SUNDAY, JANUARY 13
Scripture: Luke 9:51-56

How we respond when people do not receive our testimony, words or witness, has very much been shaped by “turn-the-other-cheek,” and reinforced in Luke 9:51-56. This passage says, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.’ And they went to another village.” James and John got offended when Jesus was not received. They were ready to call down fire. But Jesus told them they did not know what spirit they were of and the Son of Man came to save and not destroy men’s lives. For many, this seems to be the model by which they walk with the Lord, but in Chapter 10, Jesus changed the charge to a strong warning! If James and John had called down fire, nobody in their right mind would have testified against Jesus, knowing James and John were there to toast them! This has been taught in a way which pretty much denigrates anyone who wants to take a judicial stand. The problem here is, Jesus did not stop with the Luke 9 admonition! He almost immediately addressed not being received in the next chapter. The judicial anointing exists to save the life and harvest of believers and preserve their destiny. It manifested for that purpose with Peter and Paul. Revelation 11 says it will manifest in the last days dramatically. So it is time to begin thinking in those terms.