Author: Kristen Kansiewicz, LMHC

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 6 before reading the devotional below.

I’m the worst when it comes to rules. Not because I break them — quite the opposite actually. From a very young age I learned that when I followed the rules those around me were happy. When I saw others break the rules, the adults were not pleased and the consequences (both natural and imposed) were not something I wanted to experience. I began to trust in rules. And the more I tried to follow the rules, the more I realized that people also had preferences. Not rules exactly, just ways they liked things. And so I added that to my list of “rules” — things I did to please other people and get the positive reactions I liked. Pretty soon I became a lot of people’s favorite (you know I’m still your favorite, Mom…). I knew exactly who liked what things in which ways and my behavior always adjusted to make sure I met everyone’s standards. Then I added to that all the Bible rules that seemed to be there and I felt like I was doing pretty well keeping everyone including God happy.

And as much as I wish my children would bend to my preferences (which my sister assures me would turn them into creepy robot children), I have come to realize a few things about rules. For example, you will eventually reach places in life in which the people around you have conflicting preferences and you cannot make everyone happy at the same time. Another problem with rule-obsession is that you lose your sense of self. My heart’s desire was so strongly tied to rules and making others happy, I never asked myself what I needed or wanted. I had no understanding of grace, nor did I know how to receive it from God. Salvation is one thing. Grace in the midst of breaking rules is another.

Luke 6 brings us back to some of our earlier themes about rules versus life in the Spirit. Jesus breaks some rules and makes some people mad. Then he gives a sermon about all the ways that you can follow all the rules and be so far from the heart of God you have missed the whole point.

I still miss the point a lot. I still feel better when I can follow an exactly prescribed path and not have to do much thinking for myself. I still want to make everyone happy and it is very hard for me when that does not work. But God has begun to help teach me about his grace. I never wanted to need grace, honestly. If you follow all the rules you never need it. And Jesus came with that exact message: “If you think you don’t need grace, then you don’t need me. But if you know you need some grace, I’m handing it out freely.” Here’s your freedom for today: let your heart be moved by the grace of God. If you know you need it, take it today. And if you don’t want it, check in with your heart. Chances are you are protecting something that you are better off without.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 5 before reading the devotional below. 

“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” This jaded statement is sadly accurate in our world full of bait-and-switch trickery and high pressure sales tactics. “But wait! There’s more! Only 17 easy payments of $29.95! Plus a FREE gift worth $8,000,000 — yours for only $50 more!” And by the time your brand new electric toothbrush with mood-detecting bristles shows up in the mailbox, you start to wonder what you were thinking.

Now rewind to a very distant era with no electricity and very few resources, all of which take tremendous physical effort to obtain. You’re a fisherman, which means you smell awful and probably swear a lot. You work at night, and sometimes you get zero profit from your efforts. You’re exhausted and frustrated, cleaning out your nets before calling it quits for the day. Along comes this guy who is new to the scene. He seems different enough and rumors have circulated enough that you immediately call him “Master.” He tells you to go back out there and try to catch some more fish. You do it, but not without complaining first and threatening an “I told you so” that will surely come after he sees there are no fish to be caught. Turns out his instructions give you a week’s worth of fish in five minutes, and he just has a little smirk on his face as your boat starts sinking from fish overload.

What would you do next? Say thank you? Be amazed? In Luke 5:8, Peter basically freaks out and pushes Jesus away. He literally tells Jesus to leave. Why? Because Peter is confronted by his own sin. He knows he doesn’t deserve what Jesus just gave him. It’s too good to be true.

I have talked to so many people who have the exact same reaction to Jesus. “He forgives me? No way, with what I’ve done that can’t be true. Maybe for other people, but not me.” Others react this way when God starts to pour good gifts into their lives. “Thanks God… but what do you want? What am I going to have to give up now that you gave me this? When is the other shoe going to drop?”

Here’s your freedom for today: God loves being extremely generous. He likes watching you struggle to manage the piles of good gifts he’s pouring into your life. Sometimes you can’t keep up with the load of blessing he’s dumping on you. You have two choices: push Jesus away or follow him. Literally walk away from everything that feels secure and safe to chase after some guy who nearly sank your boat. Live life with curiosity as you chase after Jesus — what’s he going to do next??

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 4 before reading the devotional below. 

I typed the word “temptation” into BibleGateway.com once. Try it. Not sure about you, but I was really surprised to see that temptation is something the Bible says we will all face. Maybe that’s not such a shocking thought to you, but growing up as a Christian somewhere along the way I internalized the idea that being tempted is basically already well on your way to sinning. You failed because you even had the tempting thought cross your mind. But that’s not what the Bible says.

