Luke 21:34-36

Days before Jesus is to be crucified,He gives us warnings and encouragement(s).All 4 Gospels record these.N Luke 21:34-36 Jesus urges us to “Watch yourselves lest your hearts b weighed down w dissipation(Overindulgence in sensual pleasures; dissipated living.The squandering of money, energy, or resources.)&drunkeness & cares of this life....But stay awake(be alert)at all times,praying that u may have the strength 2 escape all these things(deception;misleadings;dilution of right Wisdom&Discernment)that r going 2 take place,that u may b able 2 stand b4 the Son of Man.”1Thesalonians5:6 says it this way,”...let us not b like others,who r asleep,but let us b alert & self controlled.”Jesus says “WATCH”,as a watchman/guard is assigned a post at the edge of a camp 2 b on the lookout for all things that pose a threat.And!Jesus says that we should “WATCH OURSELVES...!”Jesus is concerned for us!For the way that our hearts/lives r drawn 2 things;thoughts;people;beliefs;etc. that r detrimental to us.The most dangerous element of these things is the way that they can create a slow creep(a dissipation)of our hearts/lives away from The Lord & His Ways;His Love 4 us.This is why it is so important to have at the very least,regular “touch base meetings” w The Lord and His Word!When I was n the corporate world,these touch base meetings were for my own good...2 make sure that I stayed “on course” w what my boss was asking of me.By the same token,we need 2 regularly come b4 The Lord to make sure we stay on course!W/out these regular “touch base meetings” w The Lord,the enemies of God will make their best effort to veer us OFF COURSE!This also gives us an enhanced sensitivity to The Holy Spirit,so we can b strengthened&guided&empowered,& led by The Lord.When we do not have these touch base meetings regularly, sensual pleasures&dissipated living&cares for this world,will slowly overtake our hearts;minds;&lives.Dear Jesus,I am regularly bombarded by ideas;desires;pains;discomfort;envies;etc.,that creep n2 my life.Help me 2 b disciplined about seeking You regularly and always,so Your Wisdom&Discernment&Strength may b what WATCH/GUARD my life from all things that would veer me away from YOU!

Luke 21:1-19

N Luke21:19,Jesus says,”By your endurance u will gain ur lives.”We all know that our faith n Christ will be challenged by all sorts of deception & extreme circumstances&events in our life,as Jesus describes n Luke21:5-18.& that we must b prepared to stand firm when these things occur.But,it could b that what Jesus sees & comments about n Luke21:1-4 is the foundation of the “endurance” Jesus calls us to n verse 19.Jesus sees people placing their offerings n a box,including a widow that gives everything she has.Jesus says,”This poor widow has put n more than all
of them.For they had contributed our  of their abundance,but she...put n all she had...”This widow was the only person in church that had a faith/life that is ALL IN.Everyone else that Jesus saw was less than ALL IN!Jesus then goes on to give warnings about deceptions;&all sorts of significant challenges for the people’s hearts/lives/minds/faith.By  starting this discussion after Jesus remarks about the widow’s heart/life/mind being ALL IN,He is warning those who r not ALL IN,that they(we) need to check their(our) Faith to make sure it is what Jesus sees n this widow’s heart/life/mind.The widow was not concerned about her comfort;her savings;her retirement;her status,etc.,to the point that these things robbed her of her ALL IN relationship with The Lord & her ultimate TRUST n The Lord for her life!By doing what she did,this widow is saying that she trusted that The Lord knew best for her life,& she was trusting Him over everything...over what people thought of where she lived,over what people thought of what she wore,over what people thought of how her life expressed absolute TRUST in The Lord.The other people were giving much more,& they evidently had more status filled lives than the widow.By Jesus commenting on these others,He knew there was some kind of religious/churchy elitism being placed on them.Jesus is saying that  our being religious/churchy is not going to b the source of the ENDURANCE He is calling us to!Jesus says that unless we have the same ALL IN foundational relationship with The Lord that the widow has,we will not have the trust;the faith;the RELATIONSHIP/the ENDURANCE that will sustain us through the more challenging things n life.Dear Lord,I confess that I do not have the level of ALL IN that this widow has.Forgive me!And teach me/train me/encourage me/help me...to have the ALL IN heart/mind/life of this widow!

