Day 92 Bible Readings – Luke 9: 25 (ESV)

Numbers 33 & 34, Luke 9: 10-27, Psalm 56

Luke 9: 25 (ESV)

“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Verse 25 from Luke 9 has been the subject of many book and movies since Jesus first uttered these word. Jesus asked what good is having wealth and power in the world, if it mean you will lose yourself and your soul. In my study Bible, the authors wrote that this is the same wisdom set forth in Ecclesiastes which questions the value of earthly wealth and pursuits. Sometimes I think it is the ultimate irony that our world preaches that to go after wealth and power saying that these pursuits will bring us all the happiness in the world. Yet we can read countless stories of people who have done just that and realized they needed more in their lives that their money and power couldn’t buy. Sometimes it’s been health. A person becomes the richest person in the world with lots of power and then they die early. Sometimes it’s been the happiness of a love relationship. There are many stories of people who have enormous wealth and power, and jump from one marriage to another, or who have kids who hate them. Sometimes it’s the feeling of trust. They are other stories of very wealthy powerful people who don’t trust anyone and live in a world of paranoia.

Human beings seem to need more than what the physical world can provide. Our souls seem to need a connection to God. If we deny that connection to pursue other things, our soul suffers. We might not be suffering from the effects of not having enough money and feeling like we have no power, but we will suffer from the emptiness of any connection to God. When the soul suffers inside of us, I think that suffering eventually spreads to the rest of our life. To have faith in Jesus Christ gives our soul a connection to God, and a way to daily feed and satisfy our soul.

Day 91 Bible Readings – Luke 9: 1-2 (ESV)

Numbers 31: 25-54, Numbers 32, Luke 8: 40-56, Luke 9: 1-9, Psalm 55: 12-23

Luke 9: 1-2 (ESV)

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.”

In verses 1 and 2 from Luke 9, Jesus tells his twelve (12) disciples that he was giving them power and authority to heal people from demon possessions and to cure diseases. Jesus send the disciples out in pairs to different parts of the land of Israel. I’ve always wondered what these healings would look lik,  and the reactions of the disciples when they found they could heal people of disease and banish demons like their master Jesus.

If you’ve been following my Blog, you know I love the series The Chosen. I love how they’ve imagined how Bible scenes would play out in real life. So I was so happy when they showed in Season 3 Episode 4 several scenes of the disciples healing people in pairs. You can see the shocked faces of the disciples when they found out they could heal people, and their happiness as well. I love that Jesus gave his disciples a taste of what their life would be like when he left, and the confidence to know that they could carry on his teachings and his healings.

Enjoy the disciples healing people from The Chosen TV series, Season 3, Episode 4:

Day 90 Bible Readings – Luke 8: 25 (ESV)

Numbers 30, Numbers 31: 1-24, Luke 8: 19-39, Psalm 55: 1-11

Luke 8: 25 (ESV)

“He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

In verse 25 from Luke 8, Jesus scolds his disciples for their lack of faith when they awoke him because they were afraid of the storm. Jesus and his discipled had gotten into a boat with Jesus telling them “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.”  In a Biblical commentary I read on this verse, the author stated that Jesus had promised that they would go across to the other side of the lake. The author noted that Jesus scolded his disciples for their unbelief, when he had promised them that they would go to the other side of the lake. This Biblical author made it clear that the difficult storms in life are not evidence of unbelief; “Unbelief is the rejection of a promise or a command of God relevant to a particular situation.” I think this definition of unbelief makes it clear that having difficult situations come up in in your life doesn’t mean you have an “unbelief”. Having an “unbelief” comes from when you hear the Holy Spirit tell you everything is going to be alright, and you still have doubts that what the Holy Spirit said is true. I find it so easy sometimes to slip into “unbelief”, despite the fact that I have so much evidence in my life that Holy Spirit is always right about everything. I have to keep remembering that it is always my sinful nature that whispers doubts in my mind, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. That serpent never seems to shut up and I have to ask the Holy Spirit for help every time. I sometimes feel such a sense of shame that my doubts never go away, but that is what having a sinful nature is all about – having a doubt-filled mind. I am so grateful that I have the Holy Spirit to help me quiet the doubts long enough for me to see and experience the daily miracles God gives me in my life.