Devotional Notes 3 Apr 20

I hope to have a devotional every day on John’s Gospel starting with the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel. This is the way I do my devotions. You may notice grammatical and spelling errors. It is my hope you will also start or continue in your daily reading and thinking about the Scriptures. I do this Monday through Friday. It is a 3 year plan of reading and thinking on 1 chapter in the Old Testament, which takes 3 years, and reading and thinking on 1 chapter in the New Testament once a year for a total of 3 times. So, I read through the Old Testament 1 time and the New Testament 3 times over a period of 3 years.

3 Apr 20

MORNING

Psalm 112

B1 What does this mean?

C1 The person who lives God's way will be blessed. God's guidance principles are the best and are proven to be best as is obvious from society's mess.

C2 Verses 6

D1 Godly people will be remembered, that is, remembered by God.

D2 Bad news doesn't bother the believers in the same way as unbelievers, for we have hope for the future.

D3 Even having enemies standing in front of him, lying, verbally abusing, etc., they remain confident.

D4 The wicked (unbelievers) are not remembered by God.

B2 How do I apply this to my life?

C1 Believers experience fear, too, but if we remember God's dealing with us and others in the past, we have confidence.

C2 We need God's grace to succeed.

C3 God is willing to give His grace to help us.

C4 God's memory is perfect. His remembering has to do with who gets His blessings and fellowship with Him. Malachi 3:16-18 BSB At that time, those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name. 17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

EVENING

Luke 24

B1 What does this mean?

C1 The Resurrection of Jesus

D1 The word they in verse 1 refers to the they in Luke 23:56. It is the women.

D2 The tomb was empty. They were perplexed by the stone being rolled away, the empty tomb, and then the men.

D3 That these are not ordinary human men is noted by shining garments. Also see verse 23.

D4 In verse 6, the word remember is in the imperative, that is, a command. The angels wanted the women to remember what Jesus had told them. They did remember and went to tell the eleven and the rest of the disciples.

D5 Verse 10 names the women who were there early Sunday morning.

D6 The first witnesses are women, who are not believed by the disciples. The disciples were upbraided later by Jesus because of the unbelief of not believing the women. Let us heed this.

D7 Peter then ran to the tomb to see for himself, saw the tomb was empty, saw the linen burial clothes, and left deep in thought.

C2 Jesus on the Emmaus Road

D1 Two of the disciples were traveling to Emmaus discussing all the events.

D2 Jesus (unrecognized) comes up to them and starts walking with them.

D3 Why was Jesus not recognized? Probably to test their faith, strengthen their faith, and encourage them (as happened shortly).

D4 At verse 25, Jesus begins teaching them what they already know but do not believe or perhaps forgotten.

D5 In verse 26, Jesus tells again that Messiah needs to suffer first, then He will enter His glory.

D6 In verse 28, Jesus made as if He was going to continue on His journey. Some have suggested that Jesus was feigning this, that is, lying. But maybe He really was going on further. Nevertheless, the brethren encouraged Him to have supper with them and spend the night.

D7 As they readied to eat, their eyes were opened and the recognized Him, then He disappeared. The disappearance is an indication of the new body believers will have at the resurrection/rapture. Philippians 3:20-21 BSB But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

D8 Jesus appears to the disciples after the 2 return to Jerusalem with their news. They were shocked, believed He was a ghost, and terrified, but Jesus comforts them and proves to them that He is flesh and bones. Then Jesus eats some food and gives them instructions concerning fulfilling the Law, His suffering, His resurrection, their commission to preach the Gospel, and to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit empowered them. Note how He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Without God's grace, we cannot understand the Scriptures rightly.

C3 The Ascension

B2 How do I apply this to my life? As above.