Luke 19:37-40

When Jesus comes n2 Jerusalem (The Triumphal Entry),the people “began to rejoice & praise God w a loud voice 4 all the mighty works that they had seen,saying,’Blessed is the King who comes n the name of the Lord....’...He answered,’I tell u,if these were silent,the very stones would cry out.”(Luke19:37-40)Like these people,when we have an encounter w The Lord,where He somehow personally impacts our life,we cannot help but praise Him...,even rocks cry out!We r also like these people,when a few days after this “praising”,many of these same people would be throwing things at Him and spitting at Him,etc.Jesus says that “even the stones would cry out”,n essence revealing Who He IS,& that because He IS GOD,every molecule of Creation will praise Him when He passes by!When our lives r somehow impacted by Jesus’ Presence,at least for a period of time,we cannot help but praise Him.The telltale of our faithfulness though is what happens n our hearts/lives/minds once we r back among the crowds of our everyday life.Most of these people turned from their momentary faithfulness when their lives slipped back n2 their everyday lives.The same thing tends to happen n our everyday life!We have our quiet times,prayers,Bible Studies,Church Services,worship services,conferences,spiritual getaways,etc....& we have “spiritual highs”!But then,when we drift back n2 our daily lives...we turn our backs on The Lord just as these people did.Sure,we may not be calling for Barabbas as these people would n a few days,but our hearts r turned away from Jesus just the same....and could end up drifting further & further away,as many of these people did.Dear Holy Spirit,please keep me from the turning You describe n these verses!Help me 2 remember Your Presence/Your Mercy/Your Grace/Your Glory...always! Especially when I start&live my everyday life among the crowds.

Luke 17:11-19

N Luke17:11-19,Jesus has 10 people w leprosy call out to him to have pity on them(vs13b,”Jesus,Master,have pity in us!”).These guys r just like us when we have a desperate need or situation n our life.These needs/situations will humble us for the moments we r n despair...enough for us to turn to Jesus as our only TRUE hope for help.N desperation for help,we come to Jesus for HELP!When we come to Him n earnest,Jesus never tells us “to get lost”,nor will he ever b silent!Jesus always offers “a way” through &beyond the the desperate “moments” of our life!As they say there r no atheists n fox holes...when we r desperate we will often turn to God!N one way or another,He will always make His Presence known n these moments of ours.But,like the nine that went on their merry way after Jesus “intervened” n their lives,we tend to do the same-not having our lives changed by the fact that The Living God made Himself Known to us for a moment n our lives when we truly turned to Him!These 9 turned to the Lord when they had a NEED!But,once they felt better about themselves,they turned away from The Lord & didn’t come back!Only 1 came back once he felt better about himself(vs17-18).Only this 1 found what he needed beyond his desperate need/situation.This 1 found what he needed for his LIFE!When this 1 comes back to Jesus...,Jesus tells him,”Rise & go;your faith has made u well.”This 1 found much more than being healed of leprosy! This 1 found what he needed for LIFE!When this 1 turned back to Jesus & gave himself to Jesus(vs16,”He threw himself at Jesus & thanked him...”),Jesus didn’t take anything from him!Jesus gave this 1 what he needed for LIFE!This 1 had been made well infinitely beyond being healed of leprosy!His faith n Christ that compelled him to turn away from his previous life & to Christ...made him well beyond temporal measure!That is what Jesus is referring to here!Whenever we cry out to Jesus because of a desperate need/situation,Jesus always offers us much more than addressing ONLY that need/situation!May we always b like the 1 that came back and threw himself/gave himself to Jesus.Dear Jesus,I have so many times been just like the 9 that turned away.... Forgive me for not genuinely appreciating nor being humbled by what You have done for me!May Your Ways n and around my life always humble me and always may my heart/life b drawn back to You as this 1 n Luke17.

Luke 17:6-10

N Luke17:6-10,when the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to increase their faith,he gives a 2 part answer.The first part of the answer,Jesus tells us about the power & authority of the FATIH He desires us to have.The second part of his answer tells us where THE Power & Authority of this FAITH come from.Without my synching up with the second part of Jesus’ answer,I will not have the power&authority/FAITH n my life that Jesus n essence says I should have.N the 2nd part of Jesus’ answer he reminds us of Who He is,and that whatever “authentically good” we may “accomplish/achieve” is because of our doing what we r suppose to do/our duty!(vs10b,”We r unworthy servants,we have only done what was our duty”).This means that we trust our Master/Lord enough that we listen to what He has to say/instruct,& then we honor Him/trust Him by following His Words&Instructions as we go about our day.Doing this means that we will be going out into our days under/with the Power&Authority that our Lord grants us as we follow His Word&Instruction n our life.We will know what our Lord is saying/instructing,and when we go about our day we will then know what&how we should pray;what we should do;and that we have His Power&His Authority empowering&enabling what we r called to do during our days!These r the characteristics of The FAITH that Jesus is teaching us!The humility that is also described n these verses is imperative!This humility comes with the “reward” of seeing miraculous things happen n our lives & through our lives(vs5-6,”If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed,u would say to this mulberry tree,’Be uprooted & planted n the sea,’& it would obey you.”).When we realize the significance of having a Holy&Righteous Lord;a Lord that loves us w the greatest of all loves;a Lord that desires for us to see/realize miraculous things n and through our lives...then our Trust/Faith n Him(His Word/His Instruction)will “increase” as the apostles are asking for n Luke17:5(“The apostles said to the Lord,’increase our faith’”).Dear Lord Jesus,may my desire b the same as the apostles n verse15,& may I have a heart/life that have the characteristics of The FAITH that can only b founded n trusting/following YOU/YOUR WORD/YOUR SPIRIT/YOUR MERCY/YOUR GRACE.