“Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ”
Luke 15:4 & 8 (NIV)
There is a song playing on Christian radio as I write this by Andrew Ripp. The song is titled “I’d Do It Again.” The song is written from Jesus’ perspective and the chorus says: “Cause there’s no distance too far/ No pain too great. There’s no grave to dark/No hell I won’t pay. The proof that it's finished is here in my hands. I know I don’t have to child but oh for you I’d do it again.” This song reminded me of how the Scriptures are held together with a crimson thread and that with the sorrow God must often feel, there is also joy when we lost ones are found. That He’ll keep searching until all that will be found have been found.
In Genesis 18 when the Lord and a couple of his messengers turn to visit with Abraham on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah in response to the outcry that had reached the throne room of heaven and after Sarah had laughed when the Lord said she would be a mom in her old age a year from then. Abraham dared to bargain with the Lord. Abraham asks Him, if He finds 50 righteous ones there will the cities be destroyed? 50 becomes 45; 45 becomes 40; 40 becomes 30; 30 becomes 20; 20 becomes 10 – the city would be spared if only 10 righteous ones are found. In Genesis 19, that 10 really becomes just Lot and rather than spare the city for just one, the Lord spares Lot and his family and destroys the cities. Lot’s wife looked back and some say the pillar of salt still stands even today. Lot’s daughters, well they are definitely a story for another day.
Which brings us to the questions before us this week. At the end of Luke 14 Jesus is talking about the cost of being His disciple and closes with “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Luke 15 opens with the parable of the lost sheep – where Jesus asks those listening, especially the Pharisees and teachers of the law who were muttering about the sinners and tax collectors Jesus was hanging out with – “If you have 100 sheep and one goes missing – won’t you leave those 99 sheep where they are and go searching for the lost one?” Jesus continues by saying that when the lost one is found, the owner will throw a party to celebrate. Then comes the parable of the lost coin. Same basic idea, a woman has 10 silver coins and one goes missing. She cleans and carefully searches until she finds that missing coin and then she invites her friends over to celebrate. At the end of both of these parables Jesus says there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over all the righteous ones present.
God so loved the world… He finds us so valuable that He paid the price of our sins and He keeps looking for all the missing sheep and lost coins. In Peter’s second letter to Christians facing persecution, he reminds them that the Lord’s timing is not like our timing. He is not being “slow the way we understand slow – rather He is patient with all image bearers not wanting any of us to perish, but for everyone to repent and accept His gift of eternal life.
Do you realize that we who walk with Jesus, no matter how imperfectly, are part of His search party? Part of His rescue team? We are meant to be keeping our hearts, minds and eyes open for those who are still lost, those He is still looking for, those who are looking for something and just need to know that, that something is a someone whose name is Jesus. Jesus who says no one is too far away to be found. Heaven rejoices every time one more lost sheep is found.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – remember when you were found Heaven rejoiced.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
It Started Small, It's Still Growing
“What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?”
Luke 13:18 & 20 (NIV)
Luke provides us with the Reader’s Digest versions of two parables as Jesus asks this week’s questions. Jesus responds to his own, pondering questions about what the kingdom of God is like, first with an abbreviated parable of the mustard seed and then the yeast. In the case of the mustard seed, Jesus says: that the kingdom of God is “like a mustard seed that is planted in a garden. It grows and grows until it is a tree that birds can perch in” (Luke 13:19). Jesus asked a third pondering question, as if He is searching for a description that the crowd can understand. Answering Himself he says: “it’s like yeast that a woman adds flour until it is worked all through the dough” (Luke 13:21).
A mustard seed is very small, but in its life span it grows big and strong enough for birds to rest in its branches. The most common type of mustard can grow to be five feet tall, while some other varieties can, in the right conditions, grow to be twelve feet tall. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus tells his followers that if they have faith the size of a mustard seed, they will be able to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Small things grow. The kingdom of God makes its entrance when Jesus comes into our world as a baby. It arrived in a small package, by the time Jesus was irritating the religious leaders of His time, He was also telling them that the kingdom was at hand. In other words, over his lifetime, it had grown and was nearer than when he arrived.
