{"id":11375,"date":"2020-09-10T20:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T03:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_8_1-15-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-09-06T18:05:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T01:05:17","slug":"luke_8_16-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_8_16-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Listening to God\u2019s Word Means"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 8:16-25\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is Luke 8:16-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 8:16-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-18:\u00a0 After telling a parable about the importance of having a hungry, humble heart when listening to God\u2019s word (verses 1-15), what is Jesus talking about in verses 16-18?\u00a0 When Jesus says in verse 18, \u201cThereforeconsider carefully how you listen\u201d, this suggests to me that verses 16, 17 and 18 are also talking about how to listen to God\u2019s word.<\/p>\n

Verse 16 suggests to me that listening to God\u2019s word means that we don\u2019t just hear God\u2019s word and then hide it away (\u201cNo one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed\u201d).\u00a0 Rather\u00a0listening to God\u2019s word means that we put it into practice and make use of it in our own lives<\/strong>\u00a0(like taking a lamp and putting it on its stand so it lights up your home\/life).\u00a0\u00a0Listening to God\u2019s word also means sharing it with others<\/strong>, living in such a way that those who come close to you can naturally sense the light of God\u2019s word in your life (\u201cso that those who come in can see the light.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Verse 17 suggests to me that\u00a0if you come to God with a hungry, humble heart, God is willing to disclose to you the \u201csecrets of the kingdom of God\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(Luke 8:10).\u00a0 When your heart is hungry and humble before God, eventually \u201cthere is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out in the open\u201d.<\/p>\n

Verse 18 suggests to me that\u00a0when you treasure the word from God that you have received by applying it, making use of it, and sharing it with others, God will show you even more in His word<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201cWhoever has will be given more\u201d).\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t treasure the word that God speaks to you (i.e. you don\u2019t make use of it, don\u2019t apply it, don\u2019t share it with others), then the power of that word will be lost on you (\u201ceven what he thinks he has will be taken from him\u201d).<\/p>\n

Luke 8:19-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19-21:\u00a0 Here Jesus is not discounting the importance of immediate family.\u00a0 Rather, Jesus was saying that when you hear God\u2019s word and put it into practice, you show yourself to be a member of Jesus\u2019 family (a child of God and a baby sibling of Jesus), just as how family members tend to resemble each other.<\/p>\n

Luke 8:22-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
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\nOn verses 22-25:\u00a0 Clearly Luke describes Jesus as being far more than a good person, a good teacher or even a healer.\u00a0 With a word Jesus could calm a squall (a strong storm).\u00a0 The winds and the waves would obey his commands.<\/p>\n

Also,\u00a0whenever you\u2019re in a storm and you think you\u2019re going to drown, have faith that the One who is in the boat with you is greater than the storm around you<\/strong>.\u00a0 When you have Jesus in your boat (i.e. when you have Jesus in your life), you will still face storms, but in the end Jesus will not let you be harmed by the storms you face.\u00a0 Rather\u00a0God will use the storms you go through to show His power through your life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, I pray that I would not just hear Your word, but put it into practice and share it with others.\u00a0 Like the wind and the waves, may I too be obedient to Your word.\u00a0 \u00a0Also, thank You for being with me in every storm I go through and for being my protector and deliverer.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 8:16-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nLuke 8:16-18 (NIV)\u00a0
\n16\u00a0\u00a0“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.\u00a0
\n17\u00a0\u00a0For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.\u00a0
\n18\u00a0\u00a0Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”<\/p>\n

On verses 16-18:\u00a0 After telling a parable about the importance of having a hungry, humble heart when listening to God\u2019s word (verses 1-15), what is Jesus talking about in verses 16-18?\u00a0 When Jesus says in verse 18, \u201cThereforeconsider carefully how you listen\u201d, this suggests to me that verses 16, 17 and 18 are also talking about how to listen to God\u2019s word.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11375"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11376,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11375\/revisions\/11376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}