Author: DwightClough

 

[Jesus] asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” Luke 24:17

 

This is an enormously important part of the Lord’s ministry to us. He is drawing us out. He wants us to talk to Him so that we can get our real beliefs out of the table for Him to deal with.

Jesus could have appeared before them in dazzling splendor. He could have materialized in their path and said, “Hey, it’s Me.” But He didn’t. He didn’t even make Himself readily recognizable.

When God goes about changing our deeply held beliefs, He does so with care, with thoughtfulness, with purpose. In this conversation on the road to Emmaus, Jesus builds a bridge from what they already know and trust to what they have not yet quite grasped.

The Lord is gentle with us. He knows how difficult it is sometimes for us to break out of our comfort zone and grow, so He takes on a journey of little steps until at last our eyes are opened and we realize that He was here all along.

Dwight

PS. Somewhere between 25% and 50% of all adults are survivors of sexual abuse. In many ways it is the elephant in the room. On 7/6/2019 in Inner Wealth we look at 5 things every survivor of sexual abuse should know. In addition, I also address marriage and Inner Wealth, as well as other avenues of healing.

 

Not a hair of your head will perish. Luke 21:18

 

I’m not as naive as I used to be…and Jesus certainly isn’t naive at all. But how can He say this? Terrible things happen to many who suffer for the name of Jesus.

Jesus is aware of the overwhelming physical and psychological damage that is done when families are torn apart and children, especially children, suffer unimaginable horrors for the sake the of the gospel. Yet He tells us plainly: The damage won’t last.

Here we enter into an arena that is way, way beyond me. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t pray for hurting and suffering people. Their pain is beyond my comprehension, yet God has it all in hand.

“Not a hair of your head will perish.” Nothing of importance will be lost. No one has the right to say this but the Savior who understands suffering, and who brings the message of the Father to all His children: It’s going to be okay.

Dwight

PS. Somewhere between 25% and 50% of all adults are survivors of sexual abuse. In many ways it is the elephant in the room. On 7/6/2019 in Inner Wealth we look at 5 things every survivor of sexual abuse should know. In addition, I also address marriage and Inner Wealth, as well as other avenues of healing.

 

[Jesus] also saw a poor widow… Luke 21:2

 

While everybody else was watching the show, Jesus was seeing what really mattered. The rich may have been able to show off with expensive gifts. But, in truth, a poor widow was leading the way, showing us all the heart of God. She gave to God without reservation, without boundaries. She was extravagant. She gave all she had.

Jesus levels the playing field. All of us, no matter how rich or poor, talented or dull, attractive or not have the same gift to offer or withhold from our God: everything we have.

And in this verse we learn that Jesus notices. He knows of your sacrifice, your gift of love to Him. You are not overlooked. Though no one else may notice, Jesus sees you.

Dwight

PS. On 6/29/2019 in Inner Wealth I share clear and specific instruction on how to experience the transformation God desires for you. I also explain how to help someone else go through this process of transformation. I will be explaining the TPM (Transformation Ministry Process) as recently updated by Dr. Ed Smith. You will get a clear and concise explanation of a process that you should be able to use whether you are a TPM veteran or brand new to this type of transformation.

 

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive. Luke 20:38

 

The resurrection is a necessity because God’s image is not disposable. God created us to reflect Him. Like a prism, each of us was meant to show a different shade of His light. We were not made to be discarded. From the moment He brought us into being, His eye has been upon us and it always shall be.

Again Jesus takes us out of our earthbound frame of reference, and shows us things from the Father’s perspective. How could He abandon the work of His hands? He doesn’t. While it is true that some will experience God’s eternal displeasure, this is only further proof of the intrinsic value God places on us image bearers. We were all created to forever experience Him.

Dwight

PS. On 6/29/2019 in Inner Wealth I share clear and specific instruction on how to experience the transformation God desires for you. I also explain how to help someone else go through this process of transformation. I will be explaining the TPM (Transformation Ministry Process) as recently updated by Dr. Ed Smith. You will get a clear and concise explanation of a process that you should be able to use whether you are a TPM veteran or brand new to this type of transformation.

 

[Jesus] said to them, “Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Luke 20:25

 

If you want to know the truth, Caesar ends up on the short end of the deal. He can collect all the taxes he wants, but God gets everything of eternal value.

Put another way, there’s really no competition here. God is in a totally different league. He’s after the human heart, and He can have it whether Caesar takes the pocketbook or not.

Again and again, Jesus brings the eternal perspective into focus. He doesn’t dismiss the need to live in the here and now, but shows us how the royal family thinks, how “presidential” we are, how unconcerned we are with the trifling matters that can never get in the way of the eternal purposes of God.

Dwight

PS. On 6/29/2019 in Inner Wealth I share clear and specific instruction on how to experience the transformation God desires for you. I also explain how to help someone else go through this process of transformation. I will be explaining the TPM (Transformation Ministry Process) as recently updated by Dr. Ed Smith. You will get a clear and concise explanation of a process that you should be able to use whether you are a TPM veteran or brand new to this type of transformation.

 

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” Luke 19:9

 

Two rich men come to Jesus. One goes away empty handed, and the other goes away with eternal life.

In Luke 18, a rich ruler—a respected young man of standing—comes to Jesus trying to make a deal. “Good teacher,” he says, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” For this young man, eternal life is just another acquisition, another deal, another commodity to be bought and sold.

Jesus sends the first man away empty handed. If you bargain with God, it will cost you everything you have. God doesn’t want to be part of someone’s portfolio. He wants to be God.

