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 6:1-49
A Discussion about the Sabbath
1One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of wheat, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grains. 2But some Pharisees said, "You shouldn't be doing that! It's against the law to work by harvesting grain on the Sabbath."
3Jesus replied, "Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures what King David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He went into the house of God, ate the special bread reserved for the priests alone, and then gave some to his friends. That was breaking the law, too." 5And Jesus added, "I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath."
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
6On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched closely to see whether Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath, because they were eager to find some legal charge to bring against him. 8But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, "Come and stand here where everyone can see." So the man came forward. 9Then Jesus said to his critics, "I have a question for you. Is it legal to do good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing harm? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" 10He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, "Reach out your hand." The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again! 11At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
12One day soon afterward Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (he also called him Peter), Andrew (Peter's brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
15 Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot),
16 Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
Crowds Follow Jesus
17When they came down the slopes of the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18They had come to hear him and to be healed, and Jesus cast out many evil spirits. 19Everyone was trying to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and they were all cured.
The Beatitudes
20Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,
"God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is given to you.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for the time will come when you will laugh with joy.
22 God blesses you who are hated and excluded and mocked and cursed because you are identified with me, the Son of Man.
23"When that happens, rejoice! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were also treated that way by your ancestors.
Sorrows Foretold
24 "What sorrows await you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrows await you who are satisfied and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger is before you. What sorrows await you who laugh carelessly, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrows await you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.
Love for Enemies
27"But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. 31Do for others as you would like them to do for you.
32"Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that! 33And if you do good only to those who do good to you, is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! 34And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even sinners will lend to their own kind for a full return.
35"Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. 36You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Don't Condemn Others
37"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. 38If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you."
39Then Jesus gave the following illustration: "What good is it for one blind person to lead another? The first one will fall into a ditch and pull the other down also. 40A student is not greater than the teacher. But the student who works hard will become like the teacher.
41"And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye F30 when you have a log in your own? 42How can you think of saying, 'Friend, F31 let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
The Tree and Its Fruit
43"A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. 44A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. 45A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
Building on a Solid Foundation
46"So why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me? 47I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. 48It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49But anyone who listens and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins."
FOOTNOTES:F30: Greek your brother's eye; also in 6:42. F31: Greek Brother.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Is the Lord’s Day of rest also our day of rest? He worked at alll of His work and he rested. We must labor to enter. Not work to obtain our salvation, we are saved, and this is why we’d work. Our faith which is based on the revelation of the wonder of that salvation takes us into the work. The work brings us rest. Ever have a long day’s work and “hit the hay” to snore the night away? A good day’s work, makes for a good night’s sleep. So we labor in the harvest fields of the Lord and we enter His rest. There we find rest for our souls. Struggling in the soul? Enter His work and you’ll find the rest you strive for by working in other places. We do His work, He does ours, it is a miraculous thing this salvation life, a wonder. He is Lord of the rest.
He heals on the day of rest. Like I said, are you struggling with anything? Anything at all. Mental, physical, anything? When we are involved and live in the Day of the Lord, in the Lord’s Day, we have rest and peace. The peace of God is called Shalom, it means wholeness. It means healing for body, mind, and spirit. There is provision for the whole man, when the whole man seeks God’s work first, he’s then enabled to rest from His own works and also his healing or wholeness will be found there. We can search the whole world for ways to be made whole, we can spend all we have for wholeness, but we may as well stop searching elsewhere, because we’ll only truly be made whole in Him and as we work with Him and rest in Him.
Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life. That means there are others ways and truths to follow and others ways of living and looking for what we need. If we believe He is The Way, Truth, Life then why do we seek others ways, to rest and for healing? The harvest fields have the treasures in them. All the treasures He needs and we need, they are there. He’s asking, will you go after My treasure as much as you go after the ones you think you’ve seen for yourself? My treasure is found in My fields. The field is the world. the world needs to be saved.
If we’re not out in His fields we’re not able to rest, and we may search but we may not obtain healing. We may get some relief from pain, but not get to the root causes of the ailments.
Notice vs 1-5 says He was in the grain fields with His disciples, then in vs 12, He gathered up those who were with Him and chose 12 to be apostles. The NASV says He chose among them (the disciples) 12, whom He also called apostles. So 12 of the disciples were disciples & apostles.
A disciple is a pupil, a learner, one who is being informed, they’re increasing in knowledge by hearing with habitual application.
An apostle is a representative, a messenger, one who is send out. One of order and appointment.
One must be a disciple before he is entrusted to take the word and teach others. This is the whole vision of God for the earth. That one learns and applies his learning and then teaches others to learn and go do, etc, etc. It’s called reproduction. That grain in that field reproduced itself. There’s reproduction going on all day everyday in some form or another, by disciples of something. How much of it is purposeful kingdom reproduction? Jesus showed us how to live by example in intimate relations with other persons, and reproduce the life of God in those persons who can reproduce that life of God in others too.
What is compassion? It boils down to being desirous of the salvation of another. That no matter who they are or what they’ve done, you go after their soul and do not want them to perish in hell. You love their eternal destiny enough to do some of what it will take to reveal Him to them so they can go where He is and not perish where He is not.
Again hell was not intended for people. I’ve heard people say, “ah, go to hell”, or “we’ll have a party there”, or “see ya when ya get there too”. These jestings are very, very serious, for those who say such things have not even had a glimpse. When one has a glimpse one would never wish it upon even the cruelest of murders. Compassion sees beyond the works of sin and the flesh and says, “Oh God save them from utter darkness and eternal separation from You!” This is what Jesus did for us. He did not judge us, He saved us and we did not deserve it! Even the judgment later on will be based on what He did. Did you receive Him, did you reverence the work of God enough to live for it and die to the works of the flesh while you are here? One work of the flesh is wishing doom on others, on enemies. If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven. We know that, it is time to believe it and do it. When we do we will take our judgmental hands off of our enemies and cry out for mercy upon their souls. Maybe, just maybe then they can be saved, when we get out bitter hands off. If we take our hands off judgment and its curses will take their hands off of us. These “hands” may be mental “hands”. That is not a hidden place, for God sees there as well as every where else, and we may think we’re hiding, but we’re not, in fact just about everyone around us can see how bitter we are.
Time to let go, of bitterness and unforgiveness, before it is too late to let go.


Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.