Luke – Doors Wide Open!
Luke 13, New Living Translation
Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem
31 At that time some Pharisees said to him, “Get away from here if you want to live! Herod Antipas wants to kill you!”
32 Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose. 33 Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I must proceed on my way. For it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem!34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 35 And now, look, your house is abandoned. And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
THINK ABOUT IT…
Jesus pressed on to Jerusalem where God would allow His One and Only Son to be sacrificed for the sin of the world He loved…His created. It is amazing mercy, grace and unconditional love that drove God, Our Father to this decision that was planned “while we were yet sinners”. Jesus died a cruel death after being beaten beyond human recognition. After three days, He rose from the grave, defeating the enemy of death. He fulfilled all the prophets said as directed by God. He finished the mission and plan of bringing all people who believe back to God in relationship and be part of His family for eternity. Yes, blessed indeed, is the One who came to complete what God sent Him to do.
AND we will see Jesus again. He’s coming back, you know.
The THIRD DAY made the life or death difference for all of us. “…and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.” “I will”, said Jesus, and He did. At the end, on the cross, he cried out these last words, “It is finished.” IT was our salvation.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16, NLT
HOLY PAUSE…
Does Jesus still grieve over those who refuse to believe and follow Him? Can we put the name of our city or town in the place of Jerusalem in this passage?
Does my behavior grieve His Holy Spirit who lives in me?
“For God so loved…” Think of all the ways God unconditionally loves us. How can we love like that today?
What is my purpose and mission? Am I driven by God and the power of His Holy Spirit to accomplish it?
We must cast our gaze from the cross to the empty grave for that is the victory that overcame to world!
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
Your Word and Holy Spirit causes us to pause to pray for repentance. It stops our worldly thoughts and to do lists to consider the gift of your salvation. It compels me to pray for all the lost people in our community, in our families and among our dearest friends. I am grateful beyond words for my own salvation but I long for the salvation of family members. I’m not sure how to thank you except for offering my life back to you as a living sacrifice. Show me your plan for me today. I want what you want. I am listening.
In Jesus Name, Amen
As Jesus “presses on” to fulfill His mission to save us in Jerusalem, he seeks out the lost along the way. He wants people to know what God’s Kingdom looks like, who God is, and why a holy relationship with God is so important to life. Many follow because he is a compassionate healer. But Jesus is so much more…He is our Savior. Only a few, true disciples “get it” but those few are given power to preach and tell His story of salvation. Those few are the reason we are still talking about Jesus today.
The narrow door is the final passage to God’s Kingdom. If you did not believe or follow in this life, then the door will be closed to us in the next life. It is a pretty simple explanation. It brings us to only two choices. Follow Jesus into Life abundant and forever…or not. 
He replied, 24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. 25 When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’
Are we only impressed by Jesus?
Questions rose up like tidal waves of doubt came crashing over my soul. Who do I trust more than my grandparents? Why do I go to church? Why do I do anything for God? Has it been to please my parents and grandparents because they smiled every time I did something for God or stood in testimony at church for Jesus? Was my faith only as strong as their faith that I was leaning on? Was my love for God tied so deeply to my love for my grandparents that I can’t feel or see His unconditional love for me?
We all experience crossroads that force us to decide the depth, sincerity and authenticity of our faith in God, the Father. We must stop leaning on the faith of our family and lean wholly and completely on our faith, trust and hope in God who created us. We must examine our lives from the inside out. We must ask God for help and He will give it. He will help us see more clearly with new hearts, renewed minds, and with open souls to be filled with all of God, His Son and His Holy Spirit. When we do, our seeds of faith, planted years ago, no longer lean on others’ faith. Our seedling of faith, built on Jesus Christ alone, will gain strength. Our roots go deeper still. Our faith grows into a tree that weathers all storms.
New seedlings (our children and grandchildren) might lean on our faith and “nest in our branches” for awhile, but we must wean them from our faith in God to grow and mature in their own, stand alone faith in the One who saves us and matures us. 
