Tag: Daily Reading

Morning Reading: Luke 8.4-15 NLT – Kingdom secrets

Reading: Luke 8.4-15 NLT

sowing seedsOne day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:

‘When they look, they won’t really see.
When they hear, they won’t understand.’

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.”

Prayer: Word of God – Speak to me today… lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil; refocus my heart and mind on Your Kingdom purposes; take root in me and produce a rich harvest of Life – abundant and eternal. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Word of God Speak” – Mercy Me (YouTube)

Morning Reading: Luke 8.1-3 NLT – road crew

Reading: Luke 8.1-3 NLT

sisters of charitySoon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons;  Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Give me a servant’s heart… full of love and gratitude for all You have done for me. Help me to see others as You see them. And give me a willingness to respond to them with the same love and grace that You have shown me. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Draw Me Close to You” – Hillsong (YouTube)

Sunday Reading: 1 Corinthians 13.4-7, 11-13 – love

Reading: 1 Corinthians 13.4-7, 11-13

christ-on-cross 2Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance….

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.

Prayer: Heavenly Father – Sometimes my life is confusing… I think I know what I know, and then I’m not so sure. The world of my childhood no longer exists and my values and life principles are being challenged on every front. Thank you for your steady hand guiding this world to its ultimate end – when “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Lord Jesus – Thank you for showing me what love truly is by laying down your life for me even though I was far away from you. Holy Spirit – Help me live a life of love… putting others first, letting go of wrongs, upholding truth, optimistic and faithful. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hymn: “Love Divine All Loves Excelling” – Charles Wesley (1747)

Morning Reading: Luke 7:36-50 NLT – much love

Reading: Luke 7:36-50 NLT

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

image
“Woman your sins are forgiven.”
Photo by Peter Jenkins

“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Thank you for loving us without reservation or conditions… no matter who we are, or what we have done. Thank you for your forgiveness purchased at great price on the Cross. Fill us with a spirit of boundless love and gratitude to live as people who have been forgiven and set free. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Silent No More” (YouTube)

Morning Reading: Luke 7.24-35 NLT – living proof

Reading: Luke 7.24-35 NLT

After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

Chrisitian orthodox priests baptize a pilgrim in the waters of the Jordan River
Chrisitian orthodox priests baptize a pilgrim in the waters of the Jordan River

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’

I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”

When they heard this, all the people — even the tax collectors — agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

“To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’

For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”

Baptismal Declarations:

    • I renounce Satan and turn away from all his evil works and empty promises.
    • I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins and welcome him as my Savior and Lord.
    • I put my whole trust in his grace and love and – with God’s help – will be his faithful follower.

Prayer: Grant, O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ your Son may live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory; who lives and reigns now and for ever. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Creed” – Third Day