Have you ever noticed how one day you can speak of the things of God to someone and they eagerly listen, while on another day they are ready to throw you under a bus?  Well, it isn’t you, it’s the Word of God they are coming against.  And it isn’t “them”, it’s the spirit of Antichrist working in and through them.  Let’s consider what happened to Jesus:

Luk 4:14  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
Luk 4:15  And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Luk 4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luk 4:17  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luk 4:22  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Luk 4:23  And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Luk 4:24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luk 4:25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Luk 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luk 4:28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

Wow!  What happened here?  One minute they loved Jesus, the next minute they wanted to kill him.  Did they want to kill him for all the wonderful works of mercy He did, or perhaps for His wisdom beyond His years?  Or could be He upset their “religion”?
I can’t see anything in what Jesus said here that should have made anyone mad, yet it said they were “filled with wrath”, and that is far more than just “upset”.  It talks in Proverbs how God corrects or chastens those in whom He delights.  Why is that?  So they may be mature, fully purified, taught wisdom and understanding, that they may become vessels of honor in the hands of God.  AND so they may be led of God by His Holy Spirit and therefore avoid the snares of the devil.  Obviously these people who heard Jesus didn’t like what they heard, and their anger far exceeded their love for all the wonderful works He had done in their midst.  It goes to show how fickle people can be.  They only love you for as long as you are telling them what they want to hear.

Sometimes what we WANT to hear is not what we NEED to hear. Many are the times the LORD has given me a word for someone, and as long as it’s something they want to hear, they are happy to listen to me.  But when it isn’t?  They unsubscribe from our mailing list, or walk away from me, never to return.   Many are the times the LORD has told me something I didn’t want to hear, but I’ve been following Him long enough to know He always has MY best interests at heart for my future.  So do I want to throw Him over the cliff when He corrects me?  Be honest now, wouldn’t you?  Sure, but I get over it real quickly because like you, I want God’s blessings. And I realize sometimes I’m waiting at the airport for my blessing when my ship comes in.  That means I’m not in God’s intended place to receive His blessing, not that I want to hear it, mind you.  Most people would rather tell God, Hey, LORD, I’m over HERE!  Bring my blessing over HERE!

The problem is, God is GOD, and we are merely people, and we don’t tell God what to do.  Oh, we THINK we can, but just keep telling yourself that while you’re missing out on God’s best.  God ALWAYS wants you to be in the right place at the right time so He can bless you.  But you have your own free will, and maybe where God is trying to lead you is not where YOU are trying to lead you.  And it’s easy to blame God for the missed blessings, after all, He is God, and He could just as easily move the “windows of heaven” to pour you out a blessing where YOU choose to receive them.  But have you ever noticed that if God tells you to go to the ship dock for a blessing, and you choose to go to the airport instead, that He will not stop you from doing so?

I watched a movie on TV where someone asked God, “How do you get someone to love you without messing with their free will?” God answered and said, “When you figure that one out, let me know.” Free will…..now THAT’S a biggie.  When God created mankind, He granted us free will, and we can use that free will to seek God, or we can use it to seek our own pleasures.  But mostly we use it to please ourselves.  Blessed and happy is that one who uses their free will to seek after God with their whole heart, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  There is no greater happiness in this life than pursuing God, and He says if you seek me with your whole heart, you will find Me.  Well guess what?  When you find God, you find everything He has with Him.  And God is not in the least bit stingy with His blessings, in fact, He will heap them upon you daily….IF….you are first seeking HIM.

It is written in Matthew 6:24-34,
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Mat 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Mat 6:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

The problems start when you are getting ready to step off your path into a deep hole, and God tries to warn you to “Walk THIS way” instead of the path you are currently on, and you perceive His words as no longer “gracious”, but telling you to change your ways, and you don’t WANT to change your ways.  So you fall in the hole and hurt yourself, maybe for the twentieth time.  Then you blame God because according to your thinking, He could have done something so you would not have been hurt, like giving His angels charge over you so you would not dash your foot against a stone.  Well, He DID do something: He tried to warn you, but you were only listening for “gracious words” and not words that would keep you on the narrow path that leads to everlasting life, the path that has no chuckholes or cracks to trip over, by the way.

Sometimes all we want to hear is “gracious words”.  And there is a time and place for that, but as for me, I’m willing to be corrected by the LORD as often as He sees fit, because let’s face it; the well of my life experience is not all that deep, especially when compared to God’s wisdom.   Remember when Peter and the disciples were out on the sea and there was a severe storm going on.  Jesus came to them walking on the water, and Peter saw Him and said, LORD, if it be you, bid me come to you on the water. Jesus told him, “COME”. As long as Peter kept His eyes upon Jesus, He did what was impossible in the natural, in that he walked upon the water.  But the moment Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked upon the circumstances around him, he “began to sink”.  Tell me, have you ever stepped off of the side of a swimming pool onto the water and “began to sink”?  No, you sank IMMEDIATELY!

When we are operating in the anointing of Jesus, doing that which is impossible to the rest of the world, we are delighted and most happy.  And we can operate in the Spirit as long as we continue to keep our focus on Jesus.  But when we stop listening to God’s correction, and are only willing to listen to “gracious words”, the anointing stops working for us, and THAT my friend is not a good place to be.  So whether God’s words be gracious, or corrective, be quick to embrace each and every word, for He corrects those in whom He delights.  And who knows what the LORD might do for the one in whom He delights?  Well, why not love His every word and find out for yourself?