Luke 6
March Memory Verse: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10 NIV
Read: Luke 6
Luke’s Gospel is an amazing book with chapters chuck full of stories for us to enjoy. Chapter 6 is no exception! Look what this chapter holds:
• Jesus shows He is Lord of the Sabbath – verses 1-10
• Jesus chooses the men to follow Him and change the world –verses 12-19
• Jesus gives us the Beatitudes – verses 20-26
• Jesus teaches us to love others and not to judge – verses 27-45
• Jesus reminds us of the importance of a proper foundation – verses 46-49
In verses 12-17 Jesus chooses His twelve closest followers – the Apostles – the men that would lead the charge – The Movement to change the world.
• Peter (Simon) – leader in Acts eventually crucified by Nero
• Andrew – preached in western Greece – crucified there
• James – killed with a sword early in Acts 12
• John – wrote John, 1, 2, 3 John, and Revelation – died on Patmos
• Philip – missionary in Asia – crucified in Egypt
• Bartholomew – preached in several countries including India - beheaded
• Matthew – missionary to Ethiopia where we was killed with sword
• Thomas – missionary to India – killed with a spear
• James (son of Alphaeus) – pastor of the church in Jerusalem - stoned
• Simon the Zealot - preached in Africa then England - crucified
• Judas (son of James) – missionary to current Turkey - crucified
• Judas Iscariot – betrayed Jesus – committed suicide
Up to this time Jesus had many disciples – maybe even hundreds that were following Him. During this important time of choosing who would be in the twelve, Jesus went to the mountains (as was His custom) and prayed to God all night. We can learn some very important lessons from His example.
Big decisions deserve careful consideration
We want everything done YESTERDAY. Good decisions are based on good information. Take time to carefully weigh all of the information before you decide.
Get alone – get quiet
Jesus would often go to the mountains to be alone and to pray. There’s a great benefit in getting alone to think. Our livings are busy and noisy. Get quiet – even if it means getting up extra early.
Pray for Guidance
Jesus is God in the flesh – and HE prays all night before making this critical decision. We often only throw up a few quick prayers or we don’t pray at all about decisions we make. Jesus teaches us the utter importance of consulting our Heavenly Father and waiting till He speaks before we act.
What happened? What was the result of this monumental decision? These men would go on to change the world – to begin The Movement that would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It worked! They were the right choice. You and I sit here today knowing the Gospel and incredibly grateful for Jesus prayer.
What decisions do you need to take before the Lord today?
Do you want His will or just His blessing?
Will you commit to pray?
By: Tim Parsons
Read: Luke 6
Luke’s Gospel is an amazing book with chapters chuck full of stories for us to enjoy. Chapter 6 is no exception! Look what this chapter holds:
• Jesus shows He is Lord of the Sabbath – verses 1-10
• Jesus chooses the men to follow Him and change the world –verses 12-19
• Jesus gives us the Beatitudes – verses 20-26
• Jesus teaches us to love others and not to judge – verses 27-45
• Jesus reminds us of the importance of a proper foundation – verses 46-49
In verses 12-17 Jesus chooses His twelve closest followers – the Apostles – the men that would lead the charge – The Movement to change the world.
• Peter (Simon) – leader in Acts eventually crucified by Nero
• Andrew – preached in western Greece – crucified there
• James – killed with a sword early in Acts 12
• John – wrote John, 1, 2, 3 John, and Revelation – died on Patmos
• Philip – missionary in Asia – crucified in Egypt
• Bartholomew – preached in several countries including India - beheaded
• Matthew – missionary to Ethiopia where we was killed with sword
• Thomas – missionary to India – killed with a spear
• James (son of Alphaeus) – pastor of the church in Jerusalem - stoned
• Simon the Zealot - preached in Africa then England - crucified
• Judas (son of James) – missionary to current Turkey - crucified
• Judas Iscariot – betrayed Jesus – committed suicide
Up to this time Jesus had many disciples – maybe even hundreds that were following Him. During this important time of choosing who would be in the twelve, Jesus went to the mountains (as was His custom) and prayed to God all night. We can learn some very important lessons from His example.
