If you are bruised and broken or if you know someone who is bruised and broken this article may just be of some help and encouragement.

I have been writing about one of my heroes, Saul of Tarsus, later to be called Paul, and the story of how he came to faith can be found in the New Testament book of Acts in Chapter 9. Please, do read the true record of what happened to him.

It is so true to life and it is vitally important that we base our life and thinking upon the Word of God and NOT comments upon the Word of God. When you read the Bible you will never read a wrong word. I cannot emphasise sufficiently how necessary it is to read the Biblical text.

Almost tucked away at the end of that fast moving breathtaking dramatic account of everything that happened to Saul, this amazing incident in the life of another leader is told with feeling and emotion.

After that lengthy comprehensive section on how Paul met Jesus Christ - and all that is connected with his being born again - so rich - so valuable - in taking us through the very basics of discipleship - Luke then switches to speak about Peter.

Paul has gone home to Tarsus, and then into the wilderness for around three years, and Peter is now travelling around the country in the Name of Jesus for the cause of Christ, and Luke gives us some details about the ministry of Peter, which is needed at that time in various towns and villages between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It has been such a privilege to visit these very places on various occasions.

Peter too has been through a lot and, comparatively speaking, he is now an experienced Pastor. He is a shepherd of the sheep.

Jesus Christ had commissioned him to care for the lambs and feed the sheep, and that is what we see him doing in this passage. Do read it. You will be blessed as you receive what God inspires Dr Luke to explain and write.

Peter has seen the lambs and the sheep scattered by the persecution which the Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem had experienced.

This must almost have broken his heart. Peter had faced imprisonment - threats upon his life - as well as witnessing healings and crowds coming to believe in Jesus. Here he is travelling around seeking visiting those groups of disciples of Jesus who had to flee from Jerusalem. He would be trying to pick up the bits and minister to their various needs.

Peter had been in a few traumatic situations and had had to face some harrowing and horrendous circumstances, and when you have been there, you are more able to sit with others who are going through a rough tough season.

Some people would have questions. Some would be sore. They would have lost their homes and houses - their possessions and jobs. There would be much to do - many tales to hear - various wounds to heal - and encouragement would be needed in a way which many of us know little about.

We all need someone to minister to us when we are bruised and broken. These few words may be the very healing balm you are so in need of in these present days - or a friend or neighbour may have been experiencing a rough patch in their lives and you can be one to listen to their tale and offer comfort and strength - but sometimes what people need most of all is just our time.

And that may open their hearts to what God would want to pour into them - His mercy, love and peace.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled “Word from Scotland” on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com

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