God Speaks
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
Source: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Prayer: Thank You Father God that You know each of the more than 7 billion people on planet Earth right now by name. You know everything about each one, even the number of the hairs on our heads. You know the plans and purposes You have for each of us. You, Jesus, knew each of the Twelve as You called them to accompany You and serve the kingdom of Heaven. As You sent them out, their assignment was to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” At other times, You told them to preach to the poor the good news of who You are and what You do. We are to do the same. As we do, You promise to supply all that we need to complete the assignment: money, clothing, transportation, equipment, resources, and food. However, we must be totally dependent on and obedient to You. As we enter a village, city, or place of service, we are to seek the peace and well-being of that group of people. If they reject us because of Your message, we are to leave it to You to deal with them. You say opposition and persecution will come from our own family members, our neighbors, our community officials, our religious leaders, or our government. Some of my brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing this right now. Help them, Father. You promise that if we trust and obey You, we will be given the right words to say at the right time to bear witness to those leaders or oppressors and to others who do not know God. We are not to be fearful or anxious, but to remember how valuable we are to You. If anyone gives their life in proclaiming the message of Your cross and resurrection and in service to others, You will acknowledge them before the Father and reward them. Thank You, Father. AMEN
Reflection: Dear Reader, please take time to reflect and interact with God about this scripture and prayer. I suggest that you write these responses in a journal leaving space to record how things worked out. Date and record the results as they occur. Then review monthly to celebrate what God is doing in your life.
Taking Action: Ask the LORD how He wants you to put the principles in this chapter into action in the next four days (c. 100 hrs.). Choose one of these or write your own.
- I will use the website www.operationworld.org to investigate how I might pray for some of those 7 billion people that God knows so well and loves so deeply.
- I will spend at least fifteen minutes asking the Lord to show me some of His plans and purposes for my life now and in the future, recording what He shows me.
- I will ask the Holy Spirit to work through me to do at least one of the tasks (listed above) Jesus assigned to the Twelve, reporting to __________ (specific fellow believers) what happens.
- I will give a witness for Christ to _________ (a specific person or group) this week, relying on Jesus and leaving the results to Him.
Sharing with others: I will share the principles I learned in this lesson with _____ (Initials only). [If you don’t know the person’s name, put something that will help you remember, for instance, CIS = clerk in store, NDN = next door neighbor, or PAW = person at work.]