LUKE THIRTEEN

Luke 13

12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

Firstly, it baffles me that the synagogue's leader has just witnessed Jesus healing a woman plagued with her sickness for 18 years be healed, and the first thing he can say is how Jesus is breaking some dumb rule. Once more, Jesus responds by using the word "hypocrite". With all the talk of hypocrisy these days, it definitely challenges me to critically take a look at my own life and in what areas I might be practicing it myself. In any case, what these verses reminded me of most was of the fact that, if a person is stubborn in their beliefs, even the greatest of miracles can't budge them.
If any of you were in Martin's Apologetics seminar at the retreat, you might remember when we talked about how difficult it can be to evangelize to our friends sometimes. And we discussed how for those that don't want to believe, you can give them all the proof in the world, and they still won't accept it for the truth, even when it almost seems undeniable. In which case, all you can hope for is for the Spirit to do its thinggg. I feel like it was the same thing with these Pharisees, for they witnessed miracle upon miracle, and they still found ways to distort the situation for the worse, by claiming Jesus was working for the devil, etc.

The segment about the Narrow Door was pretty scary, because it's a pretty vivid description of what could ensue on the day of our saving.
You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
And I could picture a bunch of people that I know doing the same thing- not because they lived as horrible people on earth, but simply because they never accepted Christ. Puts a bit of a hanging feeling over my head. A bit of responsibility?

32 Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.
FORESHADOWING. Hahaha.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!!!

- H

Hey guys! Tomorrow's FRIDAY and we get to worship together. Get excited! And I hope all of you guys practiced! If you haven't, please be ready for tomorrow.

The first thing that I want to mention is related to yesterday's devos. "Repent or Perish" -- those are some strong words. There is no such thing as "half-repenting" or "almost repenting". Jesus wants us to turn away from the sins of this world completely. This means that we can't just allow ourselves to do the things that are not pleasing in God's eyes once in a while and be okay with that. Sure, maybe God will forgive, but the right attitude is not there. We must learn to fear God and to remember God at all times. I think often times, we take God for granted and may be okay with disappointing God or doing things against his will. We shouldn't be okay with that, but strive for so much more.

Another story I liked is the story about the Narrow Door. I'll give you an analogy. The door to heaven is very narrow. You're born a thin person, and every time you do things that are not pleasing to God and every time you turn away from him, you gain weight. Think of it that way. But the good new is, God can take off some weight from us. In fact, he can take away ALL of it if we ask sincerely. So think again today, where you are in this "weight scale" and let's keep ourselves together in the right mindset!


Roh

herro ladies and gents.

The Narrow door story got me thinking... real hard. I have always been curious about this "after life" and how it all works out. But i hope when we all get there, by then, we will be worthy to "eat with them".
But one thing that this says to me is that its not as easy as we may think sometimes. We have to be good... all the time not just once.

E-Sek OUT!

I like what you 3 had to say. I wnat to add to Isaacs point baout being good all the time. What is good? Lets be good not judging from our standards, but be good so that God will be pleased. When it says be good, it doesn't mean go out and bake a random stranger some biscuits ( maybe, dpending on the scenario) , but it all depends on the condition of your heart. If your heart is serving God, then its good.
I'd liek to say i'm encouraged at verse 18, it explains that Go'ds kingdom is ALWAYS growing. Knwoing that, i want to help out too, i want ot be part of this contribution to see Gods kingdom grow. To be able to say that " i helped with this" Remember guys, You can tell one person, they can tell another, and it splits 1 to 2 to 4 to 8......62387462387654.
The Narrow door is some freaky stuff. ahh.

so it did not post but lucky i saved it on Microsoft words yay

Don't the pharisees have better things to do than create such crap at the spot. I can't believe that after seeing a miracle in front of their eyes they still have the nerve of making such BAD excuses to condemn Jesus. Hypocrites, easiest to point out, hard to avoid by oneself. It's clear from verse 17 that Jesus called them opponents, people who are there for the sole purpose of stopping Jesus. They seemed like Holy man, but Jesus referred to them as Opponents, and not followers

Allan

I learned a few things from this Chapter:
1. When you reprimand someone, do so in a way that reflects you yourself have been following the words of admonishment; don't be a hypocrite.
2. I didn't get the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
3. Christianity also provides safety for the families who accept it; the parable of the mustard seed says, "... and the birds make nests in the branches." This meant for me: families will build their lifestyles out of their faith and their kids who will be within the nest will also do so.
4. People who seem less important in life are the ones who have no material possession because they have given them all away. The people who seem important in life are people who have a lot of resources and who hogs all the glory and materials.

The Parable of the Narrow Door:
Jesus says that there wil be many who don't make it to heaven - and that many will weep and gnash at not being allowed in. This kind of scared me.. I think that sometimes we take for granted the grae of god. We're told that if we believe in Jesus, then we will get into heaven. And so sometimes we say to ourselves, i shouldnt be doing this or living like this. But i still believe in jesus so i am A-OKAY! haha Jesus desmonstrates this when he says that some of the people not allowed in will be the ones taht 'ate and drank with him'. But I guess it's a matter of LIVING out your faith. Just because you claim to believe, doesnt necessarily mean you go to heaven because can you really say that you believe in Jesus if you dont live by him?
Jesus concludes,
30"Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
Yet again, we are reminded to switch around our priorities. Instead of looking to be first on the world (being SEXY, smart, rich, popular, etc), that we should humble ourselves and live as those who do not bring glory unto ourselves. IN this way, we will be first in heaven.