As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Tyler Connoley):

I thank God often for the strong leadership at Jesus MCC. I’m so grateful for Jeff and Melody, not to mention the leaders of all the ministry teams. The Discipleship program is literally a godsend, as it helps people grow into lives of deep faith. The work of Deb Doty and all the Discipleship teachers is instrumental in that ministry. Thank God for faithful leaders who can guide us in our spiritual journeys!

However, Jesus and Paul warn us not to rely too heavily on our spiritual leaders. Jesus says, “Can a blind person lead a blind person?” And Paul says, “Was Pastor Jeff crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Melody?” (Okay, that’s not exactly what Paul says, but I think that’s what he means.)

Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians, Paul says that all people see things as if we’re looking “through a glass, dimly, but one day we will see face to face” (1 Cor 13:12). The metaphor is that we are like people who have smudged and dirty glasses. Even the smartest person you know can’t know everything. Only God can. The other part of that promise is that someday we will know God fully, and God will be our teacher. And, until then, we thank God for our spiritual leaders, while accepting that they don’t have all the answers.

Thought for the day: Think about the spiritual leaders in your life. Now, take a moment to thank God for them, and pray that they too can learn to see God more clearly every day. We are all ultimately disciples of Christ.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Keith Phillips):

Sometimes God has surprises even for me! This one verse of Scripture was such a surprise.

I like to think that I know lots of stuff about the Bible, but I didn’t know this verse was here. I’m much more acquainted with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) than with his Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49). They’re pretty much the same, even though they’re said to be preached in different places, and, obviously, the version in Matthew is a lot longer. And… surprisingly, this verse in Luke has no parallel verse in Matthew.

More importantly, I didn’t know that! Not that the verse is unfamiliar. I must have heard it, or used it, in a hundred annual stewardship messages. It ranks right up there with Malachi 3:10 (”Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…”). Both proclaim that wonderful principle that we can’t outgive God. “Give and it will be given to you… for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

The problem is that the context surrounding this verse in Luke has to do with judging and forgiving. I figured, “Well, this verse is used somewhere else in the gospels in a stewardship context.” Nope! I couldn’t find the verse anywhere else in Jesus’ teachings. So, I guess that means all those stewardship messages were wrong. In context, this verse doesn’t relate to stewardship and financial giving, but rather it really relates to extending grace and forgiveness.

Or, just maybe there’s an understanding of this verse broader than its context, and my obsession on context. Just maybe I could allow the Holy Spirit to speak in or out of context any way the Spirit desires to speak. The verse is a universal truth that’s comprehensive; it includes forgiveness and stewardship and so much more. What we give, we will receive, no matter what we’re giving. So give the good stuff, and give it generously; and now, or later, we’ll receive by the same measure.

Thought for the day: Lord, help me always to be open to your truth, no matter how you present it. And help me to be generous today, in every way that I can. Thank you. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (David Zier):

What happens at work when your not-so-favorite co-worker pushes all your buttons and you just want to explode? What about that boss who drives you nuts and makes more demands than can possibly be met? What about that person who just cut you off on the road because they were running late? Our initial reaction is often to respond with retaliation or revenge.

What would happen throughout the day if you did something different? When someone does something to you that seems unkind, and you want to lash out, why not lift that person in prayer and show a little mercy? Why not choose to show God’s grace when it seems contrary to how we feel, and say something kind in response? Why not take someone to lunch who just mistreated you?

In this passage, Jesus is telling us that there is a different way than just mindlessly reacting. We can choose to do better. Why not brighten someone’s day, and be a blessing to someone who may mistreat you? You may find that their attitude towards you changes (at least a little), but you will also find that your attitude changes. When we do to others as we would have them do to us, our hearts are pointed a little more toward God — and we may be helping others point their hearts a little more toward God, too.

Thought for the day: How do I treat my enemies — both big and small? Am I pointing myself and those around me to God?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Rev. Tammy Mills):

I remember the first time I heard the phrase, Simple doesn’t mean easy. I was sitting in a room full of (what seemed to me, at the time) old women listening to them go on and on about alcoholism and its effects. (Thinking about it now I realize those women were about the age I am now!)

They told each newcomer that not drinking was as simple as “Don’t drink, read the big book, and go to meetings!” Each newcomer soon found out the old timers were right — the answer to not drinking was just that simple. The other thing they soon found out was that doing that simple thing was incredibly difficult!

Sometimes the most profound and meaningful things are the simplest, but not the easiest! Loving folks sounds easy. Loving those who love us is a piece of Cheesecake Factory key lime cheese cake. Loving those who don’t love us — loving our enemies — is a much more difficult proposition!

How did Jesus manage to love those who didn’t love him? He hung out with close friends who encouraged his soul (most of the time). He always took time to step away and get centered and to connect with with his Higher Power (notice how often the Gospels say that Jesus went off by himself to pray). And He loved himself.

Thought for the day: How am I doing at loving others — even those who don’t love me?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Theresa Benson):

In the summer of 2004, I was in Silicon Valley (California), and thought I had it all.

I had grown our business as a salesperson by leaps and bounds; I could afford to buy a home in one of the most expensive markets in the country; I had the admiration of my peers; I attended the Regional Emmys with a local news “celebrity” I was dating — and I was dating a couple other guys, too. Things were good.

By September, though, my dating relationships had ended, my manager had moved on to a different job and I didn’t get the “big promotion” to his old position, despite my tremendous results. When I looked for comfort among the peers who celebrated my success, I found it was they who were climbing over my back to get my boss’s old job.

By February, my Mom had fallen and broken her shoulder, and then had two heart attacks. I decided to take a month off without pay and spend the time with her trying to get her settled.

