Familiarity Breeds Contempt

The power of the offended mind

Jesus’ ministry was marked by significant miracles until came to His hometown of Nazareth. As was his custom he went to the synagogue. As He began to teach, the people were quite amazed at His wisdom. They were also very impressed with the healings they were seeing.

It seemed like God was really moving amongst them, until somebody yelled out,

“Hey, wait a minute! Isn’t this Joseph’s son? He grew up here! How can He do this stuff? And where did He get this wisdom?”

They were offended, but not in the typical sense. Their feelings weren’t hurt. They weren’t caught up in bitterness. They simply could not handle that someone familiar to them was operating in the anointing. Instead of being filled with faith and expectation, they became hardhearted and rejected Him.

This unresolved question became a strong enough mental stumbling block that it shut down Jesus’ anointing. He could do no miracles and teach with no power. This was a body blow to Jesus.

Stunned by his own neighbor’s and family’s lack of faith, Jesus responds, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and friends.”

Your Nazareth

You may not have grown up in Nazareth with Jesus, but you may have been around the same church, and/or around the same group of people for a while. When something new or different happens it’s difficult to receive or even recognize.

Not understanding is okay. Restricting your spiritual life to what you understand is not. This stubbornness of soul is the cornerstone of quenching the Holy Spirit. Such a controlling spirit is destructive to the development of deeper release of God’s power.

God responds to your faith but will not surrender to your demands for control. Encountering God requires a heart-felt embrace of what you do not understand, and possibly even from someone you ALREADY know.

Your heart is more clearly seen by what you’re willing to embrace without offense, than by your expression of faith only in what you already understand.

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