Morsels9

 

Morsels9 Getting to know You

Scripture

John 1:37-41

Morsels8

 

Morsels 8 A Saviour for All

Scripture Mark 1 35-39Jesus

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Thoughts

In this passage we catch a glimpse of the ministry to come; Capernaum the base of operations; the moments alone in the face of relentless pressure from the people, and the urge to always tell more folk about the Gospel

When Jesus told folk to follow Him there only certain places they may go. He is the Son of God and has a specific ministry that He alone can do. But there are other incidents where he is the exemplary model man. We should follow Him in His catching alone time with Father He emerges from His communion with His heavenly Father with a freshly stated aim to preach the Gospel to Heavenly father we will experience an impression on of us of His aims for us. Praying changes us.The challenge remains to spend with Father alone, Who knows wgat new directions and inspirations we will receive !

Following the ministry of our Lord Jesus we discover something about the Gospel and its proclamation. It is a thing of ever widening circles. Jesus starts in the Synagogues to the Jews and moves to the open air to the Samaritans and eventually to a Canaanite woman. The Gospel is for all, regardless of gender or race.

What manner of man was Christ? Crowds followed Him all day. Here, every one is looking for Him. There must have been some thing deeply attractive about Jesus and His teaching. Christian teachers and preachers should aspire to be like this; bur how?

We also note that Jesus ministry was accompanied with the casting out of demons. Our preaching should result in the emancipating of those who receive it, a liberation of a deeply spiritual nature. This is the type of preaching we need in the twenty first century for folk still suffer bondage.

Questions

1. What guidance do we receive from this passage about the conduct of our prayer lives?

2. How can we become more like Jesus?

3. How may we make an impact for the Gospel?

Morsels7

 

Morsels 7 Facing the Foe

Scripture

Luke 4:31-36 New International Version31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.36 All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!”

Comments Here again we see Jesus confronting the evil that abounds in a world messed up by satanic malice and human folly.

Verse35 says in one translation “Hold your peace!”. What peace has a demon to hold.! From two divergent sources I find it means “ be muzzled” So the NIV gets pretty close. But why did Jesus want the demons to keep quiet about His identity? The realisation of who Jesus is is a spiritual step forward “ Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you Peter” ( Matthew 16:17 )A short statement shouted by a demon will not bring us to that point.

The bystanders realised part of the significance of Jesus’ command to the demon. They were witnessing a confrontation between powers It was all about authority . The Lord of all good must be obeyed by the purveyors of sin. That the order was obeyed tells us much. How it was obeyed tells us even more. The response was immediate but no harm was done to the victim. Behold the power of the presence of the Lord !

This incident is a wonderful reminder of that great and essential truth. The light shone in the darkness and the darkness overcame it not.(John 1) . It is true whatever revolutionary developments we live through.

I am surprised to realise that most of the sayings of our Lord we have studied so far have been addressed to Satan or his minions. We have yet to study our Lord as a Rabbi. As I meditate on the gospels I begin to realise how vitally central in our faith is the spoken word. The Scriptures are often a .record of what was said, Even in the crucifixion more attention is given to the abuse hurled at our Lord and Saviour than the physical pains He bore, We need to pay attention to what we say