Yeast, though different, provides a similar result. Add a bit of yeast to some flour and a few other ingredients – think sugar and warm milk or water, to make a dough. Leave it to sit in a warm place and when you come back it looks like there is more dough than there was before. If the yeast is particularly good and well fed, you might come back to find that the dough has escaped the bowl. Jesus warned his disciples against the yeast of the Pharisees – well because they weren’t helping the kingdom grow at all. But the yeast of His words and actions was growing the kingdom and drawing it ever nearer.
The Apostles and the people who became believers while Jesus was here, planted the mustard seeds and mixed into the lives of others the yeast Jesus had left them with. From then until now the kingdom has been growing. It has more growing to do – before we see it in all its glorious fullness when the Lord returns and everything is new, and earthly kingdoms are done.
Today’s followers of Jesus are His church, like those who have gone before us, we have also received a portion of mustard seeds and yeast. We are called to love God and love others. Love others to the foot of the cross and the transforming mercy and grace offered to all who will believe. Are you planting the seeds you have been given? Is the kingdom growing where you have influence? Are you allowing the yeast of the bread of life to permeate your life so that your faith and trust in God is overflowing into the lives of those around you?
I always enjoy it when someone I know takes the time to bake fresh bread and then shares it. Sometimes I enjoy that bread with just butter. Sometimes, the bread is expanded into a sandwich, which I am happy to share if the other person likes mustard. Plant the seeds you’ve been called to plant. Use that yeast, while it still has life in it, to expand the His kingdom right where you are. You will grow and the Kingdom will get that much closer.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – plant some kingdom seeds or bake some bread and share the kingdom that way.
Luke 13:18 & 20 (NIV)
Luke provides us with the Reader’s Digest versions of two parables as Jesus asks this week’s questions. Jesus responds to his own, pondering questions about what the kingdom of God is like, first with an abbreviated parable of the mustard seed and then the yeast. In the case of the mustard seed, Jesus says: that the kingdom of God is “like a mustard seed that is planted in a garden. It grows and grows until it is a tree that birds can perch in” (Luke 13:19). Jesus asked a third pondering question, as if He is searching for a description that the crowd can understand. Answering Himself he says: “it’s like yeast that a woman adds flour until it is worked all through the dough” (Luke 13:21).
A mustard seed is very small, but in its life span it grows big and strong enough for birds to rest in its branches. The most common type of mustard can grow to be five feet tall, while some other varieties can, in the right conditions, grow to be twelve feet tall. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus tells his followers that if they have faith the size of a mustard seed, they will be able to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Small things grow. The kingdom of God makes its entrance when Jesus comes into our world as a baby. It arrived in a small package, by the time Jesus was irritating the religious leaders of His time, He was also telling them that the kingdom was at hand. In other words, over his lifetime, it had grown and was nearer than when he arrived.
Yeast, though different, provides a similar result. Add a bit of yeast to some flour and a few other ingredients – think sugar and warm milk or water, to make a dough. Leave it to sit in a warm place and when you come back it looks like there is more dough than there was before. If the yeast is particularly good and well fed, you might come back to find that the dough has escaped the bowl. Jesus warned his disciples against the yeast of the Pharisees – well because they weren’t helping the kingdom grow at all. But the yeast of His words and actions was growing the kingdom and drawing it ever nearer.
The Apostles and the people who became believers while Jesus was here, planted the mustard seeds and mixed into the lives of others the yeast Jesus had left them with. From then until now the kingdom has been growing. It has more growing to do – before we see it in all its glorious fullness when the Lord returns and everything is new, and earthly kingdoms are done.
Today’s followers of Jesus are His church, like those who have gone before us, we have also received a portion of mustard seeds and yeast. We are called to love God and love others. Love others to the foot of the cross and the transforming mercy and grace offered to all who will believe. Are you planting the seeds you have been given? Is the kingdom growing where you have influence? Are you allowing the yeast of the bread of life to permeate your life so that your faith and trust in God is overflowing into the lives of those around you?
I always enjoy it when someone I know takes the time to bake fresh bread and then shares it. Sometimes I enjoy that bread with just butter. Sometimes, the bread is expanded into a sandwich, which I am happy to share if the other person likes mustard. Plant the seeds you’ve been called to plant. Use that yeast, while it still has life in it, to expand the His kingdom right where you are. You will grow and the Kingdom will get that much closer.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – plant some kingdom seeds or bake some bread and share the kingdom that way.
