Dailies ~ Advent
December 17, 2019
Luke 17 a chapter of extremes! Extreme forgiveness;
forgiveness of our sins when we repent, and our brother or sister in the Lord,
or another believer. We forgive them when they are repentant. Then 70 times 7 we want to forgive them.
Extreme healing; the lepers ten were healed but only
one came back to thank Jesus. Extreme honor? Perhaps.
Extreme directions for joining Jesus in the kingdom
of God. We need to be sure we follow Him, not man, and do not become selfish or
greedy for it may slow us or stop us from being ready. Not that having things
or doing things will keep us from our salvation, the distraction may slow the
process. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, on the Word of God, and in prayer,
that our hearts may remain right in God’s eyes.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are a God of
extremes! What excitement it is to study your Word and get to from all the
writers of the ancient world. Thank you for directing our paths, help us to walk
on them. In Jesus’ name, amen.
One day Jesus said to his
disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow
awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be
thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of
these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves!
“If another believer[a] sins, rebuke that person; then if
there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if
that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks
forgiveness, you must forgive.”
5 The apostles said to the
Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”
6 The Lord answered, “If
you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry
tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!
7 “When a servant comes in
from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat
with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my
meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does
the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the
same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have
simply done our duty.’”
11 As Jesus continued on
toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he
entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, 13 crying
out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and
said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”[b] And as they went, they were
cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw
that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell
to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a
Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I
heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no
one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus
said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
20 One day the Pharisees asked
Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”
Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by
visible signs. 21 You won’t
be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is
already among you.[e]”
22 Then he said to his
disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the
Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. 23 People
will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go
out and follow them. 24 For as
the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it
will be on the day[g] when the Son of Man comes. 25 But first
the Son of Man must suffer terribly[h] and be rejected by this
generation.
26 “When the Son of Man
returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those
days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time
Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “And the world will be as
it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and
drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the
morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven
and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it
will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is
revealed. 31 On that day a person out on
the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the
field must not return home. 32 Remember
what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 If you
cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will
save it. 34 That night two people will
be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 Two women
will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”
37 “Where will this happen,
Lord?”[j] the disciples asked.
Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there
is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”