Gary Gleans

This chapter is all about bread, and oh what bread it is. One bread that fed one-thousand men per loaf and one bread that paid the price of sin for all of mankind. I think that Christ used the physical bread as an illustration hoping that He would be able to convince them to believe His teaching on the spiritual bread of His own body. JESUS GIVES BREAD THAT PROLONGED LIFE: The thousands of people who came to hear Jesus in the wilderness not only heard a life changing message from Christ, they experienced a miracle that should have opened their eyes to the life changing power of Christ for eternal life. Unfortunately, it seems that many of them were impressed by the show but had a short memory, for when it was all over, they were still looking for a sign. Christ saw their need and met their need and He is always faithful to meet the needs of His children, but we must not allow ourselves to become "addicted" to bread and fish. The true miracle that Christ wants to perform in u

To be very honest, I have no idea what was going on at the pool of water that was able to heal the first person to jump in the water after it was " stirred ." These are good questions to save up for heaven. What we do see is Christ demonstrating His power to heal and His clear declaration of His own deity . THE COMPASSION OF CHRIST : When Christ saw this disabled man, He was moved with compassion and healed him. After 38 years of pain and suffering the man was made whole and could walk. Jesus loves people and is able to meet their needs. He has great compassion on all of us and I am so thankful for it. THE CYNICISM OF THE PHARISEES: These legalistic men see a man who has not walked in almost four decades carrying his pallet and their biggest concern is that he is working on the sabbath . Instead of rejoicing in the miracle that Christ has performed they are critical and wrapped up in the laws they are so adept at hiding behind. May God protect us from such cold heartedness

Most of this chapter is about the Samaritan woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus. It is a fantastic example of evangelism from which we all can learn. There are several different angles from which to look at this passage, so as I thought about each character in the chapter several different ideas popped into my mind. JESUS: Christ started the encounter by conversing with the Samaritan woman. This is significant because most Jews would not do such a thing. Too often, we as believers are not in the habit of conversing with the unbelievers around us. If we are going to impact the world around us, we need to interact with them. Next, Christ starting confronting her with her sin. There comes a point in every conversation that we must confront unbelievers with their sinful condition. It is difficult and risky to do, but it is the kindest things that we can ever do for them. Finally, Christ started convincing her of the the truth of who He was and how she must come to God. The only

This is the chapter that, arguably, has the most important and well know verse in all of Scripture. Verse 16 is one of the best summaries of the Gospel and clearly presents the motive of salvation--the love of God, the means of salvation--the death of Christ, the condition of salvation--belief in Christ and the result of salvation--eternal life. Believe it or not, I don't think I have ever preached a message on this verse by itself, maybe I should. But the chapter has far more than just verse 16 so this could make a very long blog, but I will try to be brief. We basically have two messages in the chapter, and the messages, though from two different messengers are identical . THE MESSAGE FROM JESUS: Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, probably because he was too worried about being seen with Jesus during the day. The Pharisees were not too fond of Jesus and His teachings. Jesus makes it clear that salvation is not something that is possible by the power of man. It requires the super

One of the greatest songs that we used to sing quite often is Trust and Obey. As I read this chapter, that theme jumped into my mind as my take aways from this reading. We go from a wedding feast to a whipping in the temple. Stark contrasts, but in one we learn that we can trust and in the other we learn that we should obey. TRUST BECAUSE CHRIST HAS ABILITY TO DO MIRACLES: Jesus showed His disciples that He had the power to turn water into wine. John points out that due to this miracle, the disciples believed. Isn't it nice to know that we serve an all mighty, all powerful God. He has the ability to do anything He wants. He may not always do what we want Him to do, but that does not disprove His ability it just reveals that our desires are not what is best for His glory and our eternal good. No matter what comes our way, God is in control and we can trust Him. OBEY BECAUSE CHRIST HAS HOSTILITY TOWARDS SIN: Jesus hates sin, especially when in involves the name of the father. The

