FROM TODAY’S READING (1/14/2022)…
“If you have never been hurt by a word from God, it is probable that you have never heard God speak.”
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)
Missionary to India
“The people were shocked, thunderstruck, sublimely hurt. Jesus’ teaching was authoritative because he proclaimed God’s Word clearly and with conviction. We ought to pray for such divine hurt!”
R. Kent Hughes
Luke 4:31-37 (NLT) Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.
Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting, “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered.
At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.
Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.”
Hebrews 4:12-13 (NLT) For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
Hebrews 4:12-13 (NLT)
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