When you read all the verses about temptation in a row, you realize that Satan is always at work in doing the tempting. It is an action on his part. If Jesus was tempted, yet didn’t sin, then obviously being tempted is not a sin. In our passage today, Jesus resisted Satan’s efforts and used Scripture to defeat him. But I don’t think it would be called a “temptation” if there wasn’t some emotional part of Jesus that kind of wanted it. Satan offered Jesus things he could actually have. His tricks told the truth — you can turn this stone into bread if you want to, you can have this earthly kingdom that belongs to me, you can jump off this cliff and have angels come save you immediately! All of these were totally options for Jesus. And wouldn’t that have been easier.

Here’s where Satan has figured out a way to gamble on you and double his money: tempt you and then blame you for being tempted. You feel guilty without even falling for his temptation! And he laughs all the way to the bank. Here’s your freedom for today: temptation happens to all of us. It’s not your fault, and you didn’t do anything wrong. If you were tempted but you didn’t give in, don’t let Satan fool you into feeling guilty anyway. Instead, notice what you did to follow God’s path in the midst of a lure in a different direction. Jesus is celebrating that victory, why shouldn’t you?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 3 before reading the devotional below.

In this time of waiting and fulfillment of prophecy (see yesterday’s post), some interesting people start showing up. John the Baptist is a fascinating prophetic voice, with a direct call of God on his life since before he was born. (Side note: when an angel shows up to announce your coming birth to your parents, you can take that as a strong sign that God is going to use you to say some pretty unique stuff…)

Zoom in on verses 7-14 for a minute. John is letting everyone know that all the things that keep them feeling safe and cozy actually mean nothing. Have you ever hit that moment where you realize that all the safety and control you thought you had was all just an illusion to begin with? (Me too.) The crowd asks the next logical question: “What do we do??!”

I find John’s answer fascinating: “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” There are a few other examples but it all comes down to one simple idea: share. Turns out we are all just a bunch of toddlers and all God wants is for us to just share already. And you know, it really is the same thing I say to my kids. Just share. That’s all I really want.

Then the counselor in me says, “What stops us from sharing?” Ultimately nobody feels great when they are greedy and fighting for their own interests. So why do we find ourselves struggling so much with the basic idea that sharing is the right way to go? I think of it like a contagious disease. Every time someone does not share with you, a bit of your heart gets just a tiny bit hardened. Then more and more and you start passing it on and in the end humanity is ruined by greed. Not to mention all the other kinds of harm that can come into your life that brings about the same thing.  We learn to protect ourselves, and we find security and control in things that provide neither.

Here’s your freedom for today: hard hearts can always melt back into shape. Think of it like a candle — it may become misshapen over time, but throw it back into a pot and all the wax becomes moldable again. It’s not too late for you to throw bits of your heart back into the Holy Spirit’s fire. We all have those broken places. Perhaps if we find one way to share with others today we’ll melt just a little tiny bit.

 

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 2 before reading the devotional below. 

Even if you only go to church on Christmas and Easter, you’ve heard Luke 2. Jesus is born. You hear the songs about it every December in the mall. Manger, shepherds, angels, all that. Keep reading and Jesus’ entire early childhood is glossed over until his parents lose him at age 12. (That’s reassuring for all us parents whose children wander from time to time… Can you imagine you’ve been entrusted with the Son of God and you LOSE HIM??!! My parenting is suddenly looking so together…)

But if you look past the stories that we have heard a thousand times and place yourself in the era of Jesus’ coming and early life, there is a deep sense of awe and mystery. Imagine that God has revealed to you that there is a time coming when some pretty amazing things will happen. You can envision this future, but it’s fuzzy and part of you wonders if you have just made the whole thing up. But God keeps nudging and nudging and you keep praying and praying. And imagine that after a season of waiting things that God told you about begin to slowly unfold. Not all at once of course… Just one prophecy and one prayer at a time. And you start to realize that everything he’s told you up until this point is true… That is the sense of wonder and amazement that captures the emotional experiences of Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna.

Perhaps you are in a place where you used to have some hope, but now you wonder if it was all just wishful thinking. Maybe everything looks bad right now and God doesn’t seem to be opening any doors. That can be a tremendous place of discouragement and even depression and hopelessness. Here’s your freedom for today: God finishes what he starts. His timeline may be pretty different from yours, but he’s working. If he planted a dream in your heart, he will carry it through to completion because it was his plan to begin with. If there are pieces that you need to let go of, he’ll let you know along the way. But hold tight to any place of faith in your heart that is telling you to wait and then expect God to show up. He’s at work. Just wait and watch the unfolding with awe.