Hello, Hello and Happy Friday! It is a chilly morning here, and I am loving it. I’ve been feeling a little homesick over the past few days, but this weather reminds me of Michigan fall, so it’s helping…a little bit at least. I was going to go ahead and do a list of Friday Favorites for the week, but as I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across a passage I thought I should share.
“Master,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Luke 9:49-50
So, the disciples ran into a man who was driving out a group of demons from another person in Jesus’ name, and they told him to stop. They were under the impression that only they—the twelve disciples—were able to drive out such demons. They were being prideful, and they didn’t want this ‘nobody’ getting in the way of what they were doing.
But, Jesus told them that they were wrong in telling the man to stop—anyone who was sincere in following him could drive out demons in his name. If they weren’t against him, then they were for him. Simple as that.
You see, the disciples had just come from a situation where nine of them had tried to drive out a single demon from a child, and because of their lack of faith they had failed in doing so. When they saw this ‘nobody’ successfully driving out a group of demons, their pride was hurt. This man was succeeding at the very thing they had only just failed in doing, and they allowed their pride to get in the way of accomplishing God’s work.
We should never be so prideful that we allow something like this to get in the way of doing God’s work. We all have different gifts, strengths, and talents, and God has a purpose for each of us. There is no use in allowing our pride to be hurt if someone succeeds in a place where we were unsuccessful. Instead, we should focus on the good that was accomplished, and encourage our fellow believers in the work they are doing to further God’s kingdom.
Don’t let pride get in the way of what you are doing for God here on earth.
Anyways, hope you all are having a great Friday so far, and have an excellent weekend planned! Stay warm with these cooler temperatures coming our way, and God Bless!
Good message. I like the Bible passage/verse reference :o)
Thanks:-D