Ray7live! endeavors to create a healthy English-speaking environment with free English lessons and Bible Studies.　　Since Sunday, August 22, 2010 (For more information, google "ray7live")　Place: Kengun & Musashigaoka Catholic Church

Time: Mondays　19:00 ~ 20:50　　Text: The Gospel According to Luke　

Day 167 December 1, 2014 Song: Psalm 19. Attendance: Ray, Sister M, Haru.

Introduction to Luke 12 The Perspective of the Kingdom 34 “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In this chapter, Jesus introduces the perspective, or “the thinking,” of the kingdom. As Descartes' popular phrase (Cogito ergo sum, or I think, therefore, I am) goes, our thinking defines our being. How we think forms our reality, and vice versa. Our reality, then, can be very different if we think very differently. First, Jesus affirms the importance of integrity. Our words and actions are to be coherent. This is, in fact who God is. His words do not fall to the ground without making a difference (Isaiah 55:11). Human beings, who are created in His image (Genesis 1:27), reflect such glory. We can keep our integrity. Nay, we are designed to be that way. That's our natural state of being. Something has gones wrong if we do not show the character. It is, then, also an indicator or barometer of our spiritual health. When it is in order, a person mirrors his or her creator (1 Samuel 3:19). When it isn't, we mirror the first Adam who disobed God by eating the forbidden fruit with his wife Eve. The weaknesses in our fallen state can overtake us and we come short of the glory of God. Bible calls it “sin.” What can we do? Jesus goes straight to the point and talks about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit exists and contrains us to conform to the image. That is His mission on earth. He will always bring us to Jesus. Whenever we go astray, even in our thinking, the Holy Spirit brings us home. Without his help, we can easily fall into the same trap the Pharisees had even when Jesus in the flesh was walking among them: hypocricy. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (1) We are hypocrites, for example, when we wish our children to live a healthy life while making money by selling sugarly, transfat-rich, GMO-laden cookies, candies, chocolate bars, etc., targetting the very children. Or when we tell them not to eat such and such foods and we ourselves eat them. We rely more on medication and hospital visit than dicipline and healthy lifesyle. Life can be beautifully simple. By consuming allergens or things that cause negative effects in our body and mind (and spirit), we make it more complicated than it ought. That's the next topic Jesus touches on: the greed. “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (15) Then, Jesus gives the prescription for the disease, i.e. faith. All kinds of greed disappear in the face of faith. Being “rich toward God” (21) has little to do with being rich in this world. “Just look at Jesus,” the Holy Spirit also points out. over and over again. Jesus knew where the true wealth came from. It is not in “an abundance of possessions.” It is in the kingdom that God the Father gives. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (32) It requires a radical transformation in our perspective to have our hearts filled with true riches. To Be Con..