Saturday, September 12, 2026
But For The Grace...
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”
Luke 13:2 & 4 (NIV)
Jesus has been busy. He has been teaching his disciples, making the religious leaders of His day look foolish, and teaching the crowds that seemed to be constantly around Him. Jesus had just finished calling the crowd hypocrites because they could forecast the weather, by the signs nature presented but they couldn’t figure out how to interpret the times they were living in. Jesus also warned this crowd to be reconciled with someone who had something against them before the matter gets before a judge, because they might lose, and lose big. This is where this week’s questions from Jesus come in.
Someone in the crowd tells Jesus about how Pilate had a bunch of Galileans killed as they presented their sacrifices. In one of these rare moments when Jesus asks and answers the question, Jesus asks: Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because of how they suffered and died? Jesus immediately answers “I tell you, no”!
Before we continue, it is probably important to understand, that in those days it was common to assume that if some tragedy befell a person or if a person was sick or crippled, that they were being punished for their sin. Think about the situation in John, where Jesus and his crew meet a man who was born blind. The disciples asked Jesus did the man or his parents sin that he was born blind. Basically, anything that happened that was bad, equaled it was a punishment for sin. Read the book of Job in the Old Testament for just such a story.
Let’s continue. Not only does Jesus tell them that the Galileans killed as they presented their sacrifices are not worse sinners than their Galilean brothers and sisters, but that all of those listening to him would also perish if they did not repent. Then Jesus brings up another tragic event where eighteen people died when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them. Jesus asked a similar question. “Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?” He answers this second question the same way. Nope and if you don’t repent, you will perish too. Then Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that gets one more chance to bear fruit or be chopped down – but that is a story for another day.
Sometimes we suffer because of someone else’s sin. Sometimes we suffer because we live in a very broken world. Sometimes we do pay the consequences for our own sins. Sometimes we suffer so that God's grace can be displayed in our lives. But we don’t have to stay in that sin-caused place of suffering. Jesus calls us to turn around, to make better choices, to choose Him and His grace. Like the fig tree that is given more time to produce fruit, before it is cut down. God’s grace gives us chance, after chance, after chance to produce the fruit that a life transformed by God’s grace is meant to bear. But for the grace of God.
What do you need to turn from with the power of His grace? What aspects of the fruit of the Spirit need to be cultivated by the power of His grace? Life is going to be hard. Life is going to be unfair. But Jesus is making all things new by His grace.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – will you choose His grace for yourself? Will you extend His grace to someone who needs it?
Luke 13:2 & 4 (NIV)
Jesus has been busy. He has been teaching his disciples, making the religious leaders of His day look foolish, and teaching the crowds that seemed to be constantly around Him. Jesus had just finished calling the crowd hypocrites because they could forecast the weather, by the signs nature presented but they couldn’t figure out how to interpret the times they were living in. Jesus also warned this crowd to be reconciled with someone who had something against them before the matter gets before a judge, because they might lose, and lose big. This is where this week’s questions from Jesus come in.
Someone in the crowd tells Jesus about how Pilate had a bunch of Galileans killed as they presented their sacrifices. In one of these rare moments when Jesus asks and answers the question, Jesus asks: Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because of how they suffered and died? Jesus immediately answers “I tell you, no”!
Before we continue, it is probably important to understand, that in those days it was common to assume that if some tragedy befell a person or if a person was sick or crippled, that they were being punished for their sin. Think about the situation in John, where Jesus and his crew meet a man who was born blind. The disciples asked Jesus did the man or his parents sin that he was born blind. Basically, anything that happened that was bad, equaled it was a punishment for sin. Read the book of Job in the Old Testament for just such a story.
Let’s continue. Not only does Jesus tell them that the Galileans killed as they presented their sacrifices are not worse sinners than their Galilean brothers and sisters, but that all of those listening to him would also perish if they did not repent. Then Jesus brings up another tragic event where eighteen people died when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them. Jesus asked a similar question. “Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?” He answers this second question the same way. Nope and if you don’t repent, you will perish too. Then Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that gets one more chance to bear fruit or be chopped down – but that is a story for another day.
