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Devotion Time:2012 Devotions: Luke 10-12, Self-Study February 13- February 18, 2012

Monday, february 13

Prayer For Today’s DT

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. (Deuteronomy 15:10)

Bible Text

Luke 10:38-41

At the Home of Martha and Mary

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

SOME IDEAS AND WORDS TO CONSIDER

  • Distracted
  • All the preparations that had to be made
  • Don’t you care
  • Many things … only one thing

PERSONAL PRAYER

Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

tuesday, february 14

Prayer For Today’s DT

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,when it is in your power to act. (Proverbs 3:27)

Bible Text

Luke 11:1-13

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer

11One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“ ‘Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

3Give us each day our daily bread.

4Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

5 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’

7 “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldnesshe will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

SOME IDEAS AND WORDS TO CONSIDER

  • Who to pray to
  • What to pray for
  • How to pray
  • God’s response to prayer

PERSONAL PRAYER

Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

wednesday, february 15

Prayer For Today’s DT

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10:17-18)

Bible Text

Luke 11:14-32

Jesus and Beelzebub

14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.

17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

23 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

The Sign of Jonah

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

SOME IDEAS AND WORDS TO CONSIDER

  • Interpretation of God’s activity
  • Strong man … stronger man
  • Pride; spiritual responsiveness
  • One greater than …

PERSONAL PRAYER

Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

thursday, february 16

Prayer FOR TODAY’S DT

As for God, his way is perfect;the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shieldfor all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? (Psalm 18:30-31)

Bible Text

Luke 11:33-54

The Lamp of the Body

33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

Six Woes

37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.

39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside the dish[a] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.”

45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”

46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.

SOME IDEAS AND WORDS TO CONSIDER

  • Lamp, good eyes, bad eyes
  • Outside, inside
  • Woe

PERSONAL PRAYER

Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

FRIDAY, february 17

Prayer FOR TODAY’S DT

For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peacethere will be no end. He will reign on David’s throneand over his kingdom, establishing and upholding itwith justice and righteousnessfrom that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almightywill accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Bible Text

Luke 12:1-12

Warnings and Encouragements

12Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

8 “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9 But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

SOME IDEAS AND WORDS TO CONSIDER

  • Fear of man, deceit, hypocrisy
  • Fear of God, acknowledging God
  • Don’t be afraid, do not worry

PERSONAL PRAYER

Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

saturday, february 18

Prayer FOR TODAY’S DT

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. (Luke 1:32-33)

reflection questions

Reread the passages from this week and review your DTs. Consider the themes in the text and what lessons emerged for you and write a personal reflection based on this week’s DT. The questions below are provided as prompts to help you.

Did the text provide:

-a truth, wisdom or lesson I need to affirm or apply?

-some aspect of the Gospel or God’s salvation plan that I learned in a fresh way?

-a biblical norm, standard or value? How do I measure up to it or what is my response to it?

-a picture of God’s heart that I need to appreciate or more deeply embrace?

-a description of folly, sin, or a relational problem that I need to address?

-a mirror that shows me an aspect of my life that is contrary to God’s word?

-a promise that I can claim and place my trust in?

-a corrective to ideas or tendencies in today’s culture?

-a course of action I need to commit to?

PERSONAL PRAYER

Please write out a prayer of commitment or confession either based on today’s text or upon reflection over recent events in your life.

[a] Some manuscripts but few things are needed—or only one

[a] Or what you have