18 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”
HOLY PAUSE…
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
It is a proven, irritating fact of life that there will always be a “Yeah, but” person or persons in our lives. They seem to be relentless in putting down all that is good in order to sustain the self given power and authority they think they have. Guess what? It’s been going on for a long time.
of what the rest of us were thinking. Sometimes we would consider his opinion because as the spoiled youngest in the family he generally got his way. I learned to just go with it because what we were deciding wasn’t worth the battle. But, it was annoying.
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Jesus came to earth from heaven to seek and to save the lost. Because He is God in the flesh, who moved into the neighborhood of His own creation, He knows what He is talking about. Jesus is the Way to salvation of our souls and a glorious relationship with God. Jesus speaks the Truth with compassion, tenacity, wisdom, and unconditional love, mercy and grace. Jesus is the way and the truth to abundant Life like no other life ever lived. It is a life of truth, a life of joy in and through all circumstances of this life, and it is Life eternal with Him.
I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Romans, “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
To repent and be saved means leaving and being saved from this world’s thinking and behaving and living a new Life that bears the fruits of the characteristics of Jesus Christ, our Lord. What are the fruits that will begin to show up in lives yielded to Christ?
6 Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. 7 Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
Sometimes I feel like Jesus, our Savior, who is our advocate, (speaks up for us), to God the Father and says, “Give them one more chance to come to you, to grow in you and bear the fruits of your Holy Spirit.” Maybe this is stretching our thinking a bit, but consider this thought. Jesus died on a cross for all our sin which tells of the depth of His love and compassion for us. I don’t want to just take up space in the “garden” without bearing the fruits of His Holy Spirit. But I realize I do need his “special attention and plenty of help (fertilizer)” some days when I feel like I am stunted in my growth. He comes and sets me straight, clears away the debris and weeds, and provides the water I need to grow and bear His fruit once more. Hallelujah!
Choose this day whom you will serve. This has been and always will be a choice to make before God.
We worry, these days, about having enough time even more than money! Time is now more precious than money! That’s why many of us won’t commit right away to anything that requires dependency of our presence in volunteering or any other social engagement…until the last minute, because we haven’t decided if we have enough…time. Time is money!
Luke 12, New Living Translation
First of all, Jesus says do not worry. What is worry? Worry is a verb. Worry gives way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. As a noun, it is a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems. 
If Jesus is at the center of our hearts, as we say we believe, then why aren’t we allowing His Holy Spirit to guide our hearts? There is no place for worry about anything in His Holy Spirit thinking. Jesus has washed away all sin. His Holy Spirit guides us to thinking and behaving more and more like Jesus.
What is the desire of your heart? Right now?
14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
Sometimes, for stubborn people like me, it means being broken in my own spirit, because of going my own way with the arrogance to think I can direct my own path my way. God allows me to live like this because of free will but I also have to live with the consequences of my decision. 
my love and healthy fear of our all powerful God, I desire to be led by His Holy Spirit living in me! I know that God will lead me on many adventures that will teach me, grow me and mature me in ways beyond my wildest dreams! He has proven that over and over again. 
HOLY PAUSE…
4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.
8 “I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. 9 But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God’s angels. 10 Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
WHAT DO WE LEARN?
Dear Heavenly Father, Savior and Lord,
In our passage today, one of the religious elite, a Pharisee, invites Jesus into his home for a meal with less than pure motives. In those days to invite someone into your home to a meal, to sit at your table was an honor. Many Jewish rituals had to be performed, however, as this was deemed a “formal” occasion. Jesus sat down, without the ritual hand washing that didn’t really “clean” your hands, and with knowing the real motivations of their hearts for inviting Him. The criticizing of Jesus began. The real reason for inviting Jesus was brought to the light of day. They wanted to discredit Jesus in every way. But Jesus knew and was ready for it.
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
HOLY PAUSE
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
