Luke chapter 8

"Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages." -- Jesus is a Rock Star.

I actually picked up a lot of interesting points from this chapter, so I'm just going to divide them up into two main headings that I think would categorize them really well. I hope you guys take the time to read it and learn a lot from what I have to say about this! I separated them into two categories titled, "Two Parts to Learning -- Internalizing and Applying", and "Faith When It's Not Going So Well".

Two Parts to Learning -- Internalizing and Applying

In the "Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed", Jesus talks about three different types of Christians. And I believe that every one of us go through each of these three stages in life and sometimes fluctuate between different stages. Sometimes, you take what God teaches you through sermons, devotions, and life experiences, and you understand them, but you decide to not give it a minute to really think about it and you end up throwing it away. Other times, you take what you learn and walk away with it knowing that you've grown, but it's only a part of you for a short period of time because you don't have the true desire to learn and grow. Learning is important, but learning is in vain if you can't take it a step further and make it your own and grow from it. And sometimes (which I hope is most of the time for all of you), we take what we learn and we "cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest." What does it mean by producing harvest? I think it means that we take what we learn and instead of keeping it in that one seed, we let it harvest into a million plants, which in turn, would mean that we take what we learn and teach to others by our words and actions. This relates to the next section in Luke 8 when it talks about us being like a lamp. If we are going to let ourselves light up, it's insensible for us to keep ourselves covered up and stay hidden from others. Think about it. Why do we have light bulbs? So that they can SHINE! So if we are going to call ourselves Christians and go out there, it does not make sense for us to hide it! Let's always take what we learn and apply.

So let's really get into what the title of this heading says: Learning -- Internalizing and Applying. There's so many ways that you can learn. Jesus talked about three of those ways and I think he did a great job at covering them. I just want to summarize what I think is the best way to learn from reading the Bible or to taking in all that you get from the praise team and church. Whenever you learn, make it your own; that's how I would describe "internalizing" what you learn. It's making it a part of you. When it becomes a part of you, it sticks with you and does not part from you and stays with you always. So when you take what you learned from Luke 8 today and make it your own, every time you want to be a light in the dark, you'll remember that you don't want to be that useless lamp that is covered up. The second part of learning is applying. As it becomes a part of you, let it show that it is a part of you. Don't let it sit in that dusty corner of your heart and brain where it rarely manifests externally, but make it a practical, significant part of you. I really hope that every single day, you guys take in what you learn and at least make one thing a part of you. I know you learn a lot and it's not always easy to remember all that, but don't let your devos be a waste of time. You'll realize this later, but the beauty of post-secondary education (for the most part) is that since you're learning a subject that you are interested in and focused on practising that area of interest for the rest of your life, you're given a chance to really take in what you learn and make it your own. So it may seem boring for you, but something as simple organic chemistry, I'm able to take that in and sit there in class in awe of the fact that the complexity of the composition of life can broken down in a sensible, well-structure manner and be used in such amazing, practical ways for the benefit of mankind. Believe it or not, I can apply that in my labs. Or, I'll be sitting in my psychology classes, learning about the the mind and how it works, though it's sketchy to me sometimes, I can use that in my daily life! I'm sure you can do the same with some classes. My point is, let's treat our devos and every other source of Biblical learning like that and not like a calculus class, where you sit there and wonder when in your life you're ever going to actually apply anti-derivatives and tangents. Internalize and apply!

Faith When It's Not Going So Well

It's easy to trust God when it's going so well. It's easy to be nice to your parents when they're letting you go out whenever you want and giving you lots of money. It's easy to treat your friends with respect when they appreciate your presence and your humour. Think about the opposite. It's so hard to trust God when you're doing poorly in school and your future looks very dim. It's hard to be nice to your parents when they're keeping you in the house most of the times and giving you such hard time. It's hard to respect your friends when they don't show commitment and are sometimes too busy for you. But think about it, in all of those situations, God cares about you the same, your parents love you just as much, and your friends love hanging out with you just as much. It's just a matter of situation and how you handle it. Jesus said, "Where is your faith?", when the disciples panicked in the storm. He wanted them to trust him at ALL times, whether the sun was shining or not. And look at the woman who simply reached out in that huge crowd (I can't even imagine what the traffic must've been like for her to go through all of thousands of people!) to touch the tip of Jesus' robe. That takes a great deal of faith. So even in our hard times, I want us to trust in God and make that extra effort to reach out for his robe, even if we get to touch just the tip of it. Because God WILL feel that and respond back to you. Even when you feel that God has turned his back on you, he won't ignore you, because he loves you at all times. In the same sense, let's show our love for him at all times. It's in those hard times that we need to show extra care and extra effort to let him know that we care and appreciate it. Start applying that today!

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So I hope that even today, you have read what I've taken the time to share with you guys and not just walk away with it, but to sit, take it in, make it yours, and then walk away with it. I just want to remind all of you of one thing. As a leader, I don't want to be that leader that is feared upon, hard to approach, and just every bad connotation that goes with the tag of being a "leader". I am your leader, but I am also your friend. I think you guys know that I like to spend time with you and bring myself down to your level to show you that I am just as human and just as young as you are! (though that latter bit may be hard to believe for some of you). But I also want you to know one thing and for those of you who feel like you're closer to me than others, listen up. I am your friend, but my job title also gives me the privilege of being your spiritual counselor. As much as it would be "weird" or hard for you guys to look at me and learn from me the same way that you may learn from some other leader like Sam or Sayah per se, I want all of you to take my words really seriously and whenever you get to read these things or hear me speak at practices or in personal conversations, I do go through a lot of reading and praying just to be able to help you guys through whatever you may be struggling. And I also want to be there as your teacher in some instances where you guys may have questions and need answers. So all I'm saying here is, I want you guys to take my "wise" words not lightly and though it may be hard for some of you to look at me as a spiritual leader and counselor, I am here for you and try to take advantage of it. But I will always be here for you all, not just when I'm in the praise team or when you're still a part of the praise team. Just wanted to throw that out there!


Hope you guys had a great day and get excited for tomorrow! I appreciate all your hard work and commitment.


Roh

I don't understand.. in Verse 39 Jesus told the man to tell everyone what happened.
Then in Verse 56, He insists that nobody hears about what had happened...

Anyway, I really like the topic of Adoption...
Jesus - God - can see past our facade and sense our needs...
Also, with the incident of the ill woman, I learned that you don't need God's recognition to be healed by Him.
As long as you accept the fact that God has the power to heal, and you are willing to reach our with your hands and "touch" God, then you will be healed by Him.
There should be no shame, or fear in doing so.

I think in those two verses, the context matters. Maybe in one situation he wanted people to see how powerful he was so that they would believe in him, but in another situation, maybe he wanted keep it on the d/l so that he wouldn't have ppl criticize him. I'm just guessing...there could be a thousand reasons.