We are now starting our fourth journey through the life of Christ. John promises to be an interesting study with several new perspectives and insights. This first chapter is so poetic, it really is a beautiful picture of Christ and His coming into the world. We start out with three divisions at the start of His ministry. THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST: Jesus is God, He always has been God and He was with the Father who created the world and all that is in it through Him. But something drastic and delightful happened. God in the person of Jesus became a man. He took on flesh and came to live on this earth that He might pay the price for our sin. He came to reveal God to this earth and shine the light of the glory of God into the hearts of men. Unfortunately, the world did not understand Him, believe Him or receive Him. God came as a man to tho those He had created and they didn't recognize Him, rather, they rejected Him. We too have been given amazing revelation of Christ throu

It is so easy to forget things. God's blessings are so great and frequent but we are so forgetful. We have the same problem with God's Word. We have read it and books about it and heard thousands of sermons on it but we still forget it far too easily. It seems the disciples had a similar problem. They had heard Christ tell them dozens of times not only that He would die but that He would rise again, yet when the resurrection happened none of them could believe it. Their desperation and confusion was all because they chose to ignore God's Word. I wonder how much of our difficulties in life come about because we fail to remember God's Word? I would like to look at what the Word of God could have provided many things to the disciples as it can to us. THE WORD OF GOD GIVES COMFORT: The ladies and all the disciples where in the depths of despair because of the death of Christ. Had they paid attention to and remembered what Christ had said they would have experienced

I can never read these final chapters of the Gospels without crying. I know what is coming, but the crucifixion of Christ just pricks so many conflicting emotions. Everything is just so wrong but at the same time I am overwhelmed with gratitude because I know that His suffering was on my behalf. He didn't deserve death and I don't deserve life but thanks to His death I can have eternal life. These are a couple of the emotions that hit me as I read this painful and blessed account once again. ANGERED BY WEAKNESS: Pilate and Herod both knew that Jesus was innocent and both of them want to release Jesus but they are too weak to stand up for what they know to be true. The religious leaders make up lies about Christ and Pilate knows it. Everyone knows the truth but no one is willing to act on it. These leaders are corrupt people pleasers with no back bone. They capitulate to the whims of the crowd and are controlled by their own desire to be popular. I don't think that

How do we deal with disappointment? The more I work with people, the more I realize that there are many disappointments along the way. Don't get me wrong, there are immeasurable joys and there is nothing more rewarding but there are definitely disappointments. I am sure that Christ was no stranger to these feelings by the content of this chapter. I don't have a nifty outline today, but here are some of my quick thoughts. First of all, the people that Christ came to save were determined to find a way to kill Him. He was their rightful king and had left the glories of heaven to pay the price of their sin. I realize that His death was a part of the plan, but it still must have hurt to see the hatred of the religious leaders who should have know better. Second, one of His chosen disciples, had decided to betray Him for some extra cash. Then he decided to do it with a kiss. Again, Christ knew it was coming, but I am sure that did not make it any easier. Third, all of the dis

Eternity is a very long time, and Christ wants to make sure that we are ready for it. He gave His life that we might enjoy eternity with Him, but beyond that He challenges us to live in light of eternity now. Christ is going to return so it is vital that we be ready to meet Him and give an account of our lives to Him. Here are a few thoughts of how the return of Christ ought to affect the way we live live now. THE WAY WE MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS: The widow who gave all she had, in reality, gave more than all of the others who gave. She did this because she was not in the least concerned with her earthly life and had her sights set on eternity. God does not need our money, but He does promise to reward us richly when we use it for His glory. The disciples were impressed with the physical beauty of the temple and how ornate everything was. Christ wanted them to realize that all that impressiveness was going to topple over and end in nothing. All that we own and all that we build in

This chapter has a lot to do with authority. The Jews want to know why Jesus speaks with such authority and Christ wants to know why they Jews have repeatedly refused to accept God's authority. It is a battle of the wits for which the religious leaders and totally unprepared and under qualified. This confrontation would be funny if it were not so sad. THE JEW QUESTION THE SOURCE OF CHRIST'S AUTHORITY: Their question implies that they do not recognize that Christ has authority in and of himself. They believe that they have authority because of their position and wealth, but they do not recognize Christ's authority so they want to know how He will respond to them. Christ does not want to play this game so He puts them between a rock and a hard place by asking about what they thought of John the Baptist. By doing this, He reveals that the religious leaders were really controlled by the people and had no true authority. CHRIST CONDEMNS THEIR REJECTION OF GOD'S A

