Meet Jesus - Day 39 of 40 - Returner

Read Luke 12:35-48. 

[Jesus shared with His disciples,] "Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready."

2,000 years before Arnold coined "I'll be back" (sorry, couldn't help myself), Jesus declared His return. 

As we meet Jesus: Returner, let's look at the good news for us.

First, even after Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, He never left His people. He shared this promise in Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT), "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. AND BE SURE OF THIS: I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE [my caps]." 

Second, He promised that when He went away, He would send the Holy Spirit to be with us. (John 16:7).

Third, He offered these words of encouragement, hope and love to His followers, "Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:1-3 NLT)

With this good news come questions for our lives.

What does it mean to...

• be dressed for service?
• be ready?
• carry out His instructions?
• be prepared?
• be entrusted with what we've been given?

And considering Jesus' return...

• Where is there the urgency to introduce people to Jesus--the one who saves those who believe in Him from sin and death?
• How does this impact your call from Jesus to "go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you"?

Take time to ponder these questions. Discuss them with your small group. 

Meet Jesus - Day 38 of 40 - Provider

Read Luke 12:22-32.

"And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need." (Luke 12:29-31 NLT)

Worry. Dread. Anxiety. How many of us are plague by such things? What does it profit us but more of the same?

Lately I've been thinking about how much I need Jesus and what He means to me. In the big scheme of things, what do we need more than Him? He is by our side. He is in our corner. Always and forever. 

What does Jesus mean to you? How does He provide for you? How has He provided for you? 




As they reached the Red Sea, the Israelites worried as the Egyptians were closing in on them. And then Moses shared these words, "Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” (Exodus 14:13-14 NLT)

The Lord Jesus does fight for us. He does provide. He fought and provided with His very own life on the cross and came out victorious! 

When we are stressed, in need, worried, freaked out, what does Jesus say to us but the same words He shared with Paul, "My grace is all you need." (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)

When I think about all of the ways in which Jesus provides for me, I think, "How does a person live their life without Jesus?" I just can't fathom it. And this is why we do what we do. This is why we introduce people to Jesus. This is why we live our lives per His mission to seek and save the lost, those far from knowing Him. 

What is your response to all of this?

Meet Jesus - Day 37 of 40 - Warner

Read Luke 12:1-12. 

Before we get into the account of Jesus in Luke, what do you find to be the benefits of one who warns, namely for the person who would perchance heed the warning? Have you ever warned someone about something? Why did you do so? What was the outcome of your warning?



"Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy.'" (Luke 12:1b NLT)

"Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!" (Luke 12:3 NLT)

"Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear." (Luke 12:4-5 NLT)

"...anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." (Luke 12:10b NLT)

There seems to be some question about the word "warner." A difficult word to find in the dictionary. I read one thread on-line where a person wanted to use the word "warner" (one who warns) but kept getting suggestions from people to instead use "admonisher" or "watchdog." There was also the suggestion of "forewarner". But none of those alternatives convey what I'm trying to get after with Jesus: Warner. 

It is just that simple...Jesus was one who warned people on what to watch out for, what to truly fear, and what not to do. He was a warner! 

Where in our world do we need Jesus' warnings? Why do we need them? How would Jesus' warnings benefit those in your life who are far from Him? 



To whom is God calling you to warn, to introduce Jesus: Warner to? What will be your next step with this?

Meet Jesus - Day 36 of 40 - Sacrilegious

Read Luke 11:37-54. 

"As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. Then the Lord said to him, 'You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.'" (Luke 11:37-41 NLT)

sac - ri - leg - ious - intentional ignorance of a sacred (seemingly holy, traditional) person, place, thing, custom, etc.

Does it seem surprising that Jesus, Son of the Most High God, Holy, God Himself was sacrilegious?

If it wasn't already challenging (impossible without Jesus) for man to live by the 10 Commandments God gave to Moses, Jewish leaders went on to add another 600 plus. Great! (sarcasm implied)

So here comes Jesus in Luke 11 to once again set things right, show people what is truly important in life. Did the required hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom account at all for one's salvation? Nope. The custom in and of itself didn't mean a hill of beans. Whereas the custom likely began in reverence to God, ultimately became just another thing to do and check off on one's good-works-to-get-a-gold-star list. 

