Scripture For The Day

Scripture For The Day   December 24 th , 2023 Luke 24  Taken, Blessed, and Broken Very early that Sunday morning, the women came back to the tomb to anoint Jesus body with the spices they had previously prepared. Upon arrival they noticed the stone was rolled away. Matthew records an earthquake had occurred and the angel rolled it away. The Roman guards had fainted with fear. But the guards obviously ran away at the empty tomb. The disappearance of Jesus’ body would have got them killed for being diligently in their job. To combine all the Gospels this is how it went down. The ladies discovered that Jesus’ body was gone. While still there, two angels suddenly appeared. One angel spoke and reminded them of what Jesus had told them. They were told to go find Peter and the others and tell them that Jesus was risen. The disciples were skeptical of course. Peter and John ran to the tomb. John got there first. But didn’t go inside, letting Peter enter first. They saw the linen intact but

Scripture For The Day  December 23rd, 2023    Luke 23 part 2 "Father Forgive Them!"  Jesus was severely beaten and extremely weak. A Cyrenian man named Simon was told to carry the heavy crossbeam to Calvary for Jesus. Among the people following were women who were weeping for Jesus. Jesus told them ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, cry not for me, but for yourselves and your children.” In His state of fatigue and pain beyond anything we will ever experience, Jesus, Our Savior, took the time to minister to people once again. He warned them of the troubling days that lie ahead. If this will happen to someone Who is Good (green tree) what do you think will happen to someone who is guilty (dry). There were also two criminals that were led out to the city of skulls (Golgotha) aka Calvary with Jesus to be crucified.  Jesus chose to go through this for You and Me. This is the Reason for Christmas. This is The Reason we should celebrate His Birth. Before He died; Jesus began to talk to Th

Scripture For The Day    December 23, 2023 – Luke 23 part 1 "What You Say Is True!"  And the whole multitude (The entire Sanhedrin (council) 70 men) arose and took Jesus to Pilate. Jesus had two trails (if you can call them that). One Jewish/Religious and the other Roman/Secular. Rome was the only authority to execute. So, they had to hand Him over to the Romans to get what they wanted. Pilate was in Jerusalem at the time for the Passover celebration. Then Jesus was sent to Herod for questioning. Then back to Pilate for the final hearing and verdict. It was quickly done and through the night and unusual to have the trials through the night with the crucifixion the same day. The accusations were lies and exaggerations, except for One that He was and is The Son of God. There was no blasphemy about it. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered “Yes, what you say is true!” Pilate had no problem with Jesus. But the council was fierce. They weren’t back

Scripture For The Day  December 22nd, 2023   Luke 22 Part 2  "Not My Will, But Yours Be Done"  Later, the apostles began to argue about which one of them was the most important. But Jesus reminds us that we are to be humble. He, Himself, King of all kings, was willing to serve all people. He told Peter that He prayed for Him because He was concerned for Him. But Peter told Jesus that he was ready to go with Him, unto the end and Jesus shared with Peter that He knew that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crows. He told the disciples that they would be persecuted for His Name’s sake and to be prepared. After the meal, He went out to the Mount of Olives to pray and encouraged the disciples to pray as well. He went to a quiet spot and began praying to The Father asking Him to remove the cup from Him. He knew that soon His flesh would suffer excruciating pain. But more than that, He knew The Father would not be able to look upon the sins of the world that would

Scripture For The Day    December 22, 2023 – Luke 22 part 1 Do This In Remembrance Passover was drawing near, and the religious leaders were putting it in overdrive wanting to have Jesus killed so they could be done with Him. This is when satan enters Judas. Satan took him over, but he was a willing participant. His greed opened him up to the enemy. Judas went and spoke with the religious leaders, plotting to betray Jesus to them. They were happy. This is just what they wanted. So, they promised Judas some money. Judas just had to catch Jesus away from the crowd and he knew The Passover would be the perfect time. Because people would be busy with their families. Jesus told Peter and John to find a place where they could have their Passover meal. He gave them specific instructions of where to go. They did exactly as He had instructed and secured the upper room for their Passover. And when the hour was come, He and the twelve apostles sat down for the Passover meal. Jesus told them

Scripture For The Day  December 21st, 2023  Luke 21 part 2  Signs of the Times     But… now Jesus jumps from the end of Grace to the crucifixion. “But before ALL these, they shall lay hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for MY NAME’S Sake. And you shall be able to use it for a testimony. Every trial is an opportunity to testify for Jesus. Jesus tells them/us to settle it in our hearts that we will be persecuted and not worry about how to deal with it. When we seek The LORD earnestly and diligently, He will give us the words to speak and wisdom of when to speak. Let The Lord do the talking. You will be betrayed by family and friends as well as fellow Christians (brethren). It’s a given. Make sure that you, personally are lined up with The Word of God and let Him do the talking. I’m learning this more and more each and every day. Vs 17 continues “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake

Scripture For The Day    December 21, 2023 Luke 21 part 1 "It Will All Pass Away"  And He looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. Jesus is watching the wealthy people tossing their gifts into the treasury (the treasury were thirteen collection boxes in the wall of the temple. They were shaped like trumpets that had a cone like mouth and narrowed down into the opening where the offerings for alms were dropped into) Jesus watched the men casting their gifts. Then He saw a poor widow casting in her two mites. If anyone had needed alms it would have been her. She was desperately poor. Two mites would have equaled one-eighth of a cent. But it was all she had. And Jesus said that she gave more than these rich people. They have plenty and they don’t even miss what they give. But she gave all she had. I think of this scripture often. I’ve had individuals give money to me for certain ministries that they were giving all they could afford. And that s

Scripture For The Day  December 20th, 2023  Luke 20 part 2  "Beware of Religious People"    The spies began to ask Jesus questions to trick him; “Master, we know that what you say and teach is true. It doesn’t matter who is listening- you teach the same to all people. The Truth about God’s Way. (boy they were laying it on thick) Tell us, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Jesus knew their hearts. He can’t be fooled. He said to them, “Show me a penny. Whose name and picture is on it?’ They answered, “Caesar’s” And He said, “Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.” The spies couldn’t trap Jesus with those words. Next, some Sadducees tried to trick Jesus. Sadducees were a group of religious people who denied the supernatural things of God; like the resurrection of the dead and angels. Etc. They were wealthy, aristocratic members of the priestly tribe only accepting the Pentateuch as their authority. They went to Jesus; “Mas

Scripture For The Day    December 20, 2023 Luke 20 part 1 Jesus Preaches And it came to pass, while in Jerusalem Jesus taught in the temple. He preached the gospel. And the Religious people watched Him, testing, questioning, hoping to trap Him. “By what authority do You say these things?” they asked Him. In Jesus’ style, He turned a question to them; “When John baptized people, did His authority come from God or was it only from other people?” They began to confer with each other, knowing that if they said heaven, Jesus would question them further. But if they said men, the people would stone them because the people believed John to be a prophet from God. Instead, they chose to be ignorant; “We don’t know”. And Jesus said unto them, “Then I will not tell you Who gave Me the authority to do these things”. Jesus then shared a parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. When it was time for the grapes to be picked, the m

  Scripture For The Day  Luke 19 part 2 "But Just a Few Days Later..."  When Jesus was done speaking, He began to go up the road to Jerusalem. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem was steep. Within 17 miles it went up 3,300 feet. We are getting to the last part of Jesus’ Journey on earth. I don’t know about y’all, but this study has spoken to my heart quite a bit. Near Bethphage, which is close to Bethany, on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, telling them to go and get an unridden colt that was tied up and bring it to Him. Jesus knew where it would be. An unridden colt was considered suited for holy purposes.  Of course, they found the colt, just like Jesus had said, and brought it to Jesus. They put their coats on the colts' back for Jesus to ride on. As Jesus traveled into Jerusalem, people began to put their coats on the ground before Him as well as palm branches. A worldly king would have entered the same way. The people were re

   Scripture For The Day  December 19, 2023 Luke 19 part 1 "Hide It Under a Bushel? NO!"  And Jesus passed through Jericho. Jericho had a lot of history, even at that time. It was a major trading center and there was a wealthy tax collector named Zaccheus who lived and worked there. He heard about Jesus and decided to see for himself. But he was a short man and there were a lot of people traveling with Jesus and a huge crowd lining the street waiting to see Jesus pass by. Less than 15 miles away, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead. He was a rockstar. So, Zaccheus ran up ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus. As soon as Jesus got to the tree, He looked up and said “Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” I bet y’all are singing the song right now…I was. 😊 The crowd began to murmur. How could Jesus eat with a sinner like this dishonest tax collector? Zaccheus was so overwhelmed with the love of Jesus that he

Scripture For The Day    December 18 th , 2023 Luke 18 part 2 Shout Out to Jesus!  A religious leader asked Jesus, ‘Good Master (Teacher) what shall I do to inherit life?” Jesus tells him “Why do you call me good? Only God is good! And you know His commands…” The man tells Jesus that he has obeyed all those commands. Jesus tells him “But there is still one thing you need to do. Sell everything and give the money to the poor. Then you can follow me” Jesus knew this man’s heart. The man became sad. Jesus said, “It will be very hard for rich people to enter God’s Kingdom.”  That doesn’t mean wealthy people won’t go to heaven. This is a heart issue. The people questioned Jesus; “Who then can be saved?” Jesus said; “The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God. The reward for following Jesus is eternal life. Then Jesus talked to the twelve apostles alone; “When we go to Jerusalem, the prophecies regarding the Son of man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to t

