Daily Devotionals

Trouble Maker Week 4: Monday

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Luke 4:18-19

There is a reason why people say, “time flies.” With each passing day, it seems like time moves even faster. If we are not careful, we can get to the end of the day and miss out on the gifts God has given us throughout the day and the ways He worked. I do not know about you, but this is not the way I want to live. I want to slow down, pay attention, and look for Jesus and what He is doing daily. After all, He is working every single day. The question is, are we paying attention and looking for Him?

Right after Satan tempted Jesus in the desert, Luke 4 tells us that Jesus returned to Galilee. He began teaching in the synagogues there. Eventually, He made His way to Nazareth, His boyhood home (verse 16). He went to the synagogue in Nazareth and read Scripture from the book of Isaiah. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come” (verses 18-19). Then, He shocked everyone when he said, “the Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (verse 21). Jesus was making an announcement here. He was the one whom Isaiah had prophesied about in the verses He had read. This time of the Lord’s favor when “good news” would be proclaimed, people would be healed, and captives would be released had come. This was the moment the Israelites had waited for, and it was here. Despite this life-changing, incredible news, Scripture says that the people in the Nazareth synagogue that day did not believe Jesus. They did not believe that He was who He had claimed to be, and they were angry. The Son of God was right before them, and they completely missed Him. 

It is easy to look at this passage of Scripture in Luke 4 and judge the Israelites. It is easy to be shocked that they could have missed that Jesus, the promised and long-awaited Messiah, was with them. The truth is, however, we miss Jesus, too. He works in incredible ways in our lives, and we are either too busy to notice or chalk these moments of Him working up to “luck” or “chance.” We might even credit ourselves for how God worked in our lives. It does not have to be this way, however. We can resolve today to pay attention and look for moments throughout every day where He is working. We simply have to look for them. 

Moving toward action

Choose today to pay attention to moments where Christ is working in your life. Pay attention and look for Him in the big and small details. As you notice them, write them down. At the end of the day, read through your list of the large and small ways He has worked and thank Him for everything He has done.

Going Deeper

Luke 4:14-30 (NLT)

"Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way."