Tag Archives: Gospel of Luke

November 11, 2015 · 10:22 am

Passing Through

From Luke 4

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

When we think of Jesus’ miracles we consider events like healings, resurrections, calming the sea, walking on water, or turning water into wine. We never see this miracle listed, but I see it as an incredible moment that relates to our journeys so often. How many times have you walked through frightening, dangerous, heartbreaking situations and gone on to live out your life? How many times have you not been able to explain how you did it, how you made it through? How many times have you weathered opposition and hostility and continued to live victoriously? How many times has your broken heart healed? How many times has your mind been calmed by an unexplainable peace? How many times has your soul been restored? How many times have you been at the edge of the cliff sure you were going over, when some Presence led you through the fear and pain and hurt and death? Each of those times was a miracle.

Jesus knows all about standing at the cliff’s edge with other situations or people pushing you over. He knows what it is like to look down at a chasm of hopelessness and despair. He understands the pounding of your heart, the wrenching of your gut, the tears of your hurt. He reaches out his hand and leads you as you pass through the midst of them and go on your way to love and serve Him.

Reflection

What has Christ helped you pass through?

1 Comment

Filed under Christian Journey, Devotional reading

Tagged as Absolute Truth, Baptism, Bible, Christ, God, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Lord's Prayer, Pharisees

October 14, 2015 · 9:48 am

Having a Prayer

Some years ago, when Leonard Griffith was pastor of the famous City Temple in London, he wrote a fascinating book entitled Barriers to Christian Belief. In that book he dealt with some problems that have over the years been real obstacles and stumbling blocks for people in their faith pilgrimage… specific problems that hinder people, that burden people, that disturb people… and keep them away from the Christian faith. One of the barriers he listed was…”unanswered prayer.” It does seem to be a fact of our experience that many people do get discouraged and they do give up and drop out on the faith because they feel a sense of failure in their prayer life.

This leads us to ask then… “How do you pray?” “Why pray at all?” “When do you pray?” “Is there a special formula or a sacred language that should be used?” One thing is clear. There are many questions and there is much misunderstanding about how you pray and why. In a Peanuts cartoon Charlie Brown is kneeling beside his bed for prayer. Suddenly he stops and says to Lucy, “I think I’ve made a new theological discovery, a real breakthrough. If you hold your hands upside down, you get the opposite of what you pray for.”

Prayer must be more than an emergency magical lamp rubbed in a crisis. The truth is that many people give up on prayer because they never understand what prayer is. Much that passes for prayer is irrational, superstitious, and self-centered, and is therefore unworthy of the pattern of the prayer that Jesus offered to us his disciples.

How do you pray and why? We are not the first to ask. The disciples of Jesus

came to Him one day and said, “Lord, teach us. Teach us to pray!” Notice something here. When did the disciples ask for this? When did they make this request? Was it after Jesus gave a lecture on prayer? No! Was it after Jesus led a seminar on prayer? No! Was it after Jesus preached a powerful sermon on prayer? No! None of these. Remember how it is recorded in Luke 11… “Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished, they said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.'” They saw the power of prayer in Him. They saw how important prayer was to Him. See the point. Harry Emerson Fosdick stresses it in his book, The Secret of Victorious Living. “Note that this awakened interest in prayer came not at all from new arguments about it, but from a new exhibition of its power. Here, before their very eyes, they saw a personality in whom prayer was vital and influential! The more they lived with him, the more they saw that they could never explain him or understand him unless they understood his praying and so not at all because of new arguments, but because of amazing spiritual power released in him by prayer. They wanted him to tell them how to pray.”

The disciples sometimes were slow to learn, but at this point they were quickly and precisely on target. They saw in Jesus the answer to this question: how do we pray and why do we pray? And they learned from Him what the elements are that lead to a meaningful prayer life.

The Contemplative Companion for Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (contemplativechristians.com)

3 Comments

Filed under Jesus, Prayer

Tagged as Abraham, Bible, Christ, Christianity, God, Gospel of Luke, Jesus, Muslim, Prayer, Twitter

May 4, 2015 · 10:38 am

The Dark Journey

We May say that there are three reasons for which this journey made by the soul to union with God is called night.

· The ﬁrst has to do with the point from which the soul goes forth, for it has gradually to deprive itself of desire for all the worldly things which it possessed, by denying them to itself; the which denial and deprivation are, as it were, night to all the senses of man.

· The second reason has to do with the mean, or the road along which the soul must travel to this union — that is, faith, which is likewise as dark as night to the understanding.

· The third has to do with the point to which it travels — namely, God, Who, equally, is dark night to the soul in this life.

These three nights must pass through the soul — or, rather, the soul must pass through them — in order that it may come to Divine union with God.

