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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
In Luke Chapter 9, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King, sends out His men to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Having had a time of study and learning as they observed Him ministering, now it was time for the practical.
Verse 7. One man was not in His kingdom, and did not want to be in His kingdom, but the ministry of these disciples made this one man tremble. Herod heard of all that was being done by Jesus, and now Jesus has a group of men out preaching and healing.
When the Word of God is preached tremendous things happen, and certain individuals tremble. Some get saved, rescued, healed, blessed and others become upset, distressed, bothered and perplexed. We have to be prepared for both reactions to confront us.
People were saying that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and Herod had cut John's head off, because John had the courage and boldness to preach against Herod's sins. Herod becomes worried and trembles as his conscience convicts him. There can be no escape from God, and touching men of God can result in something very serious.
Verse 9. Herod is terrified. It can't be John. I sorted him out, but who is this going around preaching and healing? He has this desire to see Jesus.
Kill John and you have a Jesus to reckon with. Kill a prophet and you have to face the living God. You can kill a messenger of the Lord, but the Holy Spirit makes the message live on.
The disciples return and report to Jesus, telling Him what had happened. Jesus saw that they needed to rest - time to be quiet - time to be alone - away from the needs and demands of people. Do you see the rhythms? They needed an opportunity to reflect upon their ministry and work out the implications.
Work and rest - work and worship are vital. We all need this.
Nevertheless the crowds came. Jesus welcomed them, and spoke to them, healing those who needed healing - wonderful. He feeds them with spiritual food too, and, when they are hungry, He feeds them from what is available - 5 loaves and 2 fish.
Use whatever is available and trust Almighty God to do what only he can do. It may not look much, but in His Hands it can prove to be more than sufficient.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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