Tag Archives: seventy

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – TWO PERSPECTIVES

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TWO PERSPECTIVES

“The seventy came back triumphant. ‘Master, even the demons danced to your tune!’

Jesus said, ‘I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Now what you do for God but what God does for you –that’s the agenda for rejoicing.'” Luke 10:17-20.

The seventy came back from their preaching trip bubbling over with excitement. They had just experienced something they had never thought possible – authority to send demons packing. Note – they weren’t excited about people getting free or cured or saved. No, they were proud of their success because they had experienced what it was like to have power.

What was their perspective? Control! We can control demons. We’ve got power over diseases. We can control people? Is that what they were thinking as well?

Once again Jesus has to pull them up short. He was happy about their success because it meant that He now had a wider group of followers who had been recruited to continue His ministry but – if they did not understand His heart, they would become a liability and not an asset to the kingdom of God.

They had to understand two things clearly. Firstly, when they learned to live under God’s authority, the enemy had no power to touch them. The only power he had to influence them was the power they gave him when they believed his lies and capitulated to his manipulation and intimidation. He is a liar and he can only speak the language of lies. Believing his lies, not his power is what gets people into trouble.

Secondly, when they submitted to Jesus’ authority it was a pledge to come under His yoke. We have been learning that Jesus’ way of doing life is the way of unselfish generosity. That includes caring about other people enough to forget ourselves in order to meet the needs of others. Real power, said Jesus, is power over ourselves, not power to manage others.

It takes far more for us to submit to God’s authority than it does to get others to submit to us. We, not the devil, are our own worst enemy. There is so much potential to do damage and wreak havoc in the lives of other people that we don’t need the devil to do our dirty work for us when we are capable of destroying others ourselves by our words and actions.

Take our tongues, for example. How many children’s lives have been destroyed by the careless words of parents or teachers? When we think about it, words, which seem so weak, are one of the enemy’s most powerful tools to destroy when we allow him to influence us.

Words also have the power to do unimaginable good. What about God’s Word? His word brought the universe into being. Jesus said that His words are spirit and life. We have been given a brand new life through His Word, and we are directed every day to live that life His way through His Word.

It’s up to us who claim to be His followers to keep our perspective true to Jesus’ perspective. It’s never about what we can do for God – not even cast out demons and heal the sick. It’s about His life in us – His Spirit at work in us and through us. We are not in charge; He is. Our perspective must be how well we can get out of the way so that His life can be lived out through us.

In the words of Louie Giglio: “I am not, but I know I AM!”

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – YOU ARE THE ANSWER

Bible Study, ,

CHAPTER TEN

YOU ARE THE ANSWER

“Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He intended to go. He gave them this charge: ‘What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.’

“‘On your way! But be careful – this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack. Travel light; comb and toothbrush and no extra baggage. Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.'” Luke 10:1-4.

This sounds like a typical missionary prayer meeting, doesn’t it? But does God really sit around waiting for us ask Him to send missionaries out to the “mission field”? Why would Jesus send them ahead of Him and then promptly tell them to pray that God would send people out? Was it to boost the number of workers or was it some kind of preparation for their own hearts?

Who were these people that Jesus sent ahead of Him? Seventy people? Where did they come from and what connection did they have with Him? Since He was always thronged with people, there must have been those who regularly followed Him although they were not part of the inner group. He must have recognised them and got used to seeing their faces in the crowd. Perhaps He even spent time with them in the late afternoon after He had dismissed the crowd.

Whatever their relationship with Him, when He needed people to prepare the way for Him, they were there and they were available to do what He asked them to do. It was to them, not to His regular disciples that He gave these detailed instructions including to pray for reinforcements.

Since they were the answer to their own prayers, was this Jesus’ way of developing a mind-set in them which gave them a better understanding of what their role was to be in the kingdom of God? Although He had twelve men who were constantly with Him and who were His recognised disciples, it did not mean that others were excluded. It also did not mean that others were of less importance and value to Him than the Twelve.

The instructions He gave this wider group were almost the same as those He had given to the Twelve when He sent them out on their first preaching tour. By involving these people He was teaching them that He was not the head of an exclusive club. The kingdom of God belongs to anyone who is willing to come under His authority and do what He tells them; and so is the mandate to open the doors of God’s kingdom to whoever will receive it.

Jesus is encouraging us to realise that we don’t have to sit around waiting for a special invitation to be part of God’s kingdom or to invite others to come under His yoke. When we become the answer to our own prayers instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to respond, we have finally caught on to what is in God’s heart. It’s for everyone to participate in and for everyone to share.

Whether we stay at home or take the message to the ends of the earth is not the most important issue. What really matters is that we share the blessing of being in the kingdom of God by the way we live it out and by the way we speak about it in the most natural way possible. Wherever we are and wherever we go, there are people needing to hear about a life of freedom and joy under Jesus’ yoke.

The next important fact for these recruits was to know that they were only the forerunners wherever they went, preparing the way; Jesus would follow, revealing who He was to the people who had seen and heard His followers. We’re not in this alone. Jesus may no longer be here in person but His representative, the Holy Spirit is with us, in us and ahead of us to do the inner work of convincing those whose hearts are hungry, that Jesus is the Son of God.

So, let’s ask what we can do. Let’s be the answer to our own prayers, shall we?

