Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 30 - Luke 4

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December 30 - Luke 4 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is, the 30th of
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  December, it's a Tuesday and well, just when you thought you
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  might be watching the end of the Boxing Day Test match of
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  cricket, no, that was over in two days.
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  Just in a heartbeat. So we are not watching cricket
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  today. We are doing whatever our day
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  holds. It is hopefully holidays for
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  most of you, where you can take it easy and recoup and re
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  energise yourself. And what better way to do that
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  than to follow the life of Jesus and to hear the rhythms of his
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  life as recorded by Luke. So that we can know for sure
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  that he is the Lord and that what he has done is not just
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  some random act of kindness into the universe.
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  But friends, it's for you and it's for me.
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  What a glorious truth that we are going to continue to explore
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  as we travel back in time and accompany Jesus in his life and
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  ministry. And today will be no different
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  as we follow Him through his temptation and then rejection in
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  his hometown, and then he will get cracking on his ministry.
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  So much to read. Let's dive in reading together
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  Luke chapter 4. Then Jesus, full of the Holy
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  Spirit, returned from the Jordan River.
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  He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted
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  by the devil for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing all that time
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  and became very hungry. Then the devil said to him, If
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  you are the Son of God, tell the stone to become a loaf of bread.
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  But Jesus told him no. The scriptures say people do not
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  live by bread alone. Then the devil took him up and
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  revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world.
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  In a moment of time I will give you the glory of these kingdoms
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  and authority over them. The devil said, Because they are
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  mine to give to anyone I please, I will give it all to you if you
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  will worship me, Jesus replied. The scriptures say you must
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  worship the Lord your God and serve only him.
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  Then the devil took him to Jerusalem to the highest point
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  of the temple and said, if you are the Son of God, jump off.
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  For the scriptures say he will order his angels to protect and
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  guard you and they will hold you up with their hands so you won't
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  even hurt your foot on a stone. Jesus responded.
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  The Scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God.
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  When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him
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  until the next opportunity came. Then Jesus returned to Galilee,
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  filled with the Holy Spirit's power.
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  Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region.
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  He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by
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  everyone. When he came to the village of
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  Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue
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  on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.
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  The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him.
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  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written.
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  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to
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  bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that
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  captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the
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  oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's
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  favour has come. He rolled up the scroll, handed
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  it back to the attendant, and sat down.
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  All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.
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  Then he began to speak to them. The scripture you've just heard
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  has been fulfilled this very day.
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  Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words
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  that came from his lips. How can this be, they asked.
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  Isn't this Joseph's son? Then he said, You will
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  undoubtedly quote me this proverb.
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  Physician, heal yourself. Meaning, do miracles here in
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  your hometown like you did those in Capernaum.
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  But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own
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  hometown. Certainly there were many needy
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  widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heavens were
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  closed for 3 1/2 years and a severe famine devastated the
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  land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any
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  of them. He was sent instead to a
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  foreigner, a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
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  And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet
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  Elijah, but the only one healed was Naaman, Assyrian.
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  When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious.
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  Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the
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  hill on which the town was built.
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  They intended to push him over the Cliff, but he passed right
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  through the crowd and went on his way.
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  Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught
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  there in the synagogue every Sabbath day.
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  There too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he
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  spoke with authority. Once when he was in the
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  synagogue, a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit, cried
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  out, shouting, Go away. Why are you interfering with us?
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  Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?
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  I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
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  But Jesus reprimanded him. Be quiet.
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  Come out of the man, he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man
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  on the floor as the crowd watched.
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  Then it came out of him without hurting him further.
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  Amazed, the people exclaimed what authority and power this
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  man's words possess. Even evil spirits obey him, and
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  they flee at his command. The news about Jesus spread
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  through every village in the entire region.
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  After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon's home
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  where he found Simon's mother in law, very sick with a high
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  fever. Please heal her, everyone
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  begged. Standing at her bedside.
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  He rebuked the fever and it left her, and she got up at once and
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  prepared a meal for them. As the sun went down that
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  evening, people throughout the village brought sick family
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  members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases
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  were, the touch of His hand healed everyone.
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  Many were possessed by demons, and the demons came out at his
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  command, shouting, You are the Son of God.
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  But because they knew He was the Messiah, He rebuked them and
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  refused to let them speak. Early the next morning, Jesus
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  went out to an isolated place. The crowd searched everywhere
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  for Him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not
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  to leave them. But he replied, I must preach
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  the good news of the Kingdom of God in other towns too, because
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  that is why I was sent. So he continued to travel
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  around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.
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  Ah Jesus, your mission was clear from the outset.
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  You knew exactly what your task was, and you just went about it.
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  Healing, preaching the truth of your Kingdom, amazing people
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  with your kindness and inclusion.
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  Jesus, thank you that you have a singular focus in your time
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  here, your earthly ministry, and that is that we should be saved,
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  that we should get to know you, and that through your actions,
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  through your death and through your resurrection, you would
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  forge away through our sinful nature into the arms of our
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  perfect Heavenly Father. What an incredible thing, what
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  an incredible mission that you just took on single mindedly.
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  Thank you for your love. Thank you that the entirety of
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  all that you are is just love, love for us, welcoming us back
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  to you. And you have certainly found a
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  way to do that. So we just accept this gift of
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  your grace. Thank you that you wash us
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  clean, that you give us a new start.
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  Perfect in the eyes of your Father through everything that
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  you have done for us. We love you, Jesus, and it's
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  only in your grace that we can pray these things.
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  Amen.