But in Luke 19, Zacchaeus, another kind of rich man comes to Jesus. Zacchaeus is rich but, as a tax collector, he is despised by most people. His small stature is a metaphor for his whole life. He doesn’t fit in—he can’t find Jesus as part of the crowd, but He wants to find him, so he climbs a tree. He doesn’t bargain with Jesus. He doesn’t even expect Jesus to acknowledge him. He just wants to see Him.

But Zacchaeus gets far more than he expected. He receives salvation.

The first rich man walks away without eternal life because he will not sell everything he has and give the money to the poor. But Zacchaeus parts with half (not all) of his wealth. He promises to make generous restitution to anyone he has cheated. And even though that falls far short of the requirement Jesus set for the first man, Jesus pronounces that okay.

Zacchaeus is given eternal life.

What’s going on?

I would like to suggest that Jesus cares more for our hearts than He does for our wealth. It took all the wealth of the first man to break open his heart for Jesus—a price the first man was unwilling to pay. But the heart of Zacchaeus was already broken open for Jesus. When Jesus entered his life, love, generosity and kindness flowed out.

Jesus gave him salvation and then He added another special gift. He told Zacchaeus that he belonged. “…this man, too, is a son of Abraham.”

Dwight

PS. On 6/29/2019 in Inner Wealth I share clear and specific instruction on how to experience the transformation God desires for you. I also explain how to help someone else go through this process of transformation. I will be explaining the TPM (Transformation Ministry Process) as recently updated by Dr. Ed Smith. You will get a clear and concise explanation of a process that you should be able to use whether you are a TPM veteran or brand new to this type of transformation.

Its meaning was hidden from them. Luke 18:34

The journey to the cross was a lonely one for Jesus. He tried to talk to His disciples about it, but they didn’t understand. They didn’t get it. They couldn’t get it.

Think about it though. One of the biggest proofs of the resurrection was the surprise of the disciples—their reluctance to believe, to accept, to understand that Jesus came to earth to die and rise again.

This is the arena where God does His greatest miracles—in the matters that we don’t understand, that we cannot take in. When we are totally confined by our old paradigms, boxed in, unable to get free, Jesus comes along and adds a whole new dimension to our lives.

Perhaps we cannot hear the word of God. Oh, we hear the words, but they don’t add up. They don’t make sense. They don’t somehow work together in our minds. But God will launch us into life-changing experience that makes all those seemingly senseless words suddenly come alive. When that happens, we gain a message that will change our world.

Dwight

PS. Why does God allow trouble in our lives? What is God doing with us? How does faith work? Why doesn’t hard work bring about the good life God desires for us, and what can we do instead? On 6/22/2019, in our Inner Wealth subscription, we’ll be looking at the big picture of faith and how all these things fit together.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Luke 18:22-23

Jesus unerringly finds the door to our heart that must be opened for Him to be our true Lord and Savior. In almost every case, that door is over our most protected pain. The rich young ruler was no exception. His problem was insecurity.

I didn’t catch that for a long time. I thought his problem was money or greed. But money was his solution, not his problem.

Jesus stood at the door of his heart and said, “Abandon your solution. Choose Me instead. I will be your security.”

As we carry out the Great Commission, Jesus assures us of His ongoing presence with us. That is not an idle or irrelevant promise. We can never ask anyone to abandon his or her solution if we cannot offer Jesus in its place. But when we bring Jesus to the right door, we will see lives transformed.

Dwight

PS. Why does God allow trouble in our lives? What is God doing with us? How does faith work? Why doesn’t hard work bring about the good life God desires for us, and what can we do instead? On 6/22/2019, in our Inner Wealth subscription, we’ll be looking at the big picture of faith and how all these things fit together.

The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector.” Luke 18:11

Do you know that the enemy probably wants some people to be good? There are some people who are disciplined enough to pray regularly, avoid all kinds of sin, and live an exemplary life.

Why would the enemy want self-made good Christians in our churches? Very simple. So they can offer the wrong prescription to everybody else.

In another passage, Paul asks us, “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”

Some will answer, “Yes, and I’m doing very nicely, thank you.”

Meanwhile, the rest of us are forced to say, “I try and try, and everything I try doesn’t work.”

But here is the beautiful thing: When we finally realize that everything we try doesn’t work, God has us right where He wants us. We have no where else to turn but to Him. None of us can boast about ourselves, but rather we can boast that our God knows what to do with those of us who have no power to do good on our own.

Dwight

PS. Why does God allow trouble in our lives? What is God doing with us? How does faith work? Why doesn’t hard work bring about the good life God desires for us, and what can we do instead? On 6/22/2019, in our Inner Wealth subscription, we’ll be looking at the big picture of faith and how all these things fit together.

Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1

When my daughter was five years old, she wanted to make me her slave for life. “Daddy, would you please do this. Daddy, would you please do that.” I could have run ragged from sunup to sundown. But I figured something out somewhere along the line. While I was in the middle of granting one request, she had already forgotten what she asked for and was trying to get me to do something else.

I learned that if she really wanted something, she would ask me more than once. When she asked two or three times, it brought her request into sharp focus. And so I tried to respond to her requests with balance, kindness, and common sense.

Years ago, I read that great little book by E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer. I believe that was where I ran into the statement: “Prayer doesn’t change God; it changes us.” God doesn’t need our persistence to be talked into things. But our persistence helps to weld our will to His, and connects our faith to God’s inevitable answer.

God’s royal children don’t give up.

Dwight

PS. Why does God allow trouble in our lives? What is God doing with us? How does faith work? Why doesn’t hard work bring about the good life God desires for us, and what can we do instead? On 6/22/2019, in our Inner Wealth subscription, we’ll be looking at the big picture of faith and how all these things fit together.