Isn't This Joseph's Son?

Isn't This Joseph's Son?
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman
March 04, 2018

"All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. 'Isn't this Joseph's son?' they asked," Luke 4:22.

Jesus was more qualified to be a carpenter than the Son of God in the view of religious leaders and the common people of his day. He was also becoming known as a rabbi who thought and did things "outside the box."

He was an unusual mixture of the earthly common man who did daily work just like other villagers in Nazareth. So, when the public ministry side of his life began to surface, the first observations were, "Isn't this Joseph, the carpenter's son?"

This is not unlike what happens when God calls you or me into a public ministry. "Isn't that John, the CPA, or Bill the restaurant manager, or Susie the bank executive?"

The first question among our critics is "When did John, Bill, or Susie get religion? Then they ask, "What right does he / she have to speak to me about God?"

The religious spirit reveals itself in many ways. The religious spirit can best be defined as an agent of Satan assigned to prevent change and maintain the status quo by using religious devices.

The religious spirit seeks to distort a genuine move of God through deception, control and manipulation. It was the primary force against Jesus designed to intimidate and turn His relationship with God into a set of rules and regulations.

Satan does not want Jesus in the lives of those held captive by unbelief because that is where the authority lies to change a home, a city a nation or a heart.

God desires you to take His presence with you wherever you go every day. Do not let the enemy of your soul shame you into alienating your faith from those you encounter daily.

Today, ask Jesus to go with you wherever you may be -- at home, serving your family; at work, interacting with co-workers, in the government, leading the people.

You and Jesus just might be the team to bring someone out of the darkness of slavery and bondage into the light of freedom and truth -- the truth that to know "sets you free."