9/5/2020 #ReadLuke16

 

One day I was on vacation with my family and he woke me up at 3am.  I am talking about the type of cold water thrown on you in a dead sleep kind of “wake up”.  I even tried to go back to sleep and knew that’s not what he wanted.  I was compelled to get out of bed and read my bible.  Thankfully I brought it with me on that trip.  I opened it and started reading.  Before I knew it, I had read a chapter that was not part of my reading plan and I wasn’t even sure how i made it to that page.  All of a sudden i had read Luke 16 and I knew that this chapter was the one he wanted me to read right then and there.  On 6/30/2020 I knew that i was to read, reread, and read it again.  I have researched it and focused on it.  I have asked others; I have talked to spiritual leaders and searched the internet for meaning in this chapter of the Bible.  I have come to peace with what God has revealed to me though this chapter.  I do believe in my heart of hearts that part of my mission in life is to help as many people read this chapter right now and help them see what i see.  Luke 16 has 3 main parts and is jammed pack with Knowledge.  Let’s dive in.

 

Luke 16:

Part 1 – LUKE 16:1-15NIV – The Dishonest Businessman

 

“Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So, he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ “So, he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are shrewder in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

Luke 16:1-15 NIV

 

This parable is called the dishonest, shrewd, unjust, unrighteous manager/steward/businessman (depending on the version you read.) We will call it the “Dishonest Businessman.”

 

When you think of a dishonest businessman, who is the first person that comes to your mind?   Donald J. Trump? My guess is that a lot of you thought of him first, which doesn’t surprise me, because most people think he is a dishonest, lying, power hungry narcissist – a real piece of work.  My next question would be, do you think that he is a dishonest businessman because you are a “free thinker” or because you’ve seen and/or heard a lot of bad things about him on social media, tv and radio? Does Trump have a questionable past?  Absolutely, but who doesn’t when your past is under a microscope. We all have things we have said or done that we shouldn’t have or are ashamed of?  But luckily for the majority of us, our past, present and future are not under a microscope 24/7. The world / media and mases have become so righteous that anything in our past is brought to light as if it was done yesterday. Why can we not allow or even recognize that someone has the opportunity to change from their past?  Now, regardless if you or I think Trump is a good guy or not, he is exactly what this country needs right now.  Someone who will FIGHT FOR YOU AND ME!  

 

I can’t help to think that God has been speaking to me about Luke 16 and how Trump is the one he has chosen to represent this story.  We all feel as if Trump was a bad guy.  He was part of the elite 1% society for decades.  He witnessed it; lived it, and I’m sure took part in some things he wished he hadn’t.  I feel like, one day he decided he didn’t want to be part of the 1% society anymore, and that he wanted to be like us…the other 99% that wasn’t being heard. He felt he could use his voice to uplift the 99% about the love for America and was willing to fight for it. 

 

My Interpretation of the above parable – “The Dishonest Businessman:”

The “rich man” is God.  The shrewd manager is Trump.  One day God ask’s Trump, you need to give account for all that you have done with what I have entrusted to you.  Trump realized he had not done enough good and had probably done too much bad and was about to be “fired” by God. While reading the Bible, I have noticed that God works with bad people to give them a second chance. I think that is exactly what he’s doing with Trump.  With the fear of God in Trump, he decides he can use his “worldly wealth to gain eternal friends”.  He sets out to be President so that he could use his worldly influence and power to try his best to rid the world of all the evil and sick people that have continually run our planet to the ground, while everyone stands by and watches.  He decides he cannot “serve two masters,” and that it’s not all about money.  Clearly, he has plenty of money, and I have read several articles claiming that he is losing 2-5 billion dollars a year while being president. He has become the most hated, talked about man on the planet. He has to deal with daily insults, and pure hate towards himself and entire family. So clearly, this isn’t about money for him.  Why is it, that just six years ago, Trump was beloved by the elites, mentioned in rap songs, considered a liberal, and given humanitarian and NAACP awards?  He even discussed Epstein’s island as a “cesspool” before running for president. But as soon as he announced his candidacy, all of those good accolades disappeared.  The media unleashed their fake news on him and made the world hate him. Why do you think he’s doing all this?  Power? Greed? Well, as we discussed, he’s losing money being our president and being insulted daily, so why would he want to do this?  I believe he is doing this all for us…. He has taken on this responsibility for us.  He knows he is the only thing standing in the way of a wave of evil to take over our country and world.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Do i think he is a Christian?  I don’t know.  Do I think he is a good guy?  I am not sure.  Do I think he is saved?  Not my call, but all of this is irrelevant, it’s between him and our creator.  What I do know is that the THIS man is doing God’s work.  The Trump administration has done more to fight human trafficking than any other president, period.  Possibly all the other presidents combined.  Are you aware of how corrupt and evil the banking system is?  Trump is fighting that too.  The truth will come out soon.  Just wait for it.  Here a just a few small examples:

