Sunday, August 1, 2021

Luke 13 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Luke 13:10,11

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

These verses are amazing, and ones I think we need to remember in these days. This lady had a spiritual attack that brought about physical ailments and implications. What is happening in the unseen world in and around us affects us in more ways than one. I believe that some of the health problems we face today aren’t so much physical in origin as they are spiritual. Yes some things come from the physical because not every disease, sickness, and malady is spiritual in origin, but some are.

But are we willing to accept this? And if we are willing to accept it, what will we do about it? Too often we neglect the spiritual side of things and focus solely on the physical. We are hurting, we are sick, we are going through an emotional valley, and we turn to medicine before the Healer. This is not a post to say medicine is bad or evil, because it’s not. Medicine brings health, life, strength, and hope; all of those things are of God, not of the world, but the way we use medicine and how we run to it before our God is wrong.

If we are sick, let us go to both the Lord and the doctor. If we are depressed, let us go to the Word of God and seek out the comfort and encouragement of those around us. If our arm is broken, then on the way to the hospital, ask God to heal it.

Not every sickness is from a spiritual attack, but the ones that are can’t be treated or healed by human medicine but must be given from above! Let us not neglect the spiritual while focusing upon the physical but honor God in both!

Luke 13:12,13- When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then He put His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Notice Christ spoke the healing and placed His hands on her. We would do well to follow suit!

God bless! I love you all, but His love is the ultimate healing! Praise, glory, and honor both now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Luke 13:18-19

Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.” 

 

Let me tell you, the Holy Spirit opened this parable up to me this morning, and I am going to do my best to relay what He showed me! The mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, the least of the seeds, if you will, and Jesus came and made Himself the least of all to save us all, so Jesus is the seed. A seed must die for it to produce a plant or a tree. The man is God in this parable, and His garden is this world and the tomb in which Jesus was placed! When a tree grows out of the ground, it is, in essence, rising up from the ground, so the tree is the Resurrected Christ! And we are the birds who can come and find our rest, shelter, protection, and life in the arms of Christ!

 

Brothers and sisters, I’m not a pastor or trained in theology, but I do know that Jesus Christ saves and that He is real and alive today. I’m walking proof that my God saves and that He can redeem any and everyone who repents and turns from their sins and toward Him! It may seem overbearing or overwhelming, but I promise you that is just the enemy whispering lies into your ears to make you doubt the freedom found in Christ! If you are tired of flapping your wings and getting nowhere, then turn to Christ and build your nest in Him! I promise you it will be the only foundation that lasts for all eternity!

 

1 Corinthians 3:11 - For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

 

God bless! I love you all! Glory, Honor, and Praise now and forever to Papa God, The Risen King, and the Holy Spirit! 

 

 

Luke 13:23

Someone asked Him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”

Are we making every effort? Jesus clearly states that it’s going to take work and that effort will be required to make this righteous journey with Him. This doesn’t mean we are saved by work, for we know that it is grace given through faith in Christ! So why would Jesus stress the importance of making every effort?

One of the reasons is to prepare us for the uphill battle, a battle not against flesh and blood but against the evils of this world and the one who desires to destroy us. He wants us to know that it’s going to cost and it’s going to be tough at times, but in the end, it is the only thing that matters. There are many things that seem so very important now, but to be Jesus Christ’s is the one thing that truly matters more than all the rest. Jesus knows that and helps us to remember that it’s worth fighting for.

People aren’t saved by good works, but saved people do good works for the glory of God! We aren’t the owner of the house that Jesus references in these Scriptures, so we don’t get to determine who gets in or when the door closes. But if we belong to Christ, we can approach the door with confidence because we know that our debt has been paid and our lives are eternally found in Him! Will you make every effort today, or take your chances on a closed door tomorrow?

Revelation 3:7- “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

Jesus shut the door on the grave for us and opened the doorway to Heaven. Will we enter?

God bless! I love you all, but His love opened the Way! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

 

Luke 13:23,24

Someone asked Him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”

Are we making every effort or every excuse? Because it matters how we live and who we live for. We are to live as Christ did and with the same heart-posture toward God and people that He had here on earth.

Let’s not misunderstand Him; Jesus isn’t telling us that we have to earn our salvation but rather that we should live our lives with intentionality and intimacy toward Him. Salvation is not based on our works but on His work on the cross! His victory over death, not our check list of good deeds.

Although good works don’t save us, saved people do good works! I feel like Jesus is also warming us of lukewarmness and the danger of being in the church but not being part of the Body. Again, that takes intentionality toward Him and intimacy with Him. We show this through our obedience, and obedience takes effort! It takes effort to serve God and not your flesh, it takes effort to love others more than yourself, it takes effort to obey the Word of God over the demands of this world.

This walk takes effort; it is more like marching in an army than a walk in the park, but to march in His army is to be with the Commander! I would rather put in the effort to serve and love Christ than to put in the effort to serve anything else. Why serve the one trying to kill you when you can serve the One who died for you?

Let us not be deceived; the church Christ gave His life for is not a building but a people, so we must ask ourselves, are we just sitting in the building or serving and living in His Body?! I ask again, are we making every effort or every excuse?

Revelation 7:9,10- After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

God bless! I love you all, but His love was proved through His effort on the cross! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Luke 13:32,33

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to Him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’”

What are some goals you have? A new house, a new car, a better job, a bigger family, or something else? These are all good goals in and of themselves, but what is our ultimate goal? Christ’s was the cross, and since it was His, it should be ours also.

Christ’s goal wasn’t just to come to earth and live a peaceful and long life but to come and conquer on the cross through His death and resurrection! We, too, must set our goals by His standards and not our own. Our ultimate goal must be to go to the cross of Christ, be changed, and live an obedient, selfless life serving our God through the power and person of the Holy Spirit.

And just as Jesus experienced resistance on the way to His goal, we will be no different. The Pharisees tried to scare or discourage Christ to leave where He was because of some worldly threat. We, too, can expect to experience the same. Those around us and the spiritual powers that hate us will try to discourage and even defeat our faith and calling in the Lord. They will say things like it’s not worth it, is it even real?, what about when they find out what you did? All lies from the enemy bent on keeping us from the cross and our Risen King. We must do as Jesus did and keep our hearts and minds focused on truth, His truth being that He came for one purpose, to give His life as a ransom for many and lead the people to freedom. He kept His heart and mind focused upon the Father, while walking in the Spirit, and was able to persevere and even dominate the cross, for no one could take Christ’s life from Him, but He gave it willingly to set you and me free.

So today, we too have a calling in Christ, and we too must focus upon the Father as we walk in the Spirit to follow our King to the cross and beyond! Will we do this today? We all have goals, but do they glorify Him?

James 1:12- God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

God bless! I love you all, but His love leads the way. Will we follow? Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

 

 

 

 

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