Day 2: Invited
Good to Know:
Do you expect to see mercy today? What is mercy? Having compassion. Jesus surprises us with His love for those who don’t feel worthy of it. It seems like Jesus is looking for those people. Are you one of them?
John 8:1-11 NLT
A Woman Caught in Adultery
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Luke 19:1-10 NLT
Jesus and Zacchaeus
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Matthew 9.9-13 NLT
Jesus Calls Matthew
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
Good to Do:
Have you accepted His love for you, and will you give His love to someone else?
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I agree with the previous comments. I have been wanting to dive more into the Bible but never knew where to start. This has been great and I am only on day two. I can`t wait to go through the rest of this study. Thank you to those who created this. It is much needed.
I agree totally to that..I am appreciative of those who created this study. It has been a blessing to read each passage and then reflect on striving to be better individuals in the Lord..
I totally agre! I am loving the scripture readings.
Well said!
We all really start at the same place, in sin. The joy is when we finally humble ourselves and let go and let God. The best part…….His mercies are new every morning.
I live that …. His mercies are made new every morning. Thank you
Wel said!
Amen!
This is so great!!! I love that
PREACH
So true !!! Love that
Amen
That is so encouraging and something I needed to hear. Thank you for that.
So true and I am extremely grateful for his mercies!
This reminds me to spend more time in humility then worrying about how imperfect I am, spending so much time to gain approval When God just wants to love us and be loved back !
So hard to not get wrapped up in it, and just let God be God.
What sticks out to me in these verses is not only the mercy of Jesus, but how judgmental people can be. My prayer for today is for me to be forgiving and loving to those I encounter and not be judgmental.
Me as well need God help in that and absolutely agree
God loves us unconditionally! He is the only one that never disappoints! I practice love thy neighbor and pray for those that judge. Once I fully understood Gods love for me the judgement of others went away! I am so imperfect……and grab his mercy daily
I am so grateful that Jesus shows mercy.. I am usually hardest on myself but knowing that God shows mercy to me helps me to forgive myself.. Thank you.. God is so good..
Yes, I tend to be hard on myself but I believe we are our worst critics at times. I believe also it is significant to remember that forgiveness starts first with ourselves then we can forgive others..
The world needs more mercy and forgiveness.
Amen!
Having a disability myself, I understand what it’s like not to be accepted by others. I am so thankful for God’s mercy. If we will humble ourselves and let go of our pride for attitudes, we too can walk in that Mercy and show love to everyone, every day.
I will always recall the story and song about Zacchaeus and the impact it had on me as a 5 year old child. In all honesty, I need to be more like a child in my acceptance of God’s mercy and grace.
I feel that way also, I too need to be like a child in my faith. And remember that judging others is not for me to do, I was put here to love not judge.
Me 2 also it’s tuff but right
I just read a cool thing about Zacchaeus…”Long before Zacchaeus climbed up into that tree God planted the seed’ It helped me to see that God knew he’d climb up that tree to see Jesus that would lead to be invited to have dinner with Jesus and Salvation came to the house…this kind of fit in with something a friend told me many years ago..If you pray and ask God for an apple tree then you walk out into the back yard and see an apple seed on the ground and you kick it away..Do you not know that ,that… Read more »
Need to be more like Zacchaeus, childlike in my wonder of Jesus. And take His words to heart.
I too was wanting to start reading my Bible more or start a daily devotion. I wasn’t sure where to start. This has been wonderful. I have also just started reading another daily devotion “21 days of praying big prayers” that my church has encouraged us to read & do. This is awesome. They both compliment each other very well. I can’t wait to see how God will reveal himself, and lead me to a deeper more intimate relationship with Him.
That’s great! Your church’s study sounds really good too.
Thank you God for the invitation…..regardless of my sins!!🙌💞
Anyone else dying to know what Jesus was writing in the sand?
I deeply like this page, and I enjoy the reading. Thank You Wayfm.
These are all great verses. We need to forgive and be forgiven as Jesus for forgives us. I especially like Zacchaeus because he knew he was a sinner and turned his life around.
Go and sin no more. Shows Christ’s love and mercy
Thankful for His mercy on me
I’m so thankful God chose me! He doesn’t need me but he chose me! It’s interesting to me that He chooses the unlikely the weak the unwanted the outcasts, thing that makes you different he makes strong. 💕
Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. This will stick with me♡
As a sinner I used to feel my sins were too heavy, even for God because of the shame I felt. Yet He continued to persue me, and i am so glad he did.
I used to think that I was not worthy of his forgiveness and love. Passages like these helped me understand that he loves me and forgives me even when I couldn’t forgive myself. He looks at everyone with the same eyes.
So true!
So true Wendy. I struggled for decades with feelings of unworthiness, even though the Lord was pouring out lavish love on me I just couldn’t accept it. One day though, listening to a Big Daddy Weave song; he said “my chains are gone, I’ve been set free” & I literally felt that chains had dropped from me. I got it, I really accepted His love & knew that I was worth it to Jesus. I had to pull my car over & shout & cry praises to God.
Wendy, I also feel the blessing knowing God loves us each the same. I have found myself, when I am at “odds” with someone, stopping and saying to myself “God has loved this person from the moment they were conceived – and I just have to trust He will help me love them more”.
