Fresh from being pushed to the edge of a cliff and an attempted death by his home town Jesus moves on to another place in ministry. The people there are not real sure about who Jesus is, they only know what the countryside rumors and gossip have afforded them. Yet the demon that inhabits a person knows who this person Jesus is and what it means for all that is evil. We have become so familiar with the stories and works of Jesus we take for granted the power which Jesus displayed. Along with that we begin to lose focus on the ability of Jesus to change everything. When the crowd did not recognize Jesus, the enemy did. Perhaps the same is true today, we miss Jesus in the crowd, but the enemy knows and fears. What would happen if we be came as aware and allowed the power of God in Christ to go before us?
Ephesians 6:10-24
When troops go off into battle they go armed for the fight. So often when we engage in a spiritual battle we do not equip ourselves. Paul reminds us the battle we are in is not against flesh and blood and therefore we need to equip ourselves differently. Many choose to ignore the idea of Spiritual warfare and hope it will go away. This simply is not the case. However, before we take on the Enemy we must be sure we have the correct equipment or it will get quite ugly.
Psalms 119:97-104
What good is it to study or meditate on the words of God? We study and seek, but why? The best answer I can give is to prepare us to live life. We can read all kinds of books on how to live, and we can study to gain all forms of knowledge. None of those readings will give us the wisdom required for living as God has called us. The wisdom and knowledge gained by scripture may not seem to address some of the struggles of our present age. However, there is more than meets the eye. Perhaps as we allow the Scriptures to shape us, the way we live will be different and change the ways of our world.
1 Kings 21-22
Right off the day time TV screen we have the closing interactions of Ahab. Elijah has warned and the king has not listened. His wife then hatches a plan to get what is wanted. Murder is part of the plan. In all we find the continuation of the kings of this earth, they do what they want to not what the Lord has called to. Even when the prophet of God speaks there is not return to God. The ultimate end is one of death and separation. May we not think this only happens to kings.
Prayer
Gracious Lord grant that we might hear your voice. May we not take for granted the power of your Spirit in our lives. Help us today to look fully at your face and gain wisdom from you. In Jesus Name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment