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| It's Only Me |
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Do you have friends who have been close to you in the past, but now they mock at your words of faith? Do you have relatives who smile with feigned acceptance, yet by their actions and words demonstrate their unbelief? Don't feel like a failure - Jesus understands! Jesus went away from there and came to His [own] country and home town {Nazareth], and His disciples followed (with) Him. And on the Sabbath He began to teach in the synagogue; and many who listened to Him were utterly astonished, saying, Where did this [Man} acquire all this? What is the wisdom -- the broad and full intelligence -- [which has been] given to Him? What mighty works and exhibitions of power are wrought by His hands! Is not this the Carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not His sisters here among us? And they took offense at Him and were hurt [that is, they disapproved of Him and it hindered them from acknowledging His authority]; and they were caused to stumble and fall. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor (deference, reverence), except in his [own] country and among [his] relatives and in his [own] house. And He was not able to do even one work of power there, except that He laid His hands on a few sickly people [and] cured them. And He marveled because of their unbelief -- their lack of faith in Him. And He went about among the surrounding villages [and] continued teaching. (Mark 6: 1-6 Amp.) He left there and returned to his hometown.
His disciples cam along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting
place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was
this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such
ability?" But in the next breath they were cutting him down. "He's
just a carpenter -- Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid. We know
his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he
is?" They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell,
sparwling.
And they never got any further. Jesus told them, "A
prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in
as a child." Jesus wasn't able to do much of
anything there -- he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that's all. He
couldn't get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other
villages, teaching. The people who are closest to us know us too well. They see the good and remember the bad. God has promised us to remove sin from us completely - Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
It is a natural tendency to remember a person as they were - and to be skeptical of the new person they have become. The failures, the mistakes, the shortcomings - no matter how large or how small - are held on to as a reference to who they are, what they are like ..... Understanding that it easily explains why the pastor from Florida has such great revivals in Australia and the one from England ministers so well in South America and the evangelist from China gets an amazing response to his message in Canada. Many times it is easier to reach out to someone we don't know , someone who does not know us. The hindrances of being 'familiar' are not there to overcome. Reach out to someone you do not know. Plant a seed in the heart of a person who you have never meet. As we plant these seeds Father will send someone to sow seeds in the lives of our loved ones. They will come along at just the right time and speak just the right words for just the right person. |
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