Luke 3:7-14

N Luke 3:7-14 crowds come out to John the Baptist seeking to b saved from “the coming wrath”,seeking some religious answer....the right church to join...the right religion to become a part of...the right Sunday school...the right Bible Study..,etc.JTB tells the people that none of these THINGS r the answer they r looking for.The “answer” is a life that comes into awareness of The Truth of “the way of the Lord”(Luke3:4b)&what all mankind will see as “God’s salvation”(Luke3:6),& then values the significance of The Truth with a life that is changed(makes an about face from previous life paradigms to a new set of life paradigms)by The Truth!A life that “produces fruit n keeping” w the changes inspired/motivated by The Truth-“repentance”!We do get caught up n what Wes King,n one of his songs,called “holy huddles” and their religious stuff...,& forget about how the Gospel of Jesus and His Words should b influencing the way we walk through our daily lives,  & how we think&what we think,etc.This is what JTB is addressing n our lives!The need to b aware of how I am living;thinking;prioritizing;& what I am saying & how I am treating people around me!JTB is telling me that if I am spending daily time reading God’s Word & praying and seeking Him,yet do not have a life that is changes by these things...,that I am one of the “brood of vipers”(Luke3:7b).Dear Lord Jesus,forgive me for being one of the brood of vipers so much of my day!Please make me aware of these times & bring me to repentance quickly.May Your strength and Your Spirit help me to make these changes more and more readily throughout every day,so I may know what You provide as freedom from crooked paths and then living n the straight paths of following You(Luke4:b).

Luke 2

God reveals Himself through every aspect of Creation/every aspect of Life...every aspect of my life!(Psalm18:1-4,”The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of his hands.Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.Their voice goes out into all the earth,their words to the ends of the world.”;Romans1:20,”For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”).God takes the responsibility for revealing Himself and His Mercy & Grace to all people...every person ever born and yet to be born.God has created absolutely everything to reveal His Glory to us,& sovereignly leverages every moment of history to reveal Himself to us!He does ALL of THIS,& then leaves THE DECISION up to us-what we will do with the trails of evidence He puts n our life.The Lord even did this with Joseph & Mary,the earthly parents of Jesus!When Jesus is born a “great company of the heavenly hosts” appear to some shepherds to tell them about not only the birth of Jesus but also about WHO Jesus is!(Luke2:8-20).These shepherds find Jesus,& tell Mary& Joseph everything the heavenly hosts had told them about Jesus.Mary is overwhelmed with “everything” she hears,& knows that she needs to “treasure up all these things and ponders them in her heart”(Luke2:19).The awesome information shared w her about the baby Jesus by the shepherds is so overwhelming w things she probably cannot fathom yet as she is changing diapers and feeding the baby Jesus.But something in her realizes that she cannot let what she has heard slip from her life...so she “treasures them up”.This treasuring up must have been a fairly regular thing for Mary & Joseph.They bring Jesus to b circumcised...& Simeon unpacks what the Holy Spirit had shared with him about Jesus...Joseph & Mary “marvel at what was said about him”(marvel = to be filled with wonder, admiration, or astonishment, as at something surprising or extraordinary).Joseph & Mary realized the value of what they were told,but not yet the significance!Still,they captured these things n their hearts&minds...they treasured them up.At the end of Luke2,Jesus stays behind at the temple “in his Father’s house”.Joseph & Mary are surely n panic mode as they go back to find Jesus.When they find the boy Jesus,he says to them,”Why were you searching for me...Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house.”(Luke2:49).Joseph & Mary “did not yet understand what he was saying to them.”)Luke2:50.BUT! Mary “treasured all these things in her heart.”(Luke2:51).God created absolutely everything for the purpose of revealing Himself/His Glory to us,&has weaved His Mercy & Grace into every moment of history,while also revealing evil and its very nature.What we “do” with all of this information is up to us.Satan has a ploy to bend our minds & hearts away from TRUTH,because TRUTH of all things reveals God’s Glory/Grace/Mercy...and His Awesome Love to us.Satan will twist&bend TRUTH & the ways that God has personally intervened in our lives...,so we will utterly discount&deny the Love of God and His Mercy&Grace.This is why we must rightly treasure up God’s Word in our lives,& treasure up all He has done for us and shown to us personally!If not,we may never find the Overwhelming Awesome JOY of knowing WHO Jesus is,& WHAT he has done for us.Dear Lord Jesus,I have let so much of what you have done n my life and shown me personally,escape from my heart&mind.Please restore these into my life & make their significance have the impact in my life...so that I may know more fully Your love for me,& Your Ways that I should I should b following in every day I live.

