Luke 13:1-5

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Jesus was speaking to a group of people who, at the time, were looking at the physical circumstances surrounding someone and judging, from that, the state of the person's conscience and soul. They were labelling people as "sinners" because bad things had happened to those peopole.

Too often, we do the same. We assume someone in poverty is not in God's favor...or someone who is blessed financially is. Or we assume that someone for whom everything is going "right" is obviously doing what is right and God is blessing them. But this is something we need to be careful with. For example, Job was doing everything right...and yet he was inflicted with horrible things that happened to him, his family, his fortune. (Interesting to note that at that time, his friends also started looking for what "sin" had brought this calamity on him.)

We also sometimes assume that, when something bad happens, we have done something to "deserve" it. Or we have brought it on ourselves. That is not always the case. Though certainly it is worth doing a self-examination when things go south to see if we are harboring some unconfessed, unrepented sin. But that's worth doing when things are going WELL, too!

Action Item for Today: Don't be quick to judge people, based on the circumstances you see around them.

Luke 12:54-57

He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?

This passage points out that we look at the sky and see signs of what the weather will bring. Yet we look around us and see "signs of the times" and don't recgonize them. I'd even say that many who dosee and discern signs of the times pay no heed to them.

How many people do you know who believe we are "living in the End Times" or "His return is very soon, and so we better be believing..." or any other ways of saying what many of us know: Time is almost up for the human race. Probably, you know at leaset a few people...and quite possibly you know many. Maybe you are one of these people. I would wonder if someone who is versed in the Bible were to look at current events and not reach the conclusion that time is running short. (Even many secular sci-fi writers or scientists have reached the same conclusion, that...not for the same reason or by the same means that Christians believe, but for other reasons and by other means...Man's time on Earth is winding to a close.)

Then, how many of us who profess to believe that...who even do believe that...then go out and live like we believe it? Really, if you believe that Jesus is coming back tomorrow...maybe today...maybe next week... then are you doing something you would want Him to find you doing?

Consider the passage just shortly previous to this one:
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching;" - Luke 12:36

Or this one, also in the same chapter:
And that servant, which knew his lord's wil, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. - Luke 12:47

Are those of us who profess to believe that Christ is coming back living according to His will and being in places where He would have us be, among people He would have us associated with and minister to, and doing things we would not be embarassed if He found us doing?

Further...if we truly believe that the end is soon, are we reaching out to people who are lost? Or do we thing we have another day, another week, another month to reach that co-worker or friend or family member or stranger who we know needs to know the truth of Christ and is dying without Him? How foolish to assume we have even one more minute, much less "time enough", if we believe His return is imminent. Are we, by idleness, sitting by and let other people die spiritually because they are without a teacher to point them the way to life?

Challenge for Today: Live as if you knew Jesus was coming back today. Of course, no one knows that He is, as no one knows the hour...but there's no one who can say accurately that He isn't, either. We are not guaranteed even one more day. Today judge for yourselves what is right...and do it!

Luke 11:1-4

And it came to pass , that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased , one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray , as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray , say , Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come . Thy will be done , as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

This is a very familiar passage of Scripture, or at least when I started reading it, I thought it was. It is the Lord’s Prayer, but it is not the more familiar version that is found in Matthew, which is the one many people know from the version set to music. This one is slightly different. It is one thing that makes it different that I want to comment on today.

This prayer ends with “but deliver us from evil”.

It does not go on with the more familiar, “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Most of us traditionally end our prayers with “Amen”. Whether at mealtime or in church or before going to sleep in the evening or in the morning quiet time or wherever it is that you pray. But the more I read about prayer, and the more I pray on a consistent basis and more continuously through the day, the more I find that prayer is very much a dialogue, as you would speak to a friend and listen for a response, more than a religious exercise.

Think about it this way. When you talk to a friend, you may sometimes use an ending word. It wouldn’t be “Amen”, of course, but it might be something like “Bye!” if you’re on the phone and the conversation is ended. Or maybe, “See you later,” or something like that, if you were then leaving the friend’s presence. But every single time you talk to a friend, you don’t add that “ending” to a conversation, because the conversation is not necessarily over. If you’re friend is just in the next room or you intend to see them again in five minutes, you don’t feel obligated to add a “Bye” to the end of the sentence. Otherwise, you’d sound like a telegraph message. Stop. And that wouldn’t sound like a conversation. Stop. It would sound like a formal message. Stop. Or like a robot. Stop.

So… the point is, there’s a place for “amen”, but there’s also a place for just praying and conversing with God and not ending all your requests (or even necessarily that prayer session) with “Amen”. And the even deeper point is that we should all be trying to cultivate that kind of prayer life that incorporates the praises to God and the fear of God, for he is majestic and awesome, but also that is as natural as a conversation.

One of my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman songs says, “Just because we say ‘amen’, doesn’t mean this conversation has to end.” I’d go further to say that we don’t even have to say ‘amen’. It’s a formality, but I think, based on the fact that God inspired one writer who recorded Jesus’ teachings on prayer to include it and inspired the other to not, that God cares more about the content and spirit of the prayer than he does about the formalities.

Challenge for Today: Find some time to pray, alone, to God. Praise him, worship him, make your requests known to him…then listen to him. (The part we usually forget in our “one-sided” prayer conversations.) Examine if your prayer is more about the form or the function of the prayer…that is, do you spend more time on formality or repeating a memorized prayer or saying your own “pretty” words? Or do you just say what’s on your heart?