Jesus continued, "What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things." (Luke 11:42 NLT)

Jesus is about the important things in life. He is about people, about people knowing His incredible love and grace, about saving people from sin and death. Jesus isn't about handcuffing people to man-made, burden-filled laws, traditions, and customs that truly do no one any good. 

How may we introduce people to Jesus: Sacrilegious by our words (i.e. communications) and actions? Do some thinking on this. What are things in your life, in the life of your congregation, that may add burden or confusion on those new to the faith or those who are far from God; things which mean nothing for one's salvation? 

Meet Jesus - Day 35 of 40 - Prayer-answerer

Read Luke 11:1-13. 

Jesus said, "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." (Luke 11:9-10 NLT)

I don't know about you, but when I read, "keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for", I am incredibly encouraged; I am given hope. This is hope that only God can grant. The answer may come soon. The answer may come slower than I wish. But as Paul instructed the Thessalonians, "Never stop praying." (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT). Jesus is our hope when we lift our prayers to Him.

How has God answered your prayers in the past? Did the answers come quick or take some time? What did God's answers mean to your faith in Him?


How may you share the hope of Jesus: Prayer-answerer with another--especially one going through a difficult, trying time? In what ways could you share your story and experience?


"So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” (Luke 11:13 NLT)

Meet Jesus - Day 34 of 40 - One With Whom To Waste Time

Read Luke 10:38-42. 

"Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, 'Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.'” (Luke 10:38-42 NLT)

Busyness for the sake of busyness...the great distraction, the great excuse, the great relationship stunter.

How do you relate--whether being the one sucked into busyness or the casualty of another's busyness? Why is it so easy for busyness to take over life?


Now Jesus did call us to live a life for Him. He commissioned us in Matthew 28:19 (NLT) to "go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." There is some "doing" involved in this. It does take work. It will take our time to go and make disciples. 

But we'll never be most effective in our "doing" if we are never just sitting, resting, reclining with Jesus. In these times, we are renewed, refreshed, re-energized, and reminded of His great love for us. 

Where is the busyness in Psalm 23:1-3 (NLT)?

"The Lord is my shepherd;

    I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

    he leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

    bringing honor to his name."

There isn't any. In these times we are the recipients of His action where "He lets", "He leads", "He renews" and "He guides".

So as we are introducing Jesus to another, do we unintentionally introduce Jesus: Taskmaster? Are we over busy in our Christian lives to not spend time with people? Are we in fifty-million church meetings, functions, etc. during the week, where people outside of us would think, "Who needs that? I already have enough stress in life?"

Or can we show others Jesus: One With Whom To Waste Our Time? One with whom to sit at His feet. One with home to slow the pace of life down. One with whom to remember the truly important aspects of life. 



"But the Lord said to her, 'My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.'” (Luke 10:41-42 NLT)

After that time spent with Jesus, I think Mary could have sung the refrain from Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted:

"It was time well wasted

And there's no way I trade a few more things that I could've crossed off my list

For a day I'll never forget

No, I didn't get a thing done

But I sure soaked up every minute of the memory we were makin'

And I count it all as time well wasted"

In what ways could you begin to waste more time with Jesus?

In closing, here is lyric video of Brad's song:

Meet Jesus - Day 33 of 40 - Teacher

Read Luke 10:25-37. 

Day 33 of Meet Jesus and I'm just getting into Jesus: Teacher. Shows how multi-faceted Jesus our Lord and Savior is. 

"One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: 'Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?'" (Luke 10:25 NLT)

It is interesting enough to note that an expert in religious law acknowledges Jesus as "Teacher". And, at least from the context in Luke, we are not seeing a snarky Pharisee attempting to trip Jesus up (as if that could ever happen). Instead we have a genuine scene of teacher and pupil. 

