Luke 7:31-50 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: Because He’s Been There - March 25, 2022

Millions facing the chill of empty pockets or the fears of sudden change turn to Christ. Why? Because he’s been there. He’s been to Nazareth, where he made deadlines and paid bills; to Jerusalem, where he stared down critics and stood up against cynics.

We have our Nazareths as well. Jesus wasn’t the last to build a team; accusers didn’t disappear with Jerusalem’s temple. Why seek Jesus’ help with your challenges? Because he’s been there.

But most of all he’s been to the grave. Not as a visitor, but as a corpse. Body wrapped and grave sealed. Buried. You haven’t yet. But you will be. And since you will, don’t you need someone who knows the way out? God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! A way to have life that cannot be destroyed!

Luke 7:31-50

“How can I account for the people of this generation? They’re like spoiled children complaining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.’ John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a boozer. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
Anointing His Feet

36-39 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”

40 Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Oh? Tell me.”

41-42 “Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

43-47 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”

48 Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”

49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”

50 He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, March 25, 2022

Today's Scripture
Jeremiah 29:4–7 10–14
(NIV)

“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those people whom he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia: 5‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. 6Marry and have children. Then let your children get married, so that they also may have children. You must increase in numbers and not decrease. 7Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too.

*“The Lord says, ‘When Babylonia’s seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. 11I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.k 12Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 13*You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart. 14Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.’

Insight

God used the Assyrians and Babylonians to discipline His people for their unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 1:15–16; 5:15–17). Israel was completely destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 bc, but God wouldn’t allow the Babylonians to destroy Judah completely (5:18–19; 2 Kings 17:18–20). Though Judah would be in Babylon for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11), God promised He would “watch over them for their good, and . . . bring them back to this land” (24:6). Jeremiah reiterated that God would bring them back after the seventy years were completed (29:10). In the meantime, they were to settle down in Babylon (vv. 4–9). By: K. T. Sim

Where’s God?

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13

In Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo? books, a series of children’s puzzle books first created in 1987, the elusive character wears a red and white striped shirt and socks with a matching hat, blue jeans, brown boots, and glasses. Handford has cleverly hidden Waldo in plain sight within the busy illustrations filled with crowds of characters at various locations around the world. Waldo isn’t always easy to see, but the creator promises readers will always be able to find him. Though looking for God isn’t really like looking for Waldo in a puzzle book, our Creator promises we can find Him, too.

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God instructed His people on how to live as foreigners in exile (Jeremiah 29:4–9). He promised to protect them until He restored them according to His perfect plan (vv. 10–11). God assured the Israelites that the fulfillment of His promise would deepen their commitment to call on Him in prayer (v. 12).

Today, even though God has revealed Himself in the story and Spirit of Jesus, it can be easy to get distracted by the busyness of this world. We may even be tempted to ask, “Where’s God?” However, the Creator and Sustainer of all things declares that those who belong to Him will always find Him if they seek Him with all their hearts (vv. 13–14). By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

What distractions prevent you from spending time seeking God through Bible reading and prayer? How has God helped you focus on Him when busyness tugs you away from Him?

Loving Creator and Sustainer of all, please help me seek You daily with all my heart and trust You will keep the promises You’ve made.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 25, 2022
Maintaining the Proper Relationship

…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29

Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.

To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.  The Place of Help, 1051 L

Bible in a Year: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 25, 2022

Together On the Outside, Broken On the Inside - #9185

If you had seen that three-month-old baby, you'd say, "Man, he looks like the picture of health." He was a handsome baby, full of dark hair, doubled his weight since he was born, strong, taking in everything going on around him, and a smile that could melt your heart. But inside, it was a different story. He'd already had two major heart surgeries in his short life and the prospect of more in his future.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Together On the Outside, Broken On the Inside."

That little guy - a picture of so many of us. He looks so healthy on the outside, but he had major heart problems on the inside. Most of us have figured out how to look together and so in control. But inside, where no one but God can see, it's a different story isn't it.

Inside there's those secrets that no one knows; that darkness that we hope no one ever knows; those wounds that no one's been able to heal; the guilt that no one can remove; the answers no one can give us; the fear, the insecurity, the frustration of not really being sure why we're here or where we're going.

In some strange way, those disturbances in your heart are actually the whispers of the God who made you. They're the hollow echoes in a heart that He was supposed to inhabit - a life He was supposed to direct. The trouble that hides behind our image of strength is really telling us that someone is missing; that somehow we are away from the God who is the source of our life and all that's missing inside us.

Of course, God isn't fooled by our cool exterior. The Bible says that though "man looks at the outside appearance...God looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). And here's what the Bible says about all our secrets: "He knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalm 44:21). And then it says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:13). That should concern us, because in the Bible's words, "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:16).

Here's what He says about the results of His spiritual EKG of your heart and mine: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" (Jeremiah 17:9). That's why God can't live in the heart that was made for Him - our sin. But then, in Ezekiel 36, beginning with verse 26, our word for today from the Word of God, He gives us a stunning promise: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you...I will put My Spirit in you...you will be My people and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness." Wow!

That saving, that spiritual rescue from certain death, did not come cheap. It cost God the life of His Son. It took the sacrifice of the only perfect life there ever was to absorb God's punishment for all your sin and mine. And it took His resurrection from the dead to open the way for you to live with God forever in heaven; forgiven, clean, and one of His kids forever.

That's the amazing offer that Jesus is making to you today. What you feel in your heart is His knocking on the door of your heart. He's giving you this opportunity to open up your life to Him to be your personal Savior from your personal sin. This could be the day He gives you a new heart spiritually; the day the God of the galaxies literally moves into you upon your invitation. How do you do that? You tell Him, "God, I know I've sinned. I know You sent Your Son to pay for my sin. And I believe that Jesus is my only hope. I'm turning from my sin that's kept me from You, and I'm turning to Jesus to make me clean and to make me Yours."

I'm committed to helping you find Him for yourself like somebody helped me. And that's why I've prepared a brief and I think a simple explanation of just how to begin your personal relationship with God and to know you have. Would you go to our website? It's there - ANewStory.com.

You're one heartfelt prayer away from God's miracle in your heart. You began this day away from Him. You can go to sleep tonight with Him in your heart.