Sometimes we suffer because of someone else’s sin. Sometimes we suffer because we live in a very broken world. Sometimes we do pay the consequences for our own sins. Sometimes we suffer so that God's grace can be displayed in our lives. But we don’t have to stay in that sin-caused place of suffering. Jesus calls us to turn around, to make better choices, to choose Him and His grace. Like the fig tree that is given more time to produce fruit, before it is cut down. God’s grace gives us chance, after chance, after chance to produce the fruit that a life transformed by God’s grace is meant to bear. But for the grace of God.
What do you need to turn from with the power of His grace? What aspects of the fruit of the Spirit need to be cultivated by the power of His grace? Life is going to be hard. Life is going to be unfair. But Jesus is making all things new by His grace.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – will you choose His grace for yourself? Will you extend His grace to someone who needs it?
Monday, August 31, 2026
Division or Unity
“If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out?”
Luke 11:18-19 (NIV)
Jesus had driven a demon that could not speak out of a man. The man, now free, began to speak and the crowd was amazed, but not everyone. Some accused Jesus of driving out demons by the power of a more powerful demon identified as Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Still others demanded a sign from heaven. In my opinion Heaven and Hell don’t usually mix well.
Jesus, as usual, calls them out on their lack of understanding. First He tells them, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall” (Luke 11:17). Then here comes His questions. The first question is how can Satan’s kingdom stand if Satan is divided against himself? Satan, you would assume, would be piling on the demons rather than driving them out. Then Jesus asks the bigger question (in my opinion). Jesus looks the skeptics and accusers straight in the eyes and asks, “If I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out?” The response? Crickets.
I remember a time when I was young. I overheard some grown-ups talking about how there was a possibility that the United States could fall, without a shot fired or a war being fought. Those grown-ups said our nation could fall because of division from within. From the people being divided rather than unified, and that the division would lead to people not holding the government accountable for its actions.
Jesus prayed that His people would be one. That their unity and how they lived because of Jesus, would point others to the grace of God. In fact, in John we read: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23). Satan’s kingdom is falling and the Kingdom of God is advancing, growing quickly in some parts of our world and slowly in other parts, but growing and drawing closer every day
God’s kingdom is a kingdom founded on love, mercy and grace. It is a kingdom built on unity with the King and the people of the kingdom. It is a Kingdom where God’s justice and peace take precedence. Remember Jesus came to set the captives free, to bring healing to those who needed healing, to make sure those on the fringes were cared for, and to ultimately make everything new.
Can the division we see in our nation bring about the fall of the nation? Perhaps. I am certain, however, that the arrival of The Kingdom in all its glorious perfection will bring about the fall of every earthly kingdom.
The question is, will we allow ourselves to be caught in the trap of division or will we stand on the rock who is Jesus and the unity He brings. I want to encourage you to stand strong in the faith, to be an obedient citizen of the Kingdom that is both here now and still coming, to love God and love others. Find common ground with those around you and remember we are all made in His image.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – will you work toward unity?
Luke 11:18-19 (NIV)
Jesus had driven a demon that could not speak out of a man. The man, now free, began to speak and the crowd was amazed, but not everyone. Some accused Jesus of driving out demons by the power of a more powerful demon identified as Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Still others demanded a sign from heaven. In my opinion Heaven and Hell don’t usually mix well.
Jesus, as usual, calls them out on their lack of understanding. First He tells them, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall” (Luke 11:17). Then here comes His questions. The first question is how can Satan’s kingdom stand if Satan is divided against himself? Satan, you would assume, would be piling on the demons rather than driving them out. Then Jesus asks the bigger question (in my opinion). Jesus looks the skeptics and accusers straight in the eyes and asks, “If I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out?” The response? Crickets.
I remember a time when I was young. I overheard some grown-ups talking about how there was a possibility that the United States could fall, without a shot fired or a war being fought. Those grown-ups said our nation could fall because of division from within. From the people being divided rather than unified, and that the division would lead to people not holding the government accountable for its actions.