—- John of the Cross from Ascent to Mt. Carmel

The writings of John of the Cross clearly point toward the ultimate mystery of attempting to reach into the inner sanctum of spiritual development. In this small excerpt from his “Ascent to Mt. Carmel,” he points out that the end of every path there is night (mystery) as we ascend to a meaningful relationship with God. We often think we can understand and reach union with God without encountering the pain of mystery. Such a path does not exist. Let us examine these three reasons we experience this night.

Preparation for the journey, any journey, is always stressful. There are plans to be made, things to be done that are not always things we look forward to doing. In the case of spiritual preparation we must learn to deny ourselves. Jesus asks us to take up a cross and follow Him. Fasting, denial, even simple living are among the things that can bring us into the night. All these disciplines, and more, are what it takes to journey closer to God.

Faith for the journey is a tall order. In the simplest of terms “… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We live and breathe in a world that is constantly seeking to understand, prove or discover all manner of truth. Conversely, faith on the road to God cannot be understood, proven or discovered in any tangible way. Faith is clearly a journey into the night that only has God at the end of a dark tunnel.

Focus for the journey is found in an unshakable belief (most of the time) in the person of God. There is much darkness in not seeing. We can’t see or touch God and yet we spend our lives trying to get closer to Him. That is a remarkably dark and lonely place to be. Through resolute behavior and unshakable faith we can reach into the inner sanctum and find God.

May we all commit ourselves to this ascent to God, for in it we find a heavenly Peace.

Leave a comment

Filed under John of the Cross

Tagged as Academic term, Apostle (Christian), Bible, Christ, Christian, Christianity, God, Gospel of Luke, Jesus, Lord

November 17, 2013 · 5:30 am

Nothing Else Matters

Luke 15:11-32

In the grand scheme of written material, we have only a few words that Jesus actually said. Because they are so few, they are all the more precious and

meaningful. Jesus often taught using parables – short, easy to remember stories that teach an important lesson in faith. Without exception, these stories are portraits of grace that stir our minds and hearts. They are forever relevant keys to growth in kingdom living that challenge our natural inclinations to prejudice, selfishness, judgmentalism, misplaced priorities, and self righteousness. They teach us that when we do acts of mercy, love, and compassion we are truly living in the kingdom of God. Parables teach us that grace is a gift of God to be passed on to all we meet, that forgiveness is not an option, that each person is of equal yet priceless value, and that knowing God is the only treasure that matters. They give us insights to the nature of the Father through the stories of the son.

One of my favorite parables is the Prodigal Son, or more accurately the Gracious Father. The central truth of this story is the Father’s eager forgiveness and unconditional restoration of his wayward child. He had lived so long with the awful gnawing fear that his son was dead. He had relived countless memories of when he was a little boy. He had remembered in detail the funny, sweet things the boy had done. He had imagined his smile and the way laughter just bubbled out of him when he played. He had thought about how he looked when he was asleep and the times he had held him when he was hurt or afraid. Now he was here! He was alive and he was home! Nothing else mattered!

The image of the Father running down the road to meet his son with open arms of love and acceptance takes my breath away. That image stays with me in one of my most precious memories.

Our son returned to Fort Hood, Texas, after a yearlong deployment to Iraq. When his battalion came marching across the parade ground, I spotted him in formation just by the way he walks. When the welcome home speeches were made and the ropes holding back the families were removed, I took off in an all-out sprint! For so long I had lived with the awful fear that I would never see him again. In that year, I had recalled hundreds of sweet memories: the way he smiles, his first steps, stitches in his foot, rocking him to sleep. Now he was here! He was alive and he was home! Nothing else mattered!

So, it is with God the Father. He anguishes over our hurts and our loneliness, our rejection and our sins. But, we are reconciled to Him, because He RUNS to us with open arms of understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness. We are home! Nothing else matters!

Reflection – When has the Father run to you with forgiveness, acceptance, and hope?

Monica Boudreaux

Prodigal Son Parable Changes the Paradigm (christianity201.wordpress.com)

2 Comments

Filed under Faithfulness, Progdical Son, Reflections

Tagged as Fort Hood, God, God Father, Gospel of Luke, Iraq, Jesus, Jesus' parables, Parable of the Prodigal Son

November 10, 2013 · 8:48 am

What then Should We Do?

The prophet tells us : “And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” (Luke 3:10-11) The crowd was speaking to John the Baptist about how they would live the Missional life. They were confused and waiting for the Rabbis to tell them what to do. Perhaps Synagogue’s Missions Committee would set up a program so that they could “plug In”. Instead John said: JUST DO IT !

What should we do ? Do as the prophet said two thousand years ago. Share as you go, give your personal property away to those who are in need, live a life of simply caring about others. Caring becomes a way of life and the first thing you know it will be better to give than to receive.

OK, some action suggestions:

Give something of your own to a person in need.
Give food or help to a homeless person (it doesn’t matter WHY they are homeless).
Give a smile or a kind word to a stranger.
Pick up some trash in your neighborhood–just because.
Volunteer at a park,zoo or hospital.
Become a mentor for a child.

These are just a few ways that you can just do something Missional this week. The message -DON’T WAIT- just do it !

