Read The Bible The Book Of Luke 15 by Reverend Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

God takes care of you

What God cannot do for you through man, God will do. What your father or mother cannot do for you, God will do. What your friends cannot do for you, God will do

The word of God is alive. It is life. Keep putting it inside you and it will keep introducing life into you Hebrews 4:12

The life it brings is not just spiritual life, it is also physical life. As you take in the word, your spirit is energized and grows, and physical life enters your body

• No throne can be exalted above the throne of Jesus over Nigeria.
• Everyone who says Nigeria will not be in peace, may peace depart from their life.
• Anyone who says all they want to do is destroy, attack and spill blood, may their blood be spilled instead.
• May Nigeria find her place in the agenda of God.
• May men who have a passion for the land rise up in places of authority and rescue the land from the hand of the enemy.
• Every man who has made Nigeria his private pocket or private bank, may frustration remove him from any place of power or influence.
• May Nigeria glorify Jesus every day.
• May everyone who lives in Nigeria, Christian, Muslim, pagan, whatever, live in peace and in freedom in their own land, and not be refugees.
• All the displaced, may the Lord show them mercy and return them to their ancestral lands.
• May the peace of God rule over Nigeria.

The word has no limits

When you hear a word, even through a screen, do not think God does not work

God's word has no limits of distance, time or medium. You say it is through the telephone. God's power cannot be limited

A word spoken on a live broadcast was for someone I did not know was listening. She was comforted by it

Keep remembering that God will take care of you. Personalize it: God will take care of me

Your Bible

Losing your old Bible can be painful. I left mine on top of a car after ministering in Lagos and never found it again. You have marked it, made notes, it is familiar

But ask God to help you connect with the new Bible you will buy. It is the same word of God

When people tear up a Bible, you are tearing paper, not the word of God. You are destroying a book

The word of God is logos, printed on paper. When you take it in, that is when it comes alive, becomes quick and powerful, becomes living

That is the rhema that brings blessing, increase and change to your life Hebrews 4:12

Buy a paper Bible and keep it

They are beginning to bastardize the Bible. AI is now rewriting the Bible, saying things that are not in it, and people do not know the difference

The days are coming when you will be looking for the true word of God. The level of adulteration is alarming

Any version that is easy for you to read will do: King James, Message, New Living Translation, Living Bible, Passion Translation, Easy to Read, American Standard Version

If you can read your own language, find the Bible in it

If you are young, buy normal print. If you are 50 or 60 something, buy large print so you can read without glasses

One day you will be glad you did. Please invest the money

Luke 4: a prophet without honor

Luke 4:20 to Luke 4:21

Luke 4:23

"Is this not Joseph's son?" was said in mockery. It was not in recognition of his office or who he was

Luke 4:24

When I read this scripture, your word comes to me. No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown

Illustration: at home

Out there people carry my Bible and ask if I need anything. At home, nobody cares that I am a reverend

Once I enter the house I am sweeping, washing, cooking. I am a prophet without honor in my own house

Luke 4:25 to Luke 4:27

If God had sent Elijah to the widows of Israel, they would have said, is it not Elijah the Tishbite, I know his father's house

If Elisha had been sent to the lepers, they would have said, is this not the son of Shaphat

So God sent a Gentile from Syria to come to Israel and be healed of leprosy

If your city is your church where you serve and nobody recognizes your gift or honors you, do not mind. Jesus already warned you that you will be without honor in your village and in your house

Your reward is not from man. Your endorsement is not from man, it is from the Lord. Stay with what God asked you to do

Do not be worried whether anybody recognizes it or not. As long as you and God are together and you know you have God's backing, that is wonderful

When the world turns on the seed carrier

Luke 4:28 to Luke 4:30

They threw Jesus out of the whole city, not just the synagogue

He gave them the slip

Luke 4:22

The same people who were amazed at his gracious words in verse 22 are trying to kill him in verse 30

