Wise as Serpents, Harmless as Doves

Chapter 24 - The Suffering of the Messengers

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Bonhoeffer- 'Neither failure nor hostility can weaken the messenger's conviction that he has been sent by Jesus. That his word may be their strength, their stay and their comfort, Jesus repeats it. "Behold, I send you." For this is no way they have chosen themselves, no undertaking of their own. It is, in the strict sense of the word, a mission. With this the Lord promises them his abiding presence, even when they find themselves as sheep among wolves, defenseless, powerless, sore pressed and beset with great danger.  Nothing can happen to them without Jesus knowing of it. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." How often have the ministers of Jesus made wrong use of this saying! However willing they may be, it is indeed difficult for them to preserve a true understanding of this word and to adhere to the path of obedience. How difficult it is to draw the line with certainty between spiritual wisdom and worldly astuteness! Are we not all prepared at heart to do without "worldly wisdom" and much prefer the harmlessness of the doves and thus again fall into disobedience? Who is there to let us know when we are running away from suffering through cowardice, or running after it through temerity? Who shows us the hidden frontier? It is just as bad to appeal to the commandment of simplicity against that of wisdom, as to appeal to the commandment of wisdom against that of simplicity. There is one in the world who has perfect knowledge of his own heart. But Jesus never called his disciples into a state of uncertainty, but to one of supreme certainty. That is why his warning can only summon them to abide by the Word. Where the Word is, there shall the disciple be. Therein lies his true wisdom and his true simplicity.'

'Only the truth of that Word will enable him to discern what is wise. But to deviate from the truth for the sake of some prospect or hope of our own can never be wise, however slight that deviation may be. It is not our judgment of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God. Here alone lies the promise of God's faithfulness and help. It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.'

My thoughts-

We are all guilty of twisting God's word to suit ourselves, aren't we?  We've uttered the following words-  'God understands.'  As a way of making an excuse for our failings.

In my Old Testament reading it still amazes me how often God's chosen people turned away from Him only to turn back to Him, to only once more turn away from Him. How often the same king would turn to God only to turn from Him once more.  This was a constant, and if anything it reveal the evilness of men's hearts.

Jer_17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Man knows what God wants from Him- obedience.
Man knows this includes self sacrifice.
Man knows this means warring against their own natural inclinations.  If it were our natural inclination to follow God in all truth, we would have done that, right? It'd be easy.  Yet we gave up that natural inclination when we chose to sin.

The natural self rebels against God, there is an ACTUAL ACT of OBEDIENCE involved in following God, not an automatic act, not at all.

We have to constantly guard against our own natural inclinations even once we've turned to God because they'll forever be trying to creep back into our lives and turn us away from our Savior.

1Co_2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1Jn_2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Pe_4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe_4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

We must walk in CHRIST'S truth no matter what that truth is, whether our flesh nature likes that truth or not, and most assuredly it won't.

We cannot alter the truth to suit anyone!  We can't tell someone we have a special deal for just them- a half off special- they can sin half the time and still get the benefits of never sinning. It DOES NOT work that way! We must speak ONLY truth! We cannot condone a single sin.

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

We need our Savior to keep us, to save us!

We need to follow our God and the Holy Spirit's leading especially when we are working for HIM. And we can only work for Him as HE leads.  Any path of our own we forge is not good, it must be a path forged by God, with God's blessing, His leading.

Please LORD we would be YOUR.

We would truly be as WISE as serpents and HARMLESS as doves, only in the way YOU LEAD us to be, not in our own way, please Lord, Your way, not ours, always!

God's wrath is real - Cost of Discipleship pt. 118

Chapter 23 - The Work

Mat 10:11  And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.
Mat 10:12  And when ye come into an house, salute it.
Mat 10:13  And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
Mat 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Mat 10:15  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.


Bonhoeffer- 'The whole message is staggering in its simplicity and clarity, and since the cause brooks no delay there is no need for them to enter into any further discussion to clear the ground or to persuade their hearers. The King stands at the door, and he may come in at any moment. Will you bow down and humbly receive him, or do you want him to destroy you in his wrath?

'If however, men refuse to hear, they have lost their chance, the time of grace is passed, and they have pronounced their own doom.'

