Luke 19:24-26 – “And he said to his attendants, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’ ²⁵ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’ ²⁶ ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I heard an old saying connected to a passage in Luke’s Gospel – “Use it or lose it.”  That comes from Luke 19 in the story of the ten minas.

Faith unused is theory and produces man-made doctrines and lifestyles that are form, not substance.

In Job 1, the devil accused God of placing a Hedge about Job to protect him.  God did not deny it.   Then, in Job 3:23, Job referred to God’s hedge as a restraint.  How we progress is contingent upon our vantage point.  If we see things as restrictions, we won’t use our gifts, and if we don’t use what we have, we go backward (lose it because we don’t use it).

The older brother in Luke 15 is an example.  He was in the house.  He was the rightful heir of all his father possessed, but he failed to access what was available.  He lost out on blessings because he failed to use them.  Use it or lose it.

Authority is ours by decree of Jesus and through the New Birth.  If we fail to use it, the demonic hordes run rampant.  In that sense, we lose our authority.  Use it or lose it.

Luke 19:26 – “I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away.” USE IT OR LOSE IT!

Consider the natural aspect, regarding proficiency.  We gain more proficiency by regular use and practice.  We lose proficiency by not using it.  In everything, USE IT OR LOSE IT!   Let us utilize what God has provided and bring the past into the present!   The kingdom, according to Luke 18:21, is in our midst because it is IN us.   Kingdom Authority must be exercised to be maintained.  Use it or lose it!

Lord, help us to use what You have given us and become better equipped and more proficient!

Esther 4:12-14  – “When Esther’s reply was conveyed to Mordecai, ¹³ he said to take back this answer to Esther: ‘Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew who will escape.  ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear from another source, while you and your father’s household perish.  It may very well be that you have achieved royal status for such a time as this!”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, something captured my thoughts and brought deep conviction.  I began reading in Esther, and the words of Mordecai to Esther stopped me in my tracks.

He told her, “You can’t presume to be safe even in the palace.”  Those in command may accept us, but if we are believers, we are targets because He is their target.  He told her, “Silence in a time of danger produces death.”   

We can’t be silent about God or life when souls are perishing, and the world is going to hell in pursuit of debauchery.   If we are, God will bypass us, and we will not only not be a part of His purpose but suffer loss.  This moment may be the moment for which we were born!   One word, one deed, one prayer could change the course of history and be a matter of life or death for others.  This moment!

That was expanded in Luke 10:2.  There is a harvest.  The harvest is plentiful.  There are not enough harvesters to gather it in.  There are many promoters but few harvesters.  Harvesters gather and prepare for usage.  Promoters count the size of the crop.

Jesus was questioned about the greatest commandment.  He said it was to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves.   Are we loving God by being silent about Him and warning of danger?  Are we loving others by being silent, ignoring sin and danger?

• Love acts!  

If we love God, will we not pursue His purposes?  Maybe this moment is the moment for which we were born! Perhaps this one witness is the prime reason we were born!  Maybe this one soul we touch is the reason we were born!  It may seem small, but in God’s hands, nothing is small.

• Love acts! 

Do our lives testify of love?  Have we come to the place of love and commitment, we say, “If I perish, I perish.”  Where our treasure is, there our heart is.  Our lives testify of our true treasure and reveal its value to us.

Lord, help me to treasure You more than anything!

Luke 6:31-38  – “Do to others as you would have them do to you.  ³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them.  ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners do that.  ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.  ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  ³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, numerous things challenged me.  We know what we call ‘The Golden Rule,’ but do we connect it in the context of Luke 6?

In Luke 6:31, we have the Golden Edict.  In verses 35-36, we find the directive on how to relate to and respond to others, especially those who dislike us and have wronged us.  We see those but seem to miss the context and connection of verses 37-38.

The Law of Harvest or Sowing and Reaping is powerfully revealed in these verses.  Judging provides the platform for our own judgment.  Forgiveness offers the doorway to our own forgiveness.  Then we come to verse 38.  We make it an isolated, stand-alone promise, but it is connected to the Golden Rule and God’s Law of Life!

One word outshines all the others in verse 38.   That is the two-letter word “IT.”   Yes, IT.   The IT is the object.   Whatever IT is, or no matter what IT is, it is returned to us multiplied.

If we live by the Golden Rule, we also enjoy the Law of Harvest.   If we live the Golden Rule, God is always first, and we always focus on others, which opens heaven for us.  It opens the hearts of people and opens heaven to bless us.