By May of 2005, I was moving to Indiana, to start over again in another city where I didn’t know anyone, taking a definitely lateral (if not downward) move in my career, struggling with an employee here who thought she should have my job (and was going to make sure I knew I wasn’t welcome) and in July, my Mom was found dead in her bed in Omaha.

“Blessed are you who weep,” Jesus says. I don’t think “blessed” was the first adjective I thought of back then.

I don’t think this particular passage means that we should jump for joy when our lives are miserable or find ways to make things worse like a group of Jesus-centered masochists. I’ve heard sermons where the pastors are advocating the “blessed are the poor” portion as a reason to give all one’s money away. I don’t think that’s what this is about at all.

However, I will say that my life is a heck of a lot more fulfilling today than it ever was at the height of my “success” in 2004, and I am excited about where it’s going to take me next.

I know, too, that I owe a lot of that to understanding that I’m not the owner of one ounce of anything in my life. Everything I have comes from Someone much bigger than me. It’s my job to receive it, celebrate it, and do the best that I can with it, but to never forget that I am poor without the One who created and gave me everything, and that in a moment, I need to be willing to let go — and trust the next step will be better than the last.

If you’d told me in August of 2005 that I would be a global account manager responsible for helping develop a strategy for a multi-billion dollar corporation, and be in a healthy, God-centered relationship with a loving, supportive man who my family and friends love just 2-and-a-half years later, there’s no way that I would have believed you.

But I needed to get to a point where I saw how poor I was without God at the center of my life. I needed to be reminded of how transient earthly success is, and that it was necessary for me to let go. As soon as I did let go, my life changed absolutely for the better.

No matter how much success I have in my earthly life, some of the most beautiful parts are my daily prayer time on my own or with my boyfriend, or watching his mom, a devout Muslim, honor God in her way, or reading Bible passages and seeking out God’s message for me in them.

My life is no longer one-dimensional and dependent on something fleeting — I remember Who fills my hunger and Whose kingdom I’m working to build.

Thought for the day: What part of your life makes you feel like you’re in poverty, hungry, and weeping? How might God use that to turn your world around?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

I must admit when I first read verse 24 I thought, “Whew! Good thing I’m not rich!” I mean, I’d like to receive consolation from God but apparently one can’t if rich. So, again, good thing I’m not rich. I’ll be perfectly happy with my lower middle class status.

Then I read on to verse 25 and started to get a little worried. As you can tell by looking at me, I’m pretty well fed. Gulp! Does that mean God will make me go hungry in the future?

Things went from bad to worse when I continued reading — “Woe to you who laugh now.” Now I’m really nervous because I laugh more than the average person. Sometimes I laugh inappropriately at things that shouldn’t make me laugh at all — nervous laughter, I believe it’s called. Now I know that I’m in big trouble because soon, according to this Scripture, I’ll be mourning and weeping.

And then verse 26 is the cherry on my “I’m-going-to-get-what’s-coming-to-me” sundae! You see, for some crazy reason most people tend to speak well of me (it must be the people who don’t know me well enough to speak the truth). I’m doomed! Many people that I know and love are doomed!

When Jesus says, “Woe!” it makes me perk up and listen. He says it four times in these three short verses. How am I to know what this means for me now, thousands of years after Jesus spoke these words?

What I hear Jesus saying to me is to stop and take stock of the things in my life on which I place the most value. You see, I am rich. Most all of us are. The real question is whether or not I’m trying to find fulfillment in those riches. If so, that is my temporary consolation; it will not last. Only fulfillment found in Jesus can last. The same is true for food, good times, friends, and popularity — all things mentioned here. There is certainly a draw to these things and they do indeed bring a temporary joy. But the only true delight can come when we delight ourselves in the Lord. God alone is able to truly comfort us and to provide us with what we need to be full in all aspects of our lives.

This passage reminds me of Luke 16:25, in which Abraham sees the rich man who is in agony while Lazarus the poor beggar is feasting in heaven. “Abraham replied [to the rich man], ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony’.”

Thought for the day: Woe! What am I using to help fill me? Will it comfort me or cause me agony in the long run? God, I want to rely solely on your remarkable goodness to sustain and comfort me. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me in this passage? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Steve Adams):

To think that the Son of God, a part of God, thought prayer was so important that He stayed up all night in order to do it! This fills me with awe and amazement, to know that prayer was this important to our Lord. The next day promised to be an important one, as he was to choose the twelve apostles, and then He was to heal many people.

What about the decision to include Judas among the twelve? Can you imagine what that must have been like? As we recently saw in Julie Benson’s devotional, Luke 5:22 says Jesus knew (at least at that time) what people were thinking. I think He may well have known what was deep in their hearts too.

So, perhaps He prayed words similar to these: “I just don’t feel right about picking Judas. I have the sense that he’s going to turn on me, and disastrous things will happen.” How heart-wrenching to hear guidance that could have sounded something like this: “He’s the one I want you to choose, son. Yes, I know this is hard, but it’s the right thing to do.” Now, it’s beginning to become clear why Jesus never went to sleep on this night. How difficult it must have been to choose someone you know will betray you!

And how does this apply to us? I think it illustrates how important it is for us to pray in order to receive God’s wisdom so that we can be a part of God’s plan. If Jesus hadn’t chosen Judas, then He wouldn’t have availed Himself to God’s plan.

But it’s very difficult for us to make the time to pray, isn’t it? But it’s so vital.

The reason it’s so important is that we all have “blind spots.” You know, like when you’re driving, and you can’t see a certain area behind you when you need to change lanes — especially problematic in rush hour traffic! That’s why we have rear-view mirrors — but, even with them, we still have blind spots.

Thought for the day: Lord, help me make time to pray so that I can have the wisdom and energy to live out the plan you have for me.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

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