Is anyone angry, frustrated or upset?

We can learn something from each day in Jesus' life. Here is one. Jesus was being accused by people who had no intention of listening to, thinking about or doing what he was saying. As far as they were concerned if it did not have the right label on it, it not only could not be right but it should be outright rejected... and that included Jesus. Take a look at Luke 23:5,13 and 14. His teaching offended them and was contrary to their tradition and they were determined to put an end to it.

Thinking and teaching something new or different is not important unless God has spoken and then it is critical that it be shared. It does not matter if people do not agree with it. They still have to deal with it. Jesus made these people come to a decision about what he had spoken to them about. He was willing to stir the pot even if it meant he might lose his reputation or life.

Have you heard from God lately? Has he spoken to you about something new, against a traditional religious belief or something that will cause people to want to avoid you? More than likely they are not going to want to kill you as these people did but they definitely will want you out of the room.

Jesus was thought of as a man who was inciting people to rebellion. The harder people fight against something can often indicate the truthfulness of what they are fighting against. If what Jesus was saying was true, they were in big trouble and they knew it.

Don't be afraid of causing people to think. If you have heard from God, people need to know what he said to you. It will help those who really want to follow Jesus have a clearer picture of what that looks like.

Did you hear that?

There were a bunch of religious guys trying to trap Jesus and they talked with him about who he was. They were not really interested in anything he said except that they wanted to nail him with violating some religious rule they had developed. He was more than ready to deal with them and give them an answer that they would later use to accuse him of a violation. Their conclusion in Luke 22:71 says it all. "We have heard it from his own lips."

These guys were not even followers of Jesus but it was unmistakable what he just said. For my purposes, it does not matter what Jesus said. It rather is that he said it and they heard it. You could easily say that of course they heard it. He was standing there talking.

But then every time we open the bible, Jesus is there talking...and specifically he wants to say something to us. We read it but do we hear him speak to us? When was the last time Jesus said something to you that you had no doubt it was him talking to you? We have to act on what he speaks to us about or we will not hear him again unless he speaks the same thing to us again. We can open our Bible all we want but if we treat what he says as an option, we're done and might as well play golf or whatever.

Do you have people in your life who are listening and hearing God speak to them? Are you one of those people? Is it a common thing for you to visit with someone at the church you show up at and have a conversation about what God has been talking with each of you about or is the conversation about weather, politics or some other fascinating subject?