Love Them Anyway
Jewish legal tradition had 39 categories of activities that were forbidden on the Sabbath. The Pharisees watched Jesus closely waiting for him to break one of those rules. (Luke 6:7) There may be people watching and waiting for you to fail. Show them what you are made of! Show them how good the grace of God is, and love them anyway. The Pharisees were more concerned about protecting the laws than actually helping people. Jesus was more focused on the positive-- doing good to help those in need. Are you so focused on the wrong people do that it stops you from advancing God's kingdom?
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In 2019 at the University I attended, I taught a Bible Study Session once a week. At that time I called my Ministry Conquering The Walk. It later became The Vessel Brand in 2022. During one of our sessions this guy was smoking a vape. I was baffled at the action but I was more so focused on making sure he received what God had given me, so I didn't ask him to leave. I taught the message, and he continued to come-- him & his vape. By the end of the semester he texted me saying, "Ty, thank you so much for helping me find God, best thing I could have ever done." It is in this memory I can relate so heavily to the scriptures at hand, all because of a text message I received 4 years ago. Our memories can sometimes stay with us forever, and that's why it's important that we create good ones. What if I had asked him to leave for disrupting the session? He may have never found God. Be careful not to shun people away because of their sinful ways. Remember Jesus ate with the sinners...(Luke 5:29-30)
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When Jesus officially choose his disciples in Luke 6:12-16 he first went into prayer to seek God before he made such an important decision. I can't tell you how many decisions i've made without seeking God first. It is those same decisions that make up part of the broken pieces of my fragile heart. I have no doubt in my mind that God is still healing those pieces, but if only i'd seeked him first. I don't want you guys to make the same mistakes I have-- Seek God before you make a decision, seek him in everything that you do. (Matthew 6:33) It is important to note that the disciples were not always called by the same names. Peter is sometimes called Simon or Cephas, Matthew is also known as Levi, Bartholomew is thought to be the same person as Nathaniel, and Judas is also called Thaddaeus. Whatever their names may be, Jesus choose ordinary men. You may feel unqualified for the task at hand by I am here to tell you that YOU ARE THE WOMEN for the job, and YOU ARE THE MAN for the job. God sees you fit for the very thing that he has called you to do.
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The Beatitudes were what they called the verses of the message Jesus gave in Luke 6:20-49. Beatitudes is Latin for "Blessing". These verses explain what it means to be a follower of Jesus. They contrast Kingdom values with worldly values, and shows what followers of Christ can expect from the world & what God will provide for them. These verses are full of knowledge. In our bibles all the red text is words from Jesus himself. Most of chapter six is full of red, and anytime Jesus spoke we know it was something of value. He spoke about: Loving our enemies, judging others, fruit in people's lives, and building on a solid foundation. The key verses that I pulled from the Beatitudes are left below. I took some time to reflect on a couple and they left me in tears.
- Luke 6:27-28| "But to you who are listening I say; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."
- Luke 6:37| "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
- Luke 6:43-44| "No good tree bears bad fruit, not does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.-"
- Luke 6:48| "They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundations on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it , because it was well built."
God's word is so so good and I'm so thankful that he has given me this idea to read Luke because I am learning so much. What is your take away from all six days so far?