3:3 - John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. I have met a lot of people that have a huge issue with baptism, but I wonder what they do with that verse. I realize it is John's baptism, but is it reasonable to assume that Jesus disregarded John's baptism instead of adding to it (3:16 - Holy Spirit)? After all, Jesus was baptized too. While I would never say that Jesus had sin and needed baptism He did say He did it to fulfill all righteousness which would indicate to me that He did it so we would have an example that even He submit to it.
3:8-9 - "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance..." "...every tree that does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." God is serious about fruitfulness. In America we have redefined faith to be what we think or feel, but to John and Jesus and many others in the New Testament, faith was something that always produced fruit. No fruit = No faith.
4:1 - God led Jesus into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted. Now, you could look at that and wonder why God did that, but if you understand that the word for tempt in the original language means to refine or to build character it makes perfect sense. God did not send Jesus there to see if He would sin, but to refine and prepare Him for the ministry that lie ahead. I believe there are times that God allows a rough patch in life, but only because He is refining us and preparing us for something better. Your character needs to be refined so you can endure a loss or an illness or a failure or a Cross.
4:6-7 - Andy Stanley points out how unsettling these verses are in the Twisting the Truth series we are going through. I don't get why or how, but it is in there.
4:18-19 - When Jesus reads the prophecy about why He is there look at what 3 of the 4 "to" or reasons are for His coming - to proclaim. It is amazing that the primary task of Jesus was to proclaim God's truth, but in following Him proclaiming is the one we want to leave out the most. We will serve and give and read and maybe even forgive, but to proclaim....we set our heels in and pull the other way. What about this - To follow Christ is to proclaim God's truth 3 out of 4 times you are doing anything?
4:28 - Often times our nationalistic pride gets in front of our faith.
4:36 - Satan offered Jesus authority, but Jesus was given greater authority by God as you can see here. Isn't that how it works? The devil offers us something smaller than what God has planned, but he tries to convince us it is the best we will get? Think about freedom. Satan offers us little pieces of freedom that actually lead to captivity in an effort to convince us it is the best we will get. But God offers us TOTAL freedom in Christ. Hang on for God's best because it is always bigger and better than the best deal you can get from the devil.
4:39 - The right response to being healed by Jesus is to immediately get up and serve.
5:1 - People generally will crowd around when someone is teaching or explaining the word of God. Our problem in American churches has been we have taught everything else (self help, modern ideas, relationship improvements, how to succeed in life) when people really want to know what God has said and what it means. Father, forgive us for teaching people things that don't lead to eternal life now and forever.
5:5 - Because Jesus says so....We should trust Jesus over our past experiences. Where do you tell Jesus, "I have already been there done that and it didn't work?" Forgiveness? Turning the other cheek? Giving money? Serving? Obeying? Because Jesus said so should be enough to help us do it again.
5:10 - How do you fish for people? Probably the first one is you have to understand what a fish is looking for and use that. The second one is you have to be patient. I fish for people like I fish in real life. Cast, reel in. Cats, reel in. No wonder so few people come to know Jesus. I need to develop a fisherman's patience. That doesn't mean you sit with your line in the water forever, but it does mean you give the fish a chance to see what you are offering them.
5:11 - What have you really left for Jesus? So many of us have left so little to follow Jesus. We have left things we didn't want or didn't need. What about leaving our jobs, our friends, our homes, our safety? It is really hard to follow Jesus when your arms are full of junk and your back is loaded down with a backpack full of past memories and current needs. The way to follow Jesus is with nothing on your back (makes room for a cross) and nothing in your hands (makes room for helping others) and nothing in your heart (makes room for loving like He loves.
5:16 - How often do you withdraw to lonely places to pray? Jesus did it often and we want to follow Jesus, but how often do we get away to lonely places and pray. Would more prayer in lonely places increase our effectiveness? It was a necessary part of Jesus' effectiveness.
5:20 - Your faith can help heal a friend of his sin and his sickness. You just have to love him enough to be embarrassed in his behalf.
5:31-32 - Great verses. If you have a Bible look them up. If not, go to Biblegateway.com and punch in Luke 5:31-32 and read what it says. Hope for all of us.
Love ya,
Michael
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