Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 24

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 24

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 24 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• The resurrection
• On the road to Emmaus
• Jesus appears to the disciples
• The ascension

The resurrection

On the first day of the week the woman (later in this chapter described as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James) went to the tomb, to find the tomb opened and also empty. At that moment, when they were still wondering where the body of Jesus was, 2 man stood behind them. As we can read in this chapter, these were of course 2 angels. In the description we can also see that it was easily to determine that they were not ordinary man, but angels. If God sends His angels, then you can be sure that you will easily distinct them from man.

God sent these angels to make sure that these woman could see that it was not by man, but by Gods hand that Jesus was not there anymore. The angels also reminded them about the faith of Jesus that He would rise again.

The angels told them not to look under the death, for the one that is alive! After this encounter they went to the remaining eleven disciples and told them about the resurrection of Jesus. Here we see their lack of faith, for not believing them. Only Peter knew that He had to check the tomb by himself so he could also acknowledge himself that Jesus was no longer there.

I love the amount of faith we see with these woman compared to the disciples. When the angels appeared to them, they believed immediately the words the angels spoke. The disciples however were very negative and I doubt that at that moment they even believed that Jesus would come back. We need to have to level of faith of these woman!

On the road to Emmaus

2 of the man that were also following Jesus, were now on the road to Emmaus. They were discussing all the things that had happened in the day before, especially with Jesus. In this story we can see how absorbed we can be with the things going on in our lives, that we fail to notice that God is walking with us at that moment. This story shows that we have to really focus our attention first on God, to see that He is with us and that we are never alone!

Let the Holy Spirit open your eyes for His presence. Do not let the world close your eyes.

Jesus appears to the disciples

We continue to read that Jesus made Himself known to the disciples and still they did know it was Jesus, but that it was a ghost! Jesus had to remind about everything He had told them before He died and rose again. Then He had to remind them of all He had told them and was already foresaid by prophets.

Jesus life was already fully determined before He came to earth!

Also He lets them know that know He has risen that they will have to start preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins. But it is important to see that they were not allowed to leave the city, before they were given strength from God!

The ascension

It was now time for Jesus to go back to Heaven. But before He did so, he blessed His disciples so they could be sent out into the world. If we are to do work for God, we need the anointing from God!

 

God bless you, Amen!

 

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 23

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 23

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 23 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• Jesus before Pilate
• The crucifixion
• Jesus’ death
• Jesus’ burial

Jesus before Pilate

The high priest brought Jesus before Pilate and they started accusing Him of different things, amongst that that Jesus claimed to be the Christ. This was in fact the only fact that they “held” against Jesus. But here we see that Pilate saw nothing to put him on trial for. But unfortunately this was not a strong man and after the high priest kept on pressing Him and he learned that Jesus was a Galilean, he saw a way out to sent Him to Herod, because Galilee was outside his jurisdiction. Although He knew that Jesus was not a guilty man or a criminal, Pilate let himself be pressured not to release Him. We should never think that if we are too scared to do the right thing and let someone else do the dirty work that we can consider our hands to be clean. No we still are sinning!

When Jesus came before Herod, Herod was greatly pleased, because he wanted to meet Him in person. He had heard a lot about Jesus and he hoped to see a miracle. See how a worldly ruler cannot deny that God and thus Jesus is special and more than us. As a worldly ruler he could have easily dismissed the stories about Jesus and considered himself to be more powerful. But He didn’t.

Although he asked Jesus, Jesus didn’t answer anything. A Christians we should be aware that we should be wise and not feel pressured not to answer everything that is asked. We don’t have to help others to put false accusations on us. From this moment (when the high priest started to openly attack Jesus) we see that even the aforementioned was not enough for Herod to honor Jesus. Instead Herod and his guards started mocking Him. We also see that Herod and Pilate are actually wicked. Enemies before, but now they became friends. See how wicked people can team up to attack Christians.

But in the end also Herod stated the same that he saw no reasons to charge Him with a crime and He told the high priest that he had no reasons to sent Jesus to death. And just like Pilate we see how Herod also let the public opinion and pressure to determine his actions. Instead of releasing Jesus, he release a criminal called Jesus Barnabas. This shows that in this wicked world we should not expect or put trust on the worldly justice as a criminal was chosen above Jesus!

