Shalom,

Today I am going to share what I believe to be one of the saddest portions of Scripture in the entire Bible! Look at Mark 6:1-5:

1 JESUS WENT away from there and came to His [own] country and hometown [Nazareth], and His disciples followed [with] Him. 2 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! 3 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. 4 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. 5 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.

These were the people who had watched Jesus grow up in their midst! Since we KNOW that Jesus was without sin, we can also know that these people had never heard Him tell a lie, disobey His parents, steal, be lazy or disrespectful, hurt anyone intentionally or any number of other sins that other children may have done! Wouldn't you think that this kind of testimony to His life would have caused them to really listen to Him? Not so here! They understood that He had knowledge beyond what He would have been capable of in the natural from this small town. What was the result of their unbelief? They could not receive their healing there! Only a few with "miner ailments" were able to be healed. Everywhere else the testimonies were too many to count! THIS is very sad! The people who should have known Him the best respected Him the least! Something equally as sad is that this same thing is ongoing today! People who have witnessed healings and miraculous testimonies of the Word of God at work would rather die in their unbelief than to receive the help they need from someone offering that help! Do YOU know someone like this? I do! It breaks your heart to know that there is so much more that people could have of the life of God, but they refuse to believe! What to do? What Jesus did! Look at verses 6-7:

6 And He marveled because of their unbelief (their lack of faith in Him). And He went about among the surrounding villages and continued teaching. 7 And He called to Him the Twelve [apostles] and began to send them out [as His ambassadors] two by two and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.

He went right back to teaching, preaching and healing and also anointed others to do the same! After those whom He had sent came back with testimonies of the healing and deliverance we also see Jesus feeding the crowd of over 5,000 men and their families being fed with what began as 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish! Refuse to be discouraged by those who won't listen or receive! Instead, find others who will and continue preaching the Gospel! HE will continue to confirm His Word with signs and wonders and miracles! Pray for the others and cast the care of them over on HIM! AMEN! Here is a new song from Hillsong Young and Free called "Back To Life":

VERSE
Here in my heart You have found Your place
Replacing fear with Your freedom
You lift me up
You lift me up

When all seems lost in my brokenness
I call Your Name and You answer
Held by Your love
Held by Your love

CHORUS
In the night
Through the struggle through the trial
You have made my burden light
You have brought me back to life again

VERSE
Your love it wipes every tear away
You calm the storms that surround me
You carry me
You carry me

Your light breaks through in my darkest hour
Your love is strong in my weakness
You are enough
You are enough

PRE-CHORUS
You won't let go
So I will follow
All I am
Yours now and forever
You won't let go
So I will follow
With all I am

Shalom in Him!