Bible League: Living His Word But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.— Luke 5:15-16 ESV As understood from our verses for today, at this point in His ministry, Jesus was becoming famous. He was doing so many miraculous things that reports about Him were spreading far and wide and great crowds were beginning to come to Him. One of the miracles, a miracle of healing, involved a man with leprosy. The man came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus said to him, “I will; be clean” (Luke 5:12-13). Immediately, the leprosy left him. Given such miracles, one can see why reports about Jesus went far and wide. While on earth, Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God and He revealed the life of the Kingdom. Doing miracles was an important part of this task. People need miracles of healing and miracles of deliverance from demons. Sickness, disease, and demons have no place in the Kingdom, and Jesus’ miracles clearly demonstrated that fact. He said, for example, “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). The great needs of the people were being met because the Kingdom of God had come. Despite the great needs, Jesus would withdraw from His ministry in order to pray -- away from the crowd, to desolate places. One may wonder why He would do this. People were desperate for the miracles. They came from far and wide to receive them. Why would Jesus, in effect, ditch them in order to pray? Why remove Himself to places where the people could not find Him or reach Him? Didn’t Jesus understand the gravity of the situation? Was He more concerned about Himself than the people? Jesus knew that He needed to pray in order to do the miraculous things He was doing. Without prayer, Jesus’ ministry would not have been as effective. That was His disciples’ problem. When they tried to cast out a demon, they couldn’t do it. Why? Jesus said prayer was needed (Mark 9:29). A life of prayer is a necessity for effectiveness in ministry. Don’t neglect your prayer life. You need it in order to be an effective citizen of the Kingdom of God. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Chronicles 34, 35, 36 2 Chronicles 34 -- Josiah's Good Reign; Temple Repairs; Hilkiah recovers the Book of the Law NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Chronicles 35 -- Josiah Observes the Passover, Later Dies in Battle NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Chronicles 36 -- Jehoahaz; Jehoiakim; Jehoiachin; Zedekiah; Captivity in Babylon; Cyrus Permits Return NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 19:1-22 John 19 -- The Crown of Thorns; Jesus' Crucifixion and Burial NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.”Insight Jesus mentioned two kinds of people in his prayer: the “wise and clever,” arrogant in their own knowledge; and the “childlike,” humbly open to receive the truth of God's Word. Challenge Are you wise in your own eyes, or do you seek the truth in childlike faith, realizing that only God holds all the answers. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 1 John 4:19 We love him because he first loved us.There is no light in the planet but that which proceedeth from the sun; and there is no true love to Jesus in the heart but that which cometh from the Lord Jesus himself. From this overflowing fountain of the infinite love of God, all our love to God must spring. This must ever be a great and certain truth, that we love him for no other reason than because he first loved us. Our love to him is the fair offspring of his love to us. Cold admiration, when studying the works of God, anyone may have, but the warmth of love can only be kindled in the heart by God's Spirit. How great the wonder that such as we should ever have been brought to love Jesus at all! How marvellous that when we had rebelled against him, he should, by a display of such amazing love, seek to draw us back. No! never should we have had a grain of love towards God unless it had been sown in us by the sweet seed of his love to us. Love, then, has for its parent the love of God shed abroad in the heart: but after it is thus divinely born, it must be divinely nourished. Love is an exotic; it is not a plant which will flourish naturally in human soil, it must be watered from above. Love to Jesus is a flower of a delicate nature, and if it received no nourishment but that which could be drawn from the rock of our hearts it would soon wither. As love comes from heaven, so it must feed on heavenly bread. It cannot exist in the wilderness unless it be fed by manna from on high. Love must feed on love. The very soul and life of our love to God is his love to us. "I love thee, Lord, but with no love of mine, For I have none to give; I love thee, Lord; but all the love is thine, For by thy love I live. I am as nothing, and rejoice to be Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in thee." Daily Light on the Daily Path Luke 15:20 "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.Psalm 103:8-13 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. • He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. • He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. • For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. • As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. • Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. Romans 8:15,16 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" • The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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