Heb 4:7  ... To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

'Is this ruthless speed? Nothing could be more ruthless than to make men think there is still plenty of time to mend their ways. To tell men that the cause is urgent, and that the kingdom of God is at hand is the most charitable and merciful act we can perform, the most joyous news we can bring. The messenger cannot wait and repeat it to every man in his own language. God's language is clear enough. It is not for the messenger to decide who will hear and who will not, for only God knows who is "worthy"; and those who are worthy will hear the Word when the disciple proclaims it. But woe to the city and woe to the house which rejects the messenger of Christ/ They will incur a dreadful judgment: Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of unchastity and perversion, will be judged more graciously than those cities of Israel who reject the word of Jesus. Vice and sin may be forgiven, according to the word of Jesus, but the man who rejects the word of salvation has thrown away his last chance. To refuse to believe in the gospel is the worst sin imaginable, and if that happens the messengers can do nothing but leave the place. They go because the Word cannot remain there. They must recognize in fear and amazement both the power and the weakness of the Word of God. But the disciples must not force any issue contrary to or beyond the word of Christ. Their commission is not a heroic struggle, a financial pursuit of a grand idea or a good cause. That is why they stay only where the Word stays, and if it is rejected they will be rejected with it, and shake off the dust from their feet as a sign of the curse which awaits that place. This curse will not harm the disciples, but the peace they brought returns to them. '

My thoughts-

We truly do not like to imagine there is a WRATH OF GOD, do we? We'd much rather simply believe He's so benevolent that He just can't have a wrath that would hurt us lowly humans who don't know any better. He's too loving to have wrath.  People believe love and wrath cannot exist together. They say God is NOT loving because He has wrath.  It's a lie of Satan's, a lie he's used very well, very successfully.

We have to realize the truth is- those who do NOT accept Jesus Christ and His love, the Gospel of the Kingdom, will HAVE to face the wrath of God, there is no other way and it's their own choice!

God's wrath--

Num_11:33  And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

2Ki_22:13  Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

2Ch_28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

2Ch_29:8  Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

2Ch_32:26  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

2Ch_34:21  Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

2Ch_36:16  But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Job_21:20  His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

Psa_78:31  The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

Psa_106:40  Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

Isa_13:13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Jer_50:13  Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

Joh_3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Rom_1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness

Eph_5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Rev_6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb

Rev_14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb

Rev_14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Rev_15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev_16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Rev_19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

*******

Do you believe Your Bible?
Do you believe in GOD?
Do you believe in JESUS CHRIST, as your LORD and SAVIOR?

If you answered, yes, then you have to believe in God's wrath as a REAL thing!

A very real thing, and His LOVE is equally as real!  He couldn't have the wrath without the love.

A parent knows in some very small measure, a parent understands.  And children as they get older they begin to understand.   You can love and still feel anger. 

God has to deal with the SIN problem, the worst problem that exists because it is the cause of ALL problems. Sin is the seed that sprouted every single agony, every single tear, every single heartache. God must get rid of sin forever so that it never rises again.  The anger He must feel over sin's evil has to be worse than anything we can imagine. Sin will be gone and all those who choose sin over love will experience the wrath of God has sin is done away with once and for all.

Everyone will get a chance.

None will be able to say they didn't have an opportunity to know the LORD as their Savior.

The Holy Spirit will convict all and those who choose to believe in God and will cling to all the truth that is revealed to them.

We, as the disciples of Jesus, as workers for Christ, must be ready to do anything that the Holy Spirit convicts us to do, and do nothing on our own. We ARE NOT those who convict! 

Please, LORD, help us! Teach us to obey You in all things! Let us be YOUR workers, for YOUR will and only YOUR will!

In Your LOVE!

Poverty in our Riches? Lord, please help us! - Cost of Discipleship pt 117

Chapter 23 - The Work

Mat 10:9  Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Mat 10:10  Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

Bonhoeffer- 'To be a messenger of Jesus Christ confers no personal privilege, no title to power or renown.  This is true, even where the free messengers of Jesus have turned into a regular ministry in the Church.' 

'Any honors that come our way are only stolen from him to whom alone they really belong, the Lord who sent us. 

'The poverty of Christ's messengers is the proof of their freedom. '

'… Jesus enjoins strict poverty upon them. Note that this is an explicit command, and that the possessions the disciples are allowed to take with them are specified down to the last detail. They are not to go about like beggars and call attention to themselves, nor are they to burden other people like parasites. They are to go forth in the battledress of poverty, taking as little with them as a traveler who knows he will get board and lodging with friends at the end of the day. This shall be an expression of their faith, not in men, but in their heavenly Father who sent them and will care for them.  It is this that will make their gospel credible , for they proclaim the coming Kingdom of God.'