The crucifixion

Even to His crucifixion they did not spare Jesus as he had to carry His own cross! But luckily God intervened and let them meet Simon from Cyrene to help Him carry His cross. This is the same for our lives. In the times we have to suffer the most, then God will sent people on our path and soften our burden!

What we also see is that behind Jesus a large crowed, including woman and children followed Him and wept. This shows that it wasn’t only those wicked people around Him, but that a lot of people already in that time knew He was the son of God and what was happening was a devastating thing. That Jesus had to die on the cross, doesn’t mean that we should cheer for the fact that He had to die on the cross. In my book it is one of the most painful occurrences in history. Jesus however told them not to weep, because if this how mankind can act to the living Jesus, how wicked man will be after He died and in the end of times?

Jesus was put on the cross with two real criminals. And even in His hardest moment in His life, He was still mocked and given much pain. Even on the cross they couldn’t just let Him be. This is how wicked people can be, even in our time of suffering, they can make your life very difficult. In my personal life my family has also experienced this. It has made us learn not to put any trust on people, but only on our Almighty God!

Now the criminals also start talking, but both in a different way. The first criminal joined the crowed and insulted Him, but the other one rebuked Him and asked him if he didn’t fear God. It was a criminal and not a high priest that knew that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and that He shouldn’t have been hanging amongst them. He told the other criminal that they were sentenced justly, but not Jesus! This is so amazing to see that this man saw Jesus for who He really is. And for His faith he was saved by Jesus and is now in Heaven. Even on our death bed we can still be saved. One of my grandfathers also gave His heart to God on His death bed and although he did things wrong in His life, I know that He saved and with God!

Jesus’ death

At six o’clock God died and He committed His soul in Gods hands. At the moment of His death, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. And at that moment even a centurion present acknowledged that he was truly the Son of God. You will be surprised which persons will come to faith, when they see the power of the Almighty God. God is so almighty, that you cannot deny it!

Jesus’ burial

Here we see that not everyone from the Council was in agreement with killing Jesus and Joseph was one of them. We are told that He was an upright man that was waiting for the Kingdom of God. We should not think that all of them were wicked, because this man asked for the body of Jesus to give Him a proper burial the Son of God deserves. He made sure that He was put in his own burial tomb to give Him the proper respect we all need to give Jesus!

God bless and Amen!

 

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 22

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 22

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 22 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• Judas agrees to betray Jesus
• The last supper
• Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives
• Jesus arrested
• Peter disowns Jesus
• The guards mock Jesus
• Jesus before Pilate and Herod

Judas agrees to betray Jesus

 

This story shows how important it is to be led by the Holy Spirit and to stay close with God. Don’t let anything come into your heart that is against Jesus. With Judas (that was the “accountant” for Jesus) he more and more was interested in money, than in doing good according to Gods word. Of everything the lust for money is the most destructive in your relationship with God. Money is not evil, but the lust for money is, because than you are putting it higher than God.

This lust for money gave the devil an opportunity to enter Judas his heart. This shows that God created us without evil, but that on earth it can enter us. Keep your heart close to God!

For the Pharisees this was an excellent chance to get Jesus to eventually kill Him. See how the devil used one of Jesus’ his close friends to betray Him. Never think that because someone is close to you, that he will always do what is best for you. Therefore, put your trust first and foremost on God and not on men!

The last supper

The day of Unleavened bread came (on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed (in the Bible eating unleavened bread is to commemorate the original Exodus from Egypt). On this day Jesus sent Peter and John to make preparation for them to eat at Passover. They wanted to know where to prepare it and Jesus gave them explicit instructions (the more you grow in your faith you will see that God will always give us explicit instructions for our life, we only need to be open to receive them and obey God by following His instructions and you will see that blessings will come in your life). Jesus told them that in the city they will find a man carrying a jar of water. They were ordered to follow this man to his home. They needed to ask the owner of this house if they could use the guest room, to eat the Passover meal.

And as instructed it indeed went. See how powerful Gods directions are. They are clear and without error, so learn not listen to Gods instructions for your life!

