Luke 19 Comin' to your house!

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Luke 19:1-48
Jesus and Zacchaeus
1Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business, and he had become very rich. 3He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowds. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree beside the road, so he could watch from there.
5When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. "Zacchaeus!" he said. "Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today."
6Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7But the crowds were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled.
8Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!"
9Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a son of Abraham. 10And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost."
Story of the Ten Servants
11The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. 12He said, "A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. 13Before he left, he called together ten servants and gave them ten pounds of silver F85 to invest for him while he was gone. 14But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say they did not want him to be their king.
15"When he returned, the king called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had done with the money and what their profits were. 16The first servant reported a tremendous gain—ten times as much as the original amount! 17'Well done!' the king exclaimed. 'You are a trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.'
18"The next servant also reported a good gain—five times the original amount. 19'Well done!' the king said. 'You can be governor over five cities.'
20"But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, 'I hid it and kept it safe. 21I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn't yours and harvesting crops you didn't plant.'
22"'You wicked servant!' the king roared. 'Hard, am I? If you knew so much about me and how tough I am, 23why didn't you deposit the money in the bank so I could at least get some interest on it?' 24Then turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, 'Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who earned the most.'
25"'But, master,' they said, 'that servant has enough already!'
26"'Yes,' the king replied, 'but to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who are unfaithful, F86 even what little they have will be taken away. 27And now about these enemies of mine who didn't want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in my presence.'"
The Triumphal Entry
28After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. 29As they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. 30"Go into that village over there," he told them, "and as you enter it, you will see a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs it.'"
32So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. 33And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, "Why are you untying our colt?"
34And the disciples simply replied, "The Lord needs it." 35So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
36Then the crowds spread out their coats on the road ahead of Jesus. 37As they reached the place where the road started down from the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
38 "Bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in highest heaven!" F87
39But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, "Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!"
40He replied, "If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!"
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry. 42"I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you. 43Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you. 44They will crush you to the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you have rejected the opportunity God offered you."
Jesus Clears the Temple
45Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants from their stalls. 46He told them, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be a place of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves." F88
47After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.
FOOTNOTES:F85: Greek 10 minas; 1 mina was worth about 3 months' wages. F86: Or who have nothing. F87: Pss 118:26; 148:1. F88: Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation


~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Zach was very rich. Possibly in all outward appearances he was not in great need of God’s help in life, but in every man is an inward call to come to where God is, to be brought back to His heart. Zach heard that call from God’s spirit to His own spirit. He wanted to see if Jesus was the one to bring him back into the heart of God, His true Father.
See, God is the only true Father any human can have. I mean He places us on earth by earthly fathers, but they are set as examples with responsibility before Him to govern righteously, leading men to Jesus and to Him. If they fail us in someway, since they are not God and merely messengers of God’s will. For only God can be God, and being He is the only one; seeking Him is required. For man to acknowledge His need for this Fathering is required. Man has to seek and search for this oneness, this completeness, which can only be found in Christ Jesus our Lord who leads us to our Father, our eternal spiritual life Father, God.
Zach could not find God alone, he had to go through seeking Jesus first, for there is only one way to God-Jesus Christ.
There is a tree that will lift us up, take us to a high enough lookout point, to be able to see Jesus. (the cross is that tree) It is not enough for us to merely gaze upon and see Jesus, We must also be seen and acknowledged by Him. He is the way to the Father, so we must make our desire to see God known by Jesus. We must say, “Take us there Lord”.
In order to go there we must come out of hiding.” Zach, where are you? Adam, where are you? Lena, where are you?” “Come down, I’m coming to your house today!”
Our house is our body, soul, spirit, that is the house of God, the house that the Eternal God desires to live in! It is time to invite Jesus to the house!
It is time for change, It is time for transformation, repentance. I walked this way, now I turn around and walk another way, a completely different direction.
How does one show himself a son of Abraham? The sons of Abraham are sons of the promise, sons God wants, sons God planned for, made way for. It is an answer to the heart call of God Most High. I am Yours, You are mine.
Let’s say the kingdom of God is like setting up a household with a head of household being God and the Lord being Jesus and the governor being His spirit. When would that kingdom have it’s beginning? The beginning would be when the household was set up, correct? When would it end? When the household dies off, correct? And so the kingdom of God is eternal, no end, no beginning. yet for us it does begin, as each household of faith is established. For us, there would be a beginning, but then no end. Who decides who rules the household?
The head of that house does. If we are head of our houses – our body, soul and spirit, then we decide if we want another to step in and take charge or not, correct? When we turn the affairs of our households over to the Lordship of Christ, the kingdom of God has begun for us! The kingdom has come. When we do His will, then also His will is done- on earth as in heaven! Remember we are made of earth.
We are stewards of His house, of His will. There will be an account given for the affairs of His house, for He owns rights to the house. He owns the house, whether the householder ever gives Him the keys or not; and so the accounts will be made. He’ll send messengers to the house to see if the householders are ready to give the keys to the Master or not. The messengers will only insist for the sake of the householders, but they won’t make them give over the keys of the house, though each house will give account. For the householders who do give the keys to the Master to come and go as He pleases, messengers will also be sent to those houses to see if the householders will take care of the houses as He deems it. They also will give account. He’ll let them run the households as they deem if they want, so the messengers will be somewhat insistent of these householders also, because they know each one will give account for the running of the house.
Did the house bring the increase of His government and of His peace? This is one thing that will be taken account of in the kingdom of God. Who governed the house? Who owned the house? Who’s house are we? Whoever rules the house now, is who the house gets given over to later on.
Have we given ourselves over to the kingship of Christ in God? Can He sit on the most stubborn place of our will and ride? Will we shout Hosanna when He does? Amen.
The Lord has need of the wills of people, especially those who are calling themselves by His glorious name. This would be how the kingdom comes to earth.
So what hinders? The pursuit of money? Does that keep you from being all His? That is a trust issue. It must be addressed, now or later, can’t serve God and money. Money so often is what keeps us from being His wholly governed temples. Throw out whatever keeps you from prayer, overturn whatever it is that steals communication with your Father. Let’s get it out of the way of going into a further intimate place with Him.



Daily Meditation/Recital/Question
Isaiah 58:12 (New Living Translation)
12 Your children will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as the people who rebuild their walls and cities.