Changing Seasons

Changing Seasons
Words of Faith 12-13-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 10
[39] Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
[40] Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed [41] and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." [42] And in that place many believed in Jesus.

The ministry of Jesus moved from a season of conflict to a season of peace. The attempt to seize Jesus was unsuccessful as some were prepared to stone Him or take Him to trial. But this was not God’s time.
No explanation is given in the text as to how Jesus escaped but it is clear that no one could ever “capture” Jesus. Only at the time chosen by His Father would Jesus surrender Himself to the groups that were pursuing Him.
Jesus now went across the Jordan to Perea, which had been the location of John the Baptizer’s activity. Perea was on the east side of the Jordan River and was the domain of Herod Antipas. The rulers in Jerusalem had no authority in this region and Jesus would be safe from harassment there, at least temporarily.
Jesus’ ministry here was received much more favorably and the preparation by John the Baptizer was evident. John, even though dead, was still having an influence on people’s lives as they remembered his witness. Though John never performed a miraculous sign, the people believed his witness about Jesus.
By contrast, the hostile Jerusalem crowd had seen His signs and yet disobeyed. In Perea, "many believed on Him” and trusted Jesus as Savior. Similar to the case of the woman of Samaria, faith in Christ was preceded by the witness of another.
In the ministry of our lives, we will also see seasons of conflict and of peace. There will be times when there will be great opposition to the witness of the Gospel. There will be other seasons of peace and harvest in which the Gospel is readily accepted.
What is the difference? Sometimes we are harvesting where others have planted seed or prepared the way. Sometimes we are simply in a region of less conflict. Jesus acted with confidence no matter the situation He was in. We should act with confidence in either situation as well.
The point is not the result of our efforts or the reception to the Gospel but the faithfulness of proclamation. God will always determine the result and the timing of the response.
The Apostle Paul declared, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow” (1 Cor. 3:5-6).

Lord, I trust You with the day ahead. I will seek to be faithful in whatever situation You lead me to. I look to You to bring the results in Your time. Give me strength to be Your witness today. In Jesus’ name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.