Are You Offended by Jesus?

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 7:18-23 ESV

18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John,
19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying,
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
20 And when the men had come to him, they said,
“John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying,
‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'”
21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues
and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John
what you have seen and heard:
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
the poor have good news preached to them.
23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
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Jesus’ words in verse 23 are a gentle
encouragement to John to hold on.

Even though John may have struggled to reconcile
what Jesus was presently doing with what he thought
the Messiah would immediately do,
when we look at John the Baptist’s life over all,
we can certainly say that he was not offended by Jesus.
He was not ashamed of Him.
He wanted more of Jesus and less of himself.

John 3:29-30
“You yourselves bear me witness, that I said,
‘I am not the Christ, but  I have been sent before him.’ 
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. 
The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, 
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 
He must increase, but I must decrease.”

O that this would be completely true of us!
Absolutely true.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

O Lord, that we would want less of ourselves
and more of you.

O Lord, that we would be willing to die
that you might live through us.
O Lord, that we would not be offended by Jesus
or by being associated with Him.

In His life.
In His death.
In His rejection.
In His resurrection.

Romans 5:16-17
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs–
heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him
in order that we may also be glorified with him.

O Lord, that we would be faithful
to follow in your footsteps!

May we walk the path you laid before us.
The road to Calvary.
The path of death to self.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following passage from Luke 7 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John
what you have seen and heard:  
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed,  
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, 
the poor have good news preached to them.  
23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

PRAYER

O Lord, forgive us when we live for
ourselves and not for you.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
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God’s Love Is Perfect

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 7:11-17 ESV

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain,
and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 
12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold,
a man who had died was being carried out,  
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow,  
and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 
13 And when the Lord saw her,  he had compassion on her  
and said to her, “Do not weep.”
14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still.  
And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”  
15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.   
16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God,  
saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!”
and “God has visited his people!”  
17 And this report about him spread
through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

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God is perfect.
His love is perfect.
His timing is perfect.
His ways are perfect.

In the midst of difficulties it can be very
hard to understand what He is doing.
But on the other side
we can see His magnificent plan,
His vast wisdom, and His perfect love.

For believers,
He allows and orchestrates circumstances
so that He can ultimately bless us
and give us more of Himself.

So I can say with such confidence and such assurance
that God does see all of your circumstances.
You can trust His timing and trust His hand.
You can believe that God loves you
and that He works all things together for good.
All things.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

God is good.
He is good all the time.
For believers,
His wounds are not to punish
but to bless and to heal.
His wounds are to bless you
and to glorify His name in your life.

Job 5:18
For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.

Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.

Jeremiah 30:17
For I will restore health to you,  
and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD,
because they have called you an outcast:
‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’    

Yes, God is perfect. His love is perfect.
His timing is perfect.
His ways are perfect.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following verse from Luke 7 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

13 And when the Lord saw her,he had compassion on her  
and said to her, “Do not weep.”

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, please touch the wounded places in my life
and heal them with your mighty hand.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
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What to Do When Faith Dies

by Steve Fuller

Too often we lack works. Maybe we are not praying, not forgiving someone, not crucifying selfishness to care for others, or not sharing the gospel.

We know this is a serious problem, because James said that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). What’s more serious than dead faith?

But there’s a danger here in how we can read this verse. We can miss James’s point. We can think that since faith without works is dead, then if I lack works, I had better start working. I had better start praying, start forgiving, start caring more for others, start sharing the gospel. But that’s not what James is saying.

James is saying that since faith without works is dead, then if there are no works, the problem is that to some extent, my faith is dead. And that to correct the problem my faith must be revived.

A Heart Without a Pulse

To see James’s point, imagine he had said that “a heart by itself, if it does not have a pulse, is dead.” So, if I have no pulse, what’s the problem? A dead heart. And what should I do to get a pulse? Try to revive my heart.

If I try to make a pulse without reviving my dead heart, I might be able to create what looks like a pulse. But it won’t be a real pulse, because it won’t come from a living heart.

In the same way, if I try to do works without reviving my dead faith, I might be able to create what looks like works. But they won’t be genuine works, because they won’t come from a living faith in Jesus’s person and work and his provision to be working in my working.

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This is an excerpt from a blog post by Steve Fuller.  For the entire post, visit the Desiring God website here.

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