Thursday Reading: Luke 10:17-21
Key Verse: Luke 10:20
20 Yet do not rejoice in this, that the evil spirits are subject to you, rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.
Devotion:
What sort of thing encourages you to go to church? Is it because they sing good songs, keep it short, lots of other people go, makes you feel good, they give you what you want to hear? We like to pick and choose where we go to church based on how it fits in with us and how we feel about the church, the church leaders and the preacher. Are religions therefore based on what people think or are they based on fact. Sadly more churches seem to be turning to a good experience to try and attract people back into church whereas what we need to be doing is focusing on God and trusting in Him to bring His people in!
Jesus chose seventy people to go out into the cities as missionaries totally trusting in Him for their wellbeing and He gave them authority over various things so that they could heal people in His name. He wanted them to see that there are people who are willing to give back to God through what they can do for others whilst taking His message out to the people in the surrounding cities. When we go out to take God’s message with us we are going to face people who are willing to listen as well as people who are not. How we take that message out is very important!
If we go out to get people happy and comfortable whilst giving them a half hearted message then they will get the impression that God is half hearted too. If we go out telling all sorts of strange miracles and never show anyone anything then they will think God is not true either. If we go out and tell people how it is and allow them to respond to the truth then they will at least be given the chance at hearing the truth as it is and not as we think they should hear it. It’s not about what we can do but rather that we can give them the truth based on the fact that we have a safe place in heaven just waiting for us because that is what Christ has promised us.
Points to Ponder:
Why do you go to your church?
What position does Christ have in your church?
