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Week 32 Daily Dose of Love #218 (8/6) Cleansing of
Ten Lepers Luke 17:11-19 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As
he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have
mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,
praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was
a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?
Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said
to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” Humble appreciation and thanksgiving are important
aspects of love. Corrie ten Boom, was a Dutch woman who was caught hiding Jews from the Nazis during World
War II and sent to a concentration camp. She had developed a habit of regularly thanking God for everything that happened
in her life that she continued during her imprisonment. Her sister, who was sent to that same camp, thought she had gone too far when she gave thanks
for the fleas that infested the beds of their barracks. They later learned that the fleas kept Nazi guards
who regularly molested women in other barracks, away from where Corrie and her sister slept. Showing appreciation and giving thanks opens our hearts and softens our vision.
It acknowledges our vulnerability and dependence on God while keeping us humble and receptive to his gifts.
Reflection/Discussion: What are some things we fail to give thanks for? Principles of Love: Opening; Humility
Pray Through the Day: Open our hearts To your love #219
(8/7) The Coming of the Kingdom
Luke 17:20-21 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom
of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they
say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” The kingdom of God
is the kingdom of love. Jesus, who was the personification of God’s love on earth stood right in
front of the Pharisees but they failed to realize who he was. God’s love is among us right now. It is in front of, behind,
beside, and within us. It penetrates the heart of every human being we encounter, but we often fail to
realize it is there. When we separate our minds from our hearts, we isolate ourselves from the kingdom
of God and see a very different world than what God created. Logic and heart can provide very different perspectives. Logic seeks
concrete, observable evidence. Heart accepts and appreciates while seeing potential and possibility.
Our logical mind separates, sorts, and judges while our heart seeks opportunities to connect, support, and unite.
Jesus taught us to act from our hearts. Reflection/Discussion: How can we learn to recognize the Kingdom of God in everyday life? Principles of Love: Nature; Opening Pray Through the Day: We were created From God’s love #220 (8/8) The Day of the Son of
Man Luke 17:22-25 Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of
the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look
here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from
one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and
be rejected by this generation.” We like to know how, when, and where. We like to figure out what’s
needed, plan ahead and be organized so we can effectively respond to the demands of life. These things
make us more efficient but they have little to do with developing authentic appreciation and acceptance of God’s love. Time and place are worldly concepts that help us function in the world. But
the kingdom of God (and therefore love) is not restricted by time or place. Narrowing our focus
and effort on how, when, and where can shrink our capacity to receive God’s love. The kingdom of
God cannot be pursued; it must be embraced.
Gerald May wrote: “Our society
encourages us to believe that love is just another function, an ability to be learned and refined. There
are techniques for love, we are told, and if we love efficiently we will have something to show for it: well-managed, smoothly
functioning relationships, social popularity, emotional security, sexual fulfillment. Seen in this light,
expressions of love become commodities, loved ones become objects, and the pains of love become problems to be solved.”
“Love
is not a function. It is a quality of being that exists beneath and before all our functions.
The word we must use is capacity. Capacity implies space, it refers to how much
we can hold, perhaps how much we can bear. This has much to do with love. Machines have
capabilities; vessels have capacity. Love is always with us, seeking to fill us to our capacity.”
Reflection/Discussion: What entices us to speculate how, when,
or where the Kingdom of God will come? Principles of Love: Suffering; Vision Pray Through the Day: Use our pain To
deepen our love #221 (8/9) Clarification of End Times
Luke 17:26-32 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it
will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage,
until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it
was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot
left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them —it will be like that on the day that the
Son of Man is revealed. On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come
down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife.”
Jesus
makes it clear that we will not know when the end times come. Ultimately doesn’t matter.
The only thing that really matters is the direction we are heading in at that time. If
we maintain focus on why we were created, we will develop a heart that is receptive to God’s love. To
the extent we are distracted by worldly matters , we are headed in the other direction.. Jesus tells us not to be attached to things that are physical and temporary. He reminds us to
be ready to embrace the kingdom of God whenever and wherever we encounter it. Reflection/Discussion: What makes it hard to leave things behind? Principles of Love: Commitment; Nature
Pray Through the Day: Help us to love When our will is weak #222 (8/10) One Will Be Taken Luke 17:32-37 Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep
it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.
There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.” Then
they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” Love transcends
our need for safety and success and bypasses our striving to be secure and efficient. If our hearts are
open, we join the kingdom. If they aren’t, we don’t. Externally we may not
see any difference but God knows what’s on the inside.
Letting go of our need for security
allows us to increase our capacity to receive God’s love by opening our minds and hearts, which opens the gates of the
Kingdom of heaven to us. Reflection/Discussion: Why do we spend so much time, energy, and resources to make our lives secure? Principles of Love: Acceptance Pray Through the Day: Not my will But yours be done #223
(8/11) Parable of the Unjust Judge Luke 18:1-8 Then
Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain
city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow
who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused;
but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps
bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to
his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly
grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” The woman who had suffered injustice
did not lose heart even though the judge who held her fate in his hands was heartless in ignoring her. Jesus
presents her as a model for us to follow because she had enough heart for both of them. Love does not give up. A committed heart remains persistently open in spite of being rejected
and ignored. God never gives up on us and Jesus encourages us to never give up on his love.
Reflection/Discussion: How can we be persistent in loving the
unjust judges in our lives? Principles of Love: Commitment Pray Through the Day: Help us to love When our will is weak #224 (8/12) The Pharisee and the
Tax Collector Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others
with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves,
rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my
income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating
his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to
his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will
be exalted.” What matters in the kingdom of God is whether our hearts are opening or closing. There is no way to determine that
by looking only at one’s behavior. By all appearances, the Pharisee lived an exemplary, even saintly life.
How many people do we know who fast twice a week and give ten-percent of their income to the church? In
contrast the tax collector earned his living by ripping people off while supporting their oppressors. Today,
we might compare this to someone who makes a profit by helping to finance terrorism. The Pharisee’s heart
was being closed by the weight of his ego and self-righteousness. He saw God in relation to himself.
The tax collector’s heart was opening through a humble and contrite realization of how he had turned away from
God’s love. He saw himself in relationship to God. It’s
what’s in our hearts that really matters; only God fully knows that. Reflection/Discussion: When are we most likely to exalt ourselves? Principles of Love: Humility; Opening; Forgiveness
Pray Through the Day: Help us be humble So we may love
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