January 16

“This inquiry from the usurper of the throne, and made at the request of strangers, stung the pride of the Jewish teachers. The indifference with which they turned to the rolls of prophecy enraged the jealous tyrant. He thought them trying to conceal their knowledge of the matter. With an authority they dared not disregard, he commanded them to make close search, and to declare the birthplace of their expected King. "And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

"And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in nowise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Which shall be shepherd of My people Israel." R.V.

Desire of Ages, page 62 from the chapter, 'We have seen His star'

My Bible Study last night was in Nottingham, we heard about King Nebuchadnezzar. He was a very different ruler to Herod. True, he had a stern streak, just like Herod, “if you don’t tell me the dream I’ll kill you.” His advisors, just like Herod’s, were startled with an authority they dared not disregard.

There was a difference. We learned a little of what happened in the Bible study. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. Our conclusion was that God was trying to talk to the King. True, the calling card God used in the dream was perhaps a little over the top – but it had the King’s attention.

But why shouldn’t God want to speak to a King, after all, the prophet Amos wrote that God doesn’t do anything without reveal His plans to prophets. That of course is where Daniel comes in. The King has the vision and the prophet has the dream. Both come from God.

I did more than have a Bible Study today. Newark’s preaching training course found me emphasising one big issue. A preacher doesn’t do a talk. Anyone can do a talk. God wants to speak to us and sometimes chooses the slightly indirect route. A preacher gets a message from God, works with the message and then speaks. The listener hears. All the way through the process God is directly and intimately involved.

Just think, those priests in Jerusalem went without the wonderful blessing of being God’s mouthpieces. Daniel chose to speak for God. That ancient King chose to listen, believe, and ultimately act on the dream's contents. The modern preacher does the same. So a sermon is not a talk, a sermon is God’s way of speaking to His children. Think of sermons at a higher level.

In the same way, you and your prayer partner are God’s mouthpiece, simply because you are a person who has chosen to speak for God. Now what does that mean? Can I suggest that if you are praying for a particular person, with your prayer partner, when you speak to your prayer interest – don’t think that you are just having a chat. You are on a mission God has sent you on.

At the same time, don’t take yourself too seriously – God doesn’t! Think of that as a great blessing.

Housekeeping details for you

The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here