Jesus prayed that His people would be one. That their unity and how they lived because of Jesus, would point others to the grace of God. In fact, in John we read: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23). Satan’s kingdom is falling and the Kingdom of God is advancing, growing quickly in some parts of our world and slowly in other parts, but growing and drawing closer every day
God’s kingdom is a kingdom founded on love, mercy and grace. It is a kingdom built on unity with the King and the people of the kingdom. It is a Kingdom where God’s justice and peace take precedence. Remember Jesus came to set the captives free, to bring healing to those who needed healing, to make sure those on the fringes were cared for, and to ultimately make everything new.
Can the division we see in our nation bring about the fall of the nation? Perhaps. I am certain, however, that the arrival of The Kingdom in all its glorious perfection will bring about the fall of every earthly kingdom.
The question is, will we allow ourselves to be caught in the trap of division or will we stand on the rock who is Jesus and the unity He brings. I want to encourage you to stand strong in the faith, to be an obedient citizen of the Kingdom that is both here now and still coming, to love God and love others. Find common ground with those around you and remember we are all made in His image.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – will you work toward unity?
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Like A Good Neighbor - Part Two
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
Luke 10:36 (NIV)
Previously, on Something Special For You – Questions Jesus Asked. An expert in the law asked a question to test Jesus. Jesus responded with a question of His own, which the guys gets right. But, he couldn’t just leave it at that. I closed with the thought that Jesus doesn’t mind our questions if we come to Him with sincere heart, truly wanting His answer, will result in us being lifted up, encouraged and ready (sort of) for whatever comes next. Which brings this expert in the law’s next question and Jesus’ story response.
The expert in the law, scripture says, “wanted to justify himself, so he asks a follow up question. I don’t know what he was expecting, but he gets a story with a twist. Jesus starts: A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho (a good days walk), along the way the man was attacked by robbers – he was stripped of his clothes, beaten and left for dead. Lucky for the man it seems like it may have been a busy route between the two cities. First, a priest going that way see’s the man lying in a heap on the grounds. The priest crosses the road and keeps going. Next, a Levite approached the scene of the crime, he too crosses the road and keeps going when he sees the beaten man. Then a Samaritan, comes upon the man. He goes to the man provides some first aid, puts him on his donkey and takes him with him. When they arrive at a place of lodging, he takes care of the man overnight. When he needs to continue his journey he asks the inn keeper to take care of the man, give him some money for that assistance and tells when I stop in on the way home, if you need more money for taking care of the man, I’ll pay you – The End. Then Jesus asks the expert in the law a final question, so of the three men who saw the man, half dead on the ground, who do you think was a neighbor to the injured man? To which our expert can only answer, “The one who had mercy on him” (Luke 10:37a). Which of course is the correct answer, so Jesus tell him again, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37b).
Jesus, makes just a random guy the focus of the story. But then he clearly identifies, the three men who find the man along the road – a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The first two guys, among the religious elite. Neither of these guys help they cross the road and keep going. Were they afraid the robbers may still be around? Did they not want to risk becoming ceremonially unclean? But then Jesus makes a Samaritan the hero of the story. I can imagine the look on the Law guys face when Jesus asks the last question. I wonder if he went away and did as Jesus told him or if he went away mad and embarrassed.
I suspect almost everyone reading this knows the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus doesn’t Identify the man who was beaten, I think because it doesn’t matter, we aren’t just to be neighbors to certain people but to everyone we come in contact with. I do often wonder, if the man had been a priest or a Levite, would the priest and Levite still have crossed the road and left him or would they have helped because he was one of their own.
What about you, if you were attacked in the night and someone different from you offered help, would you send them away and lie there wounded and bleeding until someone like you turned up to help. Or what if you came upon someone the street in of help – would you sacrifice your time to help, would you pay for lodging for someone in need, what about paying a medical bill for a stranger? Jesus makes it clear everyone is meant to be a neighbor. Those who are broken, those who are different, those who need Jesus, those who look at the world differently than we do. So we should good neighbors, that look like Jesus.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – who will you be a neighbor to, who will you look like Jesus to?
Luke 10:36 (NIV)
Previously, on Something Special For You – Questions Jesus Asked. An expert in the law asked a question to test Jesus. Jesus responded with a question of His own, which the guys gets right. But, he couldn’t just leave it at that. I closed with the thought that Jesus doesn’t mind our questions if we come to Him with sincere heart, truly wanting His answer, will result in us being lifted up, encouraged and ready (sort of) for whatever comes next. Which brings this expert in the law’s next question and Jesus’ story response.
