⁴² At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.” Luke 4:42-44

Jesus has been busy – teaching, healing, casting out demons. He attempts to go to a deserted place to get away from the crowds, to have some time to think, maybe even to pray. But, the crowds find him and seek to keep him from leaving them. But Jesus tells them that he must go to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of G-d to other cities as well. I am sure that, while he appreciates the admiration, having some alone time would have been refreshing and necessary for his ministry schedule.  

How important quiet time is to us and how necessary it is when we have been stressed by our situations, Amen? One of the reasons that I write devotions for the members of Trinity (and yes for others as well) is that we all need time — due time each day for quiet reflection, for reading, prayer, and devotions. Make this time useful, guard this time – and be aware that when the stress of life is getting too much, then be intentional to take time to get away.

Pastor Dave

“Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:14-19

Can we make the Holy Spirit exclusively ours?  The text from Luke says that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit – actually the power of the Spirit, and then embarked upon his ministry. In essence, even in his actions, not just in his words, Jesus was teaching the disciples and all of the other followers what it means to be empowered with the Holy Spirit, and what can be done when one has the power of the Spirit. We will witness Jesus teaching, preaching, healing and casting out demons. The complaint from his hometown is that Jesus says his ministry is not to his own people but to those who need it – without regard to nationality, gender or race. The Jewish people wanted the “prophet”, and expected the Messiah would come only for them. As followers of Jesus, we cannot allow ministries to be thought of in the same way. We cannot keep our ministries only for our own people or our own kind. We need to move into ministries where the Holy Spirit leads us – without regard to exclusivity.

Pastor Dave