* Trump signed the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” (FOSTA), which includes the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” (SESTA) which both give law enforcement and victims new tools to fight sex trafficking

* He created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.

* VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.

* Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.

* In 2018, President Trump signed the groundbreaking First Step Act, a criminal justice bill that enacted reforms that make our justice system fairer and help former inmates successfully return to society.

* The First Step Act’s reforms addressed inequities in sentencing laws that disproportionately harmed Black Americans and reformed mandatory minimums that created unfair outcomes.

* The First Step Act expanded judicial discretion in the sentencing of non-violent crimes.

* Over 90% of those benefitting from the retroactive sentencing reductions in the First Step Act are Black Americans.

* The First Step Act provides rehabilitative programs to inmates, helping them successfully rejoin society and not return to crime.

* Trump increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by more than 14%.

* Trump received the Bipartisan Justice Award at a historically black college for his criminal justice reform accomplishments.

* The poverty rate fell to a 17-year low of 11.8% under the Trump administration as a result of a jobs-rich environment.

* Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels since the U.S. began collecting such data.

* President Trump signed a bill that creates five national monuments, expands several national parks, adds 1.3 million acres of wilderness, and permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water, Conservation Fund.

* Through Trump’s Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) initiative, Federal law enforcement more than doubled convictions of human traffickers and increased the number of defendants charged by 75% in ACTeam districts.

* In 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismantled an organization that was the internet’s leading source of prostitution-related advertisements resulting in sex trafficking.

* Trump’s OMB published new anti-trafficking guidance for government procurement officials to more effectively combat human trafficking.

* Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations arrested 1,588 criminals associated with Human Trafficking.

* Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services provided funding to support the National Human Trafficking Hotline to identify perpetrators and give victims the help they need.

* The hotline identified 16,862 potential human trafficking cases.

* Trump’s DOJ provided grants to organizations that support human trafficking victims – serving nearly 9,000 cases from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018.

* The Department of Homeland Security has hired more victim assistance specialists, helping victims get resources and support.

* President Trump has called on Congress to pass school choice legislation so that no child is trapped in a failing school because of his or her zip code.

* The President signed funding legislation in September 2018 that increased funding for school choice by $42 million.

* The tax cuts signed into law by President Trump promote school choice by allowing families to use 529 college savings plans for elementary and secondary education.

* Under his leadership, ISIS has lost most of its territory and been largely dismantled.

* ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed.

* Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.

* Trump issued an Executive Order prohibiting the U.S. government from discriminating against Christians or punishing expressions of faith.

* Signed an executive order that allows the government to withhold money from college campuses deemed to be anti-Semitic and who fail to combat anti-Semitism.

* President Trump ordered a halt to U.S. tax money going to international organizations that fund or perform abortions.

* Trump imposed sanctions on the socialists in Venezuela who have killed their citizens.

* Finalized new trade agreement with South Korea.

* Made a deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.

* Withdrew the U.S. from the job-killing TPP deal.

* Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.

* Trump’s DOJ and the Board of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work Initiative” to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.

