People

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 4:42-44 ESV

42 And when it was day,  
he departed and went into a desolate place.
And the people sought him and came to him,  
and would have kept him from leaving them,
43 but he said to them, “I must  preach the good news  
of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well;  
for I was sent for this purpose.” 
44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
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“And the people sought him and came to him,
and would have kept him from leaving them” (Luke 4:42)

People.

We can be so influenced by people.
Distracted, discouraged, deterred, and derailed by what they think,
what they say, and what they do.

People.

We want their approval, their affection,
their affirmation, and their attention.

People.

They want what they want.

People.

We love ’em.
We don’t love ’em.

Jesus sought to do only did His Father’s will.

Jesus listened to His Father, not to people.

John 4:34
My food is to do the will of him who sent me
and to accomplish his work. 

John 5:30
I can do nothing on my own.
…I seek not my own will
but the will of him who sent me.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

As we hear all the voices around us,
as we feel the pressure of human wills,
as we sense the presence of their opinions,
the weight of their expectations,
we must stop.

Stop.

We must wait upon the Lord,
and listen to the Lord and His voice.

Listen.

John 10:3-5
 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice,
and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 
4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them,
and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 
5 And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him,
because they do not know the voice of strangers.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following verse from Luke 4 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

42 And when it was day,  
he departed and went into a desolate place.

PRAYER

Lord God, help me to listen to your voice only.
Help me to seek to please you only and not people.

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie

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