I should simply rewrite these two chapters of Luke as every word seems to be rich in inspiration and guidance from God above.
Jesus: “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”
Positive thinking yes, but directing the questions to the right person at the right time even more important!
Jesus: “Therefore, if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Good Spirit to those who ask him!”
If you, evil as you are?
Yes, I am evil, as I am Andy Reistetter though I am made in the image of God. I am a child of God. Evil within me. Yes but not in totality. With Jesus in my heart I am not a mistake, I am not evil though I do make mistakes and I do evil things at times.
All this makes me anxious at times yet Jesus is the answer to all those anxieties. Remember positive thinking, yes, but direct your focus to the right person at the right time in your life is thinking positively well done!
Jesus: “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious how or wherewith you shall defend yourselves, or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
I use this bible verse for speaking engagements. While I do prepare, I prepare on spiritual principles and trust that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will put the right words in my mind to speak at the right time. On the contrary I must challenge my self, pride and silly ego to be silent when God has not filled my mind with thoughts and words to speak.
Jesus” “Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; not yet for your body, what you shall put on. The life is a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing… But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit? Therefore if you are not able to do even a very little thing, why are you anxious concerning the rest?
Anxiety never helps does it? Have one problem, be anxious, now have two problems.
Illogical, insanity but we all do it from time to time.
Habitual thinking or consider all options and choose the best one?
Sometimes the best option is to remain at peace and in serenity and say and do nothing. No amends to make later!
Jesus: “Be not afraid… sell what you have and give alms… (make) a treasure unfailing in heaven… for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Focus on the important things in life and not the things which the world hypnotizes us into believing are important.
Jesus: “… and you yourselves like men waiting for their master’s return from the wedding…Blessed are those servants whom the master, on his return, shall find watching… And if he comes in the second watch, and if in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!… You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.”
Be ready, on a personal basis, we do not know if today will be our last or of on a worldwide basis, if this is the day the Lord will return.
Jesus: “And for you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; and do not exalt yourselves (for after all these things the nations of the world seek); but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides.”
First things first, evil as we are, put your relationship with God first, ask, and peace, joy, and freedom—the Ultimate Love—shall be given to you along with all the worldly things as well.
Day 68: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Evil as You are, Ask, and it Shall be Given to You
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 11-12.
Bible Notes:
The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.
In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.
Luke Chapter 11: The Lord’s Prayer; The efficacy of prayer; Blasphemy of the Pharisees; Jesus’ answer; The praise of Mary; The sign of Jonas; A lesson from a lamp; Jesus dines with a Pharisee; Jesus denounces the Pharisees; Denunciation of the lawyers; Opposition of the Pharisees and lawyers.
Disciples to Jesus: “Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.”
Jesus: “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be they name. Thy kingdom come! Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
??? How did John the Baptist teach his disciples to pray??? Nothing specific.
Since John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus who prepares the way for Jesus, there are many similarities between their ministries. John taught his disciples how to pray. Jesus also taught his disciples how to pray. But there is less information on the pattern of the prayer taught by John. If Jesus taught “May your kingdom come”, then John might have taught “Prepare us for your coming kingdom”
Matthew C3: Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of through Isaias the prophet, when he said, “The voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”
Jesus: “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”
Jesus: “Therefore, if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Good Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus: “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he roams through waterless places in search of rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house which I left.’ And when he has come to it, he finds the place swept. Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
Certain woman to Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that nursed thee.”
Jesus to the certain woman: “Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”
Jesus: “This generation is an evil generation: it demands a sign, and no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonas. For even as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation… The men of Nineve will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
Biblehub.com: Story of Jonas (Jonah): At this time another prophet, named Jonah, was giving the word of the Lord to the Israelites. To Jonah the Lord spoke, saying: “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it; for its wickedness rises up before me.”
But Jonah did not wish to preach to the people of Nineveh; for they were the enemies of his land, the land of Israel. He wished Nineveh to die in its sins, and not to turn to God and live. So Jonah tried to go away from the city where God had sent him. He went down to Joppa and took a ship for Tarshish.
