Luke 12:29-31

Luke 12:29-31 - And do not set your heart on what you will eat and drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well.

We need food; we need clothes; we need a roof over our head. There are so many things in the world that fall into the ‘need’ category. It is easy to put our focus on these things and take it off of what is important. To clarify, I’m not saying these things are not important, but to focus on them makes for a meaningless life. Life is about so much more than our ‘basic’ needs. It’s true, when we don’t have them life can be harder, but the more we focus on what we do not have, the more we become discontent with what we do have. There is a better way.

Paul says, “I've learned the secret of being content in every situation.” What’s the secret? This verse right here gives it to us plainly. “Seek first the kingdom and all these things will be given to you as well.” That is the key.

Seek God; focus on Him. When you do He becomes bigger in your life and all these other things take a back seat. Then, while you are busy focusing on God, He is taking care of all these other needs.

Our mind would have us think otherwise, but the reality of it is this: the more we focus on taking care of our own needs, the less we will be taken care of. The opposite is also true: the more we focus on God and meeting the needs of others, the more our needs will be taken care of.

Luke 11:9-10

Luke 11:9-10 - “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Ask, seek and knock. Seems simple enough, right? Then why do so many of us go through life without the things God has promised in His Word? It is because we don’t ask for it.
God has given us free will. We have a choice to make. It starts with choosing Jesus and receiving our salvation, but that is not the end. There is so much more that God wants to give you, but you have to exercise your faith.
Faith is believing in what you cannot see. It is also an action word, just like ask, seek and knock. James tells us that faith without works is dead, so until you put your faith to action it will do you no good. Faith for salvation is good, but until you repent from your sins and turn from them, there will be no fruit.
In the Bible we are also promised health and wholeness, but until we seek God for it we may never receive it. God promises that all our needs will be met, but if we never ask HIm we may never see our needs filled.
There are two ways we can look at this. First we must understand that just by being in the kingdom of God does not mean that we will receive all the benefits of the kingdom. It’s not a free ride, in a sense. On the other hand, it is a free ride, because all you have to do is ask, seek and knock.
There are no restrictions or limitations with God. Jesus says ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Put your focus on God and seek Him to meet your needs. Don’t focus on the problem, with God all things are possible.

Luke 10:41-42

Luke 10:41-42 – “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about so many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

So much to do; so little time. Our schedules are always so busy. There are so many times I've thought, “Once we get through this ‘thing’ life will slow down. Then I can make time to do ‘that’.” It’s a nice thought, but as far as I have experienced, life never actually slows down.

Once you get through one busy time something else comes up to make you busy again. Being busy is not necessarily a bad thing, though, as long as you don’t let it take away from the important things.

In this story of Mary and Martha we see two different perspectives. We see Martha, who wants to make sure everything is perfect. She has Jesus in her home and she wants to make sure everything goes according to plan. It’s got to be perfect for Jesus, right? I know that if Jesus was coming to my house I would want to make sure my house was in order, so I can relate to Martha in that sense.

Then there’s Mary. It’s possible that Mary worked with Martha before Jesus got there to get things ready, we don’t really know for sure. All we know is that once Jesus got there she was done working. She just wanted to spend as much time as possible with Him.

This is where we ought to be. Jesus doesn't care if you have everything perfect, He just wants you. Go to Him, spend time in His presence. There will always be things to do, but if you don’t make time for Jesus now, you never will. Let it go. Give Him your worries and cares and rest in Him.

Luke 9:58

Luke 9:58 – Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

As Jesus taught He amazed those around Him. He taught as one with authority and there were miracles happening to back up His teaching. It was exciting. There were many people that were getting caught up in the moment. With all the excitement these people said they would follow Jesus wherever He went. They made claims that they could not commit to.

When you make a commitment to follow Jesus you have to understand that it is going to cost you. As the people are making these claims Jesus takes them a step back with reality. He says that animals have homes, but He is not like the animals. “The Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

Jesus was telling the people that He was not going to be established in any one place. His home was in heaven and while He was on earth He would not call any place home.