This chapter begins with the conversion of Zacchaeus and ends with the cleansing of the temple. Christ responded to different people in different ways based on the way that they responded to Him and what had been revealed to them. I think it is helpful to look at how Christ responds to the variety of people with who He comes in contact. CHRIST RECEIVES THE REPENTANT: Zacchaeus was an outcast of society and, apparently, had been very dishonest in his work. However, when Christ came into his home and into his life there was a radical transformation. He gave half of all he owned to the poor and made restitution for all he had stolen. These acts could never save anyone, but these are the actions that demonstrate the fruits of salvation. Christ declares that he is saved while the multitude of critics who could not believe that Jesus would associate with such a man continue in their lost condition. God is not nearly so concerned with the sins of our past but He does care very much abo

How do we approach God? This question has motivated the founding of every religion known to man. We know that the only means by which man can approach God is through Christ and His death on the cross. Today's passage shows us how four different people approached God and as they do they teach us some truths about what God looks for in our lives as we come to Him. HEALTHY DETERMINATION: The parable of the unrighteous judge makes me a little uncomfortable because the judge in this case represents God and any time we are comparing God do an unrighteous man it should make us a little uncomfortable. The point is that if even an unrighteous judge will grant justice to a poor woman who seeks him with persistent determination, how much more will God do for those who seek Him in prayer. I think that one of my greatest weaknesses in prayer is a lack of determination and persistence. We need not fear that God will tire of our asking. I believe He delights in requests for in so doing we

This chapter does not seem to have one major theme that can tie it all together, but does treat some very vital subjects that all of us would do very well to remember and practice. In fact I believe that if we would comprehend these truths and live in light of them, they would resolve most, if not all, of our relational problems. FORGIVENESS IN CHRIST IS AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE: Christ's teaching on forgiveness in startling both to His disciples and to us. His teaching is not hard to understand, it is just hard to practice. The principle is this, we must forgive those who, in repentance, ask us to even for repeat offenses. It is not up to us to judge whether the person is truly repentant or not, we are called to take our brother at his word and forgive him and this forgiveness is limitless. As Christians we forgive this way because that is the way that we have been forgiven. There is never a reason to hold a grudge, develop bitterness or seek vengeance for offenses against us. G

This chapter has a lot to do with money and the dangers that money presents to all of us. It is so easy for us to become enamored with money and what money can provide. This is a real danger that all of us face so we would do well to heed the warnings found in this text. DON'T BE DECEIVED BY MONEY: The accumulation of money can be very deceptive. Many people presume that because they have been blessed with large sums of money that God is blessing their lives. The truth is that money can often be accumulated by dishonest means. Do not be fooled. There will, one day be and accounting before God and then and only then will it become evident if God was truly blessing our efforts or if our wealth has come from unfaithful pursuits. All of our resources are to be invested in the promotion of the kingdom of God. He has entrusted them to us and we are to manage them on His behalf. Will He find us faithful? DON'T BE DISTRACTED BY MONEY: The problem with money is that it can b

This is one of my all time favorite passages. The text records three parables, all of which are basically the same. In all three, something precious is lost: sheep, coin and son. This is followed by a searching and finding of that which was lost which is followed by a party. The third parable that we call the Prodigal Son has several more details and insights, so we will look most closely at three lessons that we learn about God from this parable. However, in order to correctly understand this parable it is essential that we interpret it in light of the first three verses of the chapter. Notice that the tax collectors and sinners are gathered around Jesus to hear Him and the Pharisees are, as usual, complaining about Him eating and associating with such people. In that backdrop let's look as these lessons. GOD CARES ABOUT CHARACTER MORE THAN COMFORT: Every time I read the story of the younger brother's rebellion, I try to picture myself doing something like that, and it

