Vicki's Wednesday Word

  Luke 14:25-28, 33 New Living Translation 25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it…33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.   This statement sounds so foreign to our ears. We don’t like to think of our Loving Savior as using such harsh rhetoric to drive home his point. But making such a crucial point calls for strong language. Not reading Greek or Aramaic or being well versed in first century vernacular, I can only assume the use of the word hate in this statemen

                                                                                                      photo by Cullan Smith Luke 12:49-51. New Living Translation 49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! Human nature is a curious thing. We leap at concepts and behaviors that can lead us down a dangerous path with anticipation and excitement, but resist what leads to positivity and peace. I can remember saying to my pastor decades ago, “This Jesus stuff is hard.” Our inclination is often the easier way, the don’t rock the boat way. But, following the simple teachings of Jesus is not so easy. Simple teachings essentially mean that we are intended to love and obey God. Period. We are intended to treat each other with love and compas

  John 2:1-11 New Living Translation 2  The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” 5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 “A host always serves the best win

  Proverbs 16: 1-4, 7-9 New Living Translation   16:1 We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. 2  People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives. 3  Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. 4  The Lord has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster.   7  When people’s lives please the Lord, e ven their enemies are at peace with them. 8  Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest. 9  We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.   I grew up hearing the phrase immortalized by the great Scottish poet, Robert Burns, that we translate as “the greatest schemes of mice and men often go awry.” John Steinbeck drew from the poem to name one of his most famous works. Literary references just reinforce our experience of these Proverbs. We think that if we craft our plans carefully and prepare in detail, they cannot fail. The truth of th