The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Luke 12:1 – 13:30
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 2: Christ’s Ministry; God’s True King Manifests His Kingdom
Background Information: Luke 12:1 – 13:30
Many thousands were jostling to see Jesus, and yet the day would soon come when most would desert him. We are often impressed with the wrong things; Jesus never was. We see crowds and think, “So many people! Something important must be happening!” Jesus only saw individuals, each with the choice to follow him or not. We see people of importance and are impressed by their status, but Jesus only saw people who were on their way to eternal life or on their way to lasting judgment. This is the only status that will matter in the end. Being afraid of or overly impressed with mere man is a trap; fear of God is the only way to escape that trap. Fearing God is not at odds with loving him. In order to love God, we must know him as he is. He is the one who has the power of heaven and hell, death and life. To know him is to love him, and to know him is to fear him. This is the love that never takes his grace for granted. This is the fear of awesome respect, a respect that compels obedience and complete allegiance. Every day of our lives is a fight to gain and to maintain this kind of right perspective. Every day, our hearts are drawn to value what is not most valuable. We worry, we fear, we fret, we compete, and little good it all does us. We must seek his kingdom first. We must treasure Christ above all else, even family ties. He is to be the Lord of every single aspect of our lives. When we treasure Christ above all else and our hearts are fully his, then we are free of worry. We are free to love people without seeking to impress them. We are free from all the many traps that enslave people. We will not live consistently in this perfect freedom in this life, but we can consistently seek to live in it. Fight for this perspective today. Even in the fight to maintain right perspective, there is a kind of freedom to be found.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God to reveal himself to those in your life who are lost. Ask him to give you opportunities to have gospel conversations.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.