'And if this battle with the powers of Satan for the souls of men, this renunciation of all personal dignity, and of the goods and joy of the world for the sake of the poor and miserable and ill-used, is not work, what is? God had himself endured toil and labor on the cross for our salvation even unto death (Isa. 53:11)  The disciples are given a share in this work, in the proclamation, in the defeat of Satan, and in intercessory prayer. If men cannot see this, they have as yet failed to discern the true nature of the service of the messengers of Jesus. These messengers are not ashamed to receive the daily reward for their labor, and to remain as poor as ever for the sake of their ministry.'

Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

My thoughts-

There are so incredibly many people who claim to work for the Lord as they increase their own material riches. They call it their due, their right. They say that the Lord wants them to be prosperous and have nice things. They tell themselves it's important for them to look nice so others realize you can look nice and still follow the Lord. They WANT people to believe they can have the love of money and earthly possession and still follow the Lord, this is the DEVIL'S DECEPTION! And this deception is running rampant everywhere! Fill your lives with THINGS! Heap to you as many possessions you possibly can, and make sure they're the best your money can afford. Work harder, work longer, not just to provide for your needs, but to give yourselves many presents, many gifts, many unnecessary possessions that please you, that make you feel good, that help you pass the time in this awful, sinful world. Tell yourself you need the diversions, you need the things that help you cope. Depend on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, but not on the SAVIOR, not really, not wholly on Him.  Consider yourself FIRST! You must come first, because how can you be any good for others if you neglect yourself? Trust in your things, and in your ability to get more things so you don't have to worry about living a life of emptiness and despair. The Devil tells us all the time that we have nothing without all His toys in our lives. He makes the toys seem harmless, but they are far from being so.  Work for Christ, but only to a certain point, right? Live for Christ, but only insofar as it doesn't trouble your equilibrium, it is so fragile a thing, keeping a grip on reality in this life, holding emotions in check, being able to keep functioning, to breathe, to live.

Is it any wonder that there are so few workers for Christ? So few Disciples?

We are given all we need by the Holy Spirit, our blinders are ripped off and we are able to see but we fall to our knees and scramble to find the blinders, we want them back on, we don't want to see the truth, not really.

Hide us from the truth, from the reality because that reality means true LOVE, and that true love means sacrifice of self.

This is what we pray behind the outward prayer asking for truth, for light, for knowledge, for Christ, for love.

We need to fall to our knees and beg for a clean heart, a clean desire, a clean hope, because Satan wants us to despair of ever being truly Christ's.

Please LORD CLEAN US!
Please LORD  SAVE US!

We cry out to you of our horrible failings to be truly yours and we cry out because we do NOT want to be kept from YOU and YOUR way by anything at all!  We get confused, we get lost in the idea of living in this modern world immersed deep in all its worldly ways and we get so close to the edge of despair we fear of falling into the pit of its deep, blackness. We cling to YOU LORD! We hope in YOU LORD! We have NO hope in ourselves, NONE!

Bless us Lord, we would be workers for YOU, we would be YOUR disciples! Please LORD!


By YOUR GRACE, MERCY, LOVE!

All praise, honor, all glory and thanksgiving unto YOU, our SAVIOR, our LORD, our KING, JESUS CHRIST!

The Work - Cost of Discipleship Pt 116

Chapter 23 - The Work

Mat 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Bonhoeffer- 'The work of God cannot be done without due authorization, otherwise it is devoid of promise.'

'But does not the very love of Christ constrain us to set no limit to its proclamation? The love of Jesus is something very different from our own zeal and enthusiasms because it adheres to its mission.'

'If Christ will not let us preach the gospel in any particular place, we must give up the attempt and abide by his will and word.'

'...the commission.

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 10:8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The proclamation and activity of the messengers are identical with that of Christ himself. To them has been granted a portion of his power. They are charged to proclaim the advent of the kingdom of heaven, and to confirm their message by performing signs. They must heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and drive out devils. The message becomes an event, and the event confirms the message. The kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the justification of the sinner through faith, all this is identical with the destruction of the devil's power, the healing of the sick and raising of the dead. The proclamation of the apostles is the Word of the Almighty God, and therefore it is an act, an event, a miracle. It is the one Christ who passes through the land in the person of his twelve messengers and performs his work. The sovereign grace with which they are equipped is the creative and redemptive Word of God.'

