Author - Clay Corvin

04/12          Luke 14:22-24

After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I invited first will get even the smallest taste of what I had prepared for them.'”

INVITED
You are invited by the King of Glory to participate in His work here on Earth. Listen to His call. Do what He says. He will give you the joy and peace you are searching for.

04/11          Luke 14:15-21

Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a privilege it would be to have a share in the Kingdom of God!” 16 Jesus replied with this illustration: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to come. 18 But they all began making excuses. One said he had just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, so he asked to be excused. 19 Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and wanted to try them out. 20 Another had just been married, so he said he couldn’t come.” 21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was angry and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.’

TIME

We are bound by time. All of us feel the press of time. In our relationship with the Lord develop a DO IT NOW attitude.

04/10          Luke 14:12-14
Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a dinner,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will repay you by inviting you back. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

GIVE
The call from the Father is to give. Give your love. Give your help. Give your resources. Give with no expectations. Give all that you are and all that you have. The call is to give.

04/09          Luke 14:6-11

Again they had no answer. 7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 “If you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t always head for the best seat. What if someone more respected than you has also been invited? 9 The host will say, ‘Let this person sit here instead.’ Then you will be embarrassed and will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!” 10 “Do this instead — sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place than this for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.”

HUMBLE

Deal with and care for people just like Jesus did. He cares for each one of us as if we were the only one. His love is deep and abiding. He loved us so much that he was willing to die for us when we were still dead in our trespasses and sin. Jesus loves people. You and I must learn to love people.

04/08          Luke 14:4-5

When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he turned to them and asked, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you proceed at once to get him out?”

PEOPLE

Jesus focuses His ministry on people. People count with the Lord so much that He was willing to die for us while we were dead in our trespasses and sin. Jesus is Lord and He is Lord of us.

04/07          Luke 14:1-3

One Sabbath day Jesus was in the home of a leader of the Pharisees. The people were watching him closely, 2 because there was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Well, is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?”

PEOPLE

People count with Jesus. He died to save us from our sin and gives us His life, eternal life and we become members of the family of God. Praise the Lord for His deep love for us.

4/06            Luke 13:34-35

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 35 And now look, your house is left to you empty. And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'”

JESUS

Jesus is alive. He is alive and well living in us. He gives us life and light for living. Praise the Lord Jesus is alive.

4/05            Mt. 28:1

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb.

THE TOMB

He wasn’t in the tomb. He had risen. The two Mary’s would be the first to know. His resurrection from the grave changed everything.

For many of us life was never easy. No one was there to teach the Godly how-to’s of a successful life. I committed myself to learning the mechanics of life. I wanted to have all the good things that life offers. My ethics, activities and responses were based on a world system that is dead in its trespasses and sin.

I struggled on my own for a long time. Finally one day the Lord spoke to me. He pledged to show me how to live. He forgave me, He saved me and grafted me into His family.

His salvation put the power of the resurrection in me. Nearly 2000 years later He saved me by grace. Once I was a weak sinner focused on my own wants and needs. Now I am a child of God and a member of the Royal family.

I wasn’t looking for God He came looking for me. I praise Him that He did. Thank you Lord for saving me.

THE TOMB

Two came to outfit Him for rotting and decay.

They found a barren rock and a folded cloth.

Their minds were numbed with disappointment.

Who had taken Him? Where was His body.

I must confess that I too often want to fix things for God.

I see evil people that need to be corrected.

I want to get in their face and tell them what’s what.

I can always see their problems clearly.

Like Mary and Mary discovered, things aren’t always what we think.

My death cures their ills. Surrender heals their blindness.

The world comes into focus much better from my knees.

I can see clearly when I kneel on the rock.

4/04            John 20:19-20

That evening, on the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord!

THE ROOM

I was trained as an accountant to look at the facts. The fact is that a lot of different people witnessed the resurrected Christ.

I have a decision to make. Am I going to go it alone or chance it with Jesus? I’ve walked down dark alleys. The fear would be so heavy on my heart that I could barely breathe. When I got to the light it was as if the fears of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.

Jesus’ presence lifted the excruciating weight of the future off the disciples shoulder. Now they knew, He was alive.

THE ROOM

Fear makes me do the things I said I wouldn’t do.

I twist and twirl and do the hoo-chi-coo.

It causes me to fabricate a face that isn’t there.

I also treat you badly cause I don’t think you care.

But Jesus knows my heart and all my hopes down deep.

He sees the things that make me crazy.

He reaches down inside of me and sets a captive free.

The things that made me twist and twirl are dead.

Now when I see you I can be a friend.

I don’t have to focus on who will win.

Christ has assured me that I count.

He is all and in all and lives inside my heart.

I am important and you are too.

No longer just competing I belong.

Unknown tomorrows create Savior’s song.

Jesus paid it all that I might have peace with God.

4/03            Mt. 27:35-37

After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A signboard was fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

THE CROSS

It was another day at the office following orders. The Jews were a rowdy group. They never got along with anyone. Now the soldiers had to wrestle their way through the crowd to put another Jew on the cross.

Life changing events can happen at the most unusual times. On the edge of the Roman Empire the Lord came. He lived and died in a backwater place called Israel. The Romans thought very little of the event.

The big event the Romans missed was the resurrection. He shed his blood and died for me but he didn’t stay in the tomb. The cruel cross was defeated by the power of God.

It took the blood of Christ to forgive my sin. The power of God gives me life. The blood of martyrs conquered the Roman Empire. What has Christ called you to do? It will take personal sacrifice and surrender to beat back the enemy.

THE CROSS

Evil, wicked, barren wood pointing at the sky.

Speaking out to all the world, “see who’s in control.”

Not unlike the life I’ve lived, planned and quickly paced.

Often thinking that it was me running all the race.

But just for me he walked from jail to hang upon the cross.

Hanging there for all to see God’s plan was best of all.

The soldiers nailed his hands and feet it was just a job.

The leader ordered the cross in place

He turned and looked my way.

I saw his face and it was me.

There was victory on that tree.

He lifted me from death to life.