April 5

Luke 11:24-36

We have read in Ephesians 6:12 that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  The frightening truth of this comes to life in today's passage. The miracles that Jesus is performing here are a graphic display of God's plan and power.  Jesus' miracles authenticate His victory over satan.  The tension continues to mount between Jesus and the religious leaders and rather than approach Jesus with an open mind and teachable heart, the religious leaders choose to reject His authority and power but they couldn't ignore Him.  The same holds true today. We can't ignore Who Jesus was and Who He still is but He gives everyone a choice to accept or reject His authority and power. We either follow Christ into battle on His side, or we oppose Him and remain on satan's side.  There is no neutrality here. One day a little boy in my kindergarten class told me he prays to all the different gods for protection, food and various other things. I smiled and answered him that there is only one God.  In our Deuteronomy reading today Moses laid out two paths to follow.  You're either on God's side and are blessed, or you're not.  I guess what really struck me while reading this was how crucial the message is. While there is confusion in our society about the truth, I believe there is also a hunger to know the truth. There are many people living in what appears to be an outward "not so bad" condition based on cultural standards.  Jesus was not about cultural standards.  I pray for all of us that as we go out today we shine a very bright light into some very dark places, and to God be all the glory.



Randi