The Everyday Prayer

Re: Verse reading– Luke 22:66-23:25 (Day Three)
“[Herod] hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort.”  We’re all Herod now.  To the extent that we want adventure, amazement, or a break from the wearying business of living with people, we want exactly what Herod wanted.  It’s easier if we get a “sign” to reveal what we should do than it is actually to make a decision.  It’s more affirming to our sense of self to receive a dramatic divine affirmation that we’re right instead of figuring out how to live in peace with someone we don’t like.  We serve ourselves.  Herod was stricken dead because he served himself rather than God.  Therefore, if indeed this Savior has the power to give the sign that we seek, should we not rather fall at his feet like a dead man until we hear him say, “Do not be afraid?”

Re: Verse reading—Luke 22:66-71, 23:1-25 (day one)
“He questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.”  (23:9)  Sad story.  It is Friday of Holy Week.  Jesus has been arrested and interrogated by the Sanhedrin.  Then to Pontius Pilate.  Then to King Herod.  (It was an attempt by Pilate to avoid responsibility–since Jesus was from Galilee, He fell under Herod’s jurisdiction.)  At an earlier point in time, Herod had been spiritually interested. (Mark 6:20) Unfortunately, that moment of spiritual opportunity has passed. The door is closed now,  shut on God’s side.  Jesus does not even answer Herod’s questions.  Strange.  Alarming.  None of us can presume on unlimited time to repent.  When the door shuts, the time for  conversation with God is gone.  Reminds me of King Saul.  Squandering many opportunities to obey, the terrible moment comes when God stops dealing with him.
(1 Samuel 28:6) God’s mercy is huge.  So is His holiness.  None of us should take the mercy of God for granted.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 21:5-24 (day seven) 
Where does life lead?  Believers and secular people have very different answers.  Jesus believed that life leads toward an accounting with God.  For everyone!  “An hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil to resurrection of judgment.”  (John 5:28-29)  Paul followed his Lord in this conviction.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body. . .whether good or bad.”  (2 Corinthians 5:10)  As we read the words of Christ in Luke 21, (see v 36) let us examine our hearts for a secure grip on this truth.  Those have this vision of the future discover great strength and moral motivation for the present hour.  Knowing that we will stand before the Son helps us to stand for Him now.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 21:5-24 (day six)
I like traditions.  I am a “pattern” kind of person.  Up the same time every morning.  Same routine.  Comforting.  The danger comes when I begin to trust my traditions rather than God.  When a change in plans or job or health feels like a breach of contract.  When God can’t do “a new thing” without me reacting in anxiety and resistance.  Jesus warns us.  Things don’t stay the same.  They can’t. Even something as massive as the Jewish Temple was vulnerable.  The wise choice is to connect yourself to Christ with unbreakable bonds of loyalty.  Abide in Him.  Make Him the permanent, unchanging thing, rather than  familiar circumstances, family, job or traditions.  “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you” says the Psalm writer.  Good counsel for all of us who unconsciously think that life will always be the way it is now.  It won’t!  Let the adventure begin.  Trust God!

Re: Verse reading–Luke 21:5-24 (day five)
Did you see it when you read this passage?  Did your heart grab hold of it when you read the promise?  Tucked inside this passage of immeasurable gloom and doom are words of comfort from the Lord Himself.  They are words that evidence a greater hope in the midst of destruction and confusion.  They are words that keep the human heart “centered” and “focused” on a kingdom that that will not be shaken or overcome.  It is a promise He makes over and over in the scriptures.  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20, “Abide in me and I in you”, John 15:4.   “For I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.” Luke 21:15 (because I am with you, living inside you).

Does that promise bring you joy and peace in the midst of circumstances and tension?  Does it give you less cause to worry and stress over the future?  Does it give you the confidence and determination to live today for His Glory?

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 21:5-38 (day three)
“Not one stone will be left on another…”  Everything that comes from the way of men will be overturned.  The way of men is a way of impossibility, a way of limited resources, a way of temporary life, a way of fading riches.  As a building is demolished, so the way of man will meet the wrecking ball.  But we are not doomed: “I will give you words and wisdom; stand firm, and you will win life,” our Lord says (Luke 21:15, 19).  Nothing outside of that way of Jesus will survive.  Nothing.  But within that way, nothing will perish.

Re: Verse reading–Luke 21:5-24 (day two)
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?  Certainly first-century human nature still resonates 20 centuries later.  If we are to endure hardship, we generally want to know when it’s coming.  Makes sense, doesn’t it?  How much time do we have to prepare? What do I have to do immediately?  But Jesus knows our nature better than we do.  He also knew/knows that if we were given a time and place we would also squander opportunities to love and serve.  Dave Ramsey has a slogan in his Financial Peace University that says “Live like no one else so one day you can LIVE like no one else.”  This is good financial stewardship, but it also make sense for how we govern our lives.  We shouldn’t live with the fear of imminent doom, but with the joy that one day Christ will restore and redeem.

Re: Verse reading—Luke 21:5-24 (day one)
“The time when come when not one stone (of the temple in Jerusalem) will be left upon another.”  (v 6)  Jesus saw it coming.  Judged by their stubborn rejection of Spiritual truth, Israel would soon be gone.  “All good things must come to an end.”  So says the old proverb.  The Bible affirms the same truth.  We tend to think of nations and families as quasi-permanent.  Hard to imagine a world without America in it, isn’t it?  The scripture shouts a different truth.  Things come to an end.  People.  Churches.  Families.  Careers.  Nations.  And those who have placed their identity and/or confidence in these temporary things are shattered with the fall.  “A voice says , ‘Call out.’  Then he answered, ‘What shall I call out?’  All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. . .the grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of the Lord lasts forever.”  (Isaiah 40:6-8)