DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE

Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke

Sermon Text: Luke 6:27-36

Sermon Title: Love Your Enemies


Daily Devotional Guide

When I started to prepare for this week's sermon, I did two things that I always do. I prayed and I read R.C. Sproul. Sproul was one of the greatest Christian thinkers of our time. He was a truly godly and brilliant man. So I wasn't exactly encouraged when I read his first sentence on Jesus' words in Luke 6:27-36. He called this text, "One of the most difficult passages in the entire gospel." 


Great. 


If Sproul thinks it's difficult, what hope is there for me? 


This is a difficult passage for a couple reasons. First, it creates questions for us to consider. Are we supposed to be pacifists (no, we're not)? Are Christians supposed to be doormats (no again)? But the real difficulties are there for another reason. It's hard to live out this passage. In my flesh, I want revenge. Left to my own devices, I'd rather hate my enemy than love him. 


Therein lies the beauty of God's word to us this week. It's yet another reminder of my desperate need for Jesus. True joy is never found in rebelling against God. But in my own free will, I'll choose the rebellion every single time. If you're a Christian, thank God for overriding your free will. If you're not a Christian, repent. Understand that you're an enemy of God. The good news is that he is kind and merciful to the evil. But this won't last forever. 


God shows love to his enemies. 


Go and do likewise. 


Monday - 1 Samuel 15

Tuesday - 1 Samuel 16

Wednesday - 1 Samuel 17

Thursday - 1 Samuel 18

Friday - 1 Samuel 19

Saturday - 1 Samuel 24

Sunday - Luke 23

DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE

Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke

Sermon Text: Luke 6:17-26

Sermon Title: Blessings and Woes



Daily Devotional Guide

In his famous Templeton Speech, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn gave a very direct diagnosis for the deaths of some 60 million of his countrymen at the hands of an authoritarian government. “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” I wonder what he would think if he saw us today. We've taken forgetting God to new heights. And that's brought us to once unfathomable lows. 


We have made great technological advances. Leaders in the field of medicine have gained more control over the lives of regular citizens. Governments have gotten bigger. But through it all, few have stopped to ask whether or not they should be doing this. They've only seemed to care that they could. 


Imagine how different our world would look if we followed the teaching Jesus gave to his disciples 2,000 years ago. Do you think our nation would be $20 trillion in debt? Would marriage be the mockery that it is today? Would our children still be treated like lab rats? 


Of course not. 


We truly have forgotten God. And in his place we have put ourselves. Without mass repentance, this won't end well. 


We may be more technologically advanced than that crowd from 2,000 years ago. But we need the words of Jesus every bit as much as they did. May He have mercy on us. 


Monday - Matthew 5:1-48

Tuesday - Matthew 6:1-34

Wednesday - Matthew 7:1-28

Thursday - Psalm 107:1-43

Friday - Hebews 11:1-40

Saturday - James 1:1-27

Sunday - James 5:1-20