When they were finally sitting at the table for the Passover dinner, Jesus told them that it was very important to eat this meal with them before His suffering. Jesus knew from the beginning that He was to suffer and now was the time to inform His disciples. He told them that He would not eat and drink before it finds fulfillment in the Kingdom of God. He gave His disciples wine and bread. The wine was used as the new covenant in my blood, which is poured for us. (Jesus’ blood) and the bread His body which is given for us. At this moment He tells them that the one that betrays Him is at the table and that the one that betrays Him will get a severe punishment. This should have been the moment for Judas to repent as Jesus clearly told Him that He knew of what He had done. Unfortunately, the heart of Juda only hardened.

At this moment the disciples were discussing which of them was to be considered the greatest. This shows a flaw in our human nature. Jesus tells us of His coming suffering and they were more interested to know which of them was the most important. Never make yourself more important, than God!

At this moment tells them that the one that serves is the greatest. This shows how important for God that we have a serving heart and not an arrogant heart. If you want to pleasure God, than have a serving heart!

Here we see Peter stating that he will give his life to protect Jesus, but Jesus tells him that he will deny Jesus 3 times before the new day will start. How devastating this must have been for Peter to hear. He really thinks that he will stay strong, but he indeed did betray Jesus 3 times that night. This shows that we need to be very close to God and led by the Holy Spirit to stay strong in our faith, even if it means that we will also be persecuted. Don’t trust on your own strength, but on Gods strength to be able to withstand this pressure!

Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives

Although this is the first time we read it, this story tells us that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives regularly to pray. This shows that it is important that we have a specified place where we go to in silence to spent time with God and to have a time of prayer and worship with Him.

Jesus tells the disciples to stray strong and not to fall into sleep. In our faith we also need to be continuously strong to not fall asleep in our faith. It is so easy to let our busy lives influence our faith. Don’t allow this to happen by following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

While praying this shows that Jesus was also a man (besides the fact that He is the Son of God) and He asked God to please take this cup away from Him and not to let Him suffer. But He also made it know that although He did not want to suffer, that He would follow Gods will and not His own will. We also should choose God’s will over our own will.

When He came back to the disciples, they were asleep. He told them to wake up and not to fall in temptation.

Jesus arrested

At this moment (while He was talking to His disciples) a crowd came up and Judas was amongst them and Judas walked to Jesus to kiss Him. Jesus immediately asked Him why He was betraying Him by a kiss. See, how Jesus/God knows everything. Never think that you can hide anything from God, because He is all-knowing.

When the disciples saw what was happening they immediately wanted to defend Him with force (by swords) and of them actually cut of the ear from a guard. Jesus however showed that He did not come to free the people of God by force. And he ordered the disciples to stop and restored the ear from this guard. This healing should have been a very powerful reason for this crowd to repent, but not even this miracle was enough to soften their hearts.

Jesus also show that the Pharisees were acting wrongfully, because why so much force, while He was continuously in their midst in the Temple, were they could have arrested Him easily. But wicked people will always do bad things in the dark.

Peter disowns Jesus

Jesus was led away by the high priests and they took Him to the house of the high priest and only Peter followed at a distance. Here we see that although He came close to the place where Jesus was taken, that He indeed betrayed Jesus three times that night. This shows that we need to be very strong in our faith not to betray Jesus. Never think that you are strong enough on your own strength, you need the Holy Spirit for this!

After the rooster crowed three times, Peter realized what He had done and wept. This shows that afterwards He was aware of his sin and he was genuinely sorry for what He did. Always have a heart that is willing to repent its sin. This will help you to come to God and ask for forgiveness.

The guards mock Jesus

This part of the story always hurts me so much, as it is terrible to see how the Son of God is being mocked and severally beaten! See how people can bring you down even further, in your time of suffering. This shows that we should not rely on people, but first and foremost on God. Because even when people turn against you, then you can find strength in the love of God!

Jesus before Pilate and Herod

Now He stands before the high priest to get a confession out of Him. But Jesus tells Him that they will not believe what He will say. He told them that from now on the son of God will be seated at the right side of God. Instead of understanding that Jesus was to go to Heaven to be with His father, they were only asked Him if He is to Son of God. And after His answer they had enough reason (consider that every reason was enough for them) that He gave His testimony the needed to let Him die. How horrible how man can order the death of the Son of God!

God bless you all! Amen!