As we take this verse and apply it in our own lives we need to understand that there is a cost to follow Jesus. Now, to get this straight, we must realize that salvation is free to all who come to Him, but Jesus calls us to something beyond that.

Jesus has called you to live a life like He did. It’s ok to make a home for yourself, but don’t get too comfortable. Sometime in the future He may call you to leave that place. You never know, but one thing we can be sure of is that Jesus has called us to live different. Your life needs to be a reflection of Him. You are to be His witness everywhere you go.

Luke 8:21

Luke 8:21 – He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice.”

       Jesus words were so powerful and intriguing that many people wanted to hear Him. Unlike their other teachers, He taught as one with authority. They liked it so much that they would sit for hours listening to His teaching, and the crowds got bigger and bigger.

One such day, when Jesus was teaching, His mother and brothers happened to be close by and they wanted to see Him. Since the crowd was so large, there was no way they could get near Him.  They passed a message through the crowd that eventually made it all the way to Him, “Your mother and brothers are outside, wanting to see you.”

Now, I’m sure that Jesus wanted to see His family, but He also saw this as a teaching opportunity. This verse was His response, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice.”

       Jesus was not trying to disrespect His family with this statement, but He was trying to make a point. He wanted us to understand that by obedience we are all brought into God’s family. Just because someone is not your brother by birth does not mean he is not your brother.

God’s Word says to believe in Christ and you will be called children of God. So obedience to this makes us family. That’s the first step. After that it only gets better. You are in God’s family; you are a brother or sister of Jesus.

Luke 7:47

Luke 7:47 - “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins are forgiven - for she Loved much. But he who has been forgiven little Loves little.”

Think about it this way. Say you owe money to two different people. To one you owe five dollars; to the other you owe five hundred dollars. Now you have fallen on hard times and have been unable to pay any of it back. These men see this and they have compassion on you, so they tell you that you do not have to pay them any of the money you owe.

Now, in your situation, you were unable to satisfy either of the debts, but to which will you show more appreciation? You will have more gratitude to the one who forgave the larger debt. If both of these men were calling for help you would go to this one first because he forgave more.

Now look at your relationship with God. We have all been forgiven of all our sins. As Jesus says here, though, there are different appreciation levels for this forgiveness. ‘The one who has been forgiven much Loves much and the one who has been forgiven little Loves little.’

In reality we must realize that all sin is equal and all sin deserves death, so we all have been forgiven the same debt. But we don’t all see it this way. In our minds we see some sin as not being as bad as other sin. We think that the little ‘white’ lie we told isn't as bad as the guy who killed someone. From the human perspective this is true, but from the eternal perspective and in God’s eyes these are equal. Both deserve death; but both will be forgiven if you come to Him.

So when Jesus is speaking to His disciples here, why is He talking about different levels of Love? It is because we Love to the extent we realize we have been forgiven. If you think your sin really isn't that bad, you won’t appreciate God’s forgiveness as much as the one who realizes that his sin deserved death.

We will not be able to Love God to the extent we are called to, until we realize how devastating our sin really is. When we realize how bad our sin is and how much God has truly forgiven we will actually be able to Love Him more.

Luke 6:32-33

Luke 6:32-33 - “If you Love those who Love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ Love those who Love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.”

It is easy to Love your friends. These are the people you hit it off with. You form a relationship and start to build trust with them. They Love you and you Love them.

When they need help, you help them. Then when you need help, they help you. You can lend them your things and know that they will return them. There is a mutual trust between you and your friends. These relationships are natural. They are good and everyone needs them in their life.

Jesus, however, also calls us to something different; something greater. Now keep in mind that Jesus never says these kind of relationships are bad or that we shouldn't have them.What Jesus says here is that these relationships are normal and will not set you apart from the crowd.

Loving your friends is something both unbelievers and believers have in common. Jesus says we need to be different. In fact, the bible says that ‘they’ will know we are Christians by our Love. If we Love in the same way as the world, how will they know we are Christians? They won’t. That’s the point.

Jesus calls us to a higher standard of Love. He says, ‘Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.’ We ought to Love those who don’t Love us, be good to those who are not good to us, and lend to those who will not return. That is the kind of Love that will stand out. That is the Love we are called to have.