Luke 17:1-6 Throwing the Mulberry Tree into the Sea
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: October 8, 2018 Luke 17:1-6
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
(Understanding the Text) There are three topics here: temptation to sin, forgiveness, and the power of faith. First, Jesus says that temptations will always be around us here on earth, so Jesus is warning us to be on our guard. However, then He takes it into a new direction, warning us to be on our guard that we do not lead a young person to sin. He is saying that we need to watch ourselves not just so that we are not tempted, but even more importantly so that we do not lead others into temptation. This warning is for His disciples, so we as Christians need to be careful that we are not leading other people to sin. Jesus is not warning us to watch out for tempters; instead, He is warning us that we might become tempters.
Jesus next talked about how it is not enough to rebuke someone for sinning. We must forgive them when they repent also. In fact, He emphasizes forgiving our brother who sins more than rebuking. It is almost as if Jesus expects people to want to rebuke but not to forgive. Whenever a brother or sister repents, we forgive even if they are going to sin the same sin again. As long as they keep repenting, we keep forgiving. That is hard.
(Revelation of God) Jesus emphasized that faith is important, but that faith in even a tiny quantity is powerful. Faith is our connection to the Father. It is a the pathway that the Spirit uses to reach our hearts, but it is also the pathway He uses to enable us to perform mighty works. Jesus is telling us that we can do these mighty works with even a small amount of faith. How low our faith must be for us to be doing such limited works.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that I must forgive and love my brothers and sisters in Christ even when they are being misguided and making stupid choices. I need to be careful not to lead them into worse sins than they have already committed by themselves. Most of all, I must trust Jesus to take care of the rest. I pray for these things because I am too stubborn to forgive, too weak to guide, and too cynical to trust. I can’t do any of these things right, so I need the help of the Holy Spirit to transform me.