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 21

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 21

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 20 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• The widows offering
• Signs of the end of the age

The widows offering

This is a beautiful story in Luke. Here we see a lot of wealthy people putting money in the offering and one poor widow that “only” puts two very small copper in the treasury. Although these rich people gave higher amounts, Jesus still valued her offering much more. These rich people gave from their wealth, but this poor widow gave an offering while she had nothing at that moment. This also how God will value our efforts as Christian. Don’t be a Christian when it is easy, but also be a Christian and child of God when things are harder in your life. God will value all that you give to God in those times!

Sings of the end of age

Jesus disciples were admiring the temple and at that moment Jesus explained that a time would come that the temple would be destroyed. This brings Jesus to teach on the sings of the end of age. In our time this part of the Bible is becoming more and more important and on Youtube and such you will find a magnitude of documentaries, bible studies and more on this subject. What is important about the end time and the 2^nd coming of Jesus. When He comes He will make sure that we will see and know. So Jesus already warned long before the likes of David Karesh that anyone that claims to be Jesus is false.

Jesus also foretells that the end of ages will first show a time of increase of war, famine, and also fearful events from heavens (blood moons). Nowadays we see a lot of this misery come to pass, which show that we come closer and closer to that time. But in this time we also be hated, because we are Christians. Event this is becoming more and more current, especially by the fanatic gay movement, which is actively pursuing pastors and such which do not want to marry gay couples.

Jesus tells us not to worry about all of this, because if we stay close to the Holy Spirit He will guide us.

Also be continuously ready to go to heaven. Don’t think you have time to wait as we do not know the exact time of the end of ages.

God bless you all! Amen!

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 20

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 20

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 20 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• The authority of Jesus questioned
• The parable of the tenants
• Paying taxes to Caesar
• The resurrection and marriage
• Whose son is the Christ?

The authority of Jesus questioned

Jesus was teaching in the temple court and preaching the gospel. This is very important and good work for God. But the chief priests and the teachers of the law were not happy about it and openly questioned Jesus by which authority He was doing this. When we are working for God, we should expect that people will do everything to question our motives and also the authority by which we are doing this work. For this reason it is important that we do everything through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will give us the words we need to say to be able to successfully challenge this. Jesus did this excellently by asking if John’s baptism was by from Heaven or from men. The chief priests and the teachers of the law immediately began discussing this between each other and knew that both answers were wrong in their eyes. If from heaven then Jesus could rebuke them by asking why they did not believe them. If from men, then they knew that the people around them would stone them. They stated that they did not know. Jesus therefore told them that He would not tell them by which authority He did it.

Know that if someone doesn’t want to tell by which motive he is questioning you, then you have no obligation to answer them. As a Christian you are not obliged to help someone challenging your faith. They have to proof it, not you.

The parable of the tenants

Jesus know tells a parable about a vineyard and its owner. The owner planted the vineyard and rented a part to tenants. At harvest time he sent servants to ask for part of the fruit. They beat the servants. And they did this also to other servants that were sent. In the end the owner sent his son, and they still did not listen and killed the son. This parable is very clearly on God and Jesus. God has planted his faith in our lives as we can read throughout the whole Bible. During the time of the Bible God sent his servants (prophets) to receive some fruit from His labour. But man rejected him and attacked His servants. When He sent His son, Jesus, they killed Him. Jesus tells them that for killing the Son of God they would be punished. The Pharisees knew this was a parable against them and saw this as a reason to plan to kill Him. Instead of repenting their sins and come closer to God, they let their hearts grew harder and were making a plan to kill Jesus. If God gives blessings to your life, then you need to be prepared to give some of the fruits of His blessings back to Him.

Paying taxes to Caesar

The Pharisees know sent people to Jesus which pretended to be honest, but which were actually sent to trap Jesus in a way that they would have a justification to kill Him. These men asked Jesus if the Jews are obliged to pay taxes to Caesar (the worldly ruler). Jesus asked them to show a Denari and asked them which person was on that coin. They had to acknowledge that it was Caesar on it. Jesus therefore told them to pay Caesar what was his and to pay God was His. That we are Christians does not exempt us to keep the laws from the place where we life. But God also asks us to honor God and to pay Him respect and the honor that He deserves. So after paying taxes and other costs we still need to use the remainder of our money to also pay our share to Gods ministry. And not only with our money, but also by working for Him to do His work.

