Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day seven.
Jesus went through the towns and villages teaching as he went,
always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
Someone asked him, Lord will only if you be saved.
He replied, work hard to enter the narrow door to God's kingdom.
For many will try to enter but will fail.
When the master of the house has locked the door, it'll be too late.
You'll stand outside knocking and pleading.
Lord, open the door for us, but he will reply, I don't know
you or where you come from.
Then he will say, but we ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets.
And he will reply.
I tell you, I don't know you or where you come from.
Get away from me.
All you who do evil.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God.
But you will be thrown out and people will come from all over the world, from
east and west, north and south, to take their places in the kingdom of God.
And note this, some who seem least important now will be the greatest
then, and some who are the greatest Now will be least important then.
At that time, some Pharisee said to him, get away from here if you want to live.
Herod Antipas wants to kill you.
Jesus replied, go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and
healing people today and tomorrow and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.
Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day, I must proceed on my way for
it wouldn't do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem.
Oh, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones.
God's messengers.
How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen,
protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
And now look, your house is abandoned and you will never see me again
until you say blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
One Sabbath day, Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees,
and the people were watching him closely.
There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen.
Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, is it permitted in the law
to heal people on the Sabbath day or not?
When they refuse to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and
healed him and sent him away.
Then he turned to them and said, which of you doesn't work on the Sabbath?
If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don't you rush to get him out again?
They could not answer.
When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit
in their seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice.
When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the seat of honor.
What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited?
The host will come and say, give this person your seat.
Then you will be embarrassed and you will have to take whatever seat
is left at the foot of the table.
Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table.
Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, friend,
we have a better place for you.
Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted.
Then he turned to his host.
When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, he said, don't invite your
friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors for they will invite you
back and that will be your only reward.
Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
Then at the resurrection of the righteous God will reward you for
inviting those who could not repay you.
Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed.
What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus replied with this story.
A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.
When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the
guests, come the banquet is ready.
But they all began making excuses.
One said, I have just bought a field and must inspect it.
Please excuse me.
Another said, I have just bought five pairs of oxen and I want to try them out.
Please, excuse me.
Another said, I just got married so I can't come.
The servant returned and told his master what they had said.
His master was furious and said, go quickly into the streets and alleys
of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.
After the servant had done this, he reported there is still room for more.
So his master said, go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges
and urge anyone you find to come so that the house will be full for none
of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.
A large crowd was following Jesus.
He turned around and said to them, if you want to be my disciple, you must by
comparison hate everyone else, your father and mother, wife, and children, brothers
and sisters, yes, even your own life.
Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple, and if you do not carry your own cross
and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
But don't begin until you count the cost.
For who would begin construction of a building without first
calculating the cost to see if there was enough money to finish it.
Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money.
And then everyone would laugh at you.
They would say, there's the person who started that building and
couldn't afford to finish it.
Or what King would go to war against another king without first sitting down
with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the
20,000 soldiers marching against him.
And if he can't, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace
while the enemy is still far away.
So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
Salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavor,
how do you make it salty again?
Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil, nor for the manure pile.
It is thrown away.
Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complained that
he was associating with such sinful people, even eating with them.
So Jesus told them this story.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do?
Won't he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go to search for the
one that is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with
me because I have found my lost sheep.
In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who
repents and returns to God than over 99.
Others who are righteous and haven't strayed away.
Or suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses one, won't she light
a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?
And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, Rejoice
with me because I have found my lost coin.
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels
when even one sinner repents.
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story.
A man had two sons.
The younger son told his father, I want my share of your estate now before you die.
So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
A few days later, this younger son packed all his belongings and moved
to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over
the land and he began to starve.
He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him
into his fields to feed the pigs.
The young man became so hungry that even the pods, he was feeding
the pigs looked good to him.
But no one gave him anything.
When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself at home, even the hired
servants have food enough to spare.
And here I am dying of hunger.
I will go home to my father and say, father, I have sinned against both
heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.
