Luke 19:11-27 ~ Preparation

Santa Claus is coming to town! And how do you suppose eager children respond? They prepare! They make their Christmas lists, start acting nice, they may even bake some cookies and leave out a glass of milk for when Santa comes down the chimney!

April 15th...ring any bells? Tax day! And how do we adults respond? We prepare right? We start saving our money for the taxes we owe. We pull out our neat, organized financial records and get started on the process as soon as possible. We always intend to meet the deadline right? Wrong! Many adults file for extensions, borrow money to pay what's owed from last year and finagle their way out of little fees here and there. Financial records?!?! You mean my tax stubs?

So what will we do as we contemplate the return of our King? In this parable Jesus is showing what will happen when the King returns. He will find those who believed in his judgment and made the necessary amends and there will be those who live in fear and denial and procrastinate in doing what is expected. Jesus is teaching here that those who can be trusted will be given more, this will be an honor and an opportunity. Those who have been lazy and irresponsible will have anything they have taken from them, judgment will come and they will pay the consequences.

Jesus is coming back, did you know that? How will you prepare?

Mandy

Luke 19:1-10 ~ “The Calling of Zacchaeus”

This past weekend, President Bush was in Bagdad and a reporter through his shoe at him because he absolutely despised him. In that culture it is great insult to have a shoe thrown at you. Not to be crude to just be crude, but it is like a certain hand gesture used in other cultures when someone does not like what you did. Despite the insult thrown at him, President Bush just brushed it off. Overall our president is very much liked in that country for liberating them from Saddam.

However, can you imagine what it would be like to live in a town and no one liked you? No one! You had such a bad reputation that you were the most despised individual in the entire town. “Nobody in Jericho liked Zacchaeus.” He was a corrupt and greedy chief tax collector who made himself rich from the pockets of the people of Jericho.

Yet, who did Jesus reach out to as he walked through that city? Much to the surprise of the people and Zacchaeus, he sought out the worst of all mankind. A couple of thoughts: Jesus spotted him, called him by name, told him to come down from the tree and invited Himself to his home. The result of His show of love towards Zacchaeus, his life was never the same. Luke states in verse ten that, “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Would we through a shoe at Zacchaeus as he passed by or would we reach out as an Ambassador of Jesus Christ?

Mark

Luke 18:15-30 ~ The Rich Young Ruler

What are you lacking?Are you going through life doing all the right things, saying all the right things and still feel like you are lacking something? This is exactly what the rich young ruler sought out Jesus to ask. He was living right, obeying the commandments but was still lacking. Jesus could see right through him and Jesus saw his greatest weakness, his wealth.

As I was traveling with a friend today he told me about a cousin who was close to making a decision for Christ but didn’t want to give up something in his lifestyle. He was a great guy, loves his wife and kids. He is a firefighter and loves helping others, but he is still lacking something, eternal life. He loves his lifestyle more than the opportunity to gain eternal life with Christ.

He doesn’t know why but he is going away sad along with his family that loves him. Do you know others who are still lacking, look for their greatest need and try to meet them where they are at and share the greatest thing, Jesus Christ.

Dave

Luke 18:31-43 ~ Croatian Rhapsody

Music has become a part of everyday life in our culture. We listen to music in our homes, our cars, and even at work. Music motivates us to work faster, to dream of better times, to remember that special someone, or to inspire us to greatness.

I love how Tom Wright compares this short Bible passage to the tension in a musical piece. My favorite piece of music is Maksim Mrvica’s Croatian Rhapsody. Just listening to it you can feel motivated and inspired. As Wright emphasized in his book, Luke for Everyone, you can hear the tension between the piano, the violins and the rest of the orchestra. It almost feels like I’m watching a tennis match!

In this passage, Luke writes about Jesus discussing his final days on earth while at the same time Jesus gives sight to a blind man. This blind man alone has to fight with the voices around him, yelling for Christ to pay attention to him. You can just feel the tension and urgency of this man’s desire to interact with Jesus. At the same time Jesus is fighting the disciple’s lack of understanding concerning what will be happening to him shortly.