Scripture For The Day   December 18, 2023 Luke 18 part 1 "Listen Up!"  And He spake a parable unto them to teach them that they/we should always pray and never lose hope. Here is the story: “Once there was a judge. In the same town, there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to the judge and said ‘There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!’ But the judge refused to help her. After a while, he thought to himself; ‘I don’t care about God or what people think. But I’m sick and tired of this woman bothering me. So, if I give her what she wants, she’ll leave me alone.’ The Lord said, “Listen up! There is a meaning here. Persistence pays off. God’s people shout at Him all night and day, and He will always give them what is right. Because He is just and right and Loves us.  God helps His people. But when the Son of Man comes again, will He find people on earth who believe in Him?” If you aren’t getting what you want, have you stopped

Scripture For The Day  December 17 th , 2023 Luke 17 part 1 "Well Done!"  Jesus said “Things are going to happen that will lead people to sin. But woe to him that causes others to sin. It would be better for that person if a millstone (a heavy circular stone used for grinding grain) were hung around his neck and he is thrown into the sea than for him to cause little ones (believers; could be new Christians) to sin. So, be careful! If your brother or sister in Christ does something wrong, warn them. If they are sorry, forgive them. Even if it means forgiving them seven times in one day. If they repent, forgive them. (And this is why, I continue to forgive) The apostles were convicted and asked The Lord to increase their faith. Jesus said; “If your faith is the size of a grain of mustard seed, as long as it is Faith in The LORD, nothing is impossible with God. Even a little faith can bring big miracles.   Jesus begins to share a parable with a lesson that a servant shou

Scripture For The Day    December 17 th , 2023 Luke 17 part 2 We Will Know It  Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will God’s Kingdom come?” Jesus answered, “God’s Kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you can see it. People will not say “Look, God’s Kingdom is here!” or “There it is!” No, God’s Kingdom is right here within you; in your hearts. Meaning; Jesus being Lord and King of our hearts and souls. And He said to the disciples; “The day will come when you will long to see The Son of Man return, but you will not be able to. People will say to you, “Look, there it is! Or “Look, here it is!” Throughout the ages, every Christian has longed to see Jesus. We just need to be careful to not be looking in the wrong places. We don’t need to be seeking individuals to pinpoint the date of return. Our job is to stay prepared and not to be anxious about it. When He comes again, we will know it. There will be no doubts. On that day, He will shine like lightning that flashes across th

Scripture For The Day  December 16, 2023 Luke 16 part 2 It's Your Decision Jesus said, “There was a rich man who always dressed in his finest clothes. He was so rich that he was able to enjoy all the best things every day. There was also a poor man named Lazarus. Lazarus’ body was covered with sores. He was often put by the rich man’s gate in hopes of being able to eat the scraps of food that were left on the floor under the rich man’s table. And the dogs would come and lick his sores. Yuck! Later Lazarus died. The angels took him and placed him in the arms of Abraham. The rich man died and was taken to hell. This was against everything the Pharisees believed. And the rich man cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” Abraham reminds him that he had every opportunity to help Lazarus but chose not to. They could have both been together. But

Scripture For The Day   December 16 th , 2023 Luke 16 part 1 "Plan Ahead"  Jesus said to His crew “Once there was a rich man who had a steward/manager cheat him in his business. When he learned that his manager was cheating him, he told him; ‘I have heard bad things about you. What have you done with my money? You’re fired.” The manager thought to himself; “What am I going to do? I’m going to lose my job. I’m not strong enough to dig ditches. I’m too proud to beg. I know what I will do. I’ll try to make friends by reducing the debt of those that owe the master, so when I lose my job, they will welcome me into their homes.’ So, the manager called in people who owed the master.  He asked each one what they owed and then told them to make the bill for less and pay that amount. He was shortchanging his master but he would be able to give the master something. The master applauded the dishonest manager for acting shrewdly and for planning ahead.  All the characters in this par

  December 15 th , 2023 Luke 15 part 2 The prodigal son Jesus begins to share another parable. He is making a strong point of how joyous it is when sinners repent and come to Him. “And He said, A certain man had two sons” We all know the story of the prodigal son. He wanted his inheritance, and right now. That was never done. But the father gave him his wishes. The son went off and partied and did all kinds of things he shouldn’t do and wasted every bit of his money. At that time, a famine was in the land and he began to starve. So, he went and got a job feeding pigs. Which was the lowest of the lowest. He was so hungry that he was even jealous of the slop that was given to the pigs to eat. No one would help him. He finally realized how foolish he had been. He thought about how his father’s hired help was getting fed better than him right now. So, he decided to go home, tell his father he had sinned against God, and ask him if he would hire him to be a worker.  On the path home