Kumar’s Devotional Thoughts

My spiritual journey. At least the “publishable!” I have been reading from the gospel of Luke lately. The following passages have been popping up in my mind the last few days. I don’t know why? Is He preparing me for something? They are all difficult passages. Suffering is the overwhelming theme. December 24th God says, Luke 6:20-26 20 Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. Kumar responds: we live in a poorer part of the city. A majority in our suburb seem to be non-Caucasian. We moved here out of deliberate choice, the presence of non-Caucasians being one reason for this. Our adjoining suburb, Dandenong was described to me as a “well-fare suburb” by a textile businessman who was shutting down his business. Yet all around us is relative wealth and comfort compared to the Asia we grew up in. Where is my security and comfort to come from? From God and doing His will. Are these wrong? Are security and comforts wrong? Not necessarily. December 30th God says, Luke 9:22-27 22 And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." 23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Lord how have I been denying myself? My goals for your goals. Are my goals really your goals for my life? 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. Am I trying to protect myself for the future or trusting you to protect me? 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. For God to be ashamed of me is the worst thing under the sun. Will He be proud of me or ashamed of me? 27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Luke 9:57-10:1 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." My mother is 85 and needs help walking. She uses a walker and can easily fall. She loves the Lord and has been one of our most faithful prayer and financial supporters. One of my disappointments after coming here has been to see her sink physically. She also has dementia. When we arrived in Australia about four months back it was really sad. We prayed and she is much better now and can carry on an almost normal conversation. Praise God. No, she will not ask me to bury her first before leaving Melbourne again. By God’s grace, I have five other siblings and their spouses to take care of her. 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."