Warnings and Encouragements

PRAYER PRACTICE

Prayer Journal – To begin your daily worship today, grab a pen and paper and write out a prayer to God. Not sure what to write? Try using ACTS to frame your prayer. Begin with adoration for who God is. Then move on to confession – being real about where you have fallen short in the last day or two. Give thanks to God for all that He gives (including forgiveness for the sin you just confessed!). And then finish with supplication – with your prayer requests to God. When you are done, tuck this away somewhere (so you can read it later and see how God has answered your prayers) and then move into hearing from God through His Word.

DAILY READING

Luke12:1-57

 

DEVOTION / REFLECTIION

Seeds of Salvation

by Judy Webb

Reading Chapter 12 of Luke I am struck by how hungry the people must have been for truth. Here is a man, Jesus, who is a stranger to them, but who has the power to break down the barriers of an outsider and draw the people to Him. Life must have been hard for many of them, with the oppression of the Roman government which stifled their lives, unfair taxes levied at will by the collectors. Add to this scenario, tyrannical religious leaders, and you have a recipe for revolution.

The people were looking for a leader to help them overthrow the oppressive government. This chapter begins telling how such a great crowd was forming, they were trampling one another. They so desperately wanted a savior, someone who would fight for them and their causes. Little did they know, Jesus was not the man to lead them into a battle to regain their land and kill the enemy. Jesus’ plan was to love them as they have never been loved before.

“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (verse 1) Jesus said this to His disciples, warning them of the danger the Pharisees posed. Yeast is a Biblical symbol of corruption since its nature is to expand. (Life Application Bible) Like one rotten apple can spoil the entire barrel.

As you read through this chapter make a list of those things Jesus warned His disciples to watch out for. These are good for us to be alert to as well. Greed (verses 13-21), worry (verses 22-34), unpreparedness (verses 36-40), Spiritual Stupidity (verses 41-48), and division (verses 49-53). When I don’t heed these warnings and fall prey to any of them, the rotten apple concept begins.

Reflect and Consider: We are called to examine our motives in this chapter. Our motives guide our conduct. If I am motivated by greed or worry my actions will be less than pure. The only motivation I need is to be reconciled to God on His terms before it is too late. Jesus had a plan that would eventually get him killed, but not before the seeds of Salvation were planted deep.