February 20, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in our Lenten readings from “The Life of Jesus”? Here’s today’s reading:
Day 2 in the Book: “The Life of Jesus“
The Year of Growing Opposition
Read Sections 4.37 through 4.40 (pages 98-103)
This book is an account of Jesus’ life and teachings told through in chronological order from the four Gospels to create one continuous story.
*If you do not have a copy of the book please contact the church at (401)667-0775 and we can get you a copy.
Read Lenten Day 1 and Day 2. Wonderful to be in the Word.
9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 ¶ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
”Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.“
Luke 10:20 KJV
The 72 come back rejoicing that the spirits were subject to them. I was thinking that the power they had is given to us through the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I think we are ignorant of what we have and don’t believe/trust/use it. There is no place for pride, but rather rejoicing in Jesus’ work on our behalf, but perhaps we have gone to the other extreme and doubt the Spirit’s ability in us….even if it isn’t casting out demons, but just overcoming our own sin.
Great thought, Amy…I agree!
Acts 15-18
Steve McGowan
4:37 – 4:40
Wow…there is so much in these four sections!
4.37 Spiritual Blindness (John 9:35-41) In what ways has Jesus opened my eyes? How do I see now that I did not see before He opened them? Are there still ways in which I am choosing to remain blind? What is the root cause of residual blindness? What can I, through God’s grace and power in my new life, do about it? Does this passage in anyway make me think that Christ is content or satisfied with any residual blindness on my part? No…indeed, if I have been made to see, then it would not be residual blindness, but rather, simple disobedience on my part.
4.38 The Shepherd and His Sheep (John 10:1-21) I love how Jesus uses a metaphor that the people should understand, but they do not, so he has patience and tries again. Jesus is both the Gate and our Good Shepherd. Brings to mind his Word in John 14:6 “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” May this knowledge encourage us this day to be a light to the world, and share the love of Christ with the world around us!
4.39 On the Way with Jesus (Luke 9:51-62) A very convicting section of our study. I know that I have many concerns that can keep me from completely following Jesus. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what His will is for my life…how He wants to use me. But a lot of that time is spent trying to figure out how to meet the logistics of my life…how to earn enough money to provide for my family, where they will live, etc. It makes me think of Pilgrim’s Progress and how Pilgrim left his family behind. I am not saying that I am in that same place…but Jesus’s words are very convicting. May God have mercy on me and help me.
4.40 Jesus Sends Out 72 of His Followers (Luke 10:1-24) Jesus directly commissions a group of missionaries here and sends them out in pairs. He makes it clear “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Why is this? What prevents more laborers for the Gospel? Probably a lot of things, including the concerns I share above. Or maybe because Jesus sends us out “as lambs in the midst of wolves.” This goes to Pastor Peter’s message from Sunday. We are called to be fearless in the face of opposition. What keeps us from living that way? Finally, I love the last verse here where Jesus tells the missionaries, “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” We are so easily distracted and lose focus on what is most important…that Christ has saved us from our sins, and that we have been rejoined to God!
4.37
When speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said “if you were really blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but you say that you see, so you are still guilty”
I am having a hard time understanding this quote..
If we bring our need to Jesus (recognize that we are blind), than Jesus can save us. If we think we are all set (I can see), then He can’t (ie they are still guilty). It’s like the tax collector that came to the altar and says save me because I am a sinner. And the Pharisee that comes and says thank you God that I am not like this tax collector. Does that help?
Lenten Day 2
The Life of Jesus 4.37-4.40; Mark 11-12
What an awesome picture of Jesus watching protecting loving his sheep. We know his voice and he knows ours!!! Call on him he will answer!! Paid worker sees a wolf. See ya later. But if it’s family. Protect!! I give my life for my sheep Love these words along with. I have the power to lay my life down. And the power to raise it up again. Man just played the role the father had for them. Pawns!!
When Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”(Luke 9:62) He meant it(as with everything He says). John tells us in 1 John that if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”(1 John 2:15)
So don’t look back when chasing after Jesus, focus your eyes on Him and Him alone and He will reward you greatly. Do not let the world distract you from what matters whether that be from constant crap coming from your phone(get rid of it, trust me), the news(get rid of it), or from the many shiny items that are good-looking from the outside(pray and resist).
Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth no rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”(Matthew 6:19-21)
God wants us to be solely devoted to Him and nothing else.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”(Matthew 6:24)
In this passage Jesus is showing compassion to the man whom He healed and sought him out after the Pharisees kicked him out. He revealed Himself to him as the Son of Man. This healed man believed and bowed and worshiped Jesus. On the other hand Jesus called the Pharisees blind for they were spiritually. They didn`t come to faith as Abraham did but only sought to get to God by their good works. The scripture teaches that works cannot save a person. Ephesians 2:8,9 { For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.} Psalm 51:17 { The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.} Another thing that Jesus that stood out to me after Jesus said that His sheep will follow Him is the fact that Jesus will call all of His sheep by name. Can you picture that? Jesus knows us all by our name. He knows who we are and along with that our faults, strength, our weakness, our every little thought, and so much more. Yet with knowing all that He loves us and died for us. And desires to have a personal relationship with us for eternity. How amazing is that. And all He asks of us besides developing that relation with Him is to tell people about Him and how they can be saved. Just as He had His followers go out and tell people about Him. God bless you brothers and sisters.
There is something else that I want to share with you all. Recently I have been thinking about when I started doing the reading/ study that we do on this sight. I keep a journal of all my Bible readings and it shows that I started Feb. 14 and made statement on Feb 16 but to only say that I was there. A few days latter I actually started making comments. Let`s just say that I found my voice. So it has been a little over one year. It was after much encouragement by Melodye. For years I have read the Bible on my own but am so glad that I listened to my wife and joined in this reading/ study of the Bible. We can all learn from each other. There are so many good comments from each of you. May the Lord bless you.
So thankful for your shares, Dennis, as well as everyone else here in this study! Praying that more will join us as we study God’s Word together!
Thanks Sean for reminding that our names are written in heaven. Imagine that!!! Give me all the riches on this earth and they are a grain of sand compared to that!!!
Lenten 2024-Day 2
The thief comes to steal, scatter, attack, kill and destroy. He climbs in another way other than through the gate. Jesus IS the gate. Anyone who enters through it will be saved. He is the only way to salvation. Unlike the thief, he lays down his life for those he loves, and he has the power to take it up again. We are his followers, we recognize his voice when we study his word, pray, worship and fellowship with believers. We are one flock, we have One Shepherd and, regardless of our circumstances, we can always rejoice that our names are written in heaven!
No more precious thought is the one of our good Shepherd caring for His sheep. Leaving the 99 to go after the 1! We hear and recognize His voice and know He is pursuing us, bringing us back to the flock!
The 72 being spirit filled and performing miracles brought me to the same thought as Amy, if the same power exists today is it our disbelief that prevents us from experiencing the miraculous? Do we doubt ourselves or the power of the spirit in us? So often you hear people say we don’t see miracles anymore like in the Bible but I disagree. I know miracles happen everyday but spiritual blindness makes us like the Pharises explaining it away or not acknowledging it’s true cause. God is still working, He never stopped but we must trust the Holy Spirit, operate in the Holy Spirit, and shout from the rooftops that by God’s hand these things were done!
Lenten Day 2
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. If you don’t think you need Jesus because of all you are, you are in the worst place you can be. It is better to be a sinner in need of grace, than a righteous person who thinks he doesn’t need it. It is far better to come to the Good shepherd and recognize your need as a sheep and learn to hear His voice and follow. Others who may appear to be helpful but are against the things of Christ are thieves and robbers and should be disregarded. Jesus, on the other hand, has come to give us life and that more abundantly and He does that by laying down His own life in sacrifice so we can have access to God in our lives. And He did that willingly, not because someone made Him….amazing!!! And that is why we should follow Him without question, setting aside the things that might distract or entangle us and keep us from following Him as we should. And when we do follow Him, we can be used to advance His kingdom, which is really the greatest privilege. It is all about representing Him well and sharing the good news…and be in the best place spiritually to allow His power to flow in us and through us. After that, what miracles we see are up to God. And even when we are amazed over how God works and the miracles He performs to reveal His glory to those who don’t know Him, the greatest thing still is that our names are written in heaven. Nothing on earth can compare to that!