* President Trump’s historic tax cut legislation included new Opportunity Zone Incentives to promote investment in low-income communities across the country.

* 8,764 communities across the country have been designated as Opportunity Zones.

* Opportunity Zones are expected to spur $100 billion in long-term private capital investment in economically distressed communities across the country.

* Trump directed the Education Secretary to end Common Core.

 

That feels like enough “good” that he has done.  I was shocked to find out all of this information.  I was under the impression from watching the news he was a racist dictator that only wanted money and power for himself.  My research with the help of the Holy Spirt has showed me the complete opposite.  On we go.

 

The next part after the shrewd manager is the part about the fact that you can’t love both Money and God.  The Bible is clear that the Devil has domain and rules the “World” and that we are to be “people of the Light” as this passage says and love God more than money.  I have found that many people with money find this part hard.  Its easy to talk about how much you love God when its not effecting your wallet and easy to give when you have.  Do you give when you don’t have?  Greed and money have taken over the world.  That was the Devil’s plan all along.  That is the message in the Bible.  The story of the woman who gave her only two coins (Luke 21:1-4).  The story about the man who followed the 10 commandments but would not sell his possessions to follow Christ (Matthew 19:16-22).  Jesus said “it is hard from someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:23-24.  My key take away here is that if you are a good steward of God’s riches he will bless you and help you bless others.  If you are greedy and only act kind for show and it is not truly in your heart in regards to everything you are and do, including your money and finances it will be very hard for you to have the eternal blessings Luke refences here in chapter 16.         

The last part of this parable is key.  “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

The Pharisees (who loved money) are all the “righteous” people out there (the 1% elites, the politicians and the majority of Hollywood.)  Take a look at who Trumps enemies are.  They are the Pharisees.  The 1% hates Trump due to him not being part of their clique and he is hunting them down and they will be charged with “crimes against humanity” when it’s all said and done.  Satan has been in control for a very long time and has a vast network of followers.  Those are Trump’s enemies.   

The hate and deception have taken over their hearts, it appears they only see hate.  Every single “anti-Christ agenda” institution is spewing evil at him.  Listen to the way the media talks about him, and Hollywood actors, listen to the other politicians most particular the highest-ranking democrats.  They absolutely hate his guts.  Almost as if they are demonically possessed and Trump is representing good in a battler of good versus evil.  Make sense yet? 

 

If not, here is the kicker verse “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” – This explains all the high level Trump haters to a T!  Seriously, they love their way of life, sitting around telling us what to think, say, and do all while they get to do whatever they want and live the most unfathomable lavish lifestyles.  The evil goes deeper than most anyone can comprehend.  Do your own research.  Stay off the TV!  Be fully aware and conscious of a large-scale attack on the human mind via the media (Psalms 119: 123-128).  Be careful, some people can’t fully handle the truth and like to be in their own little bubble.  Unfortunately, that is why we are in this mess.  No one wanted to standup and fight for what was right and just.  No one wanted to stand against evil.  The good news, is we have that fight now.  God has appointed us to fight now.  These people “highly value” what is “detestable” in God’s sight.  Namely Satan, and his network.  It is our time to fight back.  #GODWINS

 

Luke 16:16-18NIV (Special Teachings)  

““The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Luke 16:16-18 NIV

 

Let’s take a break from Trump and focus on Jesus now.  With this special teaching Jesus is giving us a “timeline” here. He is telling us what to expect and how much time we have. 

Wikipedia has said that we humans are roughly 300,000 years old.  That amount of time is debatable in many ways.  However, I contend that regardless of the amount of year the timeline of “phases” remains the same.  As referenced in this special teaching all of mankind is broken into 3 phases. 

There was the “pre law” age of the descendants of Adam and Noah up until God gave Moses the 10 commandments.  Then you have the “age” of the “law and prophets” after the 10 commandments.  This went up until the “age of Grace” after Jesus Died for us.  There is your 300,000-year timeline.  That is the history of man give or take.  Jesus refers to the fact that as soon as John the Baptist started paving the way for him the age of the “Law” was coming to an end as prophesied in the Old Testament.  Once he died for us, the age of “Grace” started and “everyone is forcing their way in”.  To me this means, if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your savior, the time is NOW.  What we are seeing around the world right now is unthinkable, everything has changed, and a new agenda is upon us.

