Luke Chapter 11
is all about the Kingdom of Heaven; and it starts with Jesus teaching his disciples to pray like this, Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive those who sin against us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.” Luke 11:2-4 I never noticed this before, but Jesus extends the teaching about prayer. In verses 11:5-8, Jesus tells a story about a friend who comes knocking at your door, late at night, to request something to eat. The man in bed did not want to get up, but because of his friends persistence he would rise and wake up. Once again, Jesus teaches us spiritual things, through short stories known as parables. Basically, He says that our Father is good; and he favors us when we honor Him. Jesus said that when we pray, we are to stay persistent the whole way, and we are to keep knocking at God’s door, because He will answer and give us more. In fact, Scripture says, “to knock with shameless persistence” with no hesitation and all conviction, because Jesus gives us this promise, “if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Luke 11:11-13 Did you notice that Jesus first showed them how to pray, by honoring our Father this very day? "Hallowed be thy name" shows reverent honor, glory and power to the Name above all names. And then he tells them what to ask for when knocking on God's door. "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." It's not a car, a house or a thing, it's bringing heaven to earth through the Lord's blessing. Then, in essence, Jesus says... eat my Word and show My love, when He uses the words, "Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, As we forgive those who sin against us." And when He says, "Lead us not into temptation" He is not saying Holy Spirit is tempting us! He is saying, "Do not be driven by your flesh!" Help us Jesus - not to mess this up! We have to stop blaming you for our stuff! Then He tells us to get ready to receive, because His Spirit is what He truly wants to give. When we choose to align our will to Him, this is how we truly give glory and honor to Him. Jesus said, “If you ask for bread, then don't expect a stone; and if you ask for a fish, then don’t expect a snake.” He did not say exactly this, but it is my guess that Jesus is not talking about things of this earth. Rather, He is referring to bringing spiritual things, by bringing heaven to earth. Holy Spirit is rooted in love, and His spiritual fruit is what we eat from. The Tree of Life is given to us, when we accept Jesus as our Christ. Eternal life is a priceless gift, and it's given free of charge to those who love Jesus. And if that is not enough, Jesus sends us Holy Spirit to live in us. He guides us and comforts us in times of trouble, and He reminds us that He is with us wherever we go. Holy Spirit transforms our soul by dividing our spirit from the marrow. Hebrews 4:12 And it is only through His discernment that we can be the vessel to go where His Spirit wants us to go. We must learn to settle our souls so that we can see and hear what His Spirit holds. The bell will toll for everyone, and His prayer is that we will all want to be with Him. Our Father is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 It amazes me to see the very next text that comes after prayer - Jesus casts out a demon from a man who is mute. Luke said the crowds were amazed at what Jesus could do, so seeing that He was only human - they attributed the miracle to Satan, the prince of demons. Can you believe that Satan received the glory, as if he is the only one who is worthy of doing such things! Isn't it like that today! When people see others stepping out in faith, they step back, make a distasteful face and start to negate. And when they hear of acts that are done in faith, they automatically assume the miracles are fake. Even today, Satan receives the claim, for miraculous things that are done in Jesus's name. In fact, in this age - many believe that the laying on of hands, and the healing of men is usually done through false prophets and demons. The same is true for God’s people who experience visions and dreams. Many don’t believe that another human can experience these kinds of spiritual things. It amazes me, that people who say they have faith and believe, have slammed the door on living faithfully focused and free. How can they deny Holy Spirit power, when they believe that Holy Spirit lives inside of you and me? Do they not have spiritual eyes to see, that blessings can flow from the one who receives? Do they not remember the story, of the woman with blood who had such an incredible faith to receive? Jesus did not have to do anything, it was simply the pressing in that allowed the woman to receive her healing. Anyway, Back to the story, verse 16 says that “others tried to test Him, and they demanded that He show them a miraculous sign from Heaven." Seriously, what is wrong with humanity? Trust is the most basic developmental need in order to attain relational consistency. Without trust, you have nothing. Jesus was literally healing the sick. He was casting out demons. He was preaching the Word of God to the teachers of the law, in their synagogues! And still - they did not believe. What more could these people possibly want? Holy Spirit power not enough because they were used to human mistrust, instead of Spirit-filled love. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls." This is certainly how the bell tolls for most. Most people do not choose peace, when the Bait of Satan takes precedence. Offense usually wins, when it fills the heart of humans. Let's look at American politics, we are dead nation divided into Republicans and Democrats. Who wins, when the pendulum swings? All it does is divide and slice men. Don't even get me going on religious camps! Word of Faith vs. Calvinists, Catholics vs. Protestants, Puritans vs. Evangelists, the list... could go and on! What about going back to the simplistics, and keeping it all about Jesus? What if we just focused on the author and perfecter of our faith? Wouldn't this bring us back into true discipleship? Wouldn't this be a pure measure of faith, and help us to love through true fellowship? We sure know how to complicate things! It's no wonder God allows the testing of our faith! Jesus goes on to say, “You say I am empowered by Satan but if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive?” That is so true! I just love Jesus's truths. If Satan was really casting out demons, he would be killing his own kingdom. In my opinion, if that happened, he would be almost as stupid as humans! I mean think about it, “men eating men” is what we are known for! How dare you not live, breath and think like I do! If you don't like it, then we can go to war! And when I'm offended, you better watch your back, because I'm coming for you! Jesus said, “And if I am empowered by Satan what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons too, so they will condemn you, for what you have said.” I think what Jesus means is that if humans are casting out demons, does that mean that they are demons too? He then goes on to say, “But if I am casting out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you." I love what He says next, "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils." I believe what Jesus means is that He is King! And Satan is foolishly deceived to believe that he has the strength to win. Then Jesus said, perhaps the most scary thing! “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” This is a refreshing slap in the face! We must wipe the sleep from our spiritual eyes, and become awake! The devil is prowling like lion, seeking to destroy everyone he can. If we lack in faith, we will become food to him! He will chew us up and spit us out! Do you believe that Jesus is who He says He is? Do you believe God's Holy Spirit comes to live in the hearts of men? Do you believe that He has the authority, to cast out demons and heal the sick? Do you believe in spiritual gifts described in Romans 12:6-8? Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leadership and Mercy? What about the ones found in 1 Corinthians 12, where the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good? Do you believe in the message of wisdom, or the message of knowledge? What about the one that I believe that I have, Faith - which is a measure of God's love? What about healing and the working of miracles? Do you believe in prophecy and the discernment of spirits? And how do respond when you hear someone speak in tongues? Do you shy away and think they are acting alone? And what if you heard an interpretation, that did not match what your own thought was? Would your pride get in the way of believing that Holy Spirit apportions as He wants? Would your self-righteousness begin to seep out? We have to be so careful about self-righteousness, because it really does spiritually blind us. This is what almost took out the man named Job, the one that God even called a man of righteousness! I'm sure that Job did not think he was opposing God, because everything He did was done to honor God as Lord. But it was in the trial that Job's sin came out, it's the most blinding of sins - this "self-righteousness." It's a sin that I have personally struggled with, and the only way I have learned to overcome this is to keep my eyes firmly focused on Jesus. I had to stop looking at men, and trying to make an accurate perception of him. I had to stop looking at religious camps, and decided to get back to true discipleship. It is only then that I can be a pure reflection of Him. I've learned that His light will only move when I have set my spiritual eyes ONLY on Him. In Luke 11:24 - 26, Jesus speaks about the unclean spirits who live inside of men, and He shares this directly after his warning NOT to oppose him. He says, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” I always wondered why I became jealous and envious when I believed that someone else was being blessed. This was because I was acting in opposition to Him, by keeping my eyes set on the achievements of other men. And when I thought I was good, another root would show and I would focus in on it! My God! It took me a long time - to get over myself and stop hiding! Finally, when I exposed it all to Him, He ripped out the roots instead of me focusing on the stems! This should be a warning to all of us, that our first love must be Jesus! Sometimes our intellect can get the best of us, and leave us more open to spiritual unrest. I've often found myself in this hazy mess, and have to repent and come back to the cross. People are NOT the perfecters of my faith, but they are also not my true enemies. If I hear the gospel coming from a man’s mouth, and see that he behaves like David, a little eccentric, and he begins to dance and shout - it does not mean Holy Spirit does not live in Him, in fact, it could be just the opposite. At the same time, Mrs. Dry Eyes can be more Spirit-filled than the man jumping up and down in the aisles. There may be a preacher who stands on the Word of Faith, who truly loves Jesus and believes in the power of Holy Spirit. There may be a prophet who speaks about suffering, yet truly believes that Holy Spirit has the power to heal. All of this is to say, that I must choose to stay aligned with Holy Spirit who guides my every move. If I get out of line, I'm opening my soul to all kinds of Satanic kinds. So the answer is obvious to me, I will not be distracted by what other people think. If Holy Spirit tells me to go, then I will go. And if He tells me to stay, then I will stay. I do not want to move, when He does not move. This would be an abomination, and He would totally disapprove! Holy Spirit has not failed me yet, He has saved my marriage, and He is healing my foot. Holy Spirit led me to my church, and He has had His hand over our marriage group. Holy Spirit has opened the doors for me to counsel the broken and hurt; and He has increased my faith more and more by opening my heart to understand His Word. Holy Spirit has given me words of poetry, and He has given me words to speak. But most importantly, Holy Spirit has forgiven me for blasphemy; during a time when I didn't take the time to know Him. He is truly the only One that I trust. And without Him, I would be spiritually lost.
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