Today Our Daily Bread Luke 18 ++

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 18:1-43
The Parable of the Persistent Widow1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, "Get justice for me from my adversary.' 4And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, "Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me."' 6Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. 7And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, "God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Jesus Blesses Little ChildrenR75 15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Jesus Counsels the Rich Young RulerR76 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery,' "Do not murder,' "Do not steal,' "Do not bear false witness,' "Honor your father and your mother."' F119 21And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." 22So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 23But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. With God All Things Are PossibleR77 24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?" 27But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." 28Then Peter said, "See, we have left all F120 and followed You." 29So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life." Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and ResurrectionR78 31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." 34But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken. A Blind Man Receives His SightR79 35 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 36And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 39Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 40So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, 41saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." 42Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." 43And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Footnotes
F119: 18:20 Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20
F120: 18:28 NU-Text reads our own.
Show cross-references
R75: Matt. 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16
R76: Matt. 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22
R77: Matt. 19:23-30; Mark 10:23-31
R78: Matt. 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34
R79: Matt. 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52


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~Lena’s Journalin’ Today~
Wow, I was thinking how whenever I’ve read this before I’ve always thought of the persistence as begging of God. What I see today is that my persistence with God is that I’m constantly in conversation with him and I do not give the time of day to my enemies. I irritate my enemies in that I do not give up from loving God, which is horrendous to them, because they do not win over me at all.
She persisted and the unrighteous gave in! How do we trouble God’s enemies? We forsake their calls on our lives by purposely living a holy life dedicated to God. We love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength and we love people on purpose, whether they are loveable or not. The true test of a love that is from God, is that the person is undeserving of the reception it in our eyes!
The enemy wants children just as God does, if we show Him we are God’s children, immovable in our faith walks, by increasing our active allegiance to God, he is shown defeat by our actions of faith towards God and the forsaking of service to him. We love all that is of God, we hate all that is evil!
A clue that we are religious is we point out everyone else’s wrongs and do not see or ever deal with our own! Whew, that hurt, huh? I know it did, because I’m there right now. I’ve finally woken up to see my own faults, a biggie is a lack of unconditional love, and I’m becoming so aware now. It is like night and day. Beforehand I exalted myself with selfish self righteous thinking, Hey I’m ok like I am, I’m trying…but there’s a higher way. I’m doing God’s word and will. His #1 will is love. #1! Love is who God is. Love does not even notice wrongs. This Pharasee, was all about showing others how wrong they were, in that attitude we don’t have to look at or deal with our own nature. Bad, bad place to be in, we are blinded to ourselves. We love ourselves without conditions and expect God to love us that way, yet won’t love others with that same love? This is NOT love. Love covers for the sake of loving one into the desire of and for obedience.How much stuff do we have and keep that keeps us from giving our all to God? How many things and the occupation with those things do we hold onto to give us comfort and security? Do we trust God? Or our own selves for security? Wow. Who or what do we serve? Serving is what we give our time over to, spend our life on , and our energy doing.
Jesus told this man, sell all! Selling shows that the possession does not hold us anymore, we can give it as an offering, but the point is it is not taking our time or energy anymore. Jesus told Him what God would like him to give his time and energy to giving to others. Many times all the things we accumulate are about us, about what we want and need and like to do, not about giving of ourselves to others.
Why does this passage say the blind man received his sight? He cried out for it? No, he had faith for it. His faith activated his cry, a cry from his heart unto God. This cry was not for sympathy, it was for change. How many of us are at a place where we cry out for change like that, in enough faith to believe for the change and then to be desperate enough to risk our “reputation” to get from God the change we really want and need? How desperate are we to seek God and find Him, but not only find Him and touch Him, but SEE Him? Do you think this man wanted to see Jesus? Maybe that was his insistent cry, he had to see Jesus. He could have been content to have Jesus touch his life and maybe even without making a change, just strictly for the touch of God! How many times have we accepted just the touch of God without being changed or asking God for a change?
Let’s go further today. Cindy- let’s go further today, Laura’s – let’s go further today, Heidi- let’s go further today, Maria- let’s go further today. Lorraine- let’s go further today, Carla & Remi- let’s go further today…To all of us- let’s go on to perfection, to completion in Him. Love U

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.