God is giving us a chance to repent and humble ourselves and we need to take him up on his offer.  Accept Jesus Christ, pray daily, read the Bible, fast and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  That and only that will save us and this world from the darkness.    

The last part of this special teaching is a punch in the gut for most of us.  The easy thing to do is walk away from a commitment.  One of the hardest things in life to do is stay married to the same person forever.  Look around.  How many married couples do you know that are still together after decades?  Not many?  The only Americans I know of are Christians.  Some other cultures are taught that hard work pays off, and that its honorable to be a good guy and support your family and stick it out even when it’s hard.  America has fallen so far from this, it’s time we got back to it!  Marriage is hard, because it’s worth it.  Nowhere in the Bible did it ever say marriage was easy or fun all the time.  Can it be?  Yes.  Is it always?  Doubtful.  We have all learned in life that nothing is free, and there is a reason thing’s don’t always come easy.  There are no shortcuts in life, and there are no get rich schemes, everything in life takes hard work and commitment.  As Americans that’s what, we need to get back to.  As far as i am concerned these are biblical principles and it’s what’s gone wrong with our Country. Everyone wants something quick and free without the hard work.  We let wicked, ungodly people tell us that God doesn’t need to be in government, and that we need a “separation of church and state”.  Our entire country was built on God.  Take a look at that dollar bill in your pocket…what does it say? IN GOD WE TRUST. What has happened to us?  We elected and promoted wicked ungodly men and women that have taken God out of everything that they can.  In this timeline, God is giving us a chance to change that and add him back in. Something Trump has been trying to do while in office.  Look in your heart and reflect to see if you think God should be everywhere?  I do, and the Bible confirms it “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path” – Proverbs 3:6.  That doesn’t mean only on Sunday and when you praying silently.  It means all the time, tell everyone, every elected official, every schoolboard member, every sheriff, every boss, every man, woman and child that they should be praising God in all their ways and he will heal our minds, hearts, souls, bodies and land.  Think about that this November when you are at the polls.  How many Pro-Life, Pro-Religion, Pro-Christian, Pro-Bible, Anti-Evil things has Joe Biden stood up for during any of his years as a Senator, Vice President or as a Presidential Candidate?  Trump has been the only president to ever speak at a Pro-Life “March for Life Rally.”  No other president has ever done that, not even, George Bush, nor Ronald Regan.  If you look around you will see many Pastors and Christian leaders telling you that God is talking to them that Trump is the right choice.  Take that as you want, but God is literally talking to Christians that have the Holy Spirit and he is telling us; Trump is here to help us.  I have not heard one single Christian say “God told me to vote for Biden”.  Let’s again look at what God said, “acknowledge God in all your ways”. That means your politics too!  Look in the Old Testament, all the prophets were involved in politics.  They all advised the kings, and faced persecution or favor for representing God.  It’s time we do the same.  If we are blessed so be it, if we are persecuted so be it.  Either way we need to all stand in front of our creator and tell him I fought for you and I “acknowledged you in all my ways.”

 

 

Part 3 – Rich man and Lazarus

 

““There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So, he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’””

Luke 16:19-31 NIV

 