If you carry the seed of God, the word of God, the world will hate you. You will be accused of things you did not do

You will be punished for things you did not do. Sin that is not yours will be put on you

If you say you are a Christian, the days will come when they will come after you for no reason

Pray for an escape route

Tell God, whenever I am cornered, show me my way of escape. Give me an escape route

No one ever caught Jesus at their own timing

Paul was let down in a basket over the city wall while they watched the gate. Another time they stoned him and left him for dead, and he stood up and walked away Acts 9:25, Acts 14:19

Do not let people's attacks or accusations discourage you from following, serving and staying with the Lord. Stay faithful, stay focused, stay following

Jesus is coming and his reward is in his hand to give to every man according to his work Revelation 22:12

Do not be weary in welldoing. Do not faint in the day of adversity. Stay strong in the name of Jesus Galatians 6:9, Proverbs 24:10

Do not go where you are tolerated, go where you are celebrated

Luke 4:31

Why was Jesus able to do many things in Capernaum? They accepted him, opened themselves up to him and welcomed his ministry

When they threw him out of his hometown he went back to Capernaum, where he was celebrated and where they allowed what he carried to bless them

Stop hanging around people who belittle, demean and reject you. Go to people who celebrate you

If your husband or wife is rejecting you, your spouse should not be the only friend you have

Have a circle of people who pour into your life, as you also pour into theirs. Find friends who accept and love you

Illustration: a dose of joy

I have a friend who lived close to me. Her husband was not kind. Every evening after work she stopped at my house for 5 to 30 minutes before going home

She told me she stopped to take a dose of joy, because what was waiting at home would try to suck the joy out of her

She added to what she had so that whatever happened at home would not knock her to her knees

We laughed and told old stories. We have been friends since I was 14

Do not let only one person be your source of hope, comfort, encouragement, strength and support. Find a circle of people who will pour into your life

We perform best in community, not in isolation

Jesus left the people who did not want him and went back to the people who accepted him, the same city that used to mock him

Luke 4:31 says he taught them on the Sabbath days. Sabbath is once a week, so "days" means he stayed with them a long time

Do not judge people in terrible marriages

It is not easy to just get up and divorce. If you have not been in that place, do not judge people who have stayed in terrible situations. There are things you will not understand

You have invested your youth in this person, loved, prayed, shared everything, had children, built assets, and become emotionally, spiritually and physically tied to them

This is why God says he hates divorce Malachi 2:16

It is not that divorce is the worst sin. It is the amount of damage done when people tear themselves apart

Illustration: super glue

It is like gluing two things with super glue and then tearing them apart. Neither comes away complete

Part of this one tears into the other and part of that one tears into this one. It is excruciating

Some people have been with evil spouses who do not allow them to work or have money, so that even if they want to run, they cannot

They are also cut off from any support system, so they have nobody to run to. They are forced to stay and keep taking the abuse

There is something called Stockholm syndrome, also called trauma bonding

It is a psychological response to abuse where the abused becomes emotionally and psychologically bonded to the abuser. Even if you take that woman out, she may go back

What you need to do for such people is pray. I kept praying for a friend like this. One day it was as if she woke up and walked away. All her beauty came back

If you find somebody in a terrible marriage, man or woman, do not judge, reject or abandon them. Stay with them

One day God will give them the courage to value themselves enough to do something about the abuse

Those who are in it, may God strengthen you with courage to leave when it is too terrible to stay. This is a serious matter that needs prayer, counseling and God's intervention

If a partner is cheating, it is a terrible marriage

A man who keeps cheating and says he is sorry, that is not sorry. First time is a mistake. Second time is a pattern. Third time is intentional

By the fourth time you have no value to him. He is not afraid to do it because he knows you will stay

If a man's marriage was founded on deception, such as a hidden child, you cannot sugarcoat it. The foundation was deception

A married man who approaches a single woman wants to destroy her life. Shut him down with your words