But the Lord saw Jonah on the ship; and the Lord sent a great storm upon the sea, so that the ship seemed as though it would go to pieces… At last, when they could do nothing else to save themselves, they threw Jonah into the sea.
And the Lord caused a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was alive within the fish for three days and three nights. In the fish Jonah cried to the Lord; and the Lord caused the great fish to throw up Jonah upon the dry land.
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it what I command you.” So Jonah went to the city of Nineveh; and as he entered into it, he called out to the people:
“Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.” And he walked through the city all day crying out only this: “Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.”
And the people of Nineveh believed the word of the Lord as spoken by Jonah. They turned away from their sins and fasted and sought the Lord, from the greatest of them even to the least.
And God saw that the people of Nineveh were sorry for their wickedness, and he forgave them, and did not destroy their city. But this made Jonah very angry. He did not wish to have Nineveh spared, because it was the enemy of his own land; and also he feared that men would call him a false prophet when his word did not come to pass. And Jonah said to the Lord:
“O Lord, I was sure that it would be thus, that thou wouldest spare the city; and for that reason I tried to flee away; for I know that thou was a gracious God, full of pity, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
And should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, where are more than a hundred thousand little children, and also many cattle, — all helpless and knowing nothing?”
And Jonah learned that men, and women, and little children, are all precious in the sight of the Lord, even though they know not God. End Biblehub.com: Story of Jonas (Jonah).
Jesus: “The lamp of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be sound, thy whole body will be full of light. But if it be evil, thy body also will be full of darkness. Take care, therefore, that the light that is in thee is not in darkness. If, then, thy whole body is full of light, having no part in darkness, it will all be illuminated, as when a bright lamp illuminates thee.”
Jesus dines with denounces the Pharisee: “…but within you are full of robbery and wickedness… (you) disregard justice and the love of God… woe to you Pharisees! Because you love the front seats in synagogues and greetings in the market place. Woe to you! Because you are like hidden tombs, over which men walk unaware.”
Lawyer to Jesus: “Master, in saying these things, thou insultest us also.”
Jesus denounces the lawyers too: “Woe to you lawyers also! Because you load men with oppressive burdens and you yourselves with one of your fingers do not touch the burdens. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, whereas your fathers killed them… Woe to you lawyers! Because you have taken away the key of knowledge, you have not entered yourselves and those who were entering you have hindered.”
Luke Chapter 12: The leaven of the Pharisees; Whom to fear; Promise of reward and punishment; A warning against avarice; Parable of the rich man; Trust in God; The lilies in the field; Seek first the kingdom of God; Build up treasure in heaven; The watchful servants; Exhortation to vigilance; The necessity of struggle; Time for reconciliation.
Jesus to the Disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. For what you have said in darkness will be said in the light; and what you have whispered in the inner chambers will be preached on the housetops.
Jesus to my friends: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Yes, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid, you are more value than many sparrows.
Jesus: “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious how or wherewith you shall defend yourselves, or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
One out of the crowd: “Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus: “Man, who has appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you? Take heed ad guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Rich man: “What shall I do, for I have no rooms to store my crops?… And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, be merry.
God to the rich man: “Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee: and the things that thou hast provided, whose will they be?”
Jesus: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich as regards God.”
Jesus” “Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; not yet for your body, what you shall put on. The life is a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing… But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit? Therefore if you are not able to do even a very little thing, why are you anxious concerning the rest?
Jesus: “And for you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; and do not exalt yourselves (for after all these things the nations of the world seek); but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides.”
Jesus: “Be not afraid… sell what you have and give alms… (make) a treasure unfailing in heaven… for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Jesus: “… and you yourselves like men waiting for their master’s return from the wedding…Blessed are those servants whom the master, on his return, shall find watching… And if he comes in the second watch, and if in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!… You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.”
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