The expert in the law, scripture says, “wanted to justify himself, so he asks a follow up question. I don’t know what he was expecting, but he gets a story with a twist. Jesus starts: A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho (a good days walk), along the way the man was attacked by robbers – he was stripped of his clothes, beaten and left for dead. Lucky for the man it seems like it may have been a busy route between the two cities. First, a priest going that way see’s the man lying in a heap on the grounds. The priest crosses the road and keeps going. Next, a Levite approached the scene of the crime, he too crosses the road and keeps going when he sees the beaten man. Then a Samaritan, comes upon the man. He goes to the man provides some first aid, puts him on his donkey and takes him with him. When they arrive at a place of lodging, he takes care of the man overnight. When he needs to continue his journey he asks the inn keeper to take care of the man, give him some money for that assistance and tells when I stop in on the way home, if you need more money for taking care of the man, I’ll pay you – The End. Then Jesus asks the expert in the law a final question, so of the three men who saw the man, half dead on the ground, who do you think was a neighbor to the injured man? To which our expert can only answer, “The one who had mercy on him” (Luke 10:37a). Which of course is the correct answer, so Jesus tell him again, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37b).
Jesus, makes just a random guy the focus of the story. But then he clearly identifies, the three men who find the man along the road – a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The first two guys, among the religious elite. Neither of these guys help they cross the road and keep going. Were they afraid the robbers may still be around? Did they not want to risk becoming ceremonially unclean? But then Jesus makes a Samaritan the hero of the story. I can imagine the look on the Law guys face when Jesus asks the last question. I wonder if he went away and did as Jesus told him or if he went away mad and embarrassed.
I suspect almost everyone reading this knows the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus doesn’t Identify the man who was beaten, I think because it doesn’t matter, we aren’t just to be neighbors to certain people but to everyone we come in contact with. I do often wonder, if the man had been a priest or a Levite, would the priest and Levite still have crossed the road and left him or would they have helped because he was one of their own.
What about you, if you were attacked in the night and someone different from you offered help, would you send them away and lie there wounded and bleeding until someone like you turned up to help. Or what if you came upon someone the street in of help – would you sacrifice your time to help, would you pay for lodging for someone in need, what about paying a medical bill for a stranger? Jesus makes it clear everyone is meant to be a neighbor. Those who are broken, those who are different, those who need Jesus, those who look at the world differently than we do. So we should good neighbors, that look like Jesus.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – who will you be a neighbor to, who will you look like Jesus to?
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Like A Good Neighbor - Part One
“What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
Luke 10:26 (NIV)
Yes, the State Farm insurance jingle is running around my head – you all know the one “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” The other thought running through my mind is “here we go again.” But nonetheless here we are, an “expert” in the law stands up to test Jesus, again with a question. You would think these guys would figure out that it's not a good idea to ask Jesus a question without a pure motive, cause it ain’t gonna end well otherwise.
As we have seen, Jesus rarely answers a question directly. He does however, quite often respond with a question or two of His own. Sometimes Jesus responds with a story. Either way if their motives weren’t on the up and up, they were going to be walking away mad or embarrassed and quite possibly both. That’s the situation we find ourselves in this two-part mini-series within the series. This week Jesus answers a question with a question and next week, Jesus answers a follow up question with a story.
So, this guy identified as an expert in the law tries to test Jesus with a question. He asks Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25)? To which Jesus responds with this week’s questions. Basically, Jesus is like, “Hmm I don’t know, what does the law say? How do you read the law on that matter? The gentleman answers correctly, when he responds “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Jesus commends him, saying “You have answered correctly, do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). You would think that this guy would quit while he was ahead, but no, the test continues. We’ll leave that for next week.
I don’t want you to misunderstand, Jesus doesn’t mind when we ask him questions, if they come from the place of a sincere heart and mind, looking for His answer – not the answer we want and that can be hard, because life can be hard to understand. We like it when all the pieces fit together the way we want them too. Sometimes we ask for direction and he tells us to wait. Sometimes we ask why and He tells us it’s to help us trust Him more. Sometimes we ask a question and He is silent, but then someone turns up or something happens and we have our answer. So ask away, not looking to test Him or to get Him to agree with what you think the answer should be. Ask because you want to know Him better, you want to look more like Him, you want to be a good neighbor. Those questions will get His answer in His timing and by His method and you will walk away lifted up, encouraged and ready (sort of) for whatever comes next.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – ask questions that will make you a good neighbor.