A man who sleeps with anyone, even a woman pregnant by another man, has no boundaries. He does not care about his own wife, the other woman's husband or the baby. He is a corrupting spirit, a defiling spirit

If a husband takes a second wife, you cannot stop him, but do not stay there. That is my counsel

If you suspect your spouse of cheating but have no evidence, be at peace. Keep praying and ask God to expose the person. Do not fight or spend your energy investigating

Your whole life will become about it, and that is idolatry. You will be thinking about him all the time

Whenever anything takes your attention more than God, that is idolatry

Before you condemn a husband who wants you off social media, ask how many hours you spend on it every day

Your children are being damaged watching you being broken. The damage that staying in horrible marriages does to children is great

Often you are the only one taking care of the children, spending the money, buying the clothes, feeding them, doing the school run

If you can prove a parent is unfit, take it to the authorities. Your children should not be around such a person

Children have a right to a normal life and should not be twisted before they have a chance to choose who they want to be

Illustration: rat poison

A man brought a Nigerian rat poison called Sniper to another nation and was poisoning his wife quietly, small small, so she would die slowly

That nation does not have it, so they did not know what to look for. By the mercy of God she found it. There were two bottles and one was already half gone

If you do not want the woman, send her away. If you do not want the man, let him leave. Why kill the person?

What stress does to the body

That is what happens when we stay with the pain. A negative emotion releases a destructive hormone called cortisol, which messes with everything from blood to organs to systems

When anger dies down, cortisol leaves your body. In an abusive situation where every day is painful, cortisol sits permanently in your body, and the longer it sits the more damage it does

Cortisol taken as medication is different. A doctor has found a deficiency and prescribed a measured dose with a milligram rating

The one from stress has no gauge, it is full blast

His word was with power

Luke 4:32

Jesus was forthright, confident and authoritative. I aim to be that all the time when I sit in front of you. In King James, his word was with power

If you are a preacher of the gospel, stay with God. Ask God to back your words with power

Ask God to bring you to the place where when you speak you are forthright, confident and authoritative

Ask God to make you authoritative so that when you speak about Jesus, they hear the power and life of God through your voice

Ask God to accompany every word you speak in his name with power

Ask God to anoint you every time you sit with the word, and let understanding come by his Spirit

Psalm 119:18

Pray that prayer every time you open the Bible: open my eyes so I can see wondrous things from you, Lord

The word is the antidote to any demon

Luke 4:33 to Luke 4:34

While Jesus was speaking with such authority, the authority of the word hit the devil inside the man

This is the antidote to any demon: the word. This is why anything that hits you, you say, it is written

Jesus read the word, spoke the word and taught the word, and demons began to shout

If you put the word of God in, demons have to leave. If you use the word of God, it shuts the devil down and dispels demons

Illustration: the woman who fell

I was ministering somewhere with my eyes closed, singing a song. The pastor asked if I saw what happened

A woman screamed and fell on the ground. The church was big and the music loud, so I did not hear her

Luke 4:35 to Luke 4:37

Jesus rebuked the demon, not the man. Hold your peace and come out of him. The demon threw the man down and did not hurt him

It knocked the wind out of everyone. Here is someone whose words make things happen, who orders demonic spirits out and they go. In the Message, Jesus was the talk of the town

Illustration: the chicken

Sometimes when you are praying it looks as if the devil is getting worse

When I was a child in Nigeria, we slaughtered our own chickens. One day my brother cut the chicken and did not hold it down. It stood up and started running, and all of us ran

The knife had already done the job, but it was running. It was only a matter of time before it dropped

That is what the devil is doing. Every tantrum he throws will stop, because he has already been dealt with. It is a matter of time

You cannot help a person who does not want help. You can only pray that God will open her eyes and her heart to accepting help

The word of God is alive and has power. When you speak it, demons bow. Even if they throw tantrums, like that chicken, they will drop in Jesus name