Luke 12:13-48 (AD 29) A right view of eternity is what links the three sections of today’s reading. The Rich Fool in the parable ignored God and eternity, and was only interested in pleasing himself in the here and now (v.13-21) We give in to worry when we forget the great love and care God … More Day 76: An eternal perspective
Luke 12:8-12 (AD 29) Sometimes you bump into a Bible verse or passage that stops you short and – when you take it seriously – can look kinda scary. Such as this one, which seems to refer to the possibility of God refusing to forgive a certain type of sin. That would contradict the rest … More Day 75: Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
Luke 12:1-7 (AD 29) The Bible contains a number of conundrums. Some, like today’s ‘Fear/Don’t fear’ involve living with the tension between apparently irreconcilable concepts. We need to embrace the tension between those concepts where God presents us with both, and not be tempted to throw one away in favour of the other. What do … More Day 74: Know fear but don’t be afraid
Day 73: Luke 11:33-54 According to atheism, there is no meaning, truth or purpose beyond what you decide. Therefore there is no right or wrong beyond what is agreed between consenting parties. Until the tyranny of atheistic groupthink sets in when atheism takes power in a society, therefore, atheism purports to stand for freedom. It … More Day 73: The comfort of rules
Luke 11:14-32 (AD 29) The opening of today’s passage is another example of how the enemies of Jesus tended to come at him with transparently envy-driven nonsense. This was how events unfolded: Jesus encountered a man rendered mute because he was possessed by a demon. Jesus drove out the demon; immediately the man could speak. … More Day 72: Not everyone who demands proof, wants it
Luke 11:1-13 (AD 29) Jesus’ blueprint for prayer is as well-known as it is ignored. Not that we don’t ever recite it – in fact some people think recitation of the exact words is extremely important. What tends to get ignored is that the first priority in our prayer life should be a desire, spilling … More Day 71: The priority of God’s glory
Luke 10:25-42 (AD 29) The “expert in the law” (v.25) in this story doesn’t have many fans. Typically we give him the big eye roll and tut-tut. ‘Test Jesus, would you? Good luck with THAT…pfff…religious leaders eh…’. But he doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the way he answers Jesus’ question. When Jesus asked, “What … More Day 70: Unpopular view: the expert in the law was a smart dude
Luke 10:1-24 (AD 29) Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples as warm-up guys for his tour around the country. Taking place about six months of his death, these thirty-six mini-missions were at a specific moment in time and not intended as a blueprint for missionary organisations throughout history. Luke isn’t telling us how me must do … More Day 69: Thirty-six pairs of missionaries
John 10:1-21 (AD 29) “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.” (v.1) Notice that the Pharisees acted like they wanted to be in the sheep pen – that is, to be among … More Day 68: Wolves in shepherds clothing
John 9 (AD 29) The Pharisees hereby continue their head-scratching propensity to ignore the enormous significance of what’s in front of their faces and focus instead on whether their godless bonus rules are being kept: Jesus healed a blind man who was then taken to the Pharisees. Then – to paraphrase the following conversations in … More Day 67: Don’t wanna believe, not gonna believe
Paul T Reynolds 