This one is relatively obvious right?  Heaven and hell.  Do you believe?  If you don’t, take a second to rethink that position.  This passage is giving us a preview of why we put in the hard work as part 2 suggested we do.  We see a “rich man” who might as well be a “Pharisee” from part 1.  Loved his life and could care less about helping others.  Was all about himself.  Then he meets the great equalizer, death.  It’s coming.  We all face it.  Read Ecclesiastes, it will give you some perspective.  Happiness is a choice.  Only you control your thoughts and actions.  I can assure you that reading the Bible, praying, fasting and loving God with all your strength, and loving your neighbors as yourself will give you a joy you will never experience anywhere else.  We learn from part 3 of Luke 16 that this a forever decision “that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”  Let that sink in.  You live here on earth maybe 90 years at best?  Earlier we discussed that mankind could be 300,000 years old or older and the earth could be much older than that.  We are but a mere speck of dust in the timeline of history.  God’s timeline.  However, he loves you so deeply that he died for you and yearns for you to love him back.  All he asks of us, is to accept a story of events that if you truly research you will find is plausible.  There are countless skeptics that attempted to prove Christianity fake and couldn’t and ended up as believers.  “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” -Matthew 7:7. How many people do you know that truly wanted to know who the creator was and relentlessly searched for answers and came back saying something other than Jesus is the “way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me” – John 14:6. The ones i hear saying how Christianity is fake news and not true are the same people who are inherently hostile towards Christians.  These people don’t want truth.  They want convenience.  I will be the first to tell you being a Christian is not convenient.  If you really want to know who your creator is, where you came from, where you go when you die and why are you here all you have to do is “seek” or “knock” and you will “find” and the door will be “opened”. It is that simple.  You just have to care. 

 

There is an important passage here at the end of part 3.  This tells us about how you accepting the Old Testament is paramount in accepting Jesus.  

Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’””

I interpret this to give us a funnel effect in beliefs.  Meaning you have to start broad and narrow down if you have any chance of finding Jesus.  The first step, do you believe you were created?  I have friends who say they believe in chance and they don’t really have any info or real background to reference.  They really end up sounding “mad” at God more than anything.  Studies show that it is a major minority, less than 5% that are atheist.  Yet, go to any public school and all they teach is evolution and nothing about God.  You were made from a cosmic bang and some glop that was here on earth turned to you through a series of events over a long period of time.  really?  It sure feels like you have to have more faith than me to believe that.  it is probable not possible that you came from a creator.  That is the first step to finding Jesus.  You are a creation of intelligent design and not just here because of random chance.  Next, you then have to develop some form of world view.  Does God play a role in life, or is he absent?  He made this vast wonderful, beautiful universe, with us in the middle to then abandon us?  I don’t buy it.  if you can accept you are a creation of intelligent design it is probable that God then knows you and plays a role in your life regardless if you feel it or not.  We are on to something here, a creator made you, and then plays a role in your life.  If you have that belief system you can be fairly certain you will make your way to the Bible.  There are only 3 world views that believe in a singular omnipotent Holy God.  Judaism, Islam and Christianity.  Both, Islam and Judaism reference and or incorporate Christianity in their doctrines.  Islam references the Bible through the Qur’an.  Confirming the authenticity of the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible), the Psalms, and the Gospels.  All 3 are mentioned in the Qur’an, that they are from God and written before the Qur’an and used in inspiring the Qur’an.  The Torah is just the beginning of the Bible and Jewish religion followed and believed in many of the prophets after Moses too.  As a simple man I use these references to deduce that all 3 world views are closely tied to each other and only one is a complete and thorough masterpiece.  66 books written over a thousand years and has one complete narrative from start to end that documented the greatest story ever told.  Yep, that’s the one for me.  So back to what Jesus said.  He said in his story about Lazarus in Hell trying to save his family.  He said “they have Moses and the prophets” to believe.  Meaning, if you don’t believe in the Old Testament it will be very hard to accept Jesus.  He then follows it up by saying if you don’t believe in the Old Testament you won’t believe that a man was raised from the dead.  So, you may struggle to accept Jesus if you can’t accept the Old Testament.  I will attest to this.  when I first started reading the Bible the Old Testament was the place to be.  there are so many amazing stories to tell us about what life was like thousands of years ago and where we all came from as humans.  The stories are so surreal and relevant they will blow your mind if you haven’t read them.  It is so true the mankind has not changed.  The only thing that has changed is technology.  The stories from the Old Testament are a user manual for us today.  They all had the same issues we all have now; greed, lust, money, power, drunkenness, loneliness, sorrow, failure, defeat, etc.  The only difference was they didn’t have an iPhone, that’s it!  Start there, pick up the bible.  Know that it has thousands of years of knowledge inside and that God wants to talk directly to you through it.  Once you can accept the Old Testament you have a much higher chance or accepting Jesus as your savior.  If you skip all of that and he “slaps” you like he did me.  God Bless and more power!  If you don’t get “slapped” start reading the Bible and praying.  Look for answers and he will find you.  As we see in this last part of Luke 16 it is imperative that you know your creator and understand the severity of the situation.  Eternity is a LONG time and you can’t say you didn’t know or no one told you.  You just have to care.  Care about your soul, care about where you came from, where you are going and why you are here.  If you care about those thoughts, explore them and “seek” answers.  He will “slap” you and you will be overcome with joy, peace, love and truth. 

