Daily Readings

DR: Facing Temptations

August 4, 2022 0 Comments

Read Luke 4:1-13

“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”

After a high and holy moment Jesus was moved by the Spirit into the wilderness, into a solitary place and the devil came to tempt him. This too is a holy season as Jesus persists in setting Himself into the Presence and purposes of God.

It’s Jesus’ commitment to the Father and his commitment to the way of the Father that is being tested. The devil need not come himself to tempt us. He has his agents but there is more. The Apostle James says that “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (James 1:14). And then there are the systems of this world that are opposed to the knowledge and way of God. We are tempted by their promises all the time to act and live independent of God as He is revealed in His Word and by the Spirit.

Jesus shows us the way forward when tempted as he constantly returns to His life with the Father and the realities of His Word. He resists the devil. 

Heavenly Father, whether I find myself in the solitary places or in the wildness of the crowds I know I am tempted to wander from You and Your ways. Seek me and set me in the delight of your love. May no willful sin dominate me. Protect me from the evil one and the lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Change, Daily Readings, Discipleship

DR: Vital Connection and Vital Knowledge

August 3, 2022 0 Comments

Read Luke 3:21-37

“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus comes from the crowd that had gathered with John the Baptist in the wilderness and is baptized with them. Luke’s record does not include the conversation Jesus had with John.


Instead, Luke emphasizes the vital relationships of Jesus to the Spirit and the Heavenly Father.
Jesus is connected to the crowd. Jesus is connected to a long line of ancestors. But, his vital connection in God is also emphasized. Notice:

Jesus is praying.
The heavens open.
The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus.
A voice from heaven says, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Vital connections are required for purposeful ministry. “Now Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.” Most essential from the Heavenly Father’s view seems to be the affirmation of Jesus’ belovedness. Perhaps this is vital knowledge for us too! Belovedness is not drawn from what we do, but from the heart of the Beholder.

Heavenly Father, As a child adopted into your family through Christ Jesus, I ask that you to send your Spirit to me again that I may know my belovedness before your eyes. I cry out to you and commit myself to the way of Jesus. Neither the crowd or my ancestors are adequately  sufficient for the task of filling my soul with purpose, love, and sustaining power for life. Come Lord, Come. In Jesus name, Amen.

Daily Readings, Discipleship

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DR: A Prepared Person

August 2, 2022 0 Comments

Read Luke 3:7-20

Preparation: Doing what is needed to get ready for something or someone.

In Vancouver we are regularly reminded by geologists and officials to prepare for “The Big One.” Most of us are not prepared. John the Baptist is preparing people for the coming of Jesus. It’s possible to listen to God’s Word without doing anything. This is a terrible spiritual deceit.

John faced a crowd that heard the good news of the Messiah but perhaps were inclined to do nothing. He addresses their spiritual inertia and calls them to action by warning them.

Notice that when they asked John “what shall we do,” John’s focus for repentance deals with their attitudes and actions about the stuff of earth and the ways they relate to people: to a neighbour with less, or to the person on the other side of a business transaction, or to the persons who come under their authority. John insists that in respect to the coming Messiah, they had to deal with greed by sharing, restraining themselves from taking more than required, and by being content with what they have.

In John’s understanding these dynamics of greed, deception, and power could profoundly affect one’s receptively to the Messiah who was coming with the fire of the Spirit. All kinds of terrible things have been done to people because of greed in our hearts.

In respect to Jesus a prepared person is a receptive person. A prepared person is ready to hear and respond to the Presence and Word of Jesus for He will have lordship over all our relationships.

Heavenly Father, send your Spirit and grant me a generous love for you; warm my heart and mind so that I respond to you. I repent of greed, of entitlement, and of contempt whereby I may miss the company of Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

Daily Readings, Discipleship

DR: Finding A Voice

July 29, 2022 0 Comments

Read Luke 3:1-6

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar… the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”  vs. 1

While the average person was going about their lives in John’s day the drama of empire, or “the game of thrones,” went on around them. The centre’s of power were occupied by people who would try to make a name for themselves. But the word of God found a young man in the wilderness, a no-body in a no-place, and formed in him a voice that would be heard, a voice that would prepare people to see God’s salvation — Jesus the Christ, a voice that would call people to repentance from sin and point them to God’s forgiveness for sin.

That was God’s call formed in John. God’s word must be embodied. To find our own voice in the midst of empire requires that we know who we are, where we came from, and what matters most. Otherwise we will just go with the flow of empire— power and security seeking domination over others. Oh, Word of God come! 

Heavenly Father, grant me courage to sit with you in the wildernesses of my life — the desolate and alone spaces. Form within me clarity about who you are and who I am. May clearness of heart before You, generate clarity of speech before people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Daily Readings, Discipleship, Leadership, Society

DR: Misunderstood

July 28, 2022 0 Comments

Read Luke 2:36-52

“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

How often are children not understood? The experience of not being understood can be frustrating and alienating. Jesus does not seem to respond this way. He does seem to wonder at the anxiety contained by Mary and Joseph. His presence in the Temple seems reasonable and even necessary. Mary and Joseph’s anxiety seems reasonable too as parents. Jesus though even at twelve demonstrates a calm presence. He does not try to rescue his parents from their sense of being victimized by His pursuit of God.

In our pursuit of God and by aligning ourselves with His will we may be misunderstood. Our anxieties about that could produce resentment. But Jesus shows us another way.

Our Heavenly Father, grant me the grace of a character shaped by You. Help me manage my internal world and anxieties so that I may fully enter into relationships and the realities of this world fully responsive and obedient to You without fear, rage, or bitterness.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Daily Readings, Discipleship, Relationships