Blessed Rather - Luke 11:27-28

Luke 11:27-28 ESV 

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”"

Mary, who bore Christ, was blessed indeed. There is a greater blessed state. It is a blessing that everyone in the kingdom of heaven can participate as sons of God. Mary is blessed because she heard the word of God and kept it. We are given that same opportunity and privilege of hearing and keeping. 

The word of God bears and nurses the one born from above. The Christ is born and grows in us. 

We are blessed. 

Except This Foreigner - Luke 17:17-19

Luke 17:17-19 ESV 

Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Ten lepers were cleansed. Only one was healed and made whole. That was the one who recognized and placed his trust, or faith, in God. This one was made well. The other nine were not. 

They were cleansed on their way to the priests, but they did not turn back to the Lord. They were chosen by the Lord to be made clean, but a gentile was the only one who turned around. So it was and so it is. 

Israel will not see see Jesus until they recognize Him as Lord. We all walk with a veil over our eyes that blinds us from the truth until we turn to the Lord and place our faith in Him. That faith makes us whole. 

Go In Peace - Luke 8:45-48

Luke 8:45-48 ESV 

And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Jesus was probably touched by many of the pressing crowd that day, but there was something different about this woman's touch. That difference was faith. She reached out to the Son of Man that touched the Son of God. Faith drew on the power of God before Jesus was aware of her and she was healed. 

She confessed to Him and of Him to the crowd. She was already healed, but then He says, "Go in peace". That is the peace with God and of God. She was well and truly healed. Faith comes before peace. 

Until You Say - Luke 13:34-35

Luke 13:34-35 ESV 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Jesus confirms He is God, that Father and Son are one. He would have gathered their children, but they were not willing. We see the Father in this statement. He then tells them they won't see Him again until they recognize Him for Who He is. We see the Son in this statement. 

Everyone that says, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" will be able to see. 

Division - Luke 12:49-53

Luke 12:49-53 ESV 

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Genesis began with God bringing order and light to creation. He did this through division, separating light from darkness, and earth from the sea. 

The Holy Spirit is before us. The fire is the Spirit which baptizes us into the kingdom of heaven as sons of God. He unites us with God, but divides us from the world. 

Creation is ongoing. Each believer is new earth revealed from the sea of unbelief and no longer walks in darkness, but becomes part of the light of the world. 

At some point the sea will be no more and there will no more night. 

In Peace - Luke 7:47-50

Luke 7:47-50 ESV 

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Faith begets love. Love demonstrates faith. It is a circle without end. 

Shake Off The Dust - Luke 9:5

Luke 9:5 ESV 

And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

Man was formed from dust and will return to dust upon death. The good news of Jesus Christ means we don't have to stay in the dust. 

Shaking the dust from their feet signifies the town rejects the good news and they remain in realm of the serpent crawling on his belly. It will be a dustbowl of Biblical proportions. 

Like Burnished Bronze - Revelation 1:15

Revelation 1:15 ESV 

his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

Daniel 10:6

His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

Exodus 38:1-2

Making the Altar of Burnt Offering

​He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.

The legs of bronze would have reminded the Jewish listener of the alter of burnt offering in the temple. The Son of Man was sacrificed in the fire of this fallen world as a burnt offering to the Lord on behalf of man. The identity of this vision confirmed by His voice and words. 

Legs of bronze would symbolize that sacrifice.

In The Night - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 ESV 

​Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

The day of the Lord comes at night. Does that sound a little strange? It need not. It is only those who walk in darkness that will face the destruction of that day. Those who walk in His light are of the day and are destined to meet Him in the air upon His return. 

There is no need for worry for the Lord is coming back for us. 

Lord, Lord - Luke 6:46-49

Luke 6:46-49 ESV 

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

We can hear, but not do. We can cry "Lord, Lord" and yet not be known by the Lord. How we measure our works for the Lord is usually different from His measure. 

Many will think they do enough to eat at the Lord's table, and may even show up at the feast only to hear the Lord say "I never knew you". 

Better start talking to Him now before it's too late. 

Passing Through - Luke 4:30

Luke 4:30 ESV

But passing through their midst, he went away.

This verse points us to larger picture of what is taking place with Jesus and the Jews. They do not recognize the coming of their Messiah. He comes in their midst, but they fail to see Him. He went on His way, but they still await Him. 

He was just passing through, on to the rest of mankind. 

