Mark 1:14-15 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Well my awesome Friends in Christ, it’s the weekend; time for weekly fellowship and spiritual renewal! So let’s get to our churches, temples, sanctuaries or whatever we call the physical place where we congregate to worship the Most High God Jehovah, and do so with much praise and thanksgiving! The Lord set the example when He laboured for six days creating the earth, then rested on the seventh. Who are we to differ from that eh? All of our major functioning parts need a rest after a busy week of labour; for those who labour that is. (smile) And it doesn’t really matter which day we choose, once we give Him a regular day every week. Anyway, today we’re looking at the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry, when He actually began going around preaching. And like it all came to a head after John the Baptist was imprisoned. I guess it was all a part of the Lord’s master plan: John was the messenger, heralding the coming of the kingdom of heaven, personified by Jesus, and once he’d made contact with Him, baptized and acknowledged His Messianic attributes, it was time for John to exit centre stage and give Jesus His time in the spotlight. And isn’t it strange that Jesus left His home town of Nazareth and moved to Galilee, the area around Capernaum to begin His ministry? Well not really nuh, for this was done so that the scriptures could be fulfilled; in particular the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2. ‘The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up (has dawned).’ (Mat.4:15-16) Oh my people, I just LOVE it when the scriptures align so clearly. It just gives greater, more concrete proof of God’s inspiration and divine guidance in its writing, simultaneously boosting and strengthening one’s belief in the Word. I doubt there is any other document in existence that can show such intertwining over hundreds of years. Let’s all give some thanks and praise to our wonderful God, for the guidance and directions He’s so generously and astutely provided us over the ages. And all God’s people joyously shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Yes Friends, Jesus finally hit the road after John’s sad demise. And as I heard Uncle Charles, Charles Stanley, point out recently, it took Jesus thirty years to really get His thing going, and only for three years. But look at its awesome effect; the many marvellous moments, plus the widespread change and upheaval in such a short time period. So if you have a dream, and you’re there chomping at the bit to get it going, but nothing’s happening, have some patience. You know the Lord moves differently to us, on a higher plane. He sees the entire plan, but we only see our little area. And here I’m preaching to myself too, for there are dreams He’s placed in my heart that are not coming through. They have all been born in some form and fashion but seem to be currently incubated, and none have reached the threshold of excellence as yet. Writing was amongst them, but certainly not a scripture based Bit. The Lord blindsided me with that one, though it’s turned out to be pleasant blindside. But I’m not giving up hope, not despairing, and neither should you, for with the Lord’s omnipotence, He can cause anything to happen in the blink of an eye. If He says it will happen, then it will, only in His time. Remember, He’s the Master of Timing. And Jesus’ ministry is a perfect example of that. From being a relative nobody for thirty years, His fame suddenly spread like wildfire as He ‘went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria…And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis (the Ten Cities) and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.’ (Mat.4:23-25) Wow! And note mih people, Jesus did most of His travelling by foot, with the occasional boat and donkey, not by expensive vehicular transportation as so many of our modern-day preachers. And He covered a fairly wide area too, so He really worked hard in those three years. And what was this gospel of the kingdom of God that He was preaching? Basically that a time of change was imminent. A time when the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would create a major movement, an important juncture in their lives. It meant more fulfilling of early prophecy. Remember centuries of prophetic silence had passed in Israel, where no one had come forward to say anything of note, to update none of the previous stuff. Then all of a sudden along comes John the Baptist, crazy John, and he breaks the long prophetic silence with a loud uproar, stirring up the people with his proclamation to prepare a path for the Lord. ‘The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.’ (John 1:7-9) Then Jesus shows up while John is still active and further stirs up the nation by proclaiming that He’s the Light of which John spoke. What a momentous time that must have been my Friends. It was certainly one of the most important periods in the annals of man, so important that two thousand years later it still holds millions spellbound and causes enormous controversy by its audacity, bravery, simplicity, complexity and truth all rolled into one. Oh my people, I’m chuckling, for it’s one of those times that the Spirit led me down a totally unexpected path. But I enjoy them, cause those are the times when I really write from my heart. Consequently, we’ll have to continue this tomorrow, as there’s a lot more to say, but space and time have run out. So until tomorrow, God willing, Much LOVE!…and remember to…LOVE your God…LIVE your FAITH… and SPREAD His Word…
