Luke 4: 43..."I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God..."

Jesus began His ministry teaching in the synagogues unlike any other teacher.  He read words from the prophet Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor..."  Jesus understood and embraced this anointing.  The crowds did not want Him to leave because they knew they were being taught by someone appointed by God.  His response:

Luke 4: 43-44   ⁴³ But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.

How many people attending churches...pastors and laity alike, really understand the singularity of God's purpose for us?   Jesus defeated Satan and overcame our sins so that we will receive, as adopted children, the riches of His kingdom.  I sit through sermon after sermon getting the "How to be a better (blank)" message.  Fill in the blank with all sorts of Christian labels: servant, leader, teacher, preacher, prayer warrior, father, mother, wife, husband, son, daughter.  I look at our church bulletin and see color ads announcing Diet or Exercise programs, Celebrate Recovery and Recovery International programs available in our church and then if I look real hard in the black and white plain-text section I find out that we also have Bible study groups that meet as well.  I believe that this pretty much highlights where we  are focused...on ourselves and our wellness.   

Jesus' message was that God loves us and sent Jesus so that we could be with Him in heaven for eternity.  Jesus revealed God's nature by contrasting it with our human nature, but I find that far too often, we are trying to get comfortable with a better and improved, more acceptable human condition instead of allowing Jesus to transform us.  The self-help programs keep us in control and we can receive the praise for our progress. 

The good news that Jesus proclaimed is the same today as it was when He was teaching.  God loves us and wants to save us.  He sent us Jesus to teach us and reveal His love and He anoints us with  His Spirit to proclaim the message that Christ proclaimed.  The message is found in God's own words and we don't need to add our own techniques and slant to make it more effective.  Jesus had faith in His Father's love and His Father's word.  Faith is trusting, believing, and having confidence in whom we place our faith, and if we put our faith in God, His anointing will be all we need to see His purpose for us.  His Spirit leads us in Holy devotions and Holy living so that the Good News is revealed in our living and in our speaking.