Advent Devotional: The Gospel of LukeSample

*Written by Korey Barnes

You can have a desire to be a better person, even a pious person, or want to do good in the world and still be dead in your sin. We can recognize that you need to make a change in your life, try all the latest self-help techniques, adopt some good healthy habits, and still not be transformed into the kind of people you ought to and indeed were made to be. In the end, those efforts are attempts to save ourselves. The impulse is right; we need a rescue to be made new. The methods are off, though. If you are of a fleeting world, how can the world sustain you? Our best efforts are to shake bad habits and leave old lifestyles and mindsets yielding fleeting victories. In our struggle against ourselves and the world, we end up either broken or deluded but, in both cases, still susceptible to spiritual ruin. What truly makes us whole and “good” and able to do lasting good in the world is the right relationship with God, who gives the Holy Spirit because of faith in Christ Jesus.

God knows the pain and suffering in the world and even our individual struggles. Luke 1:68-75 tells us that he has come to rescue and redeem his people by faithfully raising up a savior as he swore he would. Jesus is that promised Sent One on whom the Spirit of the Lord is on. After overcoming Satan in the wilderness and being filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus in Luke 4 says that he has come to proclaim good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom to the prisoner and oppressed. In this, the kingdom of God comes near, and we, like his first-century disciples, have been called to follow him (that is, to become his people, a holy nation), and he sends us out to participate in his kingdom mission (that is to be a kingdom of priest proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus).

We may desire good for ourselves and the world, but unless we call on the name of the LORD and keep his word, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are clean and become an impediment to those seeking the saving light of Christ. Therefore, don’t be deluded into thinking that you can save yourself. God is eager to give the Holy Spirit for our salvation and participation in the kingdom. We need only to ask our Father in heaven, and we will see that he is faithful and good.

1. Don’t be deluded that you can save yourself.

It is amazing that the religious elite in Jesus’ society were so far away from God that seeing someone relieved of demonic oppression, they would say the deliverance is the work of a demon. (Luke 11:14-15). Though they held fast to religious activity, their hearts were still in the dark. They were deluded into thinking that their appearance and activity made them right with God and man. However, Jesus points out that they were like cups, clean on the outside but filthy on the inside (Luke 11:37-44). And their ways do not lead to life but division (Luke 11:23), jealousy (Luke 11:14-15), and ruin for others and themselves (Luke 11:31-32,39,46-48 & 52). We must be careful that we don’t deceive ourselves by thinking that it is enough to commit to appearances or abstain from vices and obvious evils lest we become like the unfortunate person who did all they could to rid themselves of an impure spirit but left themselves vacant for even greater ruin (Luke 11:24-27). It’s not enough to turn from our sin; we must turn toward God and be filled with his Spirit.

2. God is eager to give the Holy Spirit for our salvation and participation in the kingdom.

Our Father in Heaven has promised and is committed to making the world new. He has determined that humans will be his covenant partners in bringing peace and reconciliation into the world, but for us to participate in his kingdom plan, we must be in the right relationship with him. Jesus came to do just that: to make us right with our Creator and to give us the Holy Spirit that transforms us into the likeness of Jesus, the Son of God. If you want to be whole, call on the name of the LORD. He is eager to forgive our sins, to supply our needs, to guide and protect us by his Holy Spirit (Luke 11:2-4). He has brought his kingdom close to rescue and redeem us from the oppression of darkness (Luke 11:14,20 & 42). And as his elect, the redeemed, we are sent out to shine the saving light of Christ into a world bent on keeping people in the shadows. So pray continually that his kingdom comes, he will be done, and that by his Holy Spirit, he leads us to life.

Let’s pray: Our Father in Heaven. Your name is great and holy. And yet you have chosen to call us your own. What a privilege to be in the family of the Most High. I pray that your name be recognized as great throughout the universe, starting right now where I am. May this world be conformed to your ways, and we may see the fulfillment of your desires on earth as in heaven. Father, we recognize that in you we have everything we need and that you desire to give good gifts to us. So great is your love that you did not withhold your Son for our salvation, and you have given your Spirit for our renewal. Thank you. Forgive us for the ways we, individually and collectively, have turned back to the darkness or been so prideful and rebellious to ignore you and dismiss others. Father, just as you have forgiven me, I release others of their unrighteousness towards me. We recognize that we all are in need of grace. Father, we ask that you guide and keep us by your Spirit so that we do not fall away but participate in your holy work as your children. In the name of our Redeemer and King, the Lord Jesus, Amen.

Reflection Questions:

1. Who gets the glory from your religious activity? God or you?
2. Do you support and encourage others in their efforts to share the gospel of God’s salvation in Jesus, or do you look for fault in them and their methods?
3. What are some areas or things in your life that you are trying to “take care of” that you really need to ask God to “lead you not into temptation”?
4. Trusting God to enable you by the Holy Spirit, how will you take the kingdom of heaven with you today?
5. Pray the Lord’s Prayer, but make it personal.