Luke 10:26 (NIV)
Yes, the State Farm insurance jingle is running around my head – you all know the one “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” The other thought running through my mind is “here we go again.” But nonetheless here we are, an “expert” in the law stands up to test Jesus, again with a question. You would think these guys would figure out that it's not a good idea to ask Jesus a question without a pure motive, cause it ain’t gonna end well otherwise.
As we have seen, Jesus rarely answers a question directly. He does however, quite often respond with a question or two of His own. Sometimes Jesus responds with a story. Either way if their motives weren’t on the up and up, they were going to be walking away mad or embarrassed and quite possibly both. That’s the situation we find ourselves in this two-part mini-series within the series. This week Jesus answers a question with a question and next week, Jesus answers a follow up question with a story.
So, this guy identified as an expert in the law tries to test Jesus with a question. He asks Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25)? To which Jesus responds with this week’s questions. Basically, Jesus is like, “Hmm I don’t know, what does the law say? How do you read the law on that matter? The gentleman answers correctly, when he responds “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Jesus commends him, saying “You have answered correctly, do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). You would think that this guy would quit while he was ahead, but no, the test continues. We’ll leave that for next week.
I don’t want you to misunderstand, Jesus doesn’t mind when we ask him questions, if they come from the place of a sincere heart and mind, looking for His answer – not the answer we want and that can be hard, because life can be hard to understand. We like it when all the pieces fit together the way we want them too. Sometimes we ask for direction and he tells us to wait. Sometimes we ask why and He tells us it’s to help us trust Him more. Sometimes we ask a question and He is silent, but then someone turns up or something happens and we have our answer. So ask away, not looking to test Him or to get Him to agree with what you think the answer should be. Ask because you want to know Him better, you want to look more like Him, you want to be a good neighbor. Those questions will get His answer in His timing and by His method and you will walk away lifted up, encouraged and ready (sort of) for whatever comes next.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – ask questions that will make you a good neighbor.
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Desperate Outcast Meets Barrier Breaker
“Who touched me?”
Luke 6:46 (NIV)
Sometimes, finding a fresh perspective on a well passage of scripture can be difficult because we see things based on the most common or easiest to see themes. After looking at the events that were taking place when the question of the week was asked, I found a perspective that I haven’t heard taught every often, so let’s get into it.
Jesus and the guys had returned from the region of the Gerasenes – you know the place where the Legion of demons were sent into a herd of pigs. They are met by a crowd who have been waiting for his return. In the midst of this crowd a synagogue leader by the name of Jairus arrives, falling at Jesus’ feet pleading for Jesus to come and heal his twelve-year-old daughter. As Jesus and the guys headed that way, the crowd was pressing in on Jesus (the NIV says the crowd was almost crushing him - Luke 8:42). Into this crushing wave of people, enters a woman. A woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. A woman who would be considered unclean. A woman who would have been cut off from worship and community. A woman who had mustered enough courage to enter the crowd in the hopes of just touching the edge of His cloak. A woman who didn’t want to make a scene or to cause Jesus to become unclean.
A woman who finds success in her mission. Oh the questions! Had she been an outcast for so long that nobody knew her? How did she manage to get through the crowd without touching anyone else? Did she have some divine help in getting to Jesus? Did no one see her touch Jesus?
Jesus felt the healing power go out, so he knew it wasn’t just an ordinary jostling of the crowd. His guys are like are you kidding us, look at all these people touching you as we go. Everyone around Him denied having touched him, at least on purpose. Yet Jesus is looking for the one who did. When I imagine what this scene, at this moment, looks like – I see the crowd part and Jesus sees and the woman sees Jesus and falls at his feet. This woman pours out the truth of the matter. He calls her daughter. The barrier that had kept her from community had been broken by Jesus.
I know some of you are thinking, but this whole story is about faith and healing. You are not wrong in that. Jairus, a respected man, believed that even with the coming of the worst news, that there was still hope. Yes, the woman’s faith helped give her the courage to seek the Master for healing. Yes, both Jairus and the woman got what they had come for. But, the woman got more – the woman got welcomed back into the community after twelve years of being an outcast.
