Category Archives: Jesus

Christmas in Luke (Day 11)

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Today’s reading is Luke 11.
Jesus loved to pray. It was his regular practice to go to a secluded place and spend time with His Heavenly Father. The ones closest to Jesus had seen Him take time to do this often.

Could you imagine being there when Jesus spoke to His Heavenly Father? Hearing Him talk to God, not in a formal religious formula, but in a close and intimate conversation? Watching Jesus and His time of communion with God the Father was enough to spark curiosity within one of the disciples, probably more than just curiosity, a hunger. “Lord, teach us to pray…” (verse 1). Jesus then gave His disciples the model prayer, what we often call, “The Lord’s Prayer” or some call, “The Our Father.” This prayer was meant to be an outline of prayer for His disciples to follow: worship, prayer for needs, repentance and forgiveness, prayers for guidance, etc.

Today what is highlighted to me in our reading is the section of verses following it. Jesus told another parable- a short story with a spiritual point or application. This story tells of the interaction of a man in need and his friend who was reluctant to help. This “friend” did not want to be bothered with the needs of his friend who came to him at midnight needing three loaves of bread to feed his surprise visitor. But the friend with the need persists. He keeps knocking and asking until the man in bed gets up and gives the man in need the bread he needed. Jesus goes on to talk about a son asking his dad for a fish to eat. Would the dad give him a snake to eat? Or instead of an egg, a scorpion? (Verses 11-12). Then Jesus says something profound, ““If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” (Verse 13)

How often the disciples had watched the religious leaders of their time approach God with rigidness! God was spoken to with formula prayers and He was viewed as unapproachable, perhaps even, aggravated, as the man in the parable was , that the people had come. But Jesus told His disciples, His Father was not that way! He longed to give “good gifts.” And the most precious gift of all the gift of the Holy Spirit living within them! All that was required of them was to come and to ask!

Our God is the same today, yesterday, and forever! He isn’t a God hidden from us, only accessible through formula prayers and religious rituals. He isn’t irritated when we come to Him with our needs. He so desires us to come! He desires to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit living within us. He eagerly waits for us to do just what Jesus modeled in this chapter, spend time with Him in prayer. He longs for us to come to Him and to ask!

God displayed the lengths He would go to be a part of our lives so we would “come.”The Christmas story displays this all so well. God broke the silence when He sent an Angel to Mary to tell her she would conceive and give birth, by the Holy Spirit, God’s Son, God with us!

Once again God longs to break the silence in our lives! He longs to give us another gift just as He did at the first Christmas, the Holy Spirit- God living within us! May we come to Him and ask!

Christmas in Luke (Day 10)

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Today’s reading is Luke 10.

In this chapter, Jesus sends out 72 messengers. The commission He gives them is much like the one He gave in chapter 9 to the twelve He sent out, “heal the sick who are there and tell them,’the Kingdom of God has come near’”(verse 9). These disciples came back rejoicing with excitement because of all the wonders and miracles they saw. Jesus speaks to these disciples about how God has chosen to reveal Himself to them because it pleased Him. God wanted His people to know Him.

All these years they had only known “about” God. They knew He was powerful, they knew He was to be obeyed. They knew He was to be worshipped. But they did not “Know” Him, Not in an intimate way. They could not.


Jesus speaks of the prophets and kings of history that longed to “see and hear “ what the people of His time were seeing and hearing, but they did not.(vrs 24)


Old Simeon, the prophet summed up the longing that these prophets and kings had desired in Luke 2 during all the events of the first Christmas. Simeon held the eight day old Jesus, as Mary and Joseph had brought Baby Jesus to be dedicated at the temple. Simeon, a man who was longing to see the Messiah, declared, ““Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”” (Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭29‬-‭32‬)


Salvation had come! The Kingdom of God, His rule and reign in our hearts, through Jesus our Savior had come! Because of Jesus, we no longer have to live our lives bound to the death, darkness, and destruction of the kingdom of satan. Jesus came to provide the way for us to step into the Kingdom of light, the Kingdom of God!


We do not have to “dream and long” to see and hear of the goodness of God and His presence in our lives, we can KNOW it, intimately, it can be born within us! Just as Jesus was born into our world as a baby all those years ago, He can be born into our hearts today! We are truly “Blessed!”

Christmas in Luke (Day 9)

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Today’s reading is Luke 9.

The accounts written about in today chapter seem to be the height of the wonders Jesus did while walking with His disciples. He continued to do miracle after miracle and speak truth that was irresistible to listen to. He then invited His disciples to participate with Him in proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Still there was something coming He wanted to prepare His closest friends, the disciples for, His death.

