Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 22 - Luke 18

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January 22 - Luke 18 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it is Thursday getting close
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  to the end of the week. It is the 22nd of January.
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  Great to have your company. How am I?
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  Oh, what a lovely question. Thanks for asking.
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  I'm going great, but boy, this is my second week of working
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  from home of two weeks. So I get to go back to actually
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  driving in my car to go to work and actually interact with other
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  people, which would be lovely, but it has been quite a singular
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  and focused effort over the last two weeks.
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  I have been preparing material so that in a couple of months I
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  can begin providing training for all the new chaplains who joined
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  the Australian Defence Force, teaching them about mental
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  health. Because who knew there aren't
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  many chaplains for the background as a psychologist and
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  experience as a chaplain like myself.
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  So they said sure, and please can you write some material and
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  share this with our new chaplain?
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  So that is a great honour. But boy, I am up to my neck in
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  writing mental health presentations and I'm ready to
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  go back to interacting with humans next week.
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  I promise I will never complain about having to get dressed up
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  to go to work again. But here we are, and it's not
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  about me. It is about finishing off our
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  time in the Gospel of Luke for this week before our Proverbs
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  tomorrow. And today is no different from
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  the rest of the week. We will hear some parables.
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  We will see Jesus in action, teaching, healing, and generally
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  being awesome. So let's read together, friends.
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  Luke chapter 18. One day, Jesus told his
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  disciples a story to show that they should always pray and
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  never give up. There was a judge in a certain
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  city, he said, who neither feared God nor cared about
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  people. A widow from that city came to
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  him repeatedly saying give me justice in this dispute with my
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  enemy. The judge ignored her for a
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  while but finally he said to himself, I don't fear God or
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  care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy.
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  I'm going to see that she gets justice because she is wearing
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  me out with her constant requests.
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  Then the Lord said, learn a lesson from this unjust judge.
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  Even He rendered a just decision in the end.
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  So don't you think God will surely give justice to His
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  chosen people who cry out to Him day and night?
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  Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will grant
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  justice to them quickly. But when the Son of Man returns,
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  how many will he find on earth who have faith?
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  Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in
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  their own righteousness and scorned everyone else.
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  Two men went to the temple to pray.
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  One was a Pharisee and the other was a despised tax collector.
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  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer.
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  I thank you God that I am not like other people, cheaters,
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  sinners and adulterers. I'm certainly not like that tax
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  collector. I fast twice a week and give you
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  a tenth of my income. But the tax collector stood at a
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  distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed.
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  Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, Oh God, be
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  merciful to me, for I am a Sinner.
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  I tell you, this Sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home
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  justified before God. For those who exalt themselves
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  will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be
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  exalted. One day some parents brought
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  their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless
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  them. But when the disciples saw this,
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  they scolded the parents for bothering him.
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  Then Jesus called for the children and said to the
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  disciples, Let the children come to me, don't stop them.
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  For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these
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  children. I tell you the truth, anyone who
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  doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never
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  enter it. Once a religious leader asked
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  Jesus this question. Good teacher, what should I do
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  to inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good?
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  Jesus asked him. Only God is truly good.
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  But to answer your question, you know the commandments.
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  You must not commit adultery. You must not murder, you must
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  not steal, you must not testify falsely.
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  Honour your father and mother, the man replied.
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  I've done all these commandments since I was young.
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  When Jesus heard his answer, he said there is still one thing
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  you haven't done. Sell all your possessions and
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  give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in
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  heaven. Then come follow me.
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  But when the man heard this, he became very sad, for he was very
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  rich. When Jesus saw this, he said how
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  hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God.
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  In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
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  needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.
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  Those who heard this said then who in the world can be saved?
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  He replied what is impossible for people is possible with God.
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  Peter said, We've left our homes to follow you.
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  Yes, Jesus replied. And I assure you that everyone
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  who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or
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  children for the sake of the Kingdom of God will be repaid
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  many times over in this life and will have eternal life in the
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  world to come. Taking the 12 disciples aside,
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  Jesus said, listen, we're going up to Jerusalem where all the
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  predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will
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  come true. He will be handed over to the
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  Romans and he will be mocked, treated shamefully and spit
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  upon. They will flog him with a whip
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  and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.
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  But they didn't understand any of this.
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  The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they
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  failed to grasp what he was talking about.
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  As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside
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  the road. When he heard the noise of a
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  crowd going past, he asked what was happening.
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  They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by, so he
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  began shouting. Jesus, son of David, have mercy
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  on me. Be quiet.
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  The people in front yelled at him, but he only shouted louder,
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  Son of David, have mercy on me. When Jesus heard him, he stopped
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  and ordered that the man be brought to him.
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  As the man came near, Jesus asked him, What do you want me
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  to do for you Lord? He said, I want to see.
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  And Jesus said, all right, receive your sight, your faith
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  has healed you. Instantly the man could see and
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  he followed Jesus, praising God and all who saw it praised God
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  too. Oh Lord, let us never cease to
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  ask you for what it is that our heart desires.
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  Thank you that we hear your teaching about praying
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  continuously and we see this wonderful story about you
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  healing that beggar when he asks for his heart's desire.
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  So Lord, I pray that you constantly remind us to bring
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  our hearts before you in prayer, that we don't sit silently with
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  what our heart desires, but we bring it to you.
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  And Lord, this may not be a little magic formula where we
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  say I want a new Lamborghini and pump their one isn't our garage,
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  but that we continually to come to you with our hearts desires.
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  And through that you are part of our journey and you shape our
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  heart and you draw our desire back into you and your Kingdom.
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  And we see your generosity and we see you participate in our
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  life day by day. So may we always, always come
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  back to You again and again and share our life with You so that
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  you can share yours with us. You are a good and loving God,
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  interested in being involved in our little daily lives.
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  And so while that blows our mind, we thank you, the God of
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  the universe who lowers himself to be beside us.
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  You are the greatest and we love you.
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  And we pray all of this in your incredible name, Amen.