When Jesus Says No

Scripture: I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose. Luke 4:43

Observation: After healing all who came to him, Jesus gets away to a desolated place. But the crowds follow him, begging him to stay in their town. They are looking for Jesus to be their full time caretaker and personal physician. But Jesus refuses this request. He *must* leave for he has been sent with a purpose. A purpose much bigger than healing the hurting. He has come to preach the good news.

Application: Sometimes I forget Jesus’ purpose in my life. I come to him to heal, to fix, to change things, to improve my life. None of these are necessarily wrong requests, but if they do not line up with his purpose, they may get denied. Jesus is not here for my needs, he is here to do the Father’s will. This could make him unpopular, but he *must* be about his father’s business. Even if this means he says no to legitimate needs.
As I continue to explore the new role I have as pastor of this church, I find that people come to me with all kinds of needs. I have to prayerfully consider these, but ultimately, I have to weigh all needs against the purpose for which I was sent, the mission of God among his people. What may be hard news to swallow (and harder to deliver) is the answer, “No, I must do this instead.”

Prayer: God, give me discernment to know your purpose in any opportunity that comes my way. And give me courage to stick to your truth even at the risk of being unpopular or seen as unspiritual. And give me the love to be able to share truth.

Sifting Through the Voices

Scripture: But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ…And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:3,14

Observation: Paul is warning the Corinthians to be on the alert to people who claim to speak truth, who claim to be apostles, who are really being used by Satan to lead them astray from simple devotion to Christ.

Application: Satan is alive and well, and he does not always appear in horror-movie guise. Sometimes he comes as an angel of light. Sometimes he comes in good garb and through well-intentioned people. The challenge of leadership is not to distinguish good from bad, but good from best, since Satan will get us to do good, so that we never get to what is God’s best.

So, God is saying two things to me. First, I need to keep a sincere and pure devotion to Christ foremost in my life. Do the things I practice and teach focus me and others on Christ? Or can I ever so subtly, shift the focus to church, or religion, or other things? Second, I need to be aware that people are going to come to me with visions for our church that may not be from God. These people may be well-meaning, sincere believers, but Satan would use them to deter us as a church from where God is calling us to be. I need to be careful. I need to make sure I have a sincere and pure devotion to Christ myself, so that when these people approach, I can sift through their words to see if it is from the Lord or not.

Prayer: God, give me your wisdom. Be my filter through which I can pass all sorts of ideas and strategies. I can lead with confidence and conviction if I am leading out of your word and direction. Help me devotion to Christ to be sincere and pure so I can discern your voice from the noise of the evil one.