Sample of Footsteps book design Cover to be designed later...
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Welcome to “In the Footsteps of the King”. I have an ambitious plan to spend a whole year in Luke’s gospel, exploring how Jesus walks alongside me each day. Sharing my findings as I go. What a glorious, if daunting, prospect. What practicalities do I face? 24 chapters - 2 chapters a month. 1,153 verses - 3.16 verses a day I smiled when I ran this calculation, as (a) I reckon I can cope with 3.16 verses a day and (b) 3.16 is a rather special verse in the four gospels. Here they are: “As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” [Matthew 3:16[ “These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter).” [Mark 3:16] “John (the Baptist) answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’” [Luke 3:16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16] It’s a Trinitarian feast, with a loving God planning and sending His Son, Jesus, the anointed Saviour, who in turn was to pour out the empowering Spirit. And Simon was to be a leading beneficiary. I’ll have some of that - score! So, I’m ready to go. I hope you’ll come with me, enjoy the journey, cheer me on, and feed in thoughts of your own as we progress through the year.
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in the footsteps of the king... a year with jesus in luke’s gospel
“Father God, what an exciting
And may many be led to look
prospect – to walk daily with
more closely at my walking
Jesus for a whole year.
companion and discover Him better for themselves, that their
Please give me the discipline
lives, along with mine, might
and determination needed to
become more like His.
keep going [with my daily walk, not just these reflections] and
To the glory of His name,
reveal yourself to me that I might
the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”
become saltier salt and a brighter light in a needy world.
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“i myself have carefully investigated everything...�
luke chapter
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1
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in the footsteps of the king... a year with jesus in luke’s gospel
why
write a gospel?
2 births announced...
...outbursts of praise ...reactions to revelation
...John the Baptist is born
...the scene is set
“You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus.”
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in the footsteps of the king... a year with jesus in luke’s gospel
day
1: three decades of faith
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” [Luke 1:1-4]
Lord Jesus, thank you for showing me the true way of life over three decades of faith. May many come to explore that way for themselves, as those of us walking with
You
hand down our stories.
Amen.
I guess I need to echo these introductory words of Luke, as I set out to explore the life of Jesus over the next year. I was certainly not there two millennia ago, but I can tell you how I see Jesus walking alongside me today. Of that I am an entirely competent eyewitness, although no doubt others who know me will see Jesus doing things in and around me that I do not see. Luke's purpose was that his readers might know with certainty the reality of the tales they had heard of Jesus' ministry. In that, I am at one with him. I am firmly convinced, after three decades of living faith, that Jesus is what He claimed to be - the Way, the Truth and the Life. And, I'd love to share with you why.
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2: living with disappointment What an admirable couple Zechariah and Elizabeth were. Well connected, they would have expected life to go well for them. But they had been unable to have children and must have been deeply disappointed. And their disappointment must have been with God, as He was the source of all new life.
“In the time of Herod king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.” [Luke 1:5-7]
Father God I lift before you those living with dashed hopes, whether of having children or using
You would Grant them peace in their disappointment, unshakeable trust in You, and a sure knowledge that You are working Your purpose out in their lives - that they might walk with Jesus in righteousness all their days, to Your glory, Amen. gifts they believed
have them exercise.
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Yet, we read that they were righteous and had lived godly lives through to old age. They were not to know that things would turn out well for them but, nevertheless, got on with their lives in a way that honoured God. (I wonder if God, by withholding the blessing of a son until old age, was actually being gracious to them protecting them from knowing that this son would meet his end in hideous execution?) For many years I lived with an underlying disappointment as the various things I hoped to achieve had not come to pass. And yet I found myself carried forward to the next stage in my life and now (in relatively old age!) I can see how the disappointments were actually stages in the preparations God was making in my life. This is how life with Jesus plays out. A life of hope that dusts itself down from disappointment and trusts that God has good plans that will come to pass - in His timing. Please do not mistake this for a prosperity gospel promising material blessing or an easy life. The blessing of faith is secure relationship with God and a life of purpose bearing the fruit of love and hope faith, hope, love, Paul’s glorious triptych in 1 Corinthians 13.
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in the footsteps of the king... a year with jesus in luke’s gospel
day
3: a special place with god
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshippers were praying outside. [Luke 1:8-10]
We’ll come to Zechariah shortly but, first, can I champion the benefits of a special time and place of quiet with God. Western life in the 21st Century can border on the lunatic, and it is all too easy to become the proverbial hamster on a wheel. Creating time and space to be still and quiet requires discipline. For our sanity, let alone tuning in to God and listening to His voice, it must be worthwhile getting it sorted. Incense has been widely used over the years and remains so in some traditions. I have taken to using a scented candle as an aide to stilling myself and relaxing in God’s presence. It helps me let go of the pressures of the day and create a special place. I can’t guarantee that God will appear like a genie or intervene in your life big time as he did with Zechariah, but Jesus spent much time in a place of quiet with His Father, and that makes it a priority for me. Lord Jesus, I want to spend more quality time with You, as You did with Your Father. Please show me a time and place where I can best create space to be with You and listen to Your voice. And grant me the discipline to go there and the ears to hear what You would speak into my life. Amen.
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4: startled
An angel appears, a terrified priest is commanded not to be, a heartfelt prayer is miraculously answered, and the forerunner to the Messiah is announced. Quite a busy three verses then! But it’s the word “startled” that draws my eye. Zechariah was carrying out his role as priest in the holiest place - yet is startled when God makes an appearance in the person of an angel. Why was Zechariah there but to stand before God? It would be comic if it wasn’t a sobering picture for you and I. We try and spend time with God, we pray, we imagine we long for God. But do we actually expect Him to reveal Himself to us? To be fair, pre-Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had not been poured out into individual believers lives, so we might forgive Zechariah. But those of us living now, in the age of the Spirit, should absolutely expect God to speak to us. And, rather than gawp in astonishment and fear when He does so, we should respond with joyful obedience. A daily walk with Jesus will be neither predictable nor comfortable.
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Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. [Luke 1:11-13]
Father God, please open my eyes to see
You, my ears You, my
to hear
heart to accept
You, and my will to respond in obedience to
You. Today. Amen.
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