All of us are or have been outcasts in some way at some time. When we decided to follow Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength we stopped being outcasts and became members of the divine Kingdom, daughters and sons of the King. Maybe you felt like an outcast in other ways – the last picked for a recess game of kickball. Maybe you ate lunch alone, until someone decided to take a chance and sit next to you. Jesus was often criticized for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners, they were outcasts. His disciples would never have been picked by the other Rabbis, Jesus ’disciples might have been considered outcasts as well. The reality was that a lot of the religious leaders were outcasts too.
The question for us and the encouragement as well is; how do we treat those who are considered outcasts today? I want to encourage you not to look the other way, to risk sitting down with someone who is struggling in life and listen to their story with the respect due every image bearer. Point them to Jesus, welcome them into the community. We’ll all be better for it and the Kingdom, well the Kingdom will be filled with all the people who are meant to be there and the party is going to be AMAZING.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – Jesus is the One who breaks down the barriers to abundant life and He does so in all sorts of ways.
Luke 6:46 (NIV)
Sometimes, finding a fresh perspective on a well passage of scripture can be difficult because we see things based on the most common or easiest to see themes. After looking at the events that were taking place when the question of the week was asked, I found a perspective that I haven’t heard taught every often, so let’s get into it.
Jesus and the guys had returned from the region of the Gerasenes – you know the place where the Legion of demons were sent into a herd of pigs. They are met by a crowd who have been waiting for his return. In the midst of this crowd a synagogue leader by the name of Jairus arrives, falling at Jesus’ feet pleading for Jesus to come and heal his twelve-year-old daughter. As Jesus and the guys headed that way, the crowd was pressing in on Jesus (the NIV says the crowd was almost crushing him - Luke 8:42). Into this crushing wave of people, enters a woman. A woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. A woman who would be considered unclean. A woman who would have been cut off from worship and community. A woman who had mustered enough courage to enter the crowd in the hopes of just touching the edge of His cloak. A woman who didn’t want to make a scene or to cause Jesus to become unclean.
A woman who finds success in her mission. Oh the questions! Had she been an outcast for so long that nobody knew her? How did she manage to get through the crowd without touching anyone else? Did she have some divine help in getting to Jesus? Did no one see her touch Jesus?
Jesus felt the healing power go out, so he knew it wasn’t just an ordinary jostling of the crowd. His guys are like are you kidding us, look at all these people touching you as we go. Everyone around Him denied having touched him, at least on purpose. Yet Jesus is looking for the one who did. When I imagine what this scene, at this moment, looks like – I see the crowd part and Jesus sees and the woman sees Jesus and falls at his feet. This woman pours out the truth of the matter. He calls her daughter. The barrier that had kept her from community had been broken by Jesus.
I know some of you are thinking, but this whole story is about faith and healing. You are not wrong in that. Jairus, a respected man, believed that even with the coming of the worst news, that there was still hope. Yes, the woman’s faith helped give her the courage to seek the Master for healing. Yes, both Jairus and the woman got what they had come for. But, the woman got more – the woman got welcomed back into the community after twelve years of being an outcast.
All of us are or have been outcasts in some way at some time. When we decided to follow Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength we stopped being outcasts and became members of the divine Kingdom, daughters and sons of the King. Maybe you felt like an outcast in other ways – the last picked for a recess game of kickball. Maybe you ate lunch alone, until someone decided to take a chance and sit next to you. Jesus was often criticized for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners, they were outcasts. His disciples would never have been picked by the other Rabbis, Jesus ’disciples might have been considered outcasts as well. The reality was that a lot of the religious leaders were outcasts too.
The question for us and the encouragement as well is; how do we treat those who are considered outcasts today? I want to encourage you not to look the other way, to risk sitting down with someone who is struggling in life and listen to their story with the respect due every image bearer. Point them to Jesus, welcome them into the community. We’ll all be better for it and the Kingdom, well the Kingdom will be filled with all the people who are meant to be there and the party is going to be AMAZING.
Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – Jesus is the One who breaks down the barriers to abundant life and He does so in all sorts of ways.
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