As a confession, I slipped in my Bible-reading habits and enthusiasm the last two weeks, which led to me faltering in other areas of my life. With God’s help, I’m back on the horse, and back to reading through the Gospels where I left off.
Yesterday’s readings included reiterations of key points Jesus has brought up that are more well-known in another book of Scripture:
Yesterday’s readings included reiterations of key points Jesus has brought up that are more well-known in another book of Scripture:
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”Luke 12:7 NKJV
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.””Luke 12:20-21 NKJV
The above is the closing portion of the Parable of the Rich Fool, who decided to retire early and enjoy all the money and possessions he had (which was a lot). Jesus gives a stern warning for those who intentionally choose to be rich toward themselves. It is off this point that Jesus states two other well-known verses:
“Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?”Luke 12:22-28 NKJV
This is in a sense, word for word, a reiteration of some of the things He said in His Sermon on the Mount (or the Plain). They key verses that got my attention yet again, in part because I had gotten my eyes off Jesus the last couple weeks:
““And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”Luke 12:29-31 NKJV
““Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Luke 12:32-34 NKJV
Then, to today’s readings, this jumped out to me:
“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””Luke 14:11 NKJV
I think that humility is a reminder we all constantly need (myself especially included!). Jesus had just finished up a brief teaching about the importance of humility, for example at a large meal that someone else puts on. And if you yourself were to put on a feast, to not believe neglect those who are overlooked:
“But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.””Luke 14:13-14 NKJV
It is only after this that He then shares a parable to further illustrate His explanation:
“Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’”Luke 14:16-20 NKJV
In laying the groundwork, Jesus explains that, more often than not, the people we tend to prefer (and especially the types of people we tend to prefer), often may not value us the same as we might value them. (How true this has been in my life!) and because He has also said:
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”Psalms 34:18 NKJV
(And before anyone goes off saying, “this is from the Psalms! Jesus didn’t write the Psalms; David did!” Let me remind you that the Bible also says this:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”John 1:1-3 NKJV
And this:
“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”I John 5:7 NKJV
And might I remind you also of this:
““The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.””Isaiah 61:1-3 NKJV
And this:
““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;”Luke 4:18 NKJV
OK, I believe I’ve made my point: Jesus is the inerrant Bible, and the inerrant Bible is Jesus. Back to topic now.)
As such, because He is near to the brokenhearted and the poor in spirit, He commands us to do the same, as explained below:
“So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ””Luke 14:21-24 NKJV
Further, this is also a warning to us who say that we are believers and followers of Jesus Christ as our King and Savior. Yes, we need to show our love for Him by treating others as we would like to be treated ourselves, but we also need to spend time with Him, like, constantly:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”John 15:4 NKJV
The fruit of which Jesus speaks about here is that of loving others as He has loved us. “Good works” on their own avail us nothing, no special blessing or extra favor. But good works that are borne out of having spent copious amounts of time with Him, will be saturated with His love. We will be doing those good works, such as inviting the overlooked persons to our feasts, as one example.
In 2018, I had a vision of what one aspect of the end times might look like. I had lain down for a brief nap, during which I didn’t fall completely asleep (I was still conscious but very relaxed). It began as a decision I made to forgive a couple people that I had been close with. And I meant it. Forgiveness is one of the top commands in the Bible. What resulted from that was a vision in which I was suspended over Lake Michigan looking at the downtown Chicago skyline, from perhaps about 1000 feet in the air and maybe a half mile to a mile offshore. The clouds overhead were dark, like extremely dark. Flaming projectiles were coming in from the right at about a 60-degree angle (I was facing south-southwest, so these things were coming in from the west). Then I saw little spotlights pop out from random spots in the clouds going downward, creating what appeared to be columns of light. At each instance, I saw a few individuals rising up within these columns of light. Not many; just a few here and there. Then I looked upward and saw in the cloud what appeared to be a large door opening, almost like a large supernatural crate or building suspended in the sky. There was great light behind that door, and it was at this point that I myself ascended to head to that door opening. I then snapped out of this vision and in a sense “woke up.”
I’ve been told that for those who truly trusted in Jesus as their King and Savior, and lived their lives to His service, one of the many rewards will be a great feast in heaven, with food, fellowship with other true believers, and of course with the Lord Jesus Himself. As it is written:
I’ve been told that for those who truly trusted in Jesus as their King and Savior, and lived their lives to His service, one of the many rewards will be a great feast in heaven, with food, fellowship with other true believers, and of course with the Lord Jesus Himself. As it is written:
“Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.””Revelation 19:9 NKJV
Given that this is the same King and Savior Jesus Christ, Who, while on earth, instructed us to invite the lowly and humble of heart, despite their appearance, would it not follow that that is exactly how He operates? We know that Jesus Christ is no hypocrite; He does exactly what He says He will do, all the time. Therefore, it would follow that we must do the same, those of us who claim to believe and to follow Him.
There’s more, and I’m still only partway through this day’s reading. But I’ll stop there for now.
Be blessed, all who come across this page and read.