Luke 16:1-31
20/20 Focus on JESUS
Each day we need to keep our eyes focused on JESUS - 20/20! I am sorry that I did not continue this blog into the beginning of 2021. Nine months passed by before I was convicted to return to this blog and encourage us to look at JESUS, with clear vision, via a daily scripture reading. Yellow highlights are names/descriptions of JESUS that we'll add to the list on the right.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Thursday, June 11, 2020
2020 for JESUS - Day 163: JESUS is THIS MAN... THIS MAN RECEIVES SINNERS AND EATS WITH THEM... GOD...
Luke 15:1-32
The Lost Sheep
"Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near HIM to listen to HIM.
2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying,
'THIS MAN RECEIVES SINNERS AND EATS WITH THEM.'
3 So HE told them this parable, saying,
4 'What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.'
The Lost Coin
8 'Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’
10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of GOD over one sinner who repents.”
The Prodigal Son
11 And HE said,
'A man had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father,
‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’
So he divided his wealth between them.
13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
17 But when he came to his senses, he said,
‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread,
but I am dying here with hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him,
'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.'
20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
21 And the son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 But the father said to his slaves,
‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;
23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’
And they began to celebrate.
25 'Now his older son was in the field,
and when he came and approached the house,
he heard music and dancing.
26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.
27 And he said to him,
‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’
28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in;
and his father came out and began pleading with him.
29 But he answered and said to his father,
‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never
neglected a command of yours;
and yet you have never given me a young goat,
so that I might celebrate with my friends;
30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes,
you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 And he said to him,
‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice,
for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live,
and was lost and has been found.’”
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
2020 for JESUS - Day 162: JESUS is GOD...
Luke 14:1-35
JESUS Heals on the Sabbath
"It happened that when HE went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching HIM closely.
2 And there in front of HIM was a man suffering from dropsy.
3 And JESUS answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying,
'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?'
4 But they kept silent. And HE took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away.
5 And HE said to them,
'Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?'
6 And they could make no reply to this.
Parable of the Guests
7 And HE began speaking a parable to the invited guests when HE noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,
8 'When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,
9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you,
‘Give your place to this man,’
and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.
10 But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you,
‘Friend, move up higher’;
then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 And HE also went on to say to the one who had invited HIM,
'When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.
13 But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'
15 When one of those who were reclining at the table with HIM heard this, he said to HIM, 'Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of GOD!'
Parable of the Dinner
16 But HE said to him,
'A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;
17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited,
‘Come; for everything is ready now.’
18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him,
‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it;
please consider me excused.’
19 Another one said,
‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out;
please consider me excused.’
20 Another one said,
‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’
21 And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave,
‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
22 And the slave said,
‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
23 And the master said to the slave,
‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.
24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’
Discipleship Tested
25 Now large crowds were going along with HIM; and HE turned and said to them,
26 'If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be MY disciple.
27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after ME cannot be MY disciple.
28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 So then, none of you can be MY disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
34 'Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
35 It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
2020 for JESUS - Day 161: JESUS is GOD... THE LORD... A PROPHET... BLESSED...
Luke 13:1-35
Call to Repent
"Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to HIM about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 And JESUS said to them,
'Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?
3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'
6 And HE began telling this parable:
'A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper,
‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’
8 And he answered and said to him,
‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’
Healing on the Sabbath
10 And HE was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.
12 When JESUS saw her, HE called her over and said to her,
'Woman, you are freed from your sickness.'
13 And HE laid HIS hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying GOD.
14 But the synagogue official, indignant because JESUS had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response,
'There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.'
15 But THE LORD answered him and said,
'You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?
16 And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?'
17 As HE said this, all HIS opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by HIM.
Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven
18 So HE was saying,
'What is the kingdom of GOD like, and to what shall I compare it?
19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree,and the birds of the air nested in its branches.'
20 And again HE said,
'To what shall I compare the kingdom of GOD?
21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.'
Teaching in the Villages
22 And HE was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on HIS way to Jerusalem.
23 And someone said to HIM,
'LORD, are there just a few who are being saved?” And HE said to them,
24 'Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying,
‘LORD, open up to us!’
then HE will answer and say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.’
26 Then you will begin to say,
‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;
27 and HE will say,
‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’
28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of GOD, but yourselves being thrown out.
29 And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of GOD.
30 And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”
31 Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to HIM,
'Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill YOU.'
32 And HE said to them,
'Go and tell that fox,
‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach MY goal.’
33 Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that A PROPHET would perish outside of Jerusalem.
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!
35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see ME until the time comes when you say,
'BLESSED is HE WHO comes in the Name of THE LORD!'"
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