Listening to the Word

Genesis 47-48; Psalms 10; Luke 19   “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes…because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’” Luke 19:41, 42, 44 God’s mission is still to bring the peace of his kingdom to every city. The Kairos moment, or appointed time of God’s favour toward us in Christ, is now. The word “episcope”, or apostolic leader, is used to describe the coming of God’s presence. The Church is God’s missionary to the world. Are we bringing the reality of God’s manifest presence to our cities? When the Church forgets who she is, she becomes focused on her own well-being and comfort. We are God’s apostolic mission in the world; the time of God’s favour is now. The good news of the Gospel is that peace is available for every conflict, every nation, and every person. Jesus has paid the price for the wrongs we have done, an...

Genesis 44-46; Luke 18 “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men.”…But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast, and said, “God, have mercy on me a sinner.”’” Luke 18:9-11, 13 The depth of our awareness of our need for Christ’s salvation, mercy, and sacrifice on our behalf, shapes how we pray or even whether we pray. Trusting in our own righteousness through church attendance, tithing, devotions, and regular prayer, will be reflected in how we pray. One of the first evidences of full surrender to the Spirit of God in our lives is a new awareness of how our sin grieves God. We grieve for sin because God is grieved. We are grateful for forgiveness to the degree that we are aware we ne...

  Genesis 42-43; Psalms 5; Luke 17   “’…If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, “I repent”, forgive him.’ The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” Luke 17:3-5 Why does Christ’s call to his disciples to forgive a brother who sins against them require faith? Our human response is to withhold forgiveness until we either see a change in behavior or some sense of justice or punishment meted out to our offender - especially if we see repeated sinful behavior toward us. Forgiveness requires faith that God is at work in the life of our offending brother or sister. God will ultimately bring good out of the pain of our offense. With faith, we see our own sin took Christ to the cross to die for us. With faith, we see that our sin grieves God; yet, he continues to extend his grace to us, in Christ. It takes faith, lots of faith, to daily receive God’s forgiveness...

Genesis 39-41; Luke 16   “’…My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”...So Pharaoh asked them, ‘Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?’” Genesis 39:9; 41:38 Joseph was anointed by the Spirit of God and it was evident to those around him. The presence of the Lord is the most valuable reality in our lives. The enemy of our soul will attempt to rob us of the anointing of the Holy Spirit through temptation and willful sin. However, God’s mercy, grace, and restoring presence will prevail. God’s presence in our lives is a deterrent to sin and functions like salt and light in whatever context we are in. God’s presence also gives us favor, wisdom, insight, and authority. Joseph rose to leadership in whatever context he was in because God’s presence was leading through him. The Creator of the universe has offered us his very presence to give us peace, joy, love, stre...

Genesis 37-38; Psalms 7; Luke 15   “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more…His brothers said to him, ‘Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers.” Genesis 37:5, 8, 9 Not all dreams from the Lord are meant to be shared with others. Prophetic dreams are meant to encourage us in our circumstances. We put them ‘on the shelf’, and when the circumstances that the dream points to happens, the Lord reminds us of the dream and it serves as a confirmation of God’s hand at work. However, when we unwisely share prophetic words or dreams prematurely, they stir up the anger of the enemy of our souls. Joseph experienced God’s sovereign blessing through his trials and tests in Egypt, and through this learned self-control. He later used that self-control in the disclosure of his identity to his brothers an...

Genesis 34-36; Luke 14 “…’Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.’ Jesus replied: ‘A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests…Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town   and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet….And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.’” Luke 14:15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 27 Jesus told the story of inviting guests to a wedding banquet and being rejected. So, the invitation was expanded to the poor, crippled, blind, and lame, with the goal of filling the banquet hall. He then spoke to large crowds which probably included the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. He said that anyone who wants to be his disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him.   So, which one ...