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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
There were times when Barnabas and Paul had to move on because some people wanted to kill them and their work for God was not over. In Acts 13,14, they are experiencing what Jesus said His disciples would face, and this is never easy. This is not nice and some may even recoil from the very thought of physical suffering, but in our world today, many thousands of men and women are suffering sorely because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Learn about some of the things they are going through.
There were occasions when people sought to kill Jesus and He just quietly slipped away, because His work was not yet completed. His time had not yet come.
But when the time was right, He willingly laid down His Life, and allowed Himself to be betrayed - arrested - falsely accused - illegally tried - and cruelly crucified as a criminal. The only Beloved Son of the Father permitted all that to happen.
And yet - it is that horrible, horrendous, and humanly speaking, tragic act, which lies at the heart of our being saved - our being washed and forgiven - rescued from sin - and offered eternal life.
We remember this at the Table each time we partake of the bread and the wine. The sinless Son of God suffered undeservedly. The purest Man experienced agonising pain. An innocent Man took upon Himself - my guilt - my wrongs - my errors - my sins.
That pure innocent sinless Man is The Son of God - the Lamb of God - pouring out His Mercy and Love - and shedding His Blood to wash away my sin. All of that flows from the Cross, and the risen Christ makes all that available to us, especially when we come to the Table - Mercy - Forgiveness - Strength - Healing - Love - in the bread and the wine.
Only God can take what is ugly, and make it beautiful. God can take what is cruel and pour His Mercy through that. God can present us with bread and wine - and say to us - "Now through these you can have all you require at this moment."
God can set before us things which appear so very ordinary saying, "Feed on these by faith, and be whole."
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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