Bible Study, , ,

TWO PERSPECTIVES

“The seventy came back triumphant. ‘Master, even the demons danced to your tune!’

Jesus said, ‘I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Now what you do for God but what God does for you –that’s the agenda for rejoicing.'” Luke 10:17-20 (The Message).

The seventy came back from their preaching trip bubbling over with excitement. They had just experienced something they had never thought possible — authority to send demons packing. Note — they weren’t excited about people getting free or cured or saved. No, they were proud of their success because they had experienced what it was like to have power.

What was their perspective? Control! We can control demons. We’ve got power over diseases. We can control people? Is that what they were thinking as well?

Once again Jesus has to pull them up short. He was happy about their success because it meant that He now had a wider group of followers who had been recruited to continue His ministry but — if they did not understand His heart, they would become a liability and and not an asset to the kingdom of God.

They had to understand two things clearly. Firstly, when they learned to live under God’s authority, the enemy had no power to touch them. The only power he had to influence them was the power they gave him when they believed his lies and capitulated to his manipulation and intimidation. He is a liar and he can only speak the language of lies. Believing his lies, not his power is what gets people into trouble.

Secondly, when they submitted to Jesus’ authority it was a pledge to come under His yoke. We have been learning that Jesus’ way of doing life is the way of undselfish generosity. That includes caring about other people enough to forgot ourselves in order to meet the needs of others. Real power, said Jesus, is power over ourselves, not power to manage others.

It takes far more for us to submit ot God’s authority than it does to get others to submit to us. We, not the devil, are our own worst enemy. There is so much potential to do damage and wreak havoc in the lives of other people that we don’t need the devil to do our dirty work for us when we are capable of destroying others ourselves by our words and actions.

Take our tongues, for example. How many children’s lives have been destroyed by the careless words of parents or teachers? When we think about it, words, which seem so weak, are one of the enemy’s most powerful tools to destroy when we allow him to influence us.

Words also have the power to do unimagineable good. What about God’s Word? His word brought the universe into being. Jesus said that His words are spirit and life. We have been give a brand new life through His Word, and we are directed every day to live that life His way through His Word.

It’s up to us who claim to be His followers to keep our persective true to Jesus’ perspective. It’s never about what we can do for God — not even cast out demons and heal the sick. It’s about His life in us — His Spirit at work in us and through us. We are not in charge; He is. Our perspective must be to how well we can get out of the way so that His life can be lived out through us.

In the words of Louie Giglio: “I am not , but I know I AM!”

You Are The Answer

Bible Study, , ,

YOU ARE THE ANSWER

“Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of Him in pairs to every town and place where He intended to go. He gave them this charge: ‘What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.’

“‘On your way! But be careful — this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack. Travel light; comb and toothbrush and no extra baggage. Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.'” Luke 10:1-4 (The Message).

This sounds like a typical missionary prayer meeting, doesn’t it? But does God really sit around waiting for us ask Him to send missionaries out to the “mission field”? Why would Jesus send them ahead of Him and then promptly tell them to pray that God would send people out? Was it to boost the number of workers or was it some kind of preparation for their own hearts?

Who were these people that Jesus sent ahead of Him? Seventy people? Where did they come from and what connection did they have with Him? Since He was always thronged with people, there must have been those who regularly followed Him although they were not part of the inner group. He must have recognised them and got used to seeing their faces in the crowd. Perhaps He even spent time with them in the late afternoon after He had dismissed the crowd.

Whatever their relationship with Him, when He needed people to prepare the way for Him, they were there and they were available to do what He asked them to do. It was to them, not to His regular disciples that He gave these detailed instructions including to pray for reinforcements.

Since they were the answer to their own prayers, was this Jesus’ way of developing a mind-set in them which gave them a better understanding of what their role was to be in the kingdom of God? Although He had twelve men who were constantly with Him and who were His recognised disciples, it did not mean that others were excluded. It also did not mean that others were of less importance and value to Him than the Twelve.

The instructions He gave this wider group were almost the same as those He had given to the Twelve when He sent them out on their first preaching tour. By involving these people He was teaching them that He was not the head of an exclusive club. The kingdom of God belongs to anyone who is willing to come under His authority and do what He tells them; and so is the mandate to open the doors of God’s kingdom to whoever will receive it.

Jesus is encouraging us to realise that we don’t have to sit around waiting for a special invitation to be part of God’s kingdom or to invite others to come under His yoke. When we become the answer to our own prayers instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to respond, we have finally caught on to what is in God’s heart. It’s for everyone to participate in and for everyone to share.

Whether we stay at home or take the message to the ends of the earth is not the most important issue. What really matters is that we share the blessing of being in the kingdom of God by the way we live it out and by the way we speak about it in the most natural way possible. Wherever we are and wherever we go, there are people needing to hear about a life of freedom and joy under Jesus’ yoke.

The next important fact for these recruits was to know that they were only the forerunners wherever they went, preparing the way; Jesus would follow, revealing who He was to the people who had seen and heard His followers. We’re not in this alone. Jesus may no longer be here in person but His representative, the Holy Spirit is with us, in us and ahead of us to do the inner work of convincing those whose hearts are hungry, that Jesus is the Son of God.

So, let’s ask what we can do. Let’s be the answer to our own prayers, shall we?