To Become Void - Luke 16:16-17

Luke 16:16-17 ESV 

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

The good news is for everyone, not just the domain of the Jews. The kingdom expands to include all those who would come. Freedom is the message of the good news, freedom that is impossible under the law. 

Jesus makes it possible for us to break the bonds of sin that are locked in place by the law. The law remains in full effect and applies to all who do not avail themselves of the key to freedom that lies in the hand of Jesus. It does not become void until the last sinner is freed or thrown into the fire. 

When a new heaven and earth appear, the law and sea will be no more. 

Howling Creatures - Isaiah 13:21-22

Isaiah 13:21-22 ESV 

" But wild animals will lie down there,

and their houses will be full of howling creatures;

there ostriches will dwell,

and there wild goats will dance.

Hyenas will cry in its towers,

and jackals in the pleasant palaces;

its time is close at hand

and its days will not be prolonged."

Babylon is home to wild beasts. Even now wild goats dance in hedonistic exultation. Jackals inhabit pleasant palaces and rage against The Lord. Their howling echoes from mountain to mountain. 

Their time is not forever and their end is close at hand. 

In The Sea - Luke 17:5-6

Luke 17:5-6 YLT

And the apostles said to the Lord, `Add to us faith;'and the Lord said, `If ye had faith as a grain of mustard, ye would have said to this sycamine, Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea, and it would have obeyed you.

How much faith do you need? Just a little. How great is that?

συκάμινος sykaminos; of Hebrew origin (h8256) in imitation of 4809; a sycamore-fig tree: — sycamine tree.

The mulberry tree here is translated as fig tree in the parable of the withered fig tree that produced no fruit. This sykaminos tree has leaves similar to a fig tree, and even bears a fig-like fruit. However, it is not a fig. It is incapable of producing a fig. The fruit is not there. It is uprooted from dry land and thrown into the sea. 

Waters Became Sweet - Exodus 15:22-25

Exodus 15:22-25 NASB 

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.

God shows Moses a tree that made the bitter water sweet. This prefigures the cross of Christ. Into the bitter waters of fallen man, God sends His Son to hang on another tree, changing all who drink from the fountain of His mercy the sweet water of life. 

Wandering in the desert for three days connects us with the time Jesus spent among the dead in the tomb, the bitter water made so from the sting of death. 

Out Of A Rock - Mark 15:46

Mark 15:46 YLT 

And he, having brought fine linen, and having taken him down, wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre that had been hewn out of a rock, and he rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre,

Moses struck the rock in the wilderness and water poured out of the rock to satisfy the thirst of Israel. 

Many years later another rock is struck, and from it flows the river of life. It is the rock of ages. Jesus is that rock. 

He quenches our thirst like no other water. 

Where The Corpse Is - Luke 17:33-37

Luke 17:33-37 ESV 

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

The one taken loses their life. The one left lives. 

The disciples ask where one is taken. To where the corpse is, Jesus answers. 

For Many - Mark 14:22-25

Mark 14:22-25 ESV 

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

The previous feedings of the thousands in the wilderness by Jesus were but a prelude and foreshadowing of His body and blood, broken and poured out on our behalf. 

All will be satisfied. All will be fed. 

Between The Armies - Exodus 14:19-20

Exodus 14:19-20 NIV 

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Genesis 1:4

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Matthew 13:27-30

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

We see another teaching using light and darkness to show us what God is doing. The dividing in creation is still underway. A new creation awaits, then will God's word be fulfilled. 

Be Still - Exodus 14:13-14

Exodus 14:13-14 NIV

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Psalms 37:7

Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Be still and let the Lord. 

Like A Sign - Exodus 13:16

Exodus 13:16 NIV 

And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

Another nuance which may add to the discussion of mark of the beast in Revelation. God gives the Israelites a way to remember what He has done, to guide their thinking and living. They are a people saved by God. 

Above Cattle - Ecclesiastes 3:19

Ecclesiastes 3:19 ESV 

For what befalls humans and what befalls cattle--one eventuality is for them; as the death of the one, so is the death of the other. They all have one spirit, and in what way did humans excel above cattle? Nothing, because all things are vanity.

Without the breath of life from the Lord, man is is no better off than the cattle of the field, perhaps worse because he is capable of receiving that breath. That makes us excel above cattle.  

No Need - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 ESV 

​Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

The day of the Lord comes at night. Does that sound a little strange? It need not. It is only those who walk in darkness that will face the destruction of that day. Those who walk in His light are of the day and are destined to meet Him in the air upon His return. 

There is no need for worry for the Lord is coming back for us.