Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 11:1-13.  Let’s go!

Luke 11:1-4 (NIV) 
1  One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2  He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3  Give us each day our daily bread.
4  Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'”

On verses 1-4:  Notice that when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, Jesus gives them an actual real time example of how to pray.  (It’s a reminder that the best teachers lead by example and show you with their life what they’re teaching.)  This prayer recorded in verses 2-4, known as the Lord’s Prayer, is the most famous and most commonly recited prayer in history.  There is certainly benefit in memorizing this prayer and reciting it as your own prayer.  But in addition, I believe the Lord’s prayer was not simply meant for us to recite word for word; even more, there are lessons and principles about prayer that we can learn from the Lord’s Prayer, including the following:

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 10:30-42.  Let’s go!

Luke 10:30-33 (NIV) 
30  In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 
31  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 
32  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 
33  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

On verses 30-33:  In reply to the teacher’s question in verse 29, “Who is my neighbour [that I should love him as I love myself]?” Jesus tells one of his most famous stories: the parable (short story) of the good Samaritan.  Keep in mind that Jesus is telling this story to an audience mostly of Jews at a time when racial tensions between Jews and Samaritans were high.  The fact that Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero of this story would have come as a shock to many Jews listening, challenging them to rethink their views on Samaritans and suggesting that the kingdom of God is not just for Jews but for people of all nations.

Hi GAMErs,                     

Today’s passage is Luke 10:17-29.  Let’s go!

Luke 10:17-20 (NIV) 
17  The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 
18  He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 
19  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy ; nothing will harm you. 
20  However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

On verses 17-20:  The 72 that Jesus sent out return from their mission trips and report of how demons submitted to them in Jesus’ name (v17).  In response Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (v18).  What does Jesus mean?  I think there are at least two possible meanings here.  One possible meaning is that Jesus is rejoicing with his 72 students over how the kingdom of God was triumphing over the kingdom of Satan.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 10:1-16.  Let’s go!

Luke 10:1 (NIV) 
1  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

On verse 1:  Why did Jesus send out his followers on this mission two by two?  It’s because Jesus understood the importance of team, having someone who shares your goals and mission to work with so that there can be mutual comfort, encouragement, accountability and support.  Similarly, when it comes to the mission God has for you, you weren’t made to do it alone.  You need teammates. 

Luke 10:2 (NIV) 
2  He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

On verse 2:  In Jesus’ eyes, the mission field is full of opportunities and full of people who are needing Jesus (“the harvest is plentiful”).  What is lacking is not people to bless or opportunities to lead people to Jesus, but people willing to be used and to get in on those opportunities (“the workers are few”).  So let’s be praying for God to send people who are willing to go and take advantage of those opportunities.  Let’s also be praying that we would be those people who go too.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 9:51-62.  Let’s go!

Luke 9:51-56 (NIV) 

51  As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 
52  And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 
53  but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 
54  When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 
55  But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 
56  and they went to another village.

On verses 51-56:  Why did the Samaritan village reject Jesus because Jesus was heading for Jerusalem?  It’s because culturally Jews and Samaritans did not associate with one another and considered one another enemies.  The Samaritans rejected Jesus based on the fact that Jesus and his disciples were Jews heading to the Jewish city of Jerusalem.  Fueled by anger and pride, two of Jesus’ closest disciples, James and John, offer to call fire down from heaven to destroy the Samaritan village that didn’t welcome them.  No wonder Jesus gave James and John the nicknames “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17).  However, Jesus rebukes them for this suggestion and they move on.