Big decisions deserve careful consideration
We want everything done YESTERDAY. Good decisions are based on good information. Take time to carefully weigh all of the information before you decide.
Get alone – get quiet
Jesus would often go to the mountains to be alone and to pray. There’s a great benefit in getting alone to think. Our livings are busy and noisy. Get quiet – even if it means getting up extra early.
Pray for Guidance
Jesus is God in the flesh – and HE prays all night before making this critical decision. We often only throw up a few quick prayers or we don’t pray at all about decisions we make. Jesus teaches us the utter importance of consulting our Heavenly Father and waiting till He speaks before we act.
What happened? What was the result of this monumental decision? These men would go on to change the world – to begin The Movement that would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It worked! They were the right choice. You and I sit here today knowing the Gospel and incredibly grateful for Jesus prayer.
What decisions do you need to take before the Lord today?
Do you want His will or just His blessing?
Will you commit to pray?
By: Tim Parsons
18 Comments
Thanks for the reminder about prayer, Tim!
Getting alone (as Jesus did) is so important to remove distractions.
The question you asked "Do you want His will or just His blessing?" is quite convicting. Our prayers should seek to truly discern His will, not just to ask Him to bless our own ideas.
Thanks Thomas - its so easy to pray selfish prayers. I'm grateful for you. I prayed for you today
I have read Luke many times and never took hold of how much Jesus prayed. The son of God and fully God was is constant communication for hours with his father. Oh, let my prayer life resemble that of Jesus!
What a great challenge Joey! Yes! We need to be like Jesus in prayer!
One of my favorite early memories of being at CPC is of your teaching us through the prayer wheel in CG in your living room, then wrapping up with us singing Sweet Hour of Prayer, which I had never heard but now has become an old friend. As has prayer itself. Nothing is sweeter to the soul than that.
We need to pull that old prayer wheel out and teach it again!!!!
I remember that! What sweet memories!
We need to pull that old prayer wheel out and teach it again!!!!
Recently I have started to pray that I would passionately praise God through my time in His Word. My time spent being guided by Jumpstart has been wonderful, and the questions about prayer continue to convict me about my own prayer life. "Do you want His will or just His blessing?" is a tough question because I find that I will often say I want His will, but in reality I want His blessing to do as I please.
I'm so proud of you Nick!
I have found that the more time I spend praying in God's presence the more my prayers are focused on others. But I strive to always turn to Him first when making any decision in my life, constantly consulting Him about everything. We never know when what we see as a small thing may turn out to be huge.
What stood out to me this morning was "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart....For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." So important to guard your heart and store up what is pleasing to God.
Thanks for being a faithful reader Lindsay!
Getting alone and getting quiet is something I need to focus on. I'm at a point in life where I am probably busier than I ever have been with work, family, church, etc. I was talking with my discipler, Tim Hamilton, about this yesterday, and about making sure God remains at the center of everything that I have going on. If I let my relationship with God suffer, that will effect everything else. So, no matter how busy we get, we still need to put God first, and let him be a part of everything that we do. We need to look to him and have quality time with him if we are to stay strong in our walk. Grateful for this reminder from scripture and the example that Jesus set for us.
Such an important lesson Scottie!
Luke is really showing me how much Jesus prayed and the example that he set for us. I tend to always keep myself busy with something whether that be with school, friends, or with a screen in front of my face and I don't do a good job at setting aside more than a few minutes for prayer everyday. I need to put into practice what I'm being taught here.
Thanks Chess!
Totally agree! Love the application Tim gleans from Jesus' example of prayer.
Thanks Chess!
Thanks Tim. The Lord is definitely leading me to change some things in my prayer life-the last few days have shown me that!
Thanks for your heart Reva!