Well my awesome Friends in Christ, it’s the weekend; time for weekly fellowship and spiritual renewal! So let’s get to our churches, temples, sanctuaries or whatever we call the physical place where we congregate to worship the Most High God Jehovah, and do so with much praise and thanksgiving! The Lord set the example when He laboured for six days creating the earth, then rested on the seventh. Who are we to differ from that eh? All of our major functioning parts need a rest after a busy week of labour; for those who labour that is. (smile) And it doesn’t really matter which day we choose, once we give Him a regular day every week. Anyway, today we’re looking at the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry, when He actually began going around preaching. And like it all came to a head after John the Baptist was imprisoned. I guess it was all a part of the Lord’s master plan: John was the messenger, heralding the coming of the kingdom of heaven, personified by Jesus, and once he’d made contact with Him, baptized and acknowledged His Messianic attributes, it was time for John to exit centre stage and give Jesus His time in the spotlight. And isn’t it strange that Jesus left His home town of Nazareth and moved to Galilee, the area around Capernaum to begin His ministry? Well not really nuh, for this was done so that the scriptures could be fulfilled; in particular the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2. ‘The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up (has dawned).’ (Mat.4:15-16) Oh my people, I just LOVE it when the scriptures align so clearly. It just gives greater, more concrete proof of God’s inspiration and divine guidance in its writing, simultaneously boosting and strengthening one’s belief in the Word. I doubt there is any other document in existence that can show such intertwining over hundreds of years. Let’s all give some thanks and praise to our wonderful God, for the guidance and directions He’s so generously and astutely provided us over the ages. And all God’s people joyously shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Yes Friends, Jesus finally hit the road after John’s sad demise. And as I heard Uncle Charles, Charles Stanley, point out recently, it took Jesus thirty years to really get His thing going, and only for three years. But look at its awesome effect; the many marvellous moments, plus the widespread change and upheaval in such a short time period. So if you have a dream, and you’re there chomping at the bit to get it going, but nothing’s happening, have some patience. You know the Lord moves differently to us, on a higher plane. He sees the entire plan, but we only see our little area. And here I’m preaching to myself too, for there are dreams He’s placed in my heart that are not coming through. They have all been born in some form and fashion but seem to be currently incubated, and none have reached the threshold of excellence as yet. Writing was amongst them, but certainly not a scripture based Bit. The Lord blindsided me with that one, though it’s turned out to be pleasant blindside. But I’m not giving up hope, not despairing, and neither should you, for with the Lord’s omnipotence, He can cause anything to happen in the blink of an eye. If He says it will happen, then it will, only in His time. Remember, He’s the Master of Timing. And Jesus’ ministry is a perfect example of that. From being a relative nobody for thirty years, His fame suddenly spread like wildfire as He ‘went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria…And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis (the Ten Cities) and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.’ (Mat.4:23-25) Wow! And note mih people, Jesus did most of His travelling by foot, with the occasional boat and donkey, not by expensive vehicular transportation as so many of our modern-day preachers. And He covered a fairly wide area too, so He really worked hard in those three years. And what was this gospel of the kingdom of God that He was preaching? Basically that a time of change was imminent. A time when the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would create a major movement, an important juncture in their lives. It meant more fulfilling of early prophecy. Remember centuries of prophetic silence had passed in Israel, where no one had come forward to say anything of note, to update none of the previous stuff. Then all of a sudden along comes John the Baptist, crazy John, and he breaks the long prophetic silence with a loud uproar, stirring up the people with his proclamation to prepare a path for the Lord. ‘The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.’ (John 1:7-9) Then Jesus shows up while John is still active and further stirs up the nation by proclaiming that He’s the Light of which John spoke. What a momentous time that must have been my Friends. It was certainly one of the most important periods in the annals of man, so important that two thousand years later it still holds millions spellbound and causes enormous controversy by its audacity, bravery, simplicity, complexity and truth all rolled into one. Oh my people, I’m chuckling, for it’s one of those times that the Spirit led me down a totally unexpected path. But I enjoy them, cause those are the times when I really write from my heart. Consequently, we’ll have to continue this tomorrow, as there’s a lot more to say, but space and time have run out. So until tomorrow, God willing, Much LOVE!…and remember to…LOVE your God…LIVE your FAITH… and SPREAD His Word…
SCRIP-BITS 