Thoughts From Luke - Day 18

                                  Luke 4:31 - 44
³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
³³ In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, ³⁴ “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
³⁵ “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
³⁶ All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” ³⁷ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹ So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
⁴⁰ At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. ⁴¹ Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
⁴² At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

         How would you like it if you boarded an airplane, sat uncomfortably in your seat, buckled your belt, and the captain came on the intercom and said, "Welcome to your flight to Los Angeles, LAX. We will try to get you there safely in 5 hours. We can't guarantee that, though because some planes crash, get hi-jacked, have emergency landings in rivers, disappear from the radar, or have to land in other cities due to weather. However we will do our best to get you there. Have a nice flight." Although what he said was true, that probably is not a pilot who you want to fly with!

        Jesus came on the scene and He was in charge. People recognized that His words had authority. In other words, He didn't say "I think so" - He knew so. What He said, was; what He said was truth, end of the matter. I recently heard a skeptic of Christianity say what bothers them about Christianity is that when it comes to matters of personal behavior or morality, Christians refer to their book written 2000 years ago and say, "end of discussion". Somehow, we need to be more tactful than that but the fact of the matter is that what Jesus said, goes, whether it agrees with our opinions or not. We are the ones that need to adjust to Him, not He to us. Why? Because He has authority - He is in charge.

      Jesus didn't say, "let me try". They brought demon possessed people to Him, sick people, diseased people, febrile people to Him, and He healed them all. It wasn't like the little train who said, "I think I can, I think I can..", He could because He is all powerful. Unlike us, who have to psyche ourselves up and think positive thoughts to attempt to accomplish something, Jesus just did it.

      Jesus didn't say, "OK, let's make a deal". The demon came out without injuring the man. It wasn't like "I'll come out but not without exerting a little bit of my will". The demons actually came out proclaiming the glory of Christ until He told them to stop. He didn't have to negotiate because He has all power in the natural realm and in the spiritual realm.

     Jesus didn't say, "I think I know what I'm supposed to do next", He knew. He was decisive because He and the Father are one. He is all knowing. We would think, "wow, look at all the people coming and the power of God being poured out. God is obviously putting His stamp of approval on this. We even have a home base set up with meals and everything." Jesus, without indecisiveness, said, "It's time to move on."

     This is who I put my faith in, this is who I trust with my life. I trust a God who gives me an authoritative word to stand on, His word is truth. I trust a God who is able to and will deliver me from every physical and spiritual attack I might experience and nothing can happen to me that He doesn't allow - there will be no accidents in my life. And I worship a God who knows the future and my future so why fret any life decisions or second guess if I am surrendered to His will. I can get on-board with Him at the controls and I can rest assured - and I have!

      Thank You Lord for being my sure foundation. You are my solid rock on which I stand. Amen