Please take me on as a hired servant.
So he returned home to his father.
And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming
filled with love and compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
His son said to him, father, I have sinned against both heaven and you and I am no
longer worthy of being called your son.
But his father said to the servants quick, bring the finest robe
in the house and put it on him.
Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet and kill the calf.
We have been fattening.
We must celebrate with a feast for this son of mine was dead
and has now returned to life.
He was lost, but now he has found so the party began.
Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working.
When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked
one of the servants what was going on.
Your brother is back.
He was told, and your father has killed the fattened calf.
We are celebrating because of his safe return.
The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in.
His father came out and begged him, but he replied, all these years I've
slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to.
And in all that time, you never gave me even one young goat
for a feast with my friends.
When this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you
celebrate by killing the fattened calf.
His father said to him, look, dear son, you have always stayed by me,
and everything I have is yours.
We had to celebrate this happy day for your brother was dead
and has come back to life.
He was lost, but now he is found.
Jesus told this story to his disciples.
There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs.
One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer's
money, so the employer called him in and said, what's this?
I hear about you get your report in order because you are going to be fired.
The manager thought to himself, now what?
My boss has fired me.
I don't have the strength to dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg.
Ah, I know how to ensure that I'll have plenty of friends who will
give me a home when I am fired.
So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to
come and discuss the situation.
He asked the first one, how much do you owe him?
The man replied, I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.
So the manager told him, take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.
And how much do you owe my employer?
He asked the next man.
I owe him 1000 bushels of wheat was the reply here, the manager said, take
the bill and change it to 800 bushels.
The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd, and it is true
that the children of this world are more shrewd and dealing with the world around
them than are the children of the light.
Here's the lesson.
Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends.
Then when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.
But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest
with greater responsibilities.
And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you
with the true riches of heaven?
And if you are not faithful with other people's things, why should you
be trusted with things of your own?
No one can serve two masters for you will hate one and love the other.
You will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
The Pharisees who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.
Then he said to them, you like to appear righteous and public,
but God knows your hearts.
What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God Until John the Baptist,
the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides.
But now the good news of the kingdom of God is preached and
everyone is eager to get in.
But that doesn't mean that the law has lost its force.
It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest
point of God's law to be overturned.
For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else,
commits adultery, and anyone who marries a woman divorced from
her husband commits adultery.
Jesus said there was a certain rich man who was splendidly, clothed in
purple and fine linen, and who lived each day in luxury that has gait.
Lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores.
As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table, the dogs
would come and lick his open sores.
Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside
Abraham at the heavenly banquet.
The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place
of the dead there and torment.
He saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
The rich man shouted, father Abraham, have some pity.
Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.
I am an anguish in these flames.
But Abraham said to him, son, remember that during your
lifetime you had everything you wanted and Lazarus had nothing.
So now he is here being comforted and you are an anguish.
And besides, there was a great chasm separating us.
No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us.
From there, then the rich man said, please, father Abraham, at least
send him to my father's home for, I have five brothers and I want
him to warn them so they don't end up in this place of torment.
But Abraham said, Moses and the prophets have warned them.
Your brothers can read what they wrote.
The rich man replied, no, father Abraham.
But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent
of their sins and turn to God.
But Abraham said if they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't
be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead one day, Jesus said to
his disciples, there will always be temptations to sin, but what Sorrow
awaits the person who does the tempting.
It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung
around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.
So watch yourselves.
If another believer sins rebuke that person, then if there is
repentance, forgive, even if that person wrongs you seven times a
day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.
The apostle said to the Lord, show us how to increase our faith.
The Lord answered.
If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to the
mulberry tree, may you be uprooted and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.
When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his
master say, come in and eat with me?
No, he says, prepare my meal.
Put on your apron and serve me while I eat.
Then you can eat later.
And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do?
Of course not in the same way.
When you obey me, you should say we are unworthy servants
who have simply done our duty.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
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