It appears that C.S. Lewis has no middle ground when it comes to You.  At one time he was an atheist and of the worst kind, but then he saw the light and became a powerful speaker for You.

I have to disagree with the last quote on the list below because I think more people are doing just the opposite of what Lenny Bruce said.  And the churches they go to are led by false prophets or just pastors that run their church like it’s a business and not Your house.

More and more people are walking the easy road, going through the wide gate that Jesus warned us about:

“Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt 7:13-14).

In regards to the atheists we talked about yesterday, I don’t know how You can put up with us.  People are horrible, especially the non-believers (I was one of them).  Some of them have got to be the devil’s children.

Last I knew, You created heaven and the earth (Gen 1:1) and everything else (Jn 1:3), but, as I just stated, there are a lot of stupid people in the world (more than half of the United States has no sense,  otherwise Obama never would have been a president, a Muslim).

Tomorrow we’re going to look at…

Luke 14
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched him.

“On the Sabbath” – of seven recorded miracles on eh Sabbath, Luke includes five (4:31,38, 6:6, 13:14, 14:1); the other two are Jn 5:10, 9:14.

2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

“Dropsy” – an accumulation of fluid that would indicate illness affecting other parts of the body.  The Greek for this word is a medical term, hydropikos.

3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?

4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?

“Have an ass or an ox” – in Deut 5:1:14 the law said that even animals were not to work on the Sabbath, but it was never wrong to help an animals that was in need.  Jesus’ action was “unlawful” only according to rabbinic interpretations, not according to he Mosaic law itself.

6 And they could not answer him again to these things.

7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him;

9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.

13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

“Humbleth himself shall be exalted” – all will be resurrected (Dan 12:2; Jn 5:28-29; Acts 24:15).  The resurrection of the righteous (1 Cor 15:23; 1 Thess 4:16; Rev 20:4-6) is distinct from the resurrection of the unrighteous.  There is no “general resurrection” (1 Cor 15:12, 21; Heb 6:2; Rev 20:11-15).

“The just” – only those who have been pronounced so by God on the basis of Christ’s atonement and who have evidenced their faith by their actions (cf. Matt 25:34-40).

15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

“Then said he unto him” – Jesus used the man’s remark as the occasion for a parable warning that not everyone would enter the kingdom (Matt 7: 13-14, 21-23).

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

“Those men which were bidden” – without explicitly mentioning them, Jesus warned “the lawyers and Pharisees” (v. 3) that those who refused the invitation to his Messianic banquet would not get one taste of it, but others would.

25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

“Hate not his father’ – vivid hyperbole, meaning that one must love Jesus even more than his immediate family (see Matt 1:2-3 for another use of the figure).

27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

“Counteth the cost” – Jesus didn’t want a blind, naïve commitment that expected only blessings.  As a builder estimates costs or a king evaluates military strength, so a person must consider what Jesus expects of His followers.

29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

“Forsaketh not all that he hath” – the cost, Jesus warned, is complete surrender to Him.

This does not mean for us to figure out what we should or should not do or keep or throw away, it means that when He calls you drop everything and follow Him, do whatever He asks.

34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Ten Quotes About Jesus

 1. I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

2. Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.  ― Augustine of Hippo

 

 

 

 

3. The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God. ― Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

 

 

 

4. Just keep asking yourself: What would Jesus not do? ― Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

 

 

 

 

5. The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. ― Francis Chan

 

 

 

6. Anything under God’s control is never out of control. ― Charles R. Swindoll

 

 

 

 

 

7. Spending time with God is the key to our strength and success in all areas of life. Be sure that you never try to work God into your schedule, but always work your schedule around Him. ― Joyce Meyer

 

 

 

8. Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you. ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

 

 

9. Our tendency in the midst of suffering is to turn on God. To get angry and bitter and shake our fist at the sky and say, “God, you don’t know what it’s like! You don’t understand! You have no idea what I’m going through. You don’t have a clue how much this hurts.

The cross is God’s way of taking away all of our accusations, excuses, and arguments.

The cross is God taking on flesh and blood and saying, “Me too.” ― Rob Bell

10. Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God. ― Lenny Bruce

…creation of the world.