Jesus knew He would suffer. He knew He would be separated from them. He knew how hard it would be. But verse 51 says He “resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” He headed to the place He would die with a fixed purpose. But this was not the first time Jesus “resolutely set out” for the place He would suffer. Jesus left the splendors of Heaven, with a fixed purpose. He willingly submitted Himself fully as God to become fully man. With resolve, He came to us! He knew before He ever entered our world on that Christmas night that He would live, laugh, and love with us. He knew He would experience pain, sadness, and sorrows. Yet He came. He never wavered in His fixed purpose! He had come to love, to provide the way, for our own good, to be with Him.

The things to come in the chapters of Luke we have not yet read this month of December, Jesus knew would come about. The betrayal, the trial, the beatings, the execution, the death… Jesus knew it would come. For the King born in Bethlehem at Christmas was born to die. This death had a fixed purpose as well. Without His sacrifice, there would be no cure for the sin of our stony, hard, and darkened hearts.

As we celebrate His birth, let us not forget His death! He had come to give His life so we could be united with Him again, free from our sins!

Christmas in Luke (Day 8)

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Today’s reading is Luke chapter 8.

This chapter is packed full of some of my favorite accounts of the miracles of Jesus. But in thinking about Christmas and the book of Luke, what sticks out the most to me in this chapter is Jesus’ parable of the seeds and the soil. (Vrs. 4-14)

The Christmas account of Jesus, “the Word made flesh” coming to us so we could come to God is like a seed. Our hearts are much like soil. Some hear the Christmas story only to think, “That’s nice…” never letting its true meaning into their heart.

Some receive with much gladness the Good News of the Word, first proclaimed by Angels, “…a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) But never allowing the true meaning of Christmas to really take root and grow within their hearts. When hard times come they run to other sources for help, neglecting to look to the God who came to Help us.

Then there are those who embrace “God with us- Emmanuel”, but only for awhile. They know He is real but they allow all the worries of their lives, or riches, or pleasures to slowly squeeze out believing in God. Their belief is “choked out.”

Yet there are some who have heard the announcement, seen the light of His star and take it in, letting the seed of Jesus, the Living Word, grow within. That kind of encounter with the Jesus of Christmas, the God who not only came to us but came to dwell within us changes us! His Hope and Love pours out of us to all those around making known the true meaning of this Christmas season- Jesus came to our broken world, Jesus died for our sins, and Jesus lives victoriously in our lives- every day of the year.

Let us give our hearts wholly to Him as good soil ready to receive Him gladly into every area of our lives this Christmas season and beyond.

Christmas in Luke (Day7)

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Today’s reading is Luke 7.


The people of Jesus time are much like the people of our time. The more they heard about Jesus and saw His mighty deeds the more hungry they became. They wanted to experience more. Large crowds surrounded Him. Who would not want to be there to see all the wonders He was doing? Verse 21 says Jesus had “cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to the blind.” I imagine it would have been incredible to watch Him, even if only from a distance. Then Jesus did what was impossible, He raised the son of a widow from the dead. Verse 16 says, “They were filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us…God has come to help his people.””


The crowds did not get who Jesus was, “God with Us!” But they did know He was like no other. “God had truly came to help his people!”

Around 30 years before, when Jesus was just a baby in Mary’s womb, John the Baptist’s Dad, Zechariah declared similar words of prophecy about Jesus “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us…salvation from our enemies…to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” (Luke 1: 68-75)


“God had come to help His people” this is the whole point of Christmas. Jesus came to help us, because we CANNOT help ourselves! Our enemies, whether they be sins, addictions, hurts, wounds, etc. are much bigger than our ability to save ourselves. We need a Savior! Jesus had come to help His people. And He still comes to us, in our point of need, to help His people today! He longs for us to surrender to Him, and to no longer follow Him from a distance only observing His awesome power. He came so we could know Him and the power of His resurrection! That is the whole point of His life here on earth! From a manger in Bethlehem, to a cross on Golgotha’s Hill, to an empty borrowed tomb, Our God, Jesus has come to “help His people!” And Praise God, we can know this help He brings into our lives!

Christmas in Luke (Day 6)

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Today’s reading is Luke chapter 6.


Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus or His coming to be with us, is described this way in John’s gospel: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)


The scene is set in today’s chapter. A large crowd had come: to hear, to be healed, to be set free from evil spirits. Power came out from Jesus as people tried to touch Him. Then He speaks. “The Word”, Jesus, who had come from God, speaks hope to the crowd of the poor, hungry, sorrowful, and hated. Jesus, the Word, spoke blessings, spiritual happiness and the favor of God, “Blessed.” His words confirmed what the angels spoke to the shepherds at His birth, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and in earth peace to those on whom his favor (delight, kindness) rests.” Jesus described His Father as “kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (vrs35), “merciful” (vrs36), and “giving” (vrs37). All the crowd needed to do was to truly HEAR the Word, Jesus, speak, take Him into their heart, and live a life constantly listening to Him and obeying. They would then live a life unshakable when life’s storms came to them (vrs48).


Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is still declaring blessings and favor over us. All we must do is truly listen to the Word, Jesus, as He speaks, and then OBEY! We will find, just as the crowds did so many years ago, that as we listen and reach out for Him hoping to touch Him, we will experience His power in our lives. Healing from our dis ease and freedom from the oppression of the evil one are there as we “come.” Because, He has come to us! First as a baby, then as a sacrifice on the cross, now as a risen Savior!

Christmas in Luke (Day 5)

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Today’s reading is Luke chapter 5.


From the announcement of Jesus birth by angels to the shepherds watching their flocks, to the events recorded in Chapter 5, people were drawn to Jesus. Who would not be? In Jesus presence, a bad day of fishing turns into the largest catch of all; a man who is outcast with a deadly disease is healed and restored; a man who is paralyzed leaves carrying his mat, walking, and praising God; a hated tax collector who was labeled a sinner is now one of His Twelve.


The encounters of the people with Jesus are summed up in verse 26, “Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” These “remarkable things” still occur today! Jesus went to great lengths to make this a reality then and He makes this a reality now. He still works miracles, restores the broken, heals the sick, and forgives us of all our sins. And best of all He still draws us in. He calls to us to “Come.” As displayed in this chapter, there is NOTHING too big for Jesus!

If you find yourself as the crowds did, following Jesus at a curious distance, not sure of what to think, let me testify, it is worth it to get closer to Him, listen to His voice, and to obey His commands. He still does “remarkable things”.

He has done “remarkable things” in my own life!

Christmas in Luke (Day 4)

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Today’s reading is Luke 4.


I would like to think I would believe in Jesus a little better than the people of His time, but I have struggled just like they did. With all the events surrounding His birth, the words spoken by Anna and Simeon at His dedication at the temple, the voice from heaven at His baptism, and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove, it would seem like a no brainer to believe. Still the people did not understand who He was…

In today’s reading Jesus goes to the synagogue. He is asked to read the reading of Scripture for that day. It just “so happens”that the reading for that day is from the prophet Isaiah, and it just “so happens” the words are a prophecy of Jesus, Himself. After reading it, He tells them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” He wanted them to understand who He was and why He had come.

Jesus came to our world to “proclaim good news to the poor”-those who lack God’s riches in their life; “freedom for the prisoners” -caught in sin’s death, darkness, and destruction; “recovery of sight for the blind” -those who can’t see God’s goodness all around; “set the oppressed free”- those the enemy has beat up on all their lives. Jesus proclaimed “the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus wants us to understand who He is and why He came. He has given us His Word so we can KNOW Him! God’s favor is still towards us.

From the first Christmas until now, His favor goes on and on! The question is: Will we believe what He has said and receive Him as King of our lives?

Christmas in Luke (Day 3) — Prepare the Way!

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Today we read Luke chapter 3.

John the Baptist went before Jesus proclaiming the “Good News.” Luke says, “the word of God came to John…in the wilderness.” He told the people to repent for the forgiveness of sins. John was the voice calling out, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” The people would not want to miss the one who was coming, the Messiah, Jesus Himself. Sin and selfishness would only entangle the ones who refused to repent, keeping them from truly seeing and experiencing Jesus, “God’s salvation.”

We have this command as well. “Prepare the way for the Lord.” We don’t want to miss what is coming! The baby born in a Bethlehem stable is now Jesus, our Savior, who longs to be born in our hearts. As we repent and turn from our sins, we offer our hearts to God. He comes with power to transform our hearts and our lives. He fills us with His hope, His peace, and His joy! We can experience Jesus, whom John “proclaimed” this Christmas season and forevermore!

Here’s another blog on Luke 3:

https://wordpress.com/posts/yourlove.blog?s=luke+3

Christmas in Luke (Day 2)

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Today we read Luke 2, which contains the familiar passage about the birth of Jesus that is often quoted this time of year:

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.””

Luke records the words of Simeon spoken over Jesus at the temple after his circumcision; 12-year-old Jesus speaking with the religious leaders at the temple; finishing up with the summary of Jesus’ growing up years “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (verse 52)

He was truly “God with us” Emmanuel. Jesus took on our ordinary so He could bring God’s extraordinary to our world and into our lives! What a Savior!

Another blog I have written on Luke 2:

https://yourlove.blog/2023/12/02/searching-for-you-reflections-on-luke-2/