I have so often in my life felt the mercy of God. It is an amazing feeling. God is so good. II try daily to show God’s love to all people. I don’t care where you have been, you are still a child of God and deserve love, mercy and kindness. If God can give those things to me, a sinner. I can give them to others. Have a blessed day.
Forgiveness is what we all are missing let us not forget how MUCH he forgave us!!
Our Papa is good all the time
We should self reflect the condition of our own hearts and repent of our sins instead of focusing on other’s sins.
I struggle with feeling worthy of God’s love and mercy. Every time I start to feel forgiven satan brings up my past.
Then you remind him of his future!!!!! We know the ending!!!!!! You are a child of the most high God and you tell him that and to leave you alone in Jesus’ name!!!!!
I need to show love, mercy and kindness to others. We are all sinners. I am no better than anyone else.
As Christians, we must have mercy towards others. Mercy as highlighted is showing compassion. Who don’t desire to have compassion showed towards us? Everyone welcomes mercy so it is important to remember to show that kind of compassion. Whether it is the homeless person we meet or someone who is going through a difficult crisis…
I love how Jesus shows mercy and acceptance is part of the love he has for us. I love how Jesus looks for the one who who has made wrong choices but gives mercy and says I don’t condemn but accept you. He always is after the one.
I have accepted Christ as my Lord. Sometimes I do not allow Him to be just that, Lord. I want to do things my way. I ask for His forgiveness while I still learn what that looks like.
Tina I be praying for you that you allow God to continue to work in your life and know when His presence is in your midst.
Ooops!! Me too!!! I ask Him to guide my steps and that I want His guidance throughout the day, then I promptly try to take control back!!!!!!! Getting a bit better, not as bad as I was, but still need a way to go!!!
We are grateful that Gods mercies are new every morning. The sun rises each morning in spite of all our mess are and he gives us a new day to start anew🙏🏼 Let us grab hold of that blessing and look to him for strength to endure.
🤗🤗🤗 yes!!!
None of us is without God’s love for we are all invited to His family, Glory be to God!!! Great lesson today!!
I love having direction in being in the Word. I want to be but most days I just don’t know where to go. Love having this tool to dive deeper and make sure the Word is in my heart. Blessings.
Absolutely, these studies allows readers to get more into God’s word and definitely helps in directing where to study..
Matthew 9: 9-13 is one of my favs. Some people do not like walking into church. They feel they are not good enough, their sin is to bad or that they are a sinner. I want to scream from the roof top, Yes all this is true, that is why you are welcome to come sit beside me. The church is filled we sinners. The only big difference between some of the people in the church is some admit they are and others don’t. At less not openly. The hospital is for the sick, church is for the sinners/broken. I… Read more »
I’ve always wanted to learn more and always felt like I didn’t know enough to even begin. My Great Aunt asked my mom, who I’d had a conversation with before, about where I was and how I felt about The Bible. My mom had explained that I’d felt overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start, and that The Bible was too ‘complicated’ to understand. Before my Great Aunt passed, she sent me the Life Application Bible and even with her horrible arthritis, she wrote me the longest letter. At the time, it meant a lot that she’d sent me that… Read more »
I was reluctant to join, but now I am glad I did. I look forward to each day of reading the word of God.
I am new to this page. Just a found it today. Have thoroughly enjoyed listening to Joy read the text. Thanks to Way FM for being there3.
Thanks for this! I never knew where to start!
I am grateful to the Holy Spirit for his leading and for placing this bible reading idea in your minds and for you all to be obedient to his call. I know this will be a blessing to many including myself. Thanks to Pastor Dave and his wonderful team for all they do in helping us grow in our walk with the Lord🙏🏼
I love this. Healthy people don’t need a Doctor only sick do. We will continued to need Jesus and salvation but we have to accept that we are sick and need the help.
have you noticed that in the reading for Matthew and Luke- both men were of wealth. God is trying to show us that the amount of money someone makes does not define who they are. A sinner is a sinner. the reading from John is most likely someone without a lot of money and yet he goes to her also. Most people think if your are too rich or too poor that you can not have Gods grace and forgiveness but just in these 3 verses he shows you that is not true. he will meet you anywhere – anytime… Read more »
I love our Lord because he came to save the unworthy and make them whole.
Spiritual meekness! Man do I seek that daily! I am a sinner, a work in progress for the Lord! The more imperfect I am the more I see His will transform me!
Excellent parables.
Thank you for this fun way of digger deeper
You’re welcome! Thanks for joining!
What a perfect title for this Daily Reading: “Invited.” For He invites us to reflect on our sins and failings before we put down others; He invites us to serve others with joy and abundance; and He invites us to follow His footsteps: the Way, the Truth and the Life!
I am a sinner, but I know God loves me! I am so thankful.
Live by those Bible Verses everyday!
I’m sick people. I have to show mercy because I’ve received so much mercy. How could I do anything else.
Wow, I think this was something I needed to hear.
Thank you God for your mercies and help me to show it to others as you did to me.
Thank you. So much. Other than Sunday school, I really didn’t know where to start. This keep me in the word and I grow closer to to God. Which what I want and. Beed
😊
I love the daily bible reading! It helps me stay focused on Jesus. On the bible kick start plan how do you get your daily points for reading? Just curious the site was confusing to me.
Hmmm, Amy! I can’t get in the contest as Prayer Pastor. Try the contact form on wayfm.com . Someone should get back with you.
Thank you Pastor Dave