The Law of Life is found in Luke 6.  Our objective should be total surrender, which brings total transformation, which enables us to live the Golden Rule, which produces the Law of Harvest in us.

That Harvest is not only our blessing but brings others into the kingdom.  It is a perpetual cycle of love and mercy!  It comes to us, then through us, then to us so that it can go out through us.   We will reap what we sow, so choose your seed wisely.

Father, help each of us to become linkers, linking the Scripture into the Full Message!

Ezra 7:10 – “For Ezra set his heart to study the law of Yahweh and to practice it, and to teach His statute and judgment to Israel.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the Holy Spirit brought something to my attention that resonates powerfully.

Although Ezra was a priest, this applies to everyone.  Notice his objective and the systematic progression.  He set his heart, made up his mind, and committed to this purpose.   He set aside designated time for the Word.   He was on a mission of discovery.   He was conducting a mining operation.  He was searching for answers.

He wanted to know in order to practice the truth he discovered.  Then, his desire and purpose were to teach that to others, disciplining them.

The words of Jesus exploded in my head and heart.  “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you…”   Out of that saturation with the Word, the Holy Spirit makes it alive and empowers!   Remember that on the day of Pentecost, they became spiritual dynamos!  Think about who they were.   The Jews who were saturated with the Word but not the power.   Once the energeia of the Holy Spirit saturated them, that Word implanted in them germinated and exploded with life and power.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” It’s not just truth but truth, you know.  Truth given life by the Holy Spirit.   Remember that no scripture is of private interpretation.  We must interpret the Bible in light of every verse within it.   Do we know and have instant recall of every verse?   Of course not.  That is why we must continually study and eat and drink the Word of God.  We give the Holy Spirit ammunition and seed to produce an ever-expanding harvest in us.

Let’s set our hearts to study the Word, then practice what we learn, and in life and words teach others.  The Living God has given us His Living Word to make us alive!  Armed with the Word, no enemy or obstacle can stand.  Study is not plucking an isolated verse from a promise box; it is an investment of time, heart, and mind.  The reward is beyond imagination.

Lord, help each of us to ‘Set Our Hearts’ on You!

Romans 4:3  – ^“For what does the scripture say?  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

The story of Abraham and Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage is fascinating.  In Exodus 12:7, we have God’s directive, “Take some of the blood (of the slain lamb) and put it on the two door posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it (the sacrificial lamb).”

The blood marked them and kept them.   They had to have Faith in God and His promises.   They had to act on that Faith in obedience.   Paul recounted Abraham’s faith journey in Romans 4 and, in verse 3, declares, “Abraham believed God.”   It began in Faith, and the result of His believing his faith-filled obedience was viewed by God as righteousness.   Faith acts in loving obedience and is motivated to do what is right while shunning evil.

Romans 4:13-25 provides an incredible revelation.  God’s promise was to give Sarah a son.  Their bodies had become reproductively non-functional.  Abraham contemplated that.  He realized the impossibility of the Promise.  In the natural, it was impossible.   Then verse 20, “YET, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.”

That is incredible!   He knew that the promise was naturally impossible.  YET… Yet?  He weighed his physical incapability against God’s capability and chose God’s promise over his own ability.   Faith!

Romans 4:21 – “And being FULLY ASSURED that what God has promised, He (God) was able to also do.”   In verse 20, we are reminded that he GREW STRONG IN FAITH.  How?  He contemplated his and Sarah’s bodies’ non-functionality and God’s inability to fail.  He kept reminding himself of who God was and trusted Him totally.

It is this kind of trusting, obedient faith that Paul is referring to in Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” Then in verse 2, “through whom (Jesus), also we obtained our introduction by Faith into this Grace in which we stand…”

In Romans 6, we see the power of this faith.   In verse 2, Paul asks, “How shall we who died (by faith) to sin still live in it?”   Faith produces a change on the inside, which is reflected in a changed life!

In verses 4-11, we see the evidence and results of this newness by faith.  Faith and total surrendered obedience in submission produce a life of demonstrated righteousness that introduces us to this storehouse of grace!

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It begins and ends with the blood of the Lamb by faith that brings us grace!   If we have died to ourselves by surrendering to Him, we live free from sin’s power to control.   If we truly see Him and what He offers, sin has no power, and as we contemplate the contrast between our ability and His, we know the truth that liberates and empowers us to live free!

Jesus offers freedom.  Faith is the key, and grace is the vehicle to get us there!  You are free, so live free!

LORD, help us to have Faith, not faith in faith, but faith in You!