[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟛:𝟚𝟛-𝟚𝟜
"And someone said to Him,
‘Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive
to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and
will not be able.’"
According to worldometers the world
population is 7.9 billion. Out of which 2.38 billion profess to be Christians.
Of which, more than half (1.38 billion) will be cultural Christians.
So, we may have over 1 billion
somewhat religious Christians. Of which more than half could be nominal.
And how many will be church-going
Christians? Perhaps 300 million. And how many will be Bible-reading Christians?
Perhaps 100 million? How many will be regular Bible-reading Christians? Perhaps
1 million. How many will be daily Bible-reading Christians? Perhaps only 1 lakh
people! And how many are saved?
So, it was a good question. And
Jesus affirmed that only a few will find eternal life!
NB: I don't think there exists an
adult Christian (14 years old and above) who has read their Bible every single
day of their life. We get sick someday in a hospital bed, coma, etc. So, my
rough estimate is that if we read our Bible 300 times or more in a year, that's
great (perhaps we could consider it as daily reading). Btw, that's less than
even 6 times a week!
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟜:𝟚𝟜
"For I tell you, none of those
men who were invited shall taste of my dinner."
Privileged people are often
unworthy people who are thrown out.
The invited people were excluded,
and the underprivileged people were brought in.
The Israelites who saw the
wonderful works of God were left to die and rot in the wilderness, never
reaching the promised land.
That's true even in church. Some
who seem to be the most religious members are the ones whose hearts are hard,
never learning and changing!
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟝:𝟚
"Both the Pharisees and the
scribes began to grumble, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with
them.'"
Indeed, our Lord Jesus came to
receive sinners. But that they may repent and have a new life.
We come to Jesus just as we are,
but we never stay the same. We are changing into His likeness.
Once saved always changed nah?
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟞:𝟛𝟙
"But he said to him, 'If they
do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if
someone rises from the dead.'"
Those who will not listen to
ordinary things will not listen to extraordinary things as well.
Likewise, even if Moses and Elijah
join our group, there's no way to reduce the excuse of those who fail to update
regularly.
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟟:𝟙𝟘
"So you too, when you do all
the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done
only that which we ought to have done.'"
Do we look for honor, fame, and
wealth? Our identity is unprofitable servants. Unworthy slaves!
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟠:𝟟,
𝟙𝟡
"Now, will not God bring about
justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over
them?"
"And Jesus said to him, 'Why
do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.'"
Don't ever doubt the goodness of
God! God remains good to all. You are incompetent to make God bad. He shall
remain good no matter what. But He is extra good to the elect (born-again
Christians). That's what R.C. Sproul called God's love of Complacency.
Sometimes, I feel like I love
myself more than God's love for me. That's far far from the truth. Actually,
God loves me more than my love for Him, myself, or even my sin. Happy is he who
realizes the goodness of God every moment of his life!
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟙𝟡:𝟚
"And there was a man called by
the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich."
There are at least 2 good IAS
officers in the New Testament! Zaccheus and Matthew.
While Matthew was told to resign to
become an Apostle, Zaccheus wasn't asked to resign to be the disciple. Rather
Jesus used his [Zaccheus] position and influence to reach out to more people.
Jesus preached at Zaccheus' party.
You can be in any legitimate
profession and still serve God. You may not need to resign like Zaccheus!👍
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟚𝟘:𝟙𝟠
"Everyone who falls on that
stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him
like dust."
Christ is not a stone man should
mess with. People will either come to this stone for shelter and be saved Or
they will stumble and fall upon this stone and be broken. Or this stone will
fall upon them and be crushed to death.
Blessed be God that we are given to
sing, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me."
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟚𝟙:𝟙-𝟚
"And He looked up and saw the
rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in
two small copper coins."
The rich and the poor are all in
the watching eyes of God! He does see each one through and through— one's
hands, treasure, hearts, and rewards!
Don't be intimidated to give less
when you don't have much; don’t show off when you give much.
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟚𝟚:𝟛
"And Satan entered into Judas
who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve."
Satan couldn't achieve victory with
Christ in chapter 4. Now he entered Judas and claimed victory by killing
Christ. Yet Christ rose again. Satan always loses against Christ.
It's not like a movie, where the
protagonist got defeated in the first scene and finally triumphed in the last
scene/fight.
Christ won from the first minute of
the movie till the last minute!
𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟚𝟛: 34
"But Jesus was saying,
'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.' And they cast
lots, dividing up His garments among themselves."
When you squeeze an orange, what
comes out? Orange juice of course. When you squeeze a lemon, lemon juice comes
out. You don't get orange juice from a lemon or lemon juice from an orange.
Likewise, when you pressure, tempt or
squeeze a sinner, sin comes out. Tempt a man, he shall fall. Tease a woman, she
shall get angry. Humans fall into sin in temptation, pressure, and tough
situations because we are sinners.
Now, when Jesus was tempted, tried,
persecuted, crucified, obviously, righteousness and forgiveness came out of
Him, because He is righteous and came to forgive.
Now, if you are a short-temper
person or an unforgiving person, that reveals who you are. One of my school
principals (JNV Bpr) once said, "He who angers you conquers you"
There's a truth in it!
[7:14 am, 24/12/2021] S.R: 𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕖
𝟚𝟜:𝟝𝟚-𝟝𝟛
"And they, after worshiping
Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple
praising God."
Can this be said of us? Do we find
ourselves continually in the church?
I am so glad to have met some
Christians who have never missed church, the Sunday service since their
conversion. Wow!
That's really wonderful. For me,
there were some Sundays I enjoyed bunking church services😬🤦♂️😂.
With this concludes the book of
Luke! Thanks, everyone, for the opportunity to read and share my updates in the
last 24 days! 🙏
[11:46 am, 27/12/2021] S.R: Good to
have some faithful friends updating consistently even after the 30 days
commitment! 😇👍
[3:20 pm, 27/12/2021]
S.R:
Friends,
We shall resume our
Daily Bible Reading and Update by January.
If you would like to
discontinue, let me know. That we can remove you and still be good friends! 😎