Wednesday, August 12, 2026

“His Great Generosity” (Luke 7:5b)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/12/2026 9:25 AM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  “His Great Generosity”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:5b

            Message of the verse:  “and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

            This will be another shorter SD than many that I have been posting lately, as Luke continues to talk about this centurion’s greatness.

            The centurion’s love was not mere abstract sentimentality; he expressed it practically by building  the Jews of Capernaum a synagogue. MacArthur adds “The use of the pronoun autos, in addition to the third person singular verb translated built, emphasizes the centurion’s personal role.  The Jewish elders gave him sole credit for building their synagogue.  Centurions were well paid, earning between 3,750 and 7,500 denarii, in contrast to the lowest paid soldiers, who warned a mere 75 denarii (Darrel. L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994], 635), so he was able to finance the construction.

            “The primary function of the synagogue was to teach the word of God, and his building of the synagogue reflected  the centurion’s love for the truth.  Like Cornelius (Acts 10:1-2), he was a true God-fearer.  Somehow, despite the generally apostate condition of the Judaism of his day (cf. Matt. 23:13, 15; Rom. 2:24), the centurion had heard and believed the truth that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, Savior, and Lord.”  No in conclusion to this SD I will quote in order the verses mentioned above in this paragraph.

(Acts 10:1-2)

“1 ¶  At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2  a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.”

(cf. Matt. 23:13, 15; Rom. 2:24)

“13 ¶  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”

“15  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

“24  For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  It is the best to be listening to the Holy Spirit in order to do the things that He desires you to do in order to show your generosity to others.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to continue to deal with this great grief that I am going through after the death of my wife two weeks ago today.

8/12/2026 9:45 AM

 

 

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