Let These Words Sink In

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 9:43-50 ESV

43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God.
But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing,
Jesus said to his disciples,
44 “Let these words sink into your ears:
The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”
45  But they did not understand this saying,
and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it.
And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
46 An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts,
took a child and put him by his side
48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child
in my name receives me, and whoever receives me
receives him who sent me.
For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting
out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him,
because he does not follow with us.”
50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him,
for the one who is not against you is for you.”
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The disciples were all amazed and in awe at everything
He was doing. They were captivated.
Here was the Son of God right before their eyes
working miracles, and they had front row seats.
They were His disciples.
They were in the in crowd.

One time my son won two seats to a special,
very exclusive concert on the riverfront.
There were only 50 seats.
One of, if not the most popular, super hip band amongst
his age group was playing in town,
and he had put his name in for a drawing.
He was told he would receive a last minute call at
9 am if he had been selected.
9 am passed and no call.
At 11:30 he received a call.
Someone had cancelled.
He had two tickets.
They got front row seats on the Belle of Louisville.
They were up close and personal!
They met the band and the lead singer.
It was an amazing concert.
A concert before the concert…
before the other 16,000 people arrived.
They were amazed and in awe at the entire experience.
But, they weren’t a part of the band.
They were just spectators.

The disciples were a part of “the” group.
They were in the “in” crowd with God.
Or so they thought.
They were where it was happening.
Jesus knew what they were
thinking and what was in their hearts.

What kind of pride is this?

Be careful.
Spiritual pride is very deceptive.
All pride is deceptive.
If we knew we were being prideful we would be
too prideful to be prideful and we would be less prideful.
Or would we?

While the disciples were being carried away
with visions of sugar-plums dancing in their heads,
Jesus sought to bring them back to reality.

Luke 9:44
“Let these words sink in to your ears:
The Son of Man is about to be delivered over
into the hands of evil men.”

In other words,
be careful where you are going with your thoughts.
God’s ways are not man’s ways.
You are not thinking like God thinks but like men think.

TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART

We think so much like humans!
We get so caught up in the way we think.
We get caught up in pride.
Both sides of pride:
thinking we are so great and that we are in the right group,
or thinking we are so small and not in the right group.
Oh so so subtly thinking strange things like…
we go to such ‘n such church,
we are friends with so ‘n so,
we belong here,
we live there,
we don’t belong there,
we don’t live there,
we do this,
we do that,
we don’t do that,
we pray like this,
we don’t pray like that.

In and out,
up and down,
all around.

When we are weak in faith
we are prideful.

AND BRINGING IT TO LIFE

Choose one truth from today and apply it to your heart.
Take it with you throughout the day.

PRAYER

Lord, let your words sink in to our ears,
our hearts, and our heads!
Please forgive our sin and
deliver us from pride.

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie