Author: Larry Soape

Re: Verse reading – Luke 24:13-35 (day four) 
Wouldn’t you like to have been in on that bible study!  As the two men were walking and talking, Jesus joined them.  He began a process of teaching them the Word of God.  He explained the scriptures to them so they could understand.  Later, in the closed room with His disciples, verse 45 says, “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures”.  Jesus will do the same for you and me.  He will open our minds, through the Holy Spirit, so that we can understand God’s Word.  God does not want His Word to be a puzzle to us…He wants us to clearly understand.  How often do we depend on our own resources though to ‘figure it out’?  God stands ready to open our mind to understand the Scriptures…all we have to do is ask.  We may also run back seven miles in order to tell someone else what we now understand.

Re: Verse reading–Luke 22:66-71, 23:1-25 (day four)
Pilate found nothing that Jesus had done to deserve death.  He stated that three times.  Even Herod could not find anything He had done wrong.  For a short time, truth seemed to prevail.  The chief priests and rulers had already decided what they wanted the outcome to be though…it did not matter what the facts were.  (Does this sound familiar?  Does it seem that you are reading today’s newspaper?)  Verse 23 says, “But they were insistent with loud voices asking that He be crucified.  And their voices began to prevail.”  It seems the loudest voices, who continue to repeat the same untruths, eventually prevail and others begin to repeat their message as if it were true.  Think evolution, global warming, abortion, homosexuality…the list goes on.  Loud enough, long enough…and our culture joins in.  A recent Barna Group poll said, “Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.”  Are the principles of God’s Word the guiding standard of your life?

Re: Verse reading–Luke 21:5-24 (day four)
Jesus is talking about end times.  He is giving the disciples some signs to watch for that will signal the end.  He forewarns that persecution will come.  Persecution will:  fulfill prophecy, signal the end times, lead to an opportunity for your testimony, and gain salvation by persevering through it.  All good, right!  Verse 16 says, “But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.”  Then Jesus says something peculiar…”Yet not a hair of your head will perish.” How can that be?  How can we be put to death and still not lose even a hair to death?  Jesus is giving us assurance of God’s perfect control over our lives.  There is more to our lives than our physical body.  We are assured of eternal life.  We need have no fear!  God is able to grant perfect peace, even in the face of unspeakable persecution.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 20:1-8, 20-26 (day four)
It would almost be funny if it were not so sad…the chief priests, scribes, and elders were trying to outsmart the Creator of the Universe.  They were looking for words to trap Jesus with.  Maybe they never even considered that Jesus was who He said He was.  Their first attempt went rather badly…they could not find any solution that did not corner them with their own words.  On their second attempt, they tried to corner Jesus just as He had done to them.  His was a very simple answer…but had far reaching ramifications.  “Render to God the things that are God’s.”  Even these leaders knew they had not done that.  Jesus’ answer penetrated to the heart of the issue…simple , yet profound.  God’s truths are often like that.  We go through verbal and mental gyrations trying to justify our disobedience or lack of faith.  Truth is simple, when viewed through eyes of faith.  Simple, yet true…”render to God the things that are God’s.”

Re: Verse reading – Luke 19:1-10 (day four) 
I’m sure Zaccheus had no clue what the day held for him.  He was curious.  He had heard about this man Jesus and he wanted to see what all the stir was about.  Zaccheus had a problem…he was short and he could not see over the crowd.  There was certainly no one who was going to yield a vantage point to him, a tax gatherer.  A solution…he would climb a tree to see Jesus.  Zaccheus discovered that climbing was unnecessary though…Jesus was looking for him.  When  Jesus called to Zaccheus, the response was much different than for the rich young ruler.  Both men were very rich.  The ruler left Jesus holding to his wealth, Zaccheus offered to give up his money.  There was a change in his life that was immediately evident!  Zaccheus was born again.  In verse 9, Jesus said “Today salvation has come to this house,”  When Jesus comes into a heart, things are never the same!  The evidence is unmistakable.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 18:9-17 (day four)
The rich young ruler came to Jesus with a valid question…what must I do to be saved?  Whether he was sincere or not, he needed to know the answer.  Jesus gave him the general answer, but then pinpointed the need in the young man’s life.  He needed to give his entire life to Jesus.  When the rich young ruler heard Jesus’ answer, he was faced with a choice.  We all have them.  When confronted with the truth of Jesus’ response, the young man had to decide if he was willing to pay the price.  Just knowing the answer is not enough.  We must choose whether we will follow Jesus or not.  The pull of the world may be great.  We may have riches, status, authority, or maybe just pride…but we all have to make a choice.  The choice we make in answer to this question is our most important choice in our whole life.  Will you follow Jesus?

Re: Verse reading – Luke 18:9-17 (day four)
If you drive a car, you know about blind spots.  They are those areas around your vehicle that you cannot see with your mirrors or by turning your head around.  Your blind spots are visible to everyone else with a different perspective, but as the driver, they are invisible to you.  We all have spiritual blind spots as well.  Attitudes or character flaws that those around us can clearly see…but we are oblivious to them.  In this parable, Jesus explains the danger of a spiritual blind spot.  This Pharisee took pride in his own righteousness…he trusted in his own ‘good works’.  What was obvious to everyone else was the tragic failure of his not trusting in Christ.  Often times, we think we can do it on our own.  We don’t believe we need Christ, or worse, we never even consider Him.  The tragedy is that our false righteousness will not bring true justification.  Ask God to give you His perspective…ask Him to show you your blind spots.  The result of your humility will be genuine forgiveness and true justification.

Re: Verse reading–Luke 14:25-35 (Day four)
Thank you for participating in our ‘40 Days of Prayer’. Yesterday concluded our emphasis, but we invite you to continue to pray for the needs before us as a church. We want to be found faithful. As our Re: Verse study resumes, it is appropriate that this week’s passage deals with the cost of following Christ. Does Christ expect us to pray and seek guidance as an individual…as a church? Let me answer for you…YES. Jesus is teaching in some very strong terms of what is required of the believer. If we could sum it up in one word, it is everything! Some preachers these days would have you to believe that all you have to do is ask Christ into your heart and the circumstances of your life will be great and nothing else is required of you. Wrong. To follow Christ costs us everything. Yes, our life is eternally changed, but the circumstances of our life may include persecution and suffering. Whatever the cost, obedience must be absolute.