[Linux4christians] Friday – Read Matthew 19:13-20:19, Mark 10:13-34, Luke 18:15-34

[Pastor David]

*Friday – Read Matthew 19:13-20:19, Mark 10:13-34, Luke 
18:15-34*

	*Commentary*

	In Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, and Luke 18:15-17 Jesus 
uses the bringing of babies
	and toddlers to Him for blessing as an opportunity to again 
refine His definition of saving
	faith “... like such as these”.  Of note are two elements; 
His disciples thought the babies
	unworthy of the time of Jesus and discovered again that He 
values all human life, second
	that He defines the heart-condition of faith-that-saves as 
innocent and trusting – which
	returns to His prior requirement that one abandon 
everything in this world including free
	will (back to pre-Fall Adam & Eve) and then allow God to 
restore as He deems best.

	Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30 describes 
the rich young man who
	claims to have kept all of the key principles of the Law 
but who abandons his quest for
	eternal life because he failed to obey and choose to part 
with his wealth – which Jesus saw
	as an idol in his life.  Nearby listeners were shocked to 
hear Jesus declare that it would be
	essentially impossible for a rich person to enter Heaven as 
they clung to the notion that
	wealth represented a Heavenly advantage.  The key is that 
no-one possesses anything of
	value to earn entrance to Heaven – Jesus noted that only 
those those who follow Him
	without any conditions, exceptions, or exemptions would 
receive the gift of eternal life.

	In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus again reminds the Jews, and some 
apparently arrogant early-in
	followers, that the chronological order - compared to 
others - when one was saved bears
	no relevance upon how Jesus chooses to reward with 
salvation.  It is the free and beyond-
	question choice of God to grant salvation to all who 
genuinely surrender-to-be-saved, be
	it one saved as a child who is from many generations of 
saved family members who may
	also be messianic Jews, or the life-long reprobate who 
surrenders the moment prior to
	his death.

	Matthew 20:17-19, Mark 10:32-34, 18:31-34 reports another 
prediction of the suffering of
	Jesus, and His death and resurrection.  Luke notes that the 
disciples still did not fully
	comprehend the immensity of what Jesus was prophesying.

	*Discussion & Reflection - Keeping it Real*

	Jesus with the little children is often depicted as merely 
about children but He often-
	enough referred to all believers as “His children” to cause 
us to contemplate how the
	message applies to us, as well as to new believers.

	Have you considered that a homeless person may be better 
positioned to transition
	unconditionally to dependence upon God than those among us 
with many possessions?

	Have you observed, and perhaps experienced, an 
arrogance-of-timing, where one may
	improperly imagine that they are 
something-special-before-God for having been saved
	longer than someone else?

	Have you experienced a time when God has placed a truth 
right in front of you but for
	some reason you have persisted in an inability to receive it?

	*Truth in Action*
	
	Today I will reflect upon the heart-condition in which I 
approach my walk with Jesus.  I
	will prayerfully consider those times when I come to Him 
with hands not emptied of
	'demandingness' and a clinging to worldly things that are 
not of-Him.  I will commit to
	the Holy Spirit to partner with Him to value only that 
which God values and to seek only
	that which is righteous in His eyes.

	*Be Specific* 
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Saturday's read will be: Matthew 20:20-34, Mark 10:35-52, 
Luke 18:35-19:27
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Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!  Pastor David
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