian leaders. Television, radio, and billboards advertise sin for sale. Sometimes it seems like God is losing.

We have nothing to fear. The Lord’s enemies may reign, but their reign is only for an hour. They may make the most of their hour. But, this too shall pass.  We need only hang for a little while, holding on to God. He will win. We will reign with Him. And as their reign passes like an hour, ours will last as a thousand years. Praise God!

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS: What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 9:1-10:42.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

I’ve spent so much of my time trying to explain what this passage doesn’t mean that I’ve often lost the great comfort it does mean. If I’m one of Christ’s sheep, hearing His voice, and following Him, I can’t be lost. I won’t stray. No one can snatch me out of His hand.

I don’t have to fear that somehow Satan is going to pull a fast one on me, trick me right at the end, get me out of Christ’s hand, then kill me. I’m a sheep of the great Shepherd. He is protecting me.

Of course, I’m not saying I’m perfect right now and nothing will keep me from being perfect. Rather, I’m saying that I’m growing in Christ and I don’t have to fear that Satan is going to stop that as long as I continue to follow the Shepherd. I don’t have to live in fear today that somehow Satan is veiling something from me or that somehow the people around me will keep me out of the fold. I can trust in the Good Shepherd who so wanted to save me that He laid down His life for me. I can put my eternal life in His hands. Where He leads is the way to go. I’ll just follow Him.

Today, I need to simply follow the Shepherd’s lead. I can’t possibly be lost if I do that.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Hebrews 13:1-25; James 1:1-27.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:19-21).

I have a tendency to equate “save” with “forgive.” While being forgiven is part of being saved, the two are not completely synonymous. Being saved means being made whole, being healed, being fixed. That is what I want. I don’t simply want to be forgiven. I want to be made well. I want the sickness of my sins removed. I want the control of sin removed. I want my defects discarded. I want to be fixed. I want to be saved.

Sadly, I have learned I do not have that power. I cannot save myself. No amount of my good works will do it. No amount of my decision making will do it. I’ve tried that path but I have already let myself become sin’s slave. What am I to do? James says the word of God is able to save me.

Today, if I want to be saved, I need to be in God’s word. I need to be quick to hear it. That is, not only letting its words enter my ears but also allowing them to impact my life. I need to be slow to speak, that is, slow to say the way I think things should be and slow to speak against what I hear. I need to be slow to anger. I may not like everything God’s word says. If I give myself to anger against it, I will not attain the righteousness of God.

I don’t read the word today because God has given me homework. I read it because the word is able to save me and I want saving.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Hebrews 9:1-10:39.

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).

I see that I have a problem. Even though I’m in Christ and have received forgiveness, I allow my conscience to be plagued by my past sins instead of purified from them. I know there must be a balance here. If I completely forget that I’ve sinned, I will forget my need for Jesus. However, when I allow my past sins to plague me, I generally get sucked back into them because of the guilt and shame they carry.

The Hebrew writer demonstrates that Jesus’ death cleanses and purifies my conscience. The part of me that considers right and wrong and chooses to act is set aright by Jesus. As it is purified, I’m set free from the bondage of dead works in order to serve the living God. That is exactly what I want.

If I am going to serve the living God today, my conscience must be purified by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is going to purify my conscience, I need to quit dragging those dead works back into my conscience. Instead, I need to let them stay in the past, purified by Jesus and His death so that today I can serve the living God. Dwelling on those past mistakes doesn’t help me. It hurts me. Jesus has dealt with them. I need to let it go at that.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Hebrews 3:1-4:16.

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13).

I must take care that I do not fall away from the living God. I must do that. But, I can’t help but see that I don’t have to do it alone. Instead, we must do it together. We must encourage one another. We must exhort one another. We must help one another. Otherwise we will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

I need others. I need others to encourage me. I need others to build me up. I need others to exhort me. But, of course, if I will gain this from others, I have to open up to them. Certainly, the general nature of encouragement can be helpful. But I do know I receive a lot more help from those who know what I deal with in specific rather than just the general. I’m so glad I’ve got brothers who know me and still are willing to encourage me.

Thank you, God, for brethren.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Hebrews 1:1-2:18.

“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).

For the longest time, I thought the help I needed from Jesus was forgiveness after I’ve already sinned. I do need that help, but that is not the help the Hebrew writer talks about. He says Jesus can help me when I am being tempted. I do not have to face the temptation fight alone and then turn to Jesus if I failed. Rather, when I’m in the temptation, I can turn to Jesus.

I can turn to Jesus by getting into His word. I can turn to Jesus through prayer. I can turn to Jesus by getting help from Jesus’ people. I can ask for strength. I can ask to find in Jesus whatever I’m looking for in the proffered temptation. I do not have to wait to receive God’s grace through Jesus after I’ve sinned, I can seek His grace to have the strength to overcome my sins.

I’m not facing temptation alone. I’m facing life with Jesus at my side.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 2 Peter 2:1-3:18.

“Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9).

God was able to rescue lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. But that rescue was not simply from the destruction that would come upon them. No, it was rescue from their perversity and sin. Lot was tormented by their unrighteousness and God delivered him from that. In the same way, though we are surrounded by temptation and trial, God can keep us and protect us.

Instead of facing my temptations and trying to overcome them on my own. I need to flee into God’s arms and let Him protect me. I need to simply find His direction and follow it. He will be able to protect me from my temptations. He will be able to protect me from myself. As long as I’m fighting the battles with my own strength, I will fall. But when I rely on God and turn to Him for protection, He will give it. I can take comfort knowing that God is actively working on my behalf to protect me from sin.

Today, I need to get into God’s word, find His direction for me and follow it. That is the only way I’ll overcome.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS: For all you sticklers out there, I know we have no idea what the fruit in the garden was. If you find a picture that represents temptation without an apple, send it my way.

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 1:1-2:25.

“…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Too often I’ve thought that grace was God’s ability to overlook my sins. But that is not true. God has not overlooked my sins. He hasn’t winked at a single one. Rather, He has stared at them in all His glory and all my horror. He could not help but see them glaring from my heart.  He does not dismiss them; He deals with them. He does not wink at them; He washes them away. He does not pass over them; He pays for them. What is the purchase price for my sins? Not gold. Not silver. Not all the money in the world. The purchase price was Jesus’ blood.

No longer can I dismiss my sins with a wink and a nod toward God’s grace. “Oh well, we’re all human, that’s what God’s grace is for.” God’s grace is not some ethereal force out there wandering around looking for sins to cover up from God’s eyes. God’s grace is the blood of Jesus Christ. Every sin I commit costs Jesus’ life. Every lie, every idle gossip, every look of lust, every cheat on a test, every rebellious notion is only paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

How can I turn a blind eye to my sins when God did not? How can I wink at my wrongs when the cost is so great? How can I dismiss my defects when Jesus’ death is the purchase price for them? Today, I’m going to throw myself into Jesus’ hands to grow in Him by His grace so I am not asking the price to be paid again.

Yes, when I fail, I know the price has been paid and I’m eternally grateful. But I will not devalue that price by assuming Jesus paid it so I could sin as much as I wanted.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?