THE TIME OF THE LORD’S FAVOR HAS COME
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
Luke 4:17-21 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
At the age of thirty Jesus walks into a small gathering of Jewish believers and reads from the prophet Isaiah. He chooses the words that are prophetic of the coming Messiah. Then Jesus claims these words are being fulfilled in Him.
The Jewish people had been waiting for hundreds of years for a Messiah—but they were not expecting a simple carpenter to fulfill that role. That is why they had trouble accepting a carpenter as the Messiah.
Jesus read that the Messiah would bring Good News to the poor, set captives free, give sight to the blind, free the oppressed, and bring in the Lord’s favor. Jesus, as the Messiah, was going to let everyone know they could have a relationship with God, they could be free, they could be physically whole, and they could live in the blessings of God.
It is worth pausing to remember that Paul tells us in Philippians chapter two that Jesus laid aside His divinity when He came to earth. The work Jesus did on earth was not done through His divine ability. Jesus’ work on earth was done because the “Spirit of the Lord” was empowering Him.
This same Spirit is available to us today. We can partner with the Spirit of God and bring freedom, healing, and God’s favor to our world. When we open our lives to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and begin to share God’s Good News of salvation, freedom, and wholeness we can expect the supernatural transformation of lives to take place.
Let’s be instruments used by God in our world. Let’s live in the anointing of the Spirit of God.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit, I need You. I want to be a part of building Your kingdom on earth. Show me what I can do to be a part of Your work.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”