Isn't This Joseph's Son?

Isn't This Joseph's Son?
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman
March 04, 2020

"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 the 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 more public ministry. "Isn't that John, the CPA, or Bill the restaurant manager, or Susan the bank executive?" The first question among our critics is "Where did John, Bill, or Susan get the authority to tell me anything?"

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 your life because that is where the authority lies to change you -- and the impact you may have upon a friend, a neighbor, a city or a nation. 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 hiding your faith from those around you.

Today, ask Jesus to go with you as you walk through the hills and valleys of your life. The two of you just might be the team to bring someone out of slavery and bondage into the glorious sonship of being a child of God.