I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 7th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Matthew 13:58:

“Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

What a sad scripture! Jesus did not do many mighty works in His own hometown, Nazareth, because of their unbelief. He says just earlier in the passage:

“A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.” 
Matthew 13:57

So sad. From Nazareth down to Capernaum is half a day’s walk. In Nazareth, where Jesus worked in the carpenter shop with His earthly father, Joseph, and his brothers, sisters and mother, Mary, He could perform very few miracles. Yet, a half a day’s walk, down to Capernaum, amazing miracles, feeding 5,000 people with two fish and five barley loaves of bread, walking on the water, healing the sick, setting captives free, delivering people from demons because the people believed.

I want to ask you one thing, and I want you to listen very carefully. Please do not tie God’s hands because of your unbelief. When a person wants to pray for you, it is not the person who is going to heal you. It is the name of Jesus Christ, when a person anoints you with oil and prays the prayer of faith. You can find that in James 5:16. It is the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much, the Bible says. So many times when I have been overseas, people have come from distances to receive healing and they have received their healing, not because of me. I am merely a vessel of the Lord, but because of their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Remember the woman with the issue of blood? She pushed through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. She said to herself, “If I can only touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed.” She was healed immediately. That woman had spent all her money going to doctors. What about Bartimaeus, the blind man? “Oh Rabboni (Teacher), if I could just receive my sight.” Immediately, he was healed. Do not tie God’s hands through unbelief - that is why He could not perform many miracles in His own hometown. 

Jesus bless you and have a day where you contemplate the miracle working power of The Carpenter from Nazareth.

Goodbye.