“Come, Unto Me”
Welcome to “Come Unto Me” as we journey together through the gospel of Luke. Let us pray: Gracious God we thank you for the Living Word that gives witness to the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. May your Holy Spirit open our souls to this Living Word. Amen
Wednesday, July 8 / Luke Chapter 4
Today we look at the 4th chapter of Luke. Here we read how Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. During this time, he fasted, or went without food. He resisted many temptations so he could remain close to God. This time in the wilderness helped prepare Jesus for the ministry he was about to begin.
We too face many temptations today to do things that put ourselves first and not God and others. But Jesus will help us overcome these temptations so we too can be closer to God. Overcoming these temptations will strengthen us so we can be more involved in doing God’s work in the world today.
After Jesus was baptized he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. He began his public ministry in the region of Galilee. People began to talk about his preaching and teaching.
It is interesting what happened when Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth. He read from the scroll the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” At first they spoke well of him and were amazed at Jesus’ gracious words. But as he challenged them they became angry with Jesus and led him to a hill outside to town to throw him off a cliff. But God protected him and Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on his way. Amazing how Jesus could do that! And yet we know he had many tasks in ministry to do yet before it was time for him to die. God protected Jesus.
God has many tasks for us to do in the world today also. And through the power of the Holy Spirit God will open our eyes and show us where we are to go and what we are to do. Open our eyes, Lord, that we may know the way to go and do the tasks you call us to do to further your ministry and spread the good news of the Gospel to those around us.
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