They Laughed Because They Knew

8:53 “But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died.” They were confident in what they thought they knew. And they were right. Their reaction was laughter at the perspective of Jesus. Often we live in the ‘reality’ of this world and fail to see, understand, and act upon the promises and power of God. Who would have thought, guessed what Jesus would do next? Raise the dead? Impossible

How about you? You know you are right. But do you know what the possibilities are with God?

I’m Listening –Very Carefully

8:18 “So pay attention to how you hear.” It is not just a matter of listening. We are supposed to listen, learn, and follow. Jesus said if you will do this, “more understanding will be given.” Are you listening?

How about you? Don’t just read your Bible, pray, and think about God today. Listen to what he is trying to tell you. Follow where he is leading. The efforts that you make will be blessed.

Who Touched Me?

8:45 “Who touched me?” Every time I read that verse, I think of my kids in the back seat of our car on a long trip. I’m sure the disciples were curious about Jesus’ question because the “whole crowd is touching you.” But I love the NLT when it says, “Someone deliberately touch me…” Deliberately. That is what I want to do. I don’t want to touch Jesus casually like many in the crowd. I want to deliberately touch him and be blessed by the “power” (vs. 46) that comes from touching him.

How about you? What are your intentions today concerning your relationship with Jesus? Go ahead. Take some intentional steps and see how God blesses ‘the touch’.

Where is Your Faith?

8:25 “Where is your faith?” Interesting question. The disciples faced a situation where their faith, their trust in God had vanished. At what point or how bad must a situation become for me to lose my faith? The response from Jesus seems to be we should always have faith. There is never a situation where you can’t trust God to take care of you. God is amazing. You can trust him.

How about you? Where is your faith?

Go in Peace

7:50 “Go in peace.” Peace was often a message that Jesus preached as well as a blessing that he gave people after touching their lives. Peace is also something that seems to escape us a lot. What is the problem? One of the things that keep me from peace is focus. I lack peace because I am focusing on my problems – what is not right in my world. This woman was given peace because she expressed her love for Jesus, received forgiveness, and had faith/trust in him. I want to spend today focused on these things.

How about you? How are you doing with peace? Would you like to join me today in spending less time thinking about your problems and more time on your love for the Lord, his forgiveness and salvation, and how you can trust him? Sound like a good idea to me.

Who Did You Kiss Today?

7:38 “she kept kissing his feet” Why? It is very simple. She was expressing her love for her Lord. We all know it is important to express our love to Jesus. The question is how are we going to do it? For this woman, showing her love for him was very natural because – are you ready for this – she really loved him a lot.

How about you? How will you show the Lord TODAY that you love him? The more you think about what he has done for you, the easier it is.

What Kind of Woman?

7:39 Simon said, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” What kind of woman? Interesting categorization. Don’t we all do it? We put people in categories. We label them. We ‘understand’ what kind of people they are. Based on what? Our perspective. So we have our own categories that we place different ‘kinds’ of people in. Notice Jesus put here in a different category. Jesus said she is the kind who loves me more (42-44), is forgiven (48), and has faith (50). WOW! I think Simon miss labeled.

How about you? Are any of your co-workers the ‘sinner’ kind? Are any of your co-workers the kind who is looking for love, forgiveness, and something to believe in. What kind of person is this?

Reverse Influence

7:14-15 “Then Jesus walked over to the coffin and touched it…then the dead boy sat up”. Touching a ‘coffin’ brought a day of uncleanness (Numb 19:21-22) and touching a dead body brought a week of uncleanness (Numb 19:11-20). However, in this story the holiness or cleanness of Jesus reversed the uncleanness of the coffin and dead body. The boy was raised from the dead. Sometimes I’m afraid to ‘touch’ the world because I don’t want to be ‘unclean’. However, with the power of God, he wants what he has made clean in me to influence/change what is unclean in others. The power is God’s but I am the tool.

How about you? Afraid to ‘touch’ those people at work? Maybe all they need is a little salt of Christ (Matthew 5:13). Remember, the power of God resides in you. We all know some ‘dead’ people that need raised in Christ.

I Surprised Jesus

7:9 “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed.” What does it take to amaze God? “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” So the answer is faith. I usually feel like the only thing that would surprise Jesus about my faith is my lack of it. OK. That sounds like I’m feeling sorry for myself. This week, I want to take some faith steps. I want to do things for the Lord. They might be out of my comfort zone or they might be things that have lacked focus, but I want to take some actual faith steps this week.

How about you? What about your faith would surprise God? What are you going to do today that requires faith? How about we take some steps together? Let’s live by faith.

I Know Who You Are

6:45 “What you say flows from what is in your heart.” That is how I know who you are. I listen to what you say. If you want a good test of your walk with Jesus, just listen to what you are saying.

How about you? Take a moment and consider what you have said today. What does that say about you? NOW what do you have to say?

Everybody Needs A Helper

6:12-13 Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing 12 helpers or apostles. How many helpers do you have? The Bible is filled with examples of the need for helpers. Moses had Aaron, 70 elders, and Joshua. Elijah was given Elisha. The Holy Spirit sent Paul AND Barnabas on the first missionary journey. As much as we don’t like to admit it, we need others to accomplish God’s will in our lives. Even Jesus needed 12.

How about you? Can you name your 12 helpers? If you don’t have 12, your first step is to begin praying for them. Go ahead. Take a step today towards finding your 12 and being one of the 12 for somebody else.

Is This a Day to Save?

6:9 “Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” Jesus asked that question 2,000 years ago. Can we still ask it today? This Wednesday? We are all procrastinators. Passages that speak about today really catch my attention. Often the Bible talks about "this is the day". So, it sounds to me like today is the day to save. Read the whole story in verses 6-11. Somebody needs help TODAY.

