In the fourth Chapter of Luke, Jesus has come home to Nazareth for a visit and on the Sabbath goes to the Synagogue. There the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah is handed to Him and He reads this passage out loud. In doing so, He announces His mission and purpose here on earth. For as everyone waited for Him to speak, He said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” He honored not only His family, but His home town by officially starting His ministry in Nazareth.
Author: kezha1
A Christian mother, grandmother, and retired nurse living in Illinois. Called into a ministry of encouraging others to find their ultimate plan and purpose in life through Christ.
Matthew 16:26 ” What good will it be for man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? “
In this passage Jesus is being very blunt…we can’t work our way into heaven. No amount of riches we’ve amassed will do…no worldly commodity, can be exchanged for the gift of salvation.
Proverbs 25:28 ” Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. “
When a city has no defenses…the enemy can come in – invading and conquering without opposition. When we allow our inner self to act out without restraint…the enemy comes in also. He comes in to overpower our dignity and flaunt our volatility. He holds captive our discretion and boasts of our instability.
Psalm 63:1 ” O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
David wrote this Psalm while in the desert…and sometimes we travel through our own desert. Those periods of dryness, when everything seems empty, parched and withered…those times when God seems so far away. But be encouraged…God’s showers are coming! Showers of blessings flowing down and filling your soul with living water. Your emptiness will be filled, and because of those abundant blessings, new life will spring forth from within.
Matthew 16:24 ” Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’ “
Jesus would ask you today…”Are you willing to give up yourself for Me? Are you willing to put into proper priority all things and people in your life so I’m first? Are you willing to endure the afflictions and trials of following Me and My teachings? Are you willing to give up yourself…in order to find Me? “
Joshua 24:31 ” Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who out lived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.”
Moses had mentored Joshua as his successor…but Joshua had failed to do the same…and as a result, the next generation after Joshua’s death succumbed to idolatry. God’s people are always just one generation away from turning their backs on everything their parents and grandparents believed in. Todays Church needs to be focusing on young people…drawing them in, encouraging, and disciplining them, for they will be the ones carrying the Word of God on in the future.
Luke 12: 15 ” Then He said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ “
Jesus was warning us to be careful of forsaking God in the pursuit of collecting wealth. We don’t exist for the sake of hoarding riches…and we will never save ourselves by the amount of property we’ve amassed. Our trust can never be in gold and riches. (Psalm 62:10)
Revelation 3:11 ” I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
In John’s letter to the church in Philadelphia, he urged the Believers to hold fast to and maintain their saving faith in Jesus Christ. That still holds true today. The world and its strong lure is ever trying to take us down a path of destruction and death. But we are more than victors…having been given the crown of life…the symbol of triumph and eternal life.
Genesis 4:9 ” Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ “
From the first time that question was uttered by Cain, to today, we must all be accountable to God for our fellow-man. If we see someone flailing in the water…we help. If we see someone drowning in sin…we need to go to their aid as well. We can never become an island unto ourselves…for God commands us to love and protect one another, just as He loves and protects us.
Luke 11: 34-35 ” Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad. your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.”
When you look into someone’s eyes…what do you see? If they’re lying to you and have a guilty conscience, you can usually see it. If when you look into someone’s eyes and see evil, you realize what it is…darkness and wickedness. But if you look into some people’s eyes…you’ll see Jesus smiling back at you. Their eyes are shining beacons of light and truth… their only focus, fulfilling what God made them for.
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