Wherever Jesus went and whomever He was with, He was always teaching. He wanted to give all around Him divine perspective on the day to day issues as they presented themselves. It is easy for us to get caught up in our own agendas and we tend to see things from what we consider to be a logical world view. The problem is that things look very different when viewed through divine lenses. Today we will see to see God's perceptive on several issues of life. LOVE AND LAW: Christ was constantly confronted with the Sabbath laws by the religious leaders. Their idea was that keeping the law of the Sabbath was more important that the principle of love. Christ repeatedly tried to show all who would listen that the Law was all summed up in one word: "LOVE." It is usually easier for us to keep a list of rules that we convince ourselves to be important to God than it is for us to consistently love ALL those who are around us. God's perspective is that we obey the law

None of us like to suffer very much, but God specializes in using suffering in the lives of His children to make them more complete and to further His kingdom. There are many things about suffering that we do not understand, but the truths of this passage should help. SUFFERING PRODUCES GROWTH: God uses, not only our suffering, but also the suffering of others as a means to bring about His will. This passage tells of two incidents in recent history where several men were killed. It was taught that these people must have been especially sinful to suffer this fate. The truth was is that the entire nation was sinful, but God graciously spared most of them in hopes that the tragedy that befell their friends would wake them up and lead them to repentance. The fruitless fig tree depicts a similar truth. In order for the tree to become fruitful it needed to be cut, have the dirt dug up around it and be fertilized. The tree was probably much happier and more comfortable just growing lea

One of Christ's favorite subjects while He was on earth was His return. So much about the way that Christ was treated during His first coming was just so wrong. That will not be the case when He comes again. At that time, He will make all of it right. Most of this chapter helps us to properly prepare for that glorious day. Today we will look at what will happen at the return of Christ. WE WILL HAVE SECRETS REVEALED: There is really no such thing as a secret. Since God knows everything, He knows all of our secret acts, thoughts and motives. He knows how many hairs are on our heads, how many grains of sand are on the sea shore and he knows each time a sparrow falls from the sky. If He cares enough to know all of that, imagine how much He cares about each of us. What is sobering about this truth is that He will judge each person upon His return. Unbelievers will be condemned to an eternity in hell. Those of us who have trusted Christ will not suffer such condemnation but w

Once again, we have a wide variety of teaching on a wide variety of subjects. We will take one at a time and try to glean a few lessons from each. PRINCIPLES ON PRAYER: The disciples observed the prayer life of Christ and wanted to know how to pray as He did. His response to this request is what has come to be known as the Lord's prayer. Unfortunately, these words have become, for many people and churches, words that have been memorized and mindlessly repeated without considering their meaning. I believe that Jesus intended to instruct the disciples that prayer should include personal requests, the advancement of the kingdom and will of God as well as personal forgiveness. We are usually very good ask asking for bread, but often neglect to pray for God's will to be accomplished on this earth and are even less faithful to ask for and grant forgiveness in our praying. In addition to the content of prayer, Christ taught the importance of persistence and assures us that God

There are three different themes in this chapter. Luke begins by talking about the ministry of the 70, he then describes Christ's encounter with a ruler who inspires the parable of the Good Samaritan and he ends with the encounter of Mary and Martha. I am not sure that these three events depend on one another to form some body of teaching or even that they go together at all. But each of them teach us important lessons and that is what we are here to see. THE PLEASURES AND PERILS OF PREACHING: The seventy were sent out from city to city and given authority to minister to the needs of the people as well as preach. This work has it's perils. Some places do not want to hear. Some families will not cooperate. Those who reject the message can be a source of, not only frustration, but persecution. However, the ministry affords great pleasures. Many people appreciate the truth and give of their time, homes, friendship and resources to meet the needs of the ministers of Chris

There is so much in this chapter that I have really struggled with how to sum it up in my mind. There seems to be a transition in Christ's ministry here as He begins to prepare the disciples for their future ministry. I chose to look at four qualities that Christ seems to be instilling in His followers and then four deficiencies that stand in contrast to that which Christ longs to see in our lives as we strive to serve Him. CONFIDENCE NOT COWARDICE: As He sent His disciples alone, He gave them authority to preach, heal and cast out demons. They scattered to a variety of locations and seemed to have a tremendous impact on those to whom they ministered. However, Christ warned them that not all would hear, honor or help them. They were not to allow this type of rejection to cause them to cower in fear, but were to move on with confidence knowing that they were doing the work of God and had the truth. Later on in the chapter, they fail because of their lack of faith and confiden