The resurrection and marriage

The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, but still asked Jesus a question to which a woman would belong if she was married to all seven sons of a man. And to whom she belongs after death. Jesus made it very clear that there question was wrong as God is not a God of death but of life. That we as humans decide to marry, this does not mean that this is relevant in Gods Kingdom. We will go to Heaven to as His children, not to be reunited by our loved ones. How much we love our loved ones, know that in Heaven you will be there to honor God and to be there as His child. Focus on God to go to heaven not on worldly matters.

Whose son is Christ?

God was teaching and asked them how it was possible that Jesus is the son of David, while David calls Him His lord. Jesus did this teaching to openly criticize the teachers of the Law. Jesus is the Son of God and came out of the bloodline of David, therefore He is considered a son of David. And David knew that Jesus was to be the son of God and for this reason acknowledged Him as His lord. The teachers however were not interested in the Son of God, but in their own wealth. In their work they had no eye for Gods teaching, but in gaining wealth and even by taking all from widows.

Never try to gain wealth in this world for your own benefit. Use all your time and effort to honor God and grow closer to Him. If we want to lift ourselves up in this world, then God will bring us down. As God wants to be the center of all we do and not to go after worldly wealth. Serve God and not the mammon.

 

God bless you. Amen!

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 19

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 19

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 19 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• Zacchaeus the tax collector
• The parable of the ten minas
• The triumphal entry
• Jesus at the temple

Zacchaeus the tax collector

When Jesus entered Jericho a tax collector by the name of Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He was, however, small in size. For this reason he climbed a tree. Jesus saw him and ordered him out of the tree, because Jesus wanted to stay in his house. Immediately people began to mutter, because Jesus went into the home of a sinner. However, this tax collector explained to Jesus that he didn’t sin in that way and gave half his wealth to the poor and if he ever cheated someone than he would pay back 4 times the amount. When Jesus heard this He told Him that he too was a son of Abraham (Christian).

First of all we should not assume that because of a certain profession that someone is a sinner. This tax collector showed enormous faith and Jesus blessed him for it.

The parable of the ten minas

In this parable a man of noble birth went to a distant country to be appointed king an then to return. Before he left he called his 10 servants and gave all of them 1 mina and told them to put the money to work. These subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him telling they did not want him to become king. The noble man was made king however and returned.

The first servant came and made 10 mina more. For this reason the king gave him 10 cities to rule, because he showed to be trustworthy in this small matter. The next one made 5 and got to rule 5 cities. The third one that came gave the mina back and said that he kept it stored, because he considered him a hard man. For this reason he took away the 1 mina and gave it to the one that earned 10. The king was angry, because this servant didn’t even put it on the bank to receive interest.

Jesus explained that anyone who has will receive more, but the one that has nothing, will lose everything. This parable shows that if you are blessed by God and you do nothing with those blessings, then you should expect that even the little you have will also be taken away. Know that if God blesses you, that you value it and do something with it to honor God.

The triumphal entry

Jesus came close to Jerusalem and ordered 2 disciples to go to Bethany (a town close by) and find a mule that was tied down and take it. And when someone would ask what they were doing they should tell it is for the Lord. They threw their robes over it and brought it to Jesus. Jesus sat on it as he entered Jerusalem. The followers were honoring Him on the way.

At this moment Jesus talks to the city and this is a telling what would happen to it. And as we know after He rose again what would happen to the city. And even later the temple would be destroyed in 70 after Christ. Everything in the Bible is foretold. So nothing happens by coincidence, but all according to Gods plan.

Jesus at the temple

When Jesus came to the temple He got very mad and drove all sellers out. Church should never be used to use it as a place to do business. Keep Gods house, His house. When we are part of a church, we should be very careful not to allow people to use it as a marketplace, because then you don’t honor God.

 

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 18

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 18

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 18 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• The parable of the persistent widow
• The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector
• The little children and Jesus
• The rich ruler
• Jesus again predicts His death
• A blind beggar received his sight

The parable of the persistent widow

This parable shows how important it is to be persistent in our prayer life. How easy is it go give up, when things don’t come your way immediately or in a short period? But when we have faith in God, then we should also be ready to keep on praying, even when it seems that we don’t get what we want or need.

The widow kept on coming to this judge and was turned down time after time, but at a certain moment he gave in, because he was fed up with her. God will never be fed up with our prayers and wants to take care of you. So rest on the faith that God will hear your cries you do day and night.

