Luke 4

Believe and Tremble

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, “Thou art Christ the Son of God.” And He rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ.           Luke 4:40-41

Healing was given by Jesus Messiah the Anointed One of God. As He healed many people He also cast out demons. These evil beings recognized Jesus and His authority.

There are many in the world, that when they are asked, “Do you believe in God?” will give the answer of “Yes! I do,” but they do not believe in the Jesus the Christ/Messiah, and do not tremble before Him even as do the demons of hell.

In the epistle of James, it is written, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” (James 2:19). The fear the demons have of Jesus is evident. They know He is their Creator, and the along with their leader [Satan] know that they have only a limited amount of time before they are eternally consigned to the lake of fire.

Jesus would not allow the unholy to mention His holy name before the masses of people to whom He was ministering.

The question for you today is this, Have you trusted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? If not, you do not trust, neither do you believe in God. The only way to God is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remember the demons believe and tremble, because they know their time is limited. So is yours.

With Authority and Power

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God.” And Jesus rebuked him, saying,
“Hold thy peace, and come out of him.”
And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, “What a word is this! For with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And the fame of Him went out into every place of the country round about. Luke 4:33-37

Let the sighing of the prisoner come before Thee; according to the greatness of Thy power preserve Thou those that are appointed to die; and render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached Thee, O Lord.
So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth Thy praise to all generations. Psalm 79:11-13

Many people of today reject any authority. They have problems, of their own making, with police and anyone in authority. They also have much problem with the life and words of God and His Son Jesus. Yet, the legions of hell yielded to Him.

Jesus still speaks with authority and power. The word of God is Living and powerful and sharper than a two edged sword, which is cutting any way it is slashed. Yet, Jesus does not force His way on us. He does address our hearts.

It was with authority and power that Jesus cast out demons. When He saw a human being crying out for help He heard them and He helped. He is still hearing, helping, healing and delivering the desperate and hurting.

With the authority of the death, burial, and resurrection; the power and authority of His word He will hear your cry for help and He will deliver You. Yield your heart to His authority and the power of His word.

Overcoming Temptation

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered. And the devil said unto Him, “If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” And Jesus answered him, saying,
“It is written, ‘That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him, “All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.” And Jesus answered and said unto him,
“Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”
And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, “If Thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: for it is written, ‘He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.” And Jesus answering said unto him,
“It is said, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season. Luke 4:1-13

The Anointed One

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’
And He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them,
‘This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ ”  Luke 4:16-21

Not Heard

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And He said unto them,
‘Ye will surely say unto Me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal Thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.’
And He said,
‘Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.’ ”   Luke 4:23-27

“I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.”   Psalm 77:1

Sunday Prayer In the year of our Lord, January 24, 2021

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: for their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?”  Proverbs 24:21-22
“And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, ‘What a word is this! For with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ ”  Luke 4:36

Lord, I need You everyday and today. This day, Lord, is the day You have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior I will rejoice forever and give thanks to You all the day long.

Father, my God and Savior, my Redeemer and Comforter; in You do I trust. I ask that You keep me and strengthen my mind and my heart and that I will be diligent in drawing near You each day. Keep me also, Lord, from those who meddle with those who seek to change things where evil is good, and good is evil. Keep Your children, Lord, from those who dwell in such vile and evil ways that are an abomination to Your name and glory, and are a shame to all who live in them.

Give us Your wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Your ways, and by Your Spirit we will walk in them to glorify You and see evil put away forever.

Lord GOD Almighty You have given one way for us to come to You, to love and cherish You and to give us eternal life. That one way is through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Your holy Son who is seated at Your right hand and is our only High Priest. Forgive, Lord, and save freely and fully all those who are perishing. Amen.

Scripture Fulfilled

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’
And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them,
‘This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ ”  Luke 4:16-21  (KJB)

It was the greatest day in Jewish history. It was, yet some would not recognize the One who stood before them and read from the prophet Isaiah, then told them that that Scripture was fulfilled that day.

The prophecy was one that spoke of the Messiah who was coming, and now had come, and Jesus was Him. He is the Anointed One. He would be the One who was chosen by God because He was perfect, sinless, undefiled; and no one is sinless but God.