How about you? Stop for a moment to look around your office or your home. How about your neighborhood? Who needs help? This is the day.

There is a Log in my Eye

6:42 “First get rid of the log in your own eye” Did anyone cut you off in traffic this morning? Has a co-worker already ‘ticked you off’? Did your spouse upset you this morning? Why don’t people treat me better? Jesus says why don’t you start with yourself. Your friend does indeed have a speck in their eye that you would like to help get out. But you have a log in your eye. I wonder which log in my eye needs to come out today.

How about you? Are you so focused on other’s faults that you have forgotten your own? Let’s start by naming your log. Then, let’s work on it today. After all, you look pretty funny with a log sticking out of your eye :)

Touching Jesus

6:19 “Everyone tried to touch him” That is what I want to do this week. Touch Jesus. I want to touch him every day. I want to be in touch with him. I want him to touch me. “because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone.” I need healed. I need healed from my fears, my sins, my lack of focus, and myself centeredness to name a few.

How about you? Planning on touching Jesus any this week? Need any healing? He is waiting.

Various Thoughts

Today, I want to share several thoughts with you.
Notice the emphasis on following Jesus. 5:11 “left everything and followed Jesus” and 5:27 “Follow me and be my disciple”
5:16 “Jesus often withdrew…for prayer” If Jesus needed to pray, I even more.
5:29 “with Jesus as the guest of honor” I hope I make him my guest of honor every day.
5:32 “who know they are sinners and need to repent” I want to see my sins and change
5:39 “But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say” An interesting verse in light of the generational struggles in church today.

How about you? What do you see? All you need to do is focus on the Lord and he will reveal himself through his word, through others, and through you.

Jump and Praise

5:25 “the man jumped up…and went home praising God” The man was paralyzed. I can only picture myself cautiously standing up to see if everything is working. But when the power of God hits you, it is only appropriate to jump and praise. According to Eph 3:16-20, we have that power right now. Can we make this a day or ‘jumping’ and praising?

How about you? Would you take the time to focus on God’s power in you today instead of your problems? Let’s call this a jump for joy day. Oh come on. Give it a try. It might even be contagious (5:26 “and THEY praised God”)

My Faith – Your Life

5:20 “Seeing THEIR faith” Most stories that we read deal with a person’s faith and their relationship with Jesus. In this story, the paralyzed man has his sins forgiven and is healed because Jesus saw THEIR faith implying the men who carried their friend, the paralyzed man, to Jesus. That is flat out interesting. All of us believe our influence is minimal. That is a concept we get from ourselves, not from Jesus. I wonder what would happen today if I made an extra effort to bring my friends to Jesus. I wonder how my faith affects the people I work with.

How about you? Feeling very influential today? Feeling very faith-filled today? Start with what you have, try to add a little each day, and let God work. Today is the day my faith should influence those around me.

I Am Willing

5:13 "I am willing" I think most of us experience the feelings of the leper when he acknowledges that God can heal me and make me clean. The power of God is usually not questioned. It is his willingness. God can, but will he? That is why verse 13 is so comforting. "I am willing" The man was not only healed, but he was healed instantly and received the 'touch' of the Lord.

How about you? How is your faith in God's willingness? Why not focus today on the love of God and his willingness? He has a reason when he says no, but he loves to say yes.

Going Deeper

This Week - Luke 5
vs. 4 "Go out where it is deeper" Every time I see those words I wonder where my deeper waters are. What area of my life needs deepened? Many areas need worked on, but what does God want me to work on right now. A place where I've fished before and caught nothing? A new place where the fish are hungry? In the deep water is where Jesus works. It's where the Lord's fish are.

How about you? Where is your fishing hole this week? Need to go deeper? Remember to take someone with you because there will be plenty of fish in the Lord's deep waters.

The Temptations Continue

Only three temptations are listed. But Luke says he was tempted “for forty days”. Later, it says the devil left him “until an opportune time.” Can you think of other times when Jesus was tempted? Here are a few: Bread = physically, he had no home (Luke 9:48), Jump = emotionally, they tempted him to come down from the cross(Mark 15:30-32), and Bow down = psychologically, they tried to force him to become king (John 6:15). Now turn and look at Hebrews 4:14-16. Because he was tempted, we have confidence to receive grace and peace.

How about you? Is the strength of Jesus giving you strength to overcome temptations? When you fail, do you confidently approach the Lord for grace and peace? This should be a day that you live in freedom and peace.

It's Just Bread

4:3 “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” What is the harm? Is bread sinful? Would it be OK if he turned it into steak and potatoes? What is so sinful about this miracle? Can you name one miracle that Jesus performed for himself? Is this a temptation of control, dependency, and security? ‘God isn’t providing, so I guess I’ll have to get it myself.’ It is hard to let God set the agenda and determine the timing. Obedience, trust, and confidence are all tied together.

How about you? Have you taken matters into your own hands today? What about today shows your dependence and faith in God? Stop for just a moment and ask God to take control again.

Expand My Vision

4:22 “Everyone spoke well of him…How can this be? Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” How do you answer that question? Yes – he lives with Joseph and is being raised as a son by Joseph and Mary? OR No – he is the Son of God (3:22). Here is the problem. The people of his hometown can only see him in the setting of their own village (their own world). Jesus is bigger than that. So much bigger than that. The challenge is to open your heart and mind to see ‘beyond your world’.

How about you? Are you looking at ‘your village’ today or can you expand your mind to see God’s world. There is more going on than you think. There is more that is about to happen than you think. Watch out. God is at work.