As we continue to follow Christ's ministry, we learn much about who He is, what He came to do as well as how we ought to respond to Him. There are the three lessons that I gleaned about the word, will and work of Christ from this text. THE WORD OF CHRIST DESERVES PROMINENCE: When our children draw a cute picture, we put it on the refrigerator. When we earn a degree, we frame it and hang it on a wall. These things deserve prominence in our minds. Christ is teaching His disciples the importance of considering the Word of God as a priority in life. The parable of the soils demonstrates what happens when God's Word is ignored, misunderstood or devalued. The Parable of the lamp illustrates how the Word of God should be lifted up like a light. Does the Word of God hold this place of priority and prominence in our lives? Do we reject the teachings of the worldly society in which we live that we might fully embrace the teachings of Christ? Do we hold the teachings of Christ up high and

I would like to look at three of the people in this chapter that stand out to me. I think their attitudes and actions have lessons from which we can learn. Christ uses all three of them as illustrations of greatness so we will do well to follow their lead. A CENTURION WITH GREAT FAITH: This was a Gentile who was sympathetic to the cause of Israel, but his faith, according to Jesus, out shined the faith of all in Israel. He had a slave who was close to death and believed Jesus could heal him, but he considered himself unworthy to go to Christ himself so he asked the leaders of the synagogue to implore Christ on his behalf. Then, he was so humble that he did not want to impose on Christ's time and make Him come to his house. He knew that Jesus could heal from a distance as well as in person. That, by definition, is faith. He did not need to see Christ work but believed in the power of Him whom he had never met. This is what we must do in prayer. We cannot see Christ, but we

Luke summarizes the Sermon on the Mount in this one chapter. There are several warnings that this passage brings to my mind. BEWARE OF LEGALISM: The Pharisees were hung up about the disciples eating grain on the Sabbath and about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. It is easy for us to look at them and wonder how they could be so shallow and blind. The problem is that most of us have our hang ups too, only we are not quite so adept at seeing our own as we are at perceiving those of the Pharisees. The problem with legalism is that these petty issues often blind us to the vital issues of God's Word. We become puffed up with pride over the fact that we keep our lists of do's and dont's but we fail to love one another, have compassion on the poor and be thankful for the Lord's blessings. We fight, frown, fume and find fault with all and call it holiness. BEWARE OF HEDONISM: I know that it is a stretch to look at the beatitudes as a warning against hedonism, but hear me out.

Christ's priorities in ministry stand out as He deals with the calling of His disciples and the public in general. I guess we could look at it as the answer to the question: "what did Christ come to do?" CHRIST CAME TO FISH MEN: I think that He picked Peter's boat as a pulpit for a purpose. He was doing more than preaching. He was fishing. He wanted Peter, James and John to hear His message and He wanted them to follow Him. Christ conclude His message with an invitation to go fish. It was the wrong time of day and they had just finished washing their nets and I'm sure were getting ready to to home after a long and unsuccessful night of fishing. But, they had heard enough to know that Jesus was different and they did as He asked even if it was ludicrous. Once the nets and boats were full of fish, they were struck with the realization that this was not just some other man. They knew that they were in the presence of the Lord and that they had no business be

As Christ began His ministry, He was faced with many challenges and a variety of reactions. I want to look at three of them today. SATAN TRIED TO DECEIVE CHRIST: Satan's goal was to end Christ's ministry before it could begin. The temptations were aimed at deceiving Christ just as he had done with Adam and Eve. The attempt was unsuccessful. Satan is constantly trying to promote his agenda on earth and makes promises that provide instant gratification. Christ knew that the eternal consequences were far greater than any temporary gratification that the passing pleasures might have brought. We need to have that perspective. Satan will always try to deceive us into believing that eternity does not exist or that it does not matter. If he can do that, he knows we will be easy prey. We must devalue the temporary and place our hopes on the eternal so we too will be able to stand firm against Satan's deceptions. JEWS TRIED TO DESTROY CHRIST: It is amazing how fast the tides