A good teacher helps his/her student to think and grapple with the challenging questions in life, not just spoon feed answers. Notice how many questions Jesus asked in the dialogue. What did the expert in religious law learn through Jesus' teaching and questions? What did you learn?

AN ASSIGNMENT. Go through one of the other gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark or John) and look for questions Jesus asked. From those questions, 1) what do you find Jesus teaching the person/people being asked and 2) what is He teaching you? 

How may you connect one in need of answers to Jesus: Teacher who has all of the crucial answers and all of the right questions we need to guide our lives? 

Meet Jesus - Day 32 of 40 - Multiplier

Read Luke 9:10-17. 

"Jesus said, 'You feed them.'

'But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,' they answered. 'Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?' For there were about 5,000 men there.

Jesus replied, 'Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.' So the people all sat down. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!" (Luke 9:10-17 NLT)

What we see as limitations, Jesus sees as possibilities. Later in the book of Luke, Jesus said, "What is impossible for people is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27 NLT)

A number of years ago I launched a Friday morning men's group in the fall. It started with me and 2 other guys. We had a vision of multiplying so that we could connect more men into Christian community. The hope was to multiply into 2 groups within one year. A good vision. 

But Jesus thought bigger. 

The group met weekly but started slowly. This may not be exactly how it turned out, but it was something like...first week it was me and Gary; Rocky forgot or slept in. Second week it was me and Rocky; Gary forgot or slept in. Third week, I missed and it was just Rocky and Gary. This went on for weeks. Our vision of multiplying into 2 groups in one year wasn't looking to good.

And then Jesus did His thing.

The group grew and grew. By late spring we had 18 guys showing up every Friday and we multiplied (the original group still meeting on Friday and the new group meeting on Thursday). This happened 6 months earlier than we had originally visioned. Then just a couple of months later one thing led to another and a second Thursday group multiplied off of the fairly new Thursday group. Later in the summer a couple of the guys felt the call to launch a Saturday morning group. And they did.

What resulted? Jesus took our original vision of multiplying in one year and QUADRUPLED IT! 

Epilogue: Two weeks after the Saturday group launched, I was at our church campus for a morning leadership meeting. A random fella, not from our church, walked in the building around 7:30 am. He had noticed our church for awhile and was looking for information about who we were and how he could get connected. (Why at 7:30 am...I don't know!) I gave him a little tour and then asked, "You know, we have a men's group that just began meeting a few minutes ago. Would you like to check it out?" He replied, "Sure." I walked him into the room and the guys welcomed him in with open arms! The man became an active, weekly member of the group.

How could have things been different for the man if I didn't have this almost instant way of connecting him? Not sure. But it seemed the timing of this Saturday morning group launching was just right...just as Jesus had planned, through His multiplication efforts.

How have you seen Jesus: Multiplier active in your life? How has He flipped what seemed impossible to being possible and more so? What does Jesus: Multiplier mean for our lives? 

What could Jesus: Multiplier mean for those in your life, who only see what is before them and not what is possible with Jesus' hand in it (especially when the dream/vision is about Jesus' mission to reach more people with His love)?

Meet Jesus - Day 31 of 40 - Chain-breaker

"So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free." (John 8:36 NLT)

Because of what Jesus did on the cross, died and rose again, we are free from the chains of sin and death. We have this assurance!

We have this assurance even in the times we stumble and fall. Paul wrote of this to the church in Rome, "I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 7:21-25a NLT)

Again, be assured. Jesus is our Chain-breaker!

How do you live today in the presence of Jesus: Chain-breaker? How do you experience the freedom found in Christ and in Him alone? How does Jesus equip you for your day and the challenges/temptations/trials you face?



Some words to encourage you from Lauren Daigle's song How Can It Be:

I am guilty

Ashamed of what I've done, what I've become

These hands are dirty

I dare not lift them up to the Holy One

You plead my cause, you right my wrongs

You break my chains, you overcome

You gave your life, to give me mine

You say that I am free

How may we encourage and introduce others to the good news found in Jesus: Chain-breaker?



In closing, enjoy the lyric video of How Can It Be: