The longer I live, the more I see where it is almost impossible to please mankind! We complain because it’s too hot and when it’s cold; when we have friends to mix with and when we don’t have friends; When we are poor and when we don’t trust anyone with our money. When Jesus spoke to His followers, who were ordinary folk just like us, He shared some standards by which they would be blessed. Hang in there while we look closer at a few of these standards.
DATE POSTED Sunday, 2022-12-11
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL
BY: Ed Algreen
SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 6:20-23
TRANSLATION: New Century Version (NCV)
BIBLE TEXT: 20 Jesus looked at his followers and said,
“You people who are poor are blessed, because the kingdom of God belongs to you. 21 You people who are now hungry are blessed, because you will be satisfied. You people who are now crying are blessed, because you will laugh with joy. 22 “People will hate you, shut you out, insult you, and say you are evil because you follow the Son of Man. But when they do, you will be blessed. 23 Be full of joy at that time, because you have a great reward in heaven. Their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.
APPLICATION: Many of you are probably familiar with ‘The Beatitudes’. However, some refer to these as godly standards by which we should live. When Jesus returned to the plains from His all-night prayer time with His Father, He delivered what is considered by many as the greatest sermon ever taught. This is due in part because the sermon is a repeat of one previously taught by Jesus on the mountain to a similar crowd. Because the sermon is recorded in the Bible, all of us who claim Jesus as Savior of our lives, also receive this sermon every time we read the Scriptures. So, what shall we do with these challenging words of Jesus? I recommend that you refresh yourself on the content of this full chapter in Luke – the whole sermon. But I feel compelled to share a prayer written by one of my favorite commentaries on the Bible, Jon Courson. This will be posted under my ‘Prayer’ section of this devotional. Take it to heart friends and be blessed of God!
PRAYER: Let’s pray.… “The standards, Lord, of Your kingdom—of giving, blessing, forgiving—are qualities I lack in and of myself. Therefore, I need forgiveness, and I embrace You as my Saviour. I bask, Lord, in Your grace. I plead Your blood. I invite You to come into my heart again, Lord. And in so doing, to allow my life to more completely display these qualities. Strip from me, Lord, hypocrisy. Take from me, Lord, attitudes of judgment or condemnation. Keep me, Lord, from being one who hears the Word, but doesn’t build my life thereon. I pray that my life might truly be built upon the Rock, that as the storms come, I might stand in that day. So, by the Spirit, and in the Spirit, I absorb these teachings, this message, and pray that I might do unto others as I would that they would do unto me. Make me like You, Jesus. Allow me to be one who is more concerned about compassion than tradition. Allow me to be one who responds to Your commandments rather than argue why they can’t be done. I pause in Your presence, asking You to do Your work in my life. Set me free, Lord, to be a liberator and lover of others as I look to and love You.” AMEN!