Day 81 Bible Readings – Luke 4: 33-34 (ESV)

Numbers 14 & 15, Luke 4: 14-37, Psalm 48: 9-14

Luke 4: 33-34 (ESV)

“And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

In verses 33 and 34 from Luke 4, the spirit of the unclean demon recognized Jesus Christ as a holy person and called out to him. I find it so interesting that the unclean demon knew who Christ was and recognized him as a Holy person, and the Pharisees would not believe that Christ was who he said he was. The Bible tells us that detailed reports were given to Pharisees about the miracles that Christ performed, so I am going to assume The Pharisees would have read what the demons said about Christ. The Pharisees had evidence that even the demons knew who Christ was, yet they still refused to recognize Christ as even a Holy person. I was in a class at my church today and we talked about why the Jewish people did not want to believe that Christ was the Messiah. One person suggested that people in Christ’s time thought the Messiah would be someone who would free them from the occupation of the Romans. When they found out Christ came to free them sin instead, they could not accept it. But if you think about it Christ may not have freed the people of Israel from the Romans during his lifetime, but the people who had faith in Jesus Christ would conquer the Romans and religion of Christ would become the official religion of Rome. I think Christ did conquer the Romans, but not till years later. So Christ did what the people of Israel wanted a Messiah to do, just not in the way they wanted.

Day 80 Bible Readings for March 22 – Luke 4: 3-4 (ESV)

Numbers 12 & 13, Luke 3: 23-38, Luke 4: 1-13, Psalm 48: 1-8

Luke 4: 3-4 (ESV)

“The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

In verses 3 and 4 from Luke 4, the Devil tempted Jesus to make stone into bread. Jesus had fasted while he was in the desert and was hungry. Jesus answered the Devil with a verse from the Old Testament, with Deuteronomy 8: 3. Jesus was tempted two (2) more times by the Devil and each time he answered the Devil with two more verses from Deuteronomy. Christ gave us the perfect example of how to battle temptation by knowing the Bible verses by heart and using them when we are facing temptation. The Bible has every answer to any temptation that we face. We might not know them by heart, but we can research which Bible verses to use when we are facing temptation.

Day 79 Bible Readings for March 21 – Luke 3: 4 (ESV)

Numbers 10 & 11, Luke 3: 1-22, Psalm 47

Luke 3: 4 (ESV)

“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

In verse 4 from Luke 3, we read about the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet which was for John the Baptist. John the Baptist preached about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. I think we can ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of any place within our life where there is sin and where we need to repent. Then we can become like John the Baptist in our own life, and pray to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to free us from our sin and help us to repent and live a better life. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to prepare the way of the Lord every day in our heart and in our life, so we can be filled with Christ who is the “bread of life” and “living water”.

Day 78 Bible Readings – Luke 2: 49-50 (ESV)

Numbers 8 & 9, Luke 2: 41-52, Psalm 46

Luke 2: 49-50 (ESV)

“And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.”

In verses 49 and 50 from Luke 2, we read about Jesus’ answer to his parent when they were looking for him at the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph did not understand their son when he said to them that he must be in his Father’s house. I think it must have been easy for Mary and Joseph to forget that Christ was a special child. They had raised him for many years, and he probably acted like any other child of his age. Since they were good parents, they panicked when they couldn’t find their son and looked everywhere for him except in the Temple. I think it’s interesting that no one in the Temple even wondered where Jesus’ parents were since he was there for three (3) days. These verses also show that Jesus must have realized that he was special, and knew about the special circumstances of his birth. These verses reminded me again that everything in life of Jesus was miraculous, and that from his birth and through his childhood they were signs that he was indeed the son of God.