The verses which follow 16 – 21 show what they thought of Him. They sought to kill Him by throwing Him off the cliff.

O how the Jewish people had longed for the Messiah. The teachers, the scribes and the Pharisees and priests had taught of the Messiah; but many did not know and/or refused to know Him when He arrived.

Do you know Jesus? He is the One who died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again proving that His work on the cross was finished. The debt of our sin was paid in full.  Call on His name in faith. He will hear and He will save you.

Words of Jesus; Son of God, God the Son – 082620

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’
And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them,
‘This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.’  Luke 4:16-21  (KJB)

This Scripture Is Fulfilled

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Luke 4:21 (KJB)

Jesus had been given the opportunity to read the Scriptures in synagogue that day, and He opened to the prophet Isaiah and read:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19

If you will take note; Jesus stopped before completing the reading of the whole prophecy. Why? It would be because He had come to fulfill only this portion for this time; the other would come later.

The following is more of Isaiah’s prophecy from Isaiah 61. If  you want to read it in it entirety pick up your Bible and read it.  Jesus is coming again.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,…”
“…and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified…” Isaiah 61:1-3ff

We can be sure that since He came to fulfill the first portion of this prophecy; He will definitely return to fulfill the latter part of it as well.

Power Over Evil

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God.’  And Jesus rebuked him, saying,
‘Hold thy peace, and come out of him.’
And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.  And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, ‘What a word is this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.  And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.”  Luke 4:33-37  (KJB)

There are few if any people who do not realize and admit that there is evil in the world we live in.  Sometimes we wear “rose colored glasses”, and try to hide the evil so we cannot see.  No matter how thick those lenses are it does not negate the fact of evil’s presence.

There are people in bondage to evil.  That is why there are shootings at schools, churches, office buildings, on highways, from hotel rooms overlooking a mass of people, etc.. There is no legitimate blame for these evil matters except these folks are in bondage to evil. We can take away guns, take away the explosives; and you still have evil coming from those with evil intent.

When Jesus was walking among men as Man, the God-Man He knew the condition of our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). He even spoke of it (Matthew 12:34-37).  Evil thoughts and deeds comes from within our hearts; and until the heart of the man or woman is changed we spend countless amounts of dollars, and time trying to put a band-aid on something we have no power over.

In the above verses was a man in bondage to a demon. An unclean, evil, vile, and ruthless evil that caused this man to do evil things; it had taken possession of his mind and body.

Jesus said to the demoniac, “Hold your peace, and come out of him” and the demon was through; the man was free from the bondage of evil, and the uncleanness of evil

Are you being tormented by evil?  Jesus speaks to you, and tells you, “Come to Me”.  He casts out the evil, and you become new.  The One who has Power over evil died for you, so that you might be freed from sin, and the bondage of evil.  Call on Him. He will hear you and deliver you.

He Preached With Authority

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

“And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at His doctrine: for His word was with power.” Luke 4:31-32 (KJB)

Speaking of Jesus of course; He spoke amazing things.  His doctrine [teaching] was with power and authority which is probably a redundancy, but for strength and clarity it is repeated.

I pray that I will grow so in love with the Lord Jesus and His word and walk [live] in the fullness of His Spirit [the Holy Spirit] that I too will have that authority.  I do not desire it for myself, but for His name’s sake; and that others might come to know Him as their own personal Lord and Savior.  I pray this for every pastor, every man and woman of God, and every youth who has given their lives to Him.

Let us grow in the Spirit and power of Christ our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

Elijah, Elisha and Jesus

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“Ye will surely say unto Me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.'”  And He said, “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.”  ~Jesus (Luke 4:23-27)

Jesus is the Fulfillment of Scripture

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” …‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.'”  ~Jesus (Luke 4:18-21)

Jesus Encounters the Devil

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered.  And the devil said unto Him, ‘If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.’  And Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’  And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto Him, ‘All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.’  And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’  And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, ‘If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence: for it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’  And Jesus answering said unto him, ‘It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season.”  ~Jesus as He dealt with Satan (Luke 4:1-13)