How often do we get do try to get someone’s attention about what is happening in our lives and then we hear about the conditions of another person’s life? Many times I can be selfish about what is going on in my life and then God reminds me that my life isn’t so bad when I see how much someone else is going through. Jesus had a lot on his plate but he continually put others before himself. What a great reminder of how much God has blessed me and that I need to put others first despite my own needs.

~Shannon~

Luke 17:20-37 ~ Appreciation

Do you appreciate what you have?

How wonderful it must have been to live in the times when Jesus was walking of the earth. How wonderful it must have been to be one of his disciples and learn directly from the master. The disciples were truly privileged. Jesus alerts them to remember this precious time as they referring to this future departure to his father: Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.” (Luke 17:22).

But Jesus was really pointing to the fact that His disciples should appreciate what they have.

Do we appreciate what we have as a result of the work of Jesus Christ? Yes, Jesus is not among us physically and we can see him in this form as the disciples experienced him, but we are also very privileged. We have the promised Helper, the Holy Spirit – something that even the disciples did not have at the time Jesus was on earth. We are greatly privileged as the Holy Spirit not indwells in us helping us to do the will of the Father.

If we listen to the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us! And Yes, we can’t hear the words of Jesus Christ as the disciples could, but we have the complete Word of God, something that even the disciples did not have. How privileged we are? Oh very much so!

Do you appreciate what you have?

Timothy

Luke 17:11-19 ~ Developing a Thankful Spirit!

Just recently, our staff here at Skyview Ranch were praying for a little girl. This girl was in desperate need of a miracle. She needed a heart. It didn’t seem like there would be much hope as she was placed in the back of the line for heart transplants. It didn’t seem there are too many people willing to give up their hearts. But the Lord saw it fit to answer their prayers as a heart came in that was too small for all the others in line and would fit her perfectly. We were thrilled and I can’t even imagine how much excitement must have gone through the girls mind as well as her family.

In Luke 17:11-10, we are introduced to ten lepers who were practically dead to their families and loved ones. They couldn’t come inside the city in fear of spreading leprosy to others around them. They called out to Christ to heal them in a time when it seemed there was no hope. Christ healed them. These excited men went back to the priests to show they were clean. I can imagine hearing the priests pronounce they were clean and these people racing home to tell their families and friends that they are back to normal…But only one of the ten turned back and went and worshipped God.

Were these other nine men ungrateful? I doubt it, but they probably got so caught up in telling their loved ones, that they never returned to thank Christ or even more important, praise God. Perhaps only one really understood that this miracle was performed by God Himself.

How often and long do you pray for certain prayer requests? This could be praying for a salvation, money for bills, healing of a sickness, or so forth. Would you pray for the same request for a whole day, a week, a month, years…? When you see God answer that request, how long do you thank Him and give Him praise for it? A week, a day, an hour, a couple second prayer…do you remember to thank Him at all?

We need to develop a thankful spirit! It will change your outlook on life!

><> Josh

Luke 17:1-10 ~ She Has Done What She Ought

She has done what she ought,” Paraphrase by Janis Steckiel.

“In the journey of life there will be obstacles but how awful it would be if you were the obstacle. You should be thrown overboard with a heavy weight on you if you insist on doing this. Be careful!

If another believer sins, tell him about it and if it turns him around, forgive him, even if he does it dozens of times, if he keeps repenting afterwards you need to keep forgiving him.

A disciple said ‘Lord, we need a lot more faith’. The Lord said ‘If you have faith as tiny as the tiniest of seeds, you could say to any tree; pick yourself up and run into the sea, and it will’.

What if you had a maid who came in after cleaning your whole house, would you say ‘come, have a cup of tea?’ No, you are more likely to say ‘fix me a cup of tea; you need to change your clothes first and bake some scones while you’re at it. Then after you have taken care of me you can have something.’ You do not thank her because she is only doing what she is supposed to be doing.

Think about this – what will your tombstone say?

‘SHE WAS A MAID – SHE HAS DONE WHAT SHE OUGHT’

When you obey do you expect praise? At the end of all things, God shows us that we are all just servants doing our job”

Janis