365 Reflections

There's only one person in the difficult and dark section of Luke's later chapters that gets Jesus' acclaim... it's a poor widow with about 1/4 of a cent to her name. Luke 21:1–4 (ESV) Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke has shown the rapid fire attacks from the many devoted religious and political factions.  In a few moments the disciples are going to marvel at the temple Herod refurbished with Roman ties. But Jesus has His eye on a woman willing to give her all to God. When we give our all to God, several interesting things happen: 1. Jesus notices. She's the only one in the chapter who is commended. She's the one who gets His attention. For all the flowing ro...

When we aren't giving God our all, we abdicate our human responsibility and leave our lives open to the use and abuse of almost anyone else.  Plus, we become jerks. Look at what happens to some random guys in Luke 20 who failed to give God their all. (Oh, how do we know they weren't giving God their all? Jesus tells them in verse 25, we'll get there). First, they become tools of the religious leaders.  Notice how they were "sent" and nameless.  Faceless drones carrying out the whims of religious hypocrites. Luke 20:19–20 (ESV) 19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. Second, we act differently than we really are!  Notice the words, the...

Timothy had received prophecies over his life.  What an honorable experience.  But Paul is going to let Timothy know that becuase of those prophecies, he had better be ready to fight. Timothy was a young pastor with a high calling. Let us never forget, the more God plans to use us, the more the devil wants to destroy us.  Look at what Paul says to his son in the faith: 1 Timothy 1:18–20 (NLT) Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. 19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God. Two things we will need to win the Lord's battles: 1. Cling to your faith. Time will come when doubt will...