Mark 13:35-37

N Mark13:35-37,toward the end of Jesus’ Earthly ministry,when He knew the time of His leaving was coming soon,Jesus says,”Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether n evening,or at midnight,or when the rooster crows,or at dawn.If he suddenly comes,do not let him find you sleeping.What I say to you,I say to everyone:Watch!”Jesus knows that we tend to leave our hearts/minds/lives “unattended”/unprotected from whatever may come into our lives for the purpose of luring our hearts/minds/lives away from the right & true ways of honoring Christ;His Word;& His Spirit in & with our lives.Of course Jesus is talking about the obvious sources that deliberately attempt to mislead&misguide us.Jesus is also calling us to Discernment & Wisdom based on what He has Taught&Demonstrated with His Word;&His Life,so that even the slyest of ways the enemy uses will b thwarted by GOD’s TRUTH,& THE TRUTH of The Gospel,&what The Gospel empowers n our lives.Satan will use any means to chip away even the smallest bit of TRUTH away from us.Satan knows that if he can chip away at TRUTH,he has the potential to inflict our lives w a significant crack n our right relationship w The Lord.And once he has inflicted 1 crack,he has easier access n our lives to begin chipping away at another.Throughout history,the first place that Satan has sought to inflict a crack...is aimed at The Word of God.The foundation of ALL LIFE is from The Word of God(John1:1-4,”In the beginning was the Word,& the Word was with God,& the Word was God.He was n the beginning w God.All things were made through him.& w/out Him was not anything made that was made.In Him was life,& the life was the light of men.”).It is at the FOUNDATION of all life that Satan is primarily targeting his efforts!If he is successful at chipping away at The Word,he knows that he can then chip away at the significance of Jesus Christ...& the TRUTHS fulfilled by His birth/life/ministry/sufferings/death/resurrection/ascension!(John1:14,”And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,& we have seen His Glory,Glory as the only Son from the Father,full of grace&truth.”)The Word is FOUNDATIONAL & THE EMPOWERING/SUSTAINER of all life...and Jesus is The Word!.Any time that we allow the smallest “piece” of TRUTH to be chipped away,we allow Jesus to become a little less than what HE IS!This gives Satan great joy!The attributes of Jesus are immeasurable!But when 1 chip is made n “immeasurable”(which by definition is impossible anyway...),then “the immeasurable” becomes measurable! What is Infinity becomes measurable;what is ALL POWERFUL becomes less than all powerful;Boundless Mercy is made less than what we need;Abounding Love becomes less than enough;etc.The primary target of THE ENEMY has always been,& is always The Word of God!Satan knows this is a direct assault on Jesus!We need to know this also!So we will b deliberate n protecting AWE of God’s Word,& not reduce God’s Word to anything less that The Miraculous Revelation of God’s Character/Love/Mercy/Grace& His Ways...for our good!Dear Lord,protect me from allowing Your Word to become anything less than what IT is...help me to continually b n AWE of the TRUTHS You reveal through Your Word,& The Miraculous Ways that you work n my life through Your Word.

