faithrunner

Jesus modeled for us how to live an abundant life with God and others. Everything he did and said becomes a template for our lives if we desire to follow him. You and I can learn this abundant life even in short passages recorded in the Gospels. Luke , who tells us more about Jesus' prayer life than any other Gospel writer, noted that... ...Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. ( Luke 5:16 ; TNIV)  If Jesus withdrew from crowds and ministry regularly, surely there are advantages for us to follow his lead. Here are four reasons to withdraw in order to pray Solitude. The busyness and noise of our lives keep us from hearing the voice of God. God speaks to us every day, but we miss it because we fill our lives with busyness* and noise in an effort to fill the voids that only God can fill. Richard Foster's group, Renovare , reminds us, Solitude is " An open relational space for being found by God and freed from competing loyalties." When was th...

The Ox of Luke's Gospel As part of Legacy U at Legacy Church this month, I am teaching what we call " Luke's Look at Jesus ." (The other sessions are taught by members of our pastoral staff. Check them out, too.) Without going into a lot of detail, I have observed with others that Luke had a huge heart for those to whom society and the religious folk of Jesus' day gave little value and recorded more of Jesus' interaction with them than any of the other three evangelistic biographers of Jesus. Here are three groups that are the most obvious: Outcasts. Jesus intentionally went to the outcasts--those whom religious and clean people refused to touch. Jesus not only touched them, but healed them, giving them new status among those who thought they alone had God's favor. ( Luke 17:11-19 ) Women. Jesus not only taught women, he entered their homes, ( Luke 10:38-42 ) healed them, and was perfectly comfortable having them travel with him. ( Luke 8:1-...