Wisdom. Power. Privilege.
With a dash of pride and entitlement. The perfect ratio of ingredients to stir up skepticism.
What is it to BELIEVE?
Does it look like foolishness?
Weakness?
Does it appear inferior?
I find that those with a skeptical mindset worship wisdom. Yet God chose the foolish things to confound the wise, and the weak things to put the mighty to shame.
Jesus was loud and clear. To have what you’re searching for, to fill the void in your life, HE IS THE WAY.
He came to give us everlasting life and end the reign of death and destruction by bringing His Kingdom to earth.
His methods were controversial and unorthodox.
He was envied by the religious and government leaders. So much that they followed Him trying to catch Him in something they could use to destroy Him.
But they couldn’t. Because He was who He said He was.
He was ardent and full of compassion. He had a wild grace that looked vulgar to the religious skeptical mindset. He commanded demons to leave, He healed sick people and brought the dead back to life. He told His followers to do the same as He did.
He gave them authority over all evil.
If He didn’t have heavenly authority, how could He have done that?
This also means that if WE choose to follow Him, we are also given authority over all evil. Not just some. ALL.
(Luke 10:19, John 9, 10)
To follow Jesus means to constantly deny our own desires in exchange for His.
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” Luke 9:24
The people who actually got this, were the ones free of skepticism. Full of childlike awe and wonder. The ones who were humble and teachable.
The religious and government leaders who opposed Jesus were the skeptics.
(Luke 10:22-27)
Jesus doesn’t value skepticism. Why do some of His followers?
Is our faith really in Him and His word or in our ability to use our own wisdom and logic to decipher?
Skeptics like to use their logic to justify the fear they’ve empowered of being led astray.
How quick we forget that Jesus left the 99 to go get the 1 that got lost. Do we not trust His word?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
A skeptic is so focused on the verses about being deceived and led astray that they’ve actually allowed themselves to be deceived and led astray! What has led them into deception? Fear. Their attention is fully grasped by fear masquerading as wisdom.
When is fear ever from the Lord?
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
What *did* Jesus value?
Humility. The desire to be close to Him. The child-like hunger to be taught.
He looked at the condition of the heart.
I’ll leave you with this. Break off skepticism!
Instead…
be hungry. Be teachable. Desire Jesus above all desires.
This is where you’ll find yourself, your life, your joy and everything that’s been missing from you.
It’s Him. It’s Jesus.
~ Amanda Santistevan