Again, we see part 3 is jammed with knowledge.  One of the most invigorating byproducts of me learning Luke 16 was the revelation that I found so much relevance, meaning, truth, and knowledge in one single chapter of the Bible.  It has ignited a spark for me to read the Bible daily.  I would like to challenge you to do the same.  Through my reading and studying I have found that the Bible mentions the best time to connect with God is first thing in the morning before your day starts.  Once the day “starts”, we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle.  When you are young you miss the opportunity because we are so worried about “making it”.  Making rent, making a name, making money, making friends, making fun, making whatever.  Do we ever really give the chance to “make time”?  usually not, so I have experienced the most powerful way to tap into the Holy Spirit and connect with God is first thing in the morning.  You have to wake up earlier than normal because if you feel rushed it doesn’t work.  during the day it’s so “loud” we never really get a chance to “listen”.  Get up early, my challenge to you is to get up 60 minutes earlier than you normally do.  take a few minutes to walk around and get your blood going and start thanking God.  You have to start your day with an “attitude of gratitude”.   Thank God that you woke up, that you are alive and then start thanking him for all the other amazing things you have in your life.  no matter how bad a day or season is in our life we will always still have something to be grateful for.  Starting your day out thanking God will do wonders for you if you are not already doing that.  Second, after you have walked around thanking God, sit down in peace and quiet.  This is typically the only time you might have the entire day that it is slow, still and quiet.  Take advantage.  Sit still.  Talk to God.  Ask him questions, thank him for the blessings you have.  To tap into the power that the Holy Spirit provides you must receive things even before you take possession.  This simply means say thank you for something you don’t yet have and truly have faith it is on the way to you.  For example; “thank you, Jesus for that amazing sleep you gave me last night.  I feel well rested and ready to start my day.  Thank you for letting me sleep that well again tonight”.  As you thank God for the good night sleep you will have tonight even though you have not experience it yet.  Let’s try another.  “Thank you, Jesus for blessing and protecting me, while keeping me safe healthy and happy”.  These are things you want throughout the day and you ask for them proactively and accept that you have already received them.  So, sit in quiet and pray and thank God for all that he has given you and all that he will give you.  Give him some time to talk back to you.  Try to clear your mind and be completely still and have a blank slate.  Let him impress his will into your heart and mind.  After a few minutes of this, open your bible and start to read.  I recommend you go straight to Luke 16 on day 1.  Day two start the Book of Luke chapter 1.  If you read one chapter of Luke each day (24 chapters) and Luke 16 three times (day one, day 17, and day 26) you have just put in 26 days.  Now pick anywhere you want to start after that.  If you Liked Luke, he also wrote ACTS and you can read that book next.  After 30 – 60 days of that your life will be transformed and you will be a completely new and renewed person, on your way to living a Spirit filled life for Jesus Christ.  At some point you will need to accept him into your heart with a simple prayer.  Dear Jesus.  I welcome you in my heart, I make you lord of my life.  You died on a cross and you forgave me of my sins. On th 3rd day your rose from the grave and today you are alive. I thank you for saving me.  In Jesus name Amen.