The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Luke:16:1-15

kjv@Luke:16:1 @ And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

kjv@Luke:16:2 @ And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

kjv@Luke:16:3 @ Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

kjv@Luke:16:4 @ I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

kjv@Luke:16:5 @ So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

kjv@Luke:16:6 @ And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

kjv@Luke:16:7 @ Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

kjv@Luke:16:8 @ And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

kjv@Luke:16:9 @ And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

kjv@Luke:16:10 @ He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

kjv@Luke:16:11 @ If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

kjv@Luke:16:12 @ And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

kjv@Luke:16:13 @ No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

kjv@Luke:16:14 @ And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

kjv@Luke:16:15 @ And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Today's notes:

Context:

Before - Luke:15:11-32 The Parable of the Lost Son
After - Luke:16:16-18 Additional Teachings

Study Resources:

G3623 steward/house manager dict:tcr Steward

G1287 waste/dissipate/squander

G3056 account/word

dict:tcr debtor

G5429 wise/practical

Notes:

We move from the topic of inheritance (which typically on our part falsely denotes entitlement) to the consideration of responsibility and accountability of believers in nearly the same breath. We could bring along the topic of waste while we are at it as the younger son just had wasted his substance on riotous living and the older son was about to waste his faithful service and relationship to the father in a jealous huff. Now we have a man accountable for keeping/reconciling accounts with the debtors of a very rich man being accused of wasting this Lord's goods.

We are all sinners. We are all in unrecoverable debt. Christ Jesus has paid our debt in full. Our Lord Jesus has commissioned His paid for followers to the ministry of bringing others to the the reconciling of their debts in the same Jesus Christ. We do this as individuals, we do this as congregations. How many of us then are "wasting" His goods? and why? My guess is that while we understand the concept of atonement/reconciliation we lack the definition and fortitude to convincingly portray the type and measure of the debt. Nor do we keep ourselves clean enough project a distinctive example.

Worldly wisdom in this regard is more shrewd, being aware of the perception of the debt, unabashedly leveraging other's perception of debt for their own personal gain, with unauthorized negotiation and compromise collecting a reduced of amount for the counterfeit cancellation of the debtor's debt. This while the sheepish majority of believers are uncomfortable and squeamish over whether to even bring up the topic of debt to begin with.

Being faithful to the Lord always involves the convincing declaration of personal debt matched with the reconciliation of the indebted to God in Jesus Christ by His grace; this is the love for others with which we love ourselves. It also requires the reproof or calling out of the fictitious means devised by worldliness and craftiness prevalent in our culture, to stand strong and bold and engaged with much kindness/sacrificial love. Faithfulness of this type is all encompassing including even our use of money. It may seem like a small, even slightly dirty method of broadcast, but this message must get out at every opportunity and by every means available. Our effort compared to what is invested by the crafty seems small and inconsequential, but God is likely to make much bigger things out of it.

The man described is perhaps more importantly titled house manager. The case can be made that he is a shepherd/pastor. He is silent initially with his parishioner's debt, but when pressed settles the debt in a lesser fashion so as to ingratiate himself to the parishioners tending toward his future excommunicated needs. The Lord might at first commend the shrewd effort as it resembles what would be wise for better intended souls to themselves actuate, the man himself though will never be house manager of this Lord ever again.

Key Messages:

Declaring Certainty

kjv@1Timothy:6:17 @ Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

kjv@1Timothy:6:18 @ That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

kjv@1Timothy:6:19 @ Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

kjv@Isaiah:58:6 @ Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

kjv@Isaiah:58:7 @ Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

kjv@2Corinthians:5:1 @ For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

kjv@Matthew:12:36 @ But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

kjv@1Corinthians:4:1 @ Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

kjv@1Peter:4:10 @ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Luke:16:1-15
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Luke:16:1-15 rwp@Luke:16:1-15 mhcc@Luke:16:1-15
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index