Leave a comment

Filed under Christian Living

Tagged as Baptist, Gospel of Luke, Homelessness, Jesus, John, John the Baptist, People, Religion and Spirituality

September 14, 2013 · 5:00 am

A Thousand Graces

Pouring out a thousand graces,
he passed these groves in haste;

and having looked at them,

with his image alone,
clothed them in beauty.

——John of the Cross

Canticle Stanza 5

This stanza of John’s Canticle begins to tell us of the sheer beauty of the presence of God. Despite the fact that the seeker misses the grace that God so freely bestows, it is still there. The seeker is reminded of the ease of God’s creation and the testimony it leaves to everyone. In His haste, He gives a thousand graces. The beauty of the grove is a living testimony to Him.

Through His image alone, He clothes them with beauty. This beauty is beyond anything man can muster. The creation cries out the magnificence and power of the Creator. The seeker, like us, needs to take heed of what is given. When we feel the sense of abandonment as John of the Cross felt, we can look at the Word. In Romans we are told, “Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.” Sometimes we do not see “the beloved” because we do not look. Nature finds Him when we are blind.

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27 KJV

Leave a comment

Filed under Christian Journey, Contemplation, Devotional Quotes, John of the Cross

Tagged as Authorized King James Version, Beauty, God, Gospel of Luke, Jesus, John, John of the Cross, Religion and Spirituality

July 15, 2013 · 11:46 am

Encourage Someone

Luke tells us of the apostle Paul, “When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers much encouragement.” Acts 20:2. It seems that the real calling of a Christian is to be an encourager. The question arises-How can you encourage someone?

Let me offer a few suggestions:

Write someone a handwritten note of just plain appreciation for just being your friend.
Call someone early in the morning and tell them something positive but true to start their day. (what a great pick up for the day)
Write someone a prayer note.
Smile at the waitress, cashier, stranger….
Take someone out to lunch ( that means you pay).
Allow merging traffic to merge!!
Buy flowers or candy for your wife, husband,partner,girlfriend or child.

Let’s all make this week the week we are intentional and missional about being encouragers. You can and will make a difference.

2 Comments

Filed under Encouragement, Positive Attitude

Tagged as Apostle Paul, Christian, Christianity, God, Gospel of Luke, Jesus, Luke, Paul

July 12, 2013 · 11:28 am

Do Something

The prophet tells us: “And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share

with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” (Luke 3:10-11) The crowd was speaking to John the Baptist about how they would live the Missional life. They were confused and waiting for the Rabbis to tell them what to do. Perhaps Synagogue’s Missions Committee would set up a program so that they could “plug in”. Instead John said: JUST DO IT!

What should we do? Do as the prophet said two thousand years ago. Share as you go, give your personal property away to those who are in need, live a life of simply caring about others. Caring becomes a way of life and the first thing you know it will be better to give than to receive.

OK, some action suggestions:

Give something of your own to a person in need.
Give food or help to a homeless person (it doesn’t matter WHY they are homeless).
Give a smile or a kind word to a stranger.
Pick up some trash in your neighborhood–just because.
Volunteer at a park, zoo or hospital.
Become a mentor for a child.

These are just a few ways that you can just do something Missional as you journey.

The message -DON’T WAIT- just do it!

2 Comments

Filed under Christian Journey, Christian Living, Missional Living

Tagged as Baptist, Gospel of Luke, Homelessness, Jesus, John, John Baptist, Luke, Rabbi

March 25, 2013 · 2:25 pm

Passing Through

Luke 4: 16-30

Jesus went home. After ministering in Galilee he decided to go back to Nazareth, to reconnect with those who had known him as a little boy, to visit his mom, to speak at the synagogue that he knew like the back of his hand. At the synagogue, he spoke about his mission. The locals were at first offended and then enraged. They took him to the cliff which marked the edge of town with plans to throw him off. Then the miracle happened. Scripture says, “But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” One man in an angry mob and “he passed through the midst of them!” He did not call for help or fight his way clear. He just passed through them.
When we think of Jesus’ miracles we consider events like healings, resurrections, calming the sea, walking on water, or turning water into wine. We never see this miracle listed, but I see it as an incredible moment that relates to our journeys so often. How many times have you walked through frightening, dangerous, heartbreaking situations and gone on to live out your life? How many times have you not been able to explain how you did it, how you made it through? How many times have you weathered opposition and hostility and continued to live victoriously? How many times has your broken heart healed? How many times has your mind been calmed by an unexplainable peace? How many times has your soul been restored? How many times have you been at the edge of the cliff sure you were going over, when some Presence led you through the fear and pain and hurt and death? Each of those times was a miracle.

Reflection – What has Christ helped you pass through?

Leave a comment

Filed under Christian Living, Church, Faithfulness, Missional Living

Tagged as Christ, Christianity, Galilee, Gospel of Luke, Jesus, Luke, Miracle, Nazareth