Mark 11:27-33

N Mark 11:27-33, Jesus has a group of church folks come up to him to ask a couple questions.After they ask their questions,Jesus asks a question to reveal whether or not these church folks are truly/sincerely interested in finding/hearing the TRUTH.If we r not sincerely interested n learning what Jesus has to say “into” our life,then Jesus will “hold back” giving us what boils down to even more of what we will ultimately b responsible for.In our sin we r already “guilty of enough” to b condemned forever(James2:10.”For whoever keeps the whole law but fails n one point has become accountable for all of it.”).So,in the awesome Mercy of God,HE will not make us responsible for more by “enlightening” us to more of His Truths.If we r not going to listen and apply what God has to say already in HIS WORD,& through CHRIST,then n His Great&Awesome Mercy...He will not share more! When the church folks decided that they were not truly interested n what Jesus had to say,Jesus responded to them,”Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”When we complain about not hearing anything from The Lord,and/or not getting anything out of the time we spend studying the Bible..,or our prayer time seems anemic,we need to ask ourselves if we r sincerely seeking to hear & learn from what The Lord has to say!Or,am I coming to the Lord “with conditions” of an unwilling hard heart!Not truly seeking to b transformed by what The Lord has to talk w me about!If I am not coming to The Lord humbly poised for contrition and readiness to respond appropriately to what the Lord has to say,then in His great Mercy...He will hold back from sharing more than He has already.Just as a loving father will not ever overload us with guilt,our Father n Heaven will never do this very thing.HE knows when we r truly coming to HIM n readiness to listen...desiring to b ministered to personally (to receive HIS service, care, or aid; for addressing our true desires &necessities)by what HE alone can speak into our lives.If we do not have this posture of readiness & willingness to truly HEAR what He has to say,then we will have the same answer that the church folks had.Their hardened hearts kept them from hearing the TRUTH about Christ,right from The Mouth of God!Dear Jesus,I do not always come to You poised to sincerely listen earnestly to what You May have to talk w me about.Please make me more aware of these times,& help me to soften my heart & spirit...,so I have a heart&spirit ready&willing to truly hear and apply what You have to say to me.

Mark 11:1-11

Mark11:1-11 tells about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem days before He is to b crucified.N vs8-11 Mark describes the enthusiastic welcoming of Jesus by the crowds.The people r removing their cloaks and throwing them on the ground before the colt that Jesus is riding on,& honoring Jesus as they would a king, with palm branches..& then shouting “Hosanna!Blessed is the coming of the kingdom of our Father David(the Messianic kingdom promised to David’s Son-(2Samuel7:11-14). Hosanna n the highest!”These people are worshipping;singing praises;coming as close to Jesus as they can get;wanting to b identified as followers of Jesus,etc.Soon after this,these same people r part of the crowds calling 4 Barabbas to b released nstead of Jesus...,part of the crowds shouting “crucify him”.How quickly these people turned from Christ...,turned on Christ!We do the same thing n our lives.Maybe not to the extreme that some of these people did...,but we do the same thing n different “measures”.Whatever the “measure” of our turning from Jesus...the effect is the same on our hearts/minds/lives!It distances us from being faithful to Christ!Just as the faithfulness of these people was dependent upon their preconceived notions about being faithful to Christ, & what those around them were thinking&doing,so our faithfulness many times waxes & wanes depended upon how “things” r going n our lives,& what the crowds around us r saying&doing.My faith n Jesus is not real nor steadfast if it comes and goes according the conditions & circumstances around me...,&if it waxes & wanes based on the thoughts&opinions of those around me.Paul addresses this n 1Cor15:58,”Therefore brothers,stand firm(b steadfast).Let nothing move you.Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,because you know that your labor is not n vain.”The work of the Lord that Paul is referring to has at least 2 facets.One is the work that Jesus is doing n us!We must give ourselves fully to the ways that Jesus’ Word&Spirit is working/shaping/changing our heart/minds/lives.We must allow His work n us 2 b reflected n the ways that we live.Which leads to the second facet Paul is referring to.That our lives b invested n responding to Jesus instructions for the way we live n the middle of our day to day lives,& among the people we come n contact with...that we seek to know the Eternal Purposes for our lives...,the ways that Jesus is calling us to b His emissaries n2 the world.When we do not allow ourselves 2 b faithful to these 2 “facets” n our life,we r drifting toward becoming just like the crowd n Mark11.Even though they gathered around Jesus to sing praises & worship Him,their faith was “short lived”,& the tides of life & people around them,drew them away from true faithfulness n Christ.Dear Lord Jesus,in many ways I am much like the people described n these verses of Mark.Forgive me.And,change me to b steadfast n all areas of my heart/mind/life...to the ways that Your Word&Spirit r teaching me and leading me