So, please keep on praying to God and you will see that God will listen!

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector

This parable is about being humble. To God it is very important that we are humble. Because if we are humble to Him, than He will exalt us, but when you choose to exalt yourself than God will humble you. In this parable the Pharisee comes before God full of arrogance and telling God how good he is. The tax collector, however, stays at a distance with his head down. He prayed to God and only asked for mercy and acknowledged to God that he was a sinner. In the end it was the tax collector that was forgiven and was justified by God.

The little children and Jesus

We should never keep children away from the things we do in our faith. In church, for example, we should allow them to join in everything. But also when you are at home doing a Bible study. When children come, make sure to include them in everything you do in your faith.

Jesus also told us that we should have the same level of faith like children, if we want to enter Heaven. Why did Jesus said this? Because when we are children, we believe in God fully and don’t let anything disturb that faith. When we grow older than we let things we learn and experience influence our level of faith. In anything you expect/want from God, have faith like a child and trust that God will do it and don’t let anything disturb your faith!

The rich ruler

Jesus now meets a rich young ruler. This young man wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit internal life. Jesus first reminded Him to look at the commandments and keep them. The young ruler told Jesus that he kept them always. Although this seems a good thing, Jesus told Him that He still lacked one thing, because He already what was important in the heart of this rich ruler. Jesus now asked him to give away all his possessions to follow Jesus. Now the rich ruler became sad, because he really loved his wealth. For this reason Jesus told him how difficult it is for rich people to enter heaven. Why? Because when we are rich we have the tendency to want to hold on to that wealth with everything we got. When we really want to follow God, then we should be willing (and do it when it should happen) to let everything and anybody behind us to follow God. Put God on first place, if you want to enter Heaven!

Jesus against predicts His death

Jesus tells His disciples again that He will be captured, mocked and humiliated, and eventually killed. But that He will rise after 3 days. At that moment they did not understand, but Jesus dying at the cross and rising after 3 days, was a prophecy from the Old Testament come to pass. God will also make promises in our life and He will make sure that these promises will come to pass!

A blind beggar receives his sight

A blind beggar knew that Jesus was near Him and asked Jesus to have mercy on him and to give him his eyesight back. The people around him, tried to shut him down. But this beggar didn’t allow people to disturb His faith in God/Jesus. And then Jesus told to bring this beggar to Him. Jesus saw his faith and healed Him. It is God, who decides whom He will bless. Don’t ever come in the position to determine what God will and will not do.

God bless you all, Amen!

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 17

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 17

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 17 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• Sin, faith, duty
• Ten healed of leprosy
• The coming of the Kingdom of God

 

Sin, faith, duty

In this story Jesus speaks about sin, faith and duty.

Sin

Jesus makes it very clear that it is inevitable that there will always come things on your path that will try to make you sin. This already makes it very clear that we should never think that we can life our life, without being tempted by sin. Now we know that we cannot escape temptations/sin, this means that we need to be strong in our faith and life our life according to Gods will and trust fully on the Holy Spirit to keep us from sinning.

Jesus also makes it very clear that if you are the one that is responsible for the sin to come, that you have a problem. God will not be happy if you bring sin in the lives of others and bring them into temptation. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to guide us, so we can be well equipped against sin. Always make sure that you keep away from sin and also not bring it in the life of others.

When you see someone fall into sin, then you have an obligation towards that person to rebuke him/her, so he/she can repent that sin. And also when others sin against you, always be prepared to forgive them!

Faith

The apostles ask God to let their faith grow. And Jesus makes it very clear that we only need the faith of a mustard seed. This means that having faith is very easy and you should not make it as something difficult. Faith is simply believing that with Gods guidance it is a fact.

Duty

Don’t thinks you are doing God a favor by having faith and by not sinning. No, we are but unworthy servants and having faith and not sinning are our duties. So, stay humble and know that by keeping this, we are obeying God and not doing Him a favor!

The healed of leprosy

Jesus was now travelling again and was near the border between Samaria and Galilee. And from a distance then lepers called Jesus and asked Him to have pity on them. Jesus simply said that they needed to go priest and show themselves. And all of them did and they were healed. Of these 10 only 1 came back to Jesus and he was a Samaritan. He threw himself before Jesus and thanked Him for healing Him.

Jesus asked this man where the other nine were to praise Him. Jesus did not ask him this out of arrogance, because He demanded that praise. No, He wants us to acknowledge and thank Him for the fact that He healed us. And not to feel good about Himself. In our lives will can also come in this situation and forget to thank God for what He has done for us. Never, think that it is by our own strength that beautiful and blessed things happen in our life! No it is due to the grace of God! We always need to thank Him for it, to acknowledge that it was Him and not you. So not only 1 out of 10 times, but all of the 10 times!

In this story Jesus mentions specifically that it was the Samaritan that came back to Him to praise Him. Back in those days the Jews were no real friends of the Samaritans. However, it was the foreigner (non-Jew) that knew by whose grace he was healed. Don’t think because you are a Christian that you don’t have to thank God. Sometimes it is a “foreigner” (non-Christian) that will give God the honor that He deserves, before we do.

The coming of the Kingdom of God

The Pharisees wanted to know from Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus makes it very clear that we will not know the day and time when it will come, and we should never follow anyone that claims to know it. These are false teachers!

Jesus tells us that a lot has to happen until that day comes. And when that day comes, God will make sure that we will know without doubt that the day has come. But before that day comes, mankind will first reject Jesus. Also the day that the Kingdom of God will come, will be the same as in the day of Noah. We know see that indeed in our time, the sin is very high and is no different than in the time of Noah.

Also we must be prepared to give our live on that day and not try to preserve it or protect all that we belong. If we do, then will perish. But if we are ready to give our life, than we will be preserved. Don’t be like the wife of Lot and look back to your worldly belongings, because you for sure suffer the same destiny.

Always be prepared for that day to come and to give your life, to enter the Kingdom of God. Don’t be the person that is left behind, but that is taken into the Kingdom of God!

God bless you all, Amen!

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 16

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 16

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 16 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• The parable of the shrewd manager
• Additional teachings
• The rich man and Lazarus

The parable of the shrewd manager

This parable is told by Jesus to let us all know that being a Christian means that you cannot act in a worldly way to gain wealth. In this world being shrewd is often seen as something good. This is the case for the manager that is being fired by his master and has to give account for his dealings. Because he knows he will be fired, he decides to lower the debts of the people that owe money/goods to his master to gain a quick profit and gain good relations with these persons.

What is very wrong with this is that thinks of a shrewd plan to gain a quick profit and also gain new friends by it. He is now driven by his a worldly desire for money. Not only for the quick profit, but also because he disadvantages his master. As a Christian we should not let money decide our choices, but our love for Jesus. Even when it seems too bad for us, we need to trust God and know that He will bless the situation.

What is also shocking is that the master doesn’t correct him, but actually loves his shrewd plan.

The Pharisees were very annoyed by this parable, because they also based their action on ways to gain wealth and not to honor God.

Jesus makes it very clear that if we deal in this way with that what is entrusted to us, which we should not expect to be entrusted by things much better from God. Because we already choose money over God. If we deal in such a manner than we serve money as our master and not God and we will not gain entrance to Heaven! Is money on earth for a limited time really worth loosing entrance to Heaven over? No!

Additional teachings

Until John the Baptist arrived the Law and prophets told us the laws/rules from God. From the moment that John the Baptist faith was being preached. And having faith and acting of faith is very important, but that does not mean that we do not have to follow the Law. If you want to follow God in faith, than you also need to still hold yourself to the laws of God. Don’t ever think that you can disregard the Laws, when it suits you.

The rich man and Lazarus

When alive the rich man did nothing to help the poor Lazarus, while he needed help. The rich man was more obsessed to gain more riches and enjoy his riches, instead of using his wealth to help others. At a certain moment Lazarus and the rich man both die. Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man to hell. The rich man, however, can see Lazarus and pleads with Abraham (that is there with Lazarus) to ask Lazarus to help him ease his suffering. But Abraham refuses, because when Lazarus and he were both alive he also did nothing to relieve the suffering of Lazarus. He then ask a chance to warn his family to repent and not also make the same mistake. But again Abraham refuses, because during our life God has already provided us with the Law to act on. The rich man thinks that sending a death to warn them will help, but Abraham tells him that if his family does not trust on Moses and the prophets, than a dead man will not chance their mind.

