Influence The Influenced

Feb 25, 2023

In the midst of this lent season, we’re continuing through Jesus’ life through Luke’s eyes.

In Luke 4 there is a popular story of Jesus healing the possessed man. Picking up in verse 31 it says:

Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.

All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

- Luke 4:31-37

So, my question for you today is: What may be getting in the way of your deliverance?

What seems to be the thing that has a hold on you? We live in a world that is more heavily influenced by culture than Jesus. But He calls us to live in the world but not be of it (John 15:19, NIV). Can you think of something that’s getting in the way of your spiritual growth?

When I made the decision to live for Jesus, I remember feeling pulled in two different directions.

Here I was, experiencing this radical transformation, but still susceptible to temptation by friends who didn’t want to live for the Lord. I had to make some pretty hard decisions. I had to set boundaries based on an honest assessment of myself, and to choose to not put myself in positions that could take me further away from who I was becoming in Jesus.

One popular theologian put it like this:

“Live your life in such a way that those who don't believe can see that there is something you have that is good and wonderful—something different, something they'll be curious about, something they'll want for themselves, too.”

Family, today, may you not conform to the world rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2, NIV). May God give you the strength and courage to live unapologetically as who He made you to be and to share your faith with the world!