This story shows how important it is to help others with anything you got. Don’t let a chance go by to help someone else, just because you are so obsessed with gaining your own wealth. This story also shows that we can serve but only one master: God or money. Choose wisely and choose God!

God bless you all!

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 15

Bible study ‘Gospel of Luke’ – Chapter 15

Before reading this blog/Bible study, please start your time with first praying to God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through this Bible study. Ask God to give you insight and knowledge to understand the secrets and treasures He has stored for us in this chapter of the Bible. Also I ask to read (even more then one time) the chapter first before proceeding with reading this Bible study. God knows what you need to learn, not me .. I just write what I receive from the Holy Spirit.

Bible study

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we will be talking about Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. Welcome to this new Bible study serie in which we will undergo a journey through the Gospel of Luke.

This chapter tells the following stories:

• The parable of the lost sheep
• The parable of the lost coin
• The parable of the lost son

The parable of the lost sheep

Jesus is now surrounded by tax collectors and “sinners”. This is not directly the crowd you would expect Jesus to “hang out” with, but He does it for a good reason. But while He is surrounded by them, the Pharisees are also there and again they show how religion (and not faith) can really have a bad influence on us. Don’t understand me wrong, God gave us laws and guidelines to life by, which we should do our utmost best to keep them. But as soon as we create a religion around them, then it will go wrong. Religion is a human interpretation of what God wrote in the Bible.

And in this situation we see this happen again. Instead of being happy that Jesus attends to these sinners (in the end we are all sinners), they only have wrong thoughts about this situation. Jesus, however, knows exactly what we are thinking. This is also the case with these Pharisees.

Then Jesus addresses them directly and tells them the parable of the lost sheep. If you have 100 sheeps and one sheep gets lost, would you not do your best to search and rescue that lost sheep. This parable speaks about all of us. Of course God loves the 99 sheep that are not lost (that have not fallen into sin and drifted away from God), but He also loves that lost sheep and wants to do everything to rescue that fallen person. How beautiful is it that God wants all of us to enter Heaven! God is continuously out there looking for us with open arms to welcome us back and also will do everything in our life to get us back.

It is never too late to repent!

The parable of the lost coin

Jesus tells a new parable that deals with the same issue. Also in the case that you lose 1 of 10 silver coins, will you not do your best to find that lost coin. This is not a parable for us to go after money, but it is to show that God will rejoice when we repent our sin. As Christians we should also be willing and active to not only talk and hang out with those other silver coins that are not lost, but to also search that lost coin. When we are also there for sinners, then we can be a help in their lives to help them learn about God and show them how amazing and almighty He is. Always rejoice when a sinner repents and comes to the Lord!

The parable of the lost son

The third parable is also on the same subject. This makes it very clear how important it is for God that we also help in reaching people that have fallen into sin, so that they can learn about God and repent their sin.

In this parable is about a man with two sons. The youngest son decides he wants to leave and have is share of the inheritance, so that he can go out into the world. His father is saddened about his decisions but he respects his decisions (even although he doesn’t agree with the decisions). God will also respect our decision, even if we decide to make the wrong decision, because God won’t force us to follow Him. God gave us a free will, which comes with a lot of responsibility … we are responsible for all our own decisions.

The youngest son enjoyed the money and sinned a lot. And after a while he spent all his money and everything went bad in his life. This is something that you will also see if you choose to go down a path of sin. It will not be a path full of blessings! Even if sometimes it may seem that sinners have a better life, don’t be fooled. In the end it will work against them sooner or later!

At a certain moment he saw the errors of his ways and he decided that he wanted to go back to his father. And instead of coming back all arrogant, he came back and asked him to be hired as a servant. This is such a big show of a humble spirit. His father was extremely happy when he saw his son was back. And instead of holding a grudge, he decided to throw a feast for him. This is also what God does in Heaven. If we come back, are humble and repent our sins, then He will not hold it against us! No, He will forgive you and have a feast for you!

His older brother was not as happy and remembered his father of the sins he committed (strange is how he knew about them, which shows what was in the heart of the older son). But his father explained that He shouldn’t hold a grudge, because he was always with his father and all that is his father, will be for Him. As Christians we should also not hold a grudge if a bad person repents and comes to the Lord. No, we should be happy when a lost soul gets saved!

God bless you all!