My thoughts-

The power of Jesus. The power to perform the miracles He wanted performed. Not a single miracle could be performed where Jesus did not want it performed. We can go anywhere we choose, but the power we go under will NOT be Christ's if we aren't doing His will but rather our own.  There might be someone we long to bring God's message, but every time we talk of Christ and His kingdom to them they grow deafer and blind to it. We can't comprehend the reason for their inability to understand. We pray for them, we ask God to bless us as we witness to them, and still… nothing.  It truthfully could be that it isn't us who are to bring the message of God to them, but another, in another way. We can't presume to do our WILL. Does this mean we stop offering the truth of the kingdom of God to others? No. It means we sow the seeds our Lord gives us to sow and then we let HIM through the Holy Spirit do the convicting of their hearts.

We may not have the power of the disciples given to them by Jesus Himself, but we have this--

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Read this prayer of JESUS to OUR FATHER GOD-

Joh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Our Savior wills that ALL that believe on HIM through the word of His disciples be ONE as the FATHER is in HIM, and we may all be ONE in them.

This ONENESS is all of us agreeing in ONE ACCORD to the TRUTH! And that TRUTH is the LOVE OF GOD.

The work that our SAVIOR wants us to do is the work of HIS WILL, not our WILL. We must move as HE wills us to MOVE and if we are called to MOVE and we refuse that is on US, not HIM. And if we are not called to MOVE and we move that is on us as well. We must PRAY to God, pray that we work according to HIS will not our own, not ever our own.

Please LORD, teach us, show us Your will in ALL things, always! Help us NOT to do our own will, our own works thinking we are doing Your will, Your work.  PLEASE LORD we believe on YOU through the Word that has been given us through others doing YOUR will, we would be ONE with YOU. Please LORD.  By YOUR GRACE! Through YOUR LOVE!

The Apostles' Power - Cost of Discipleship Pt 115

Chapter 22 - The Apostles

Mat 10:1  And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Mat 10:2  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Mat 10:3  Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
Mat 10:4  Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Bonhoeffer- 'The prayer has been heard.  The Father has revealed his will to the Son.  Jesus calls his twelve disciples and sends them into the harvest. He makes them his "apostles," his messengers and fellow-workers.  "And gave them power," for the power is all-important. It is not a word or a doctrine they received, but effective power, without which the work could not be done.  They need a power stronger than that of the prince of this world, the devil. The disciples know the devil's power well enough, although it is his cleverest trick to deny his power and to pretend that he does not exist. It is just this supreme cunning of his that must be countered: he must be brought to light, and overcome through the power of the Christ. In this work the apostles stand by the side of Christ himself, and help him to do his work. So Jesus imparts to them a share in the highest gift he possesses, his power over unclean spirits, and over the devil who has taken possession of the human race. In virtue of this commission the disciples have become like Christ. They do the works of Christ.'

Mar 6:7  And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits

Mat_10:1  And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

Luk_9:1  Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

The twelve disciples are called to Jesus's side.  Jesus then gave them POWER. This power was NOT for a single selfish act, not for a single moment of glory of their own.  The POWER came from JESUS, and it was to HIM all the glory would go. The disciples KNEW they had absolutely NO POWER of their own, NONE! If they for a moment even thought, they, through their own manufactured power were doing any of the miracles they would have instantly lost the power. The power only exists for them to use because of their connection with CHRIST, and that connection was SELFLESS. They gave up everything to follow Him. We wonder at the idea of giving up our cherished life for Christ and convince ourselves that it is the LAST thing we have to do, why? Because we cannot stand the thought that we have to GIVE up anything, especially the things that bring us comfort and ease, the things that are our life as we know it. Change it up, for Christ? That's old time stuff, that's for the original disciples, not the modern disciples.  We TALK ourselves out of self denial. We make a case for why WE are not supposed to carry any cross at all.  The disciples did their part, they weren't all just sitting around bored out of their minds just waiting for something to come along. They had families, they had lives, busy lives. Their call to follow Jesus was special, was amazing, was something we can only imagine and yet, we are called too! 

The disciples were given power by Jesus and He knew they would NOT abuse the power. They were not to use it for ANY selfish gain whatsoever, but rather to ONLY help others!

They were to have power over the unclean spirits that were filling the lives of people, keeping them captive to Satan and by any means. The power over those unclean spirits was to DRIVE them out of those they were infecting! The power was to set the evil spirit filled captives free, free from all that would keep them from truly following Christ should they choose to do so. Not a single person would be able to say they were held captive by an evil spirit so they couldn't follow Christ. He FREES those who desire to be free to follow HIM, to follow the TRUTH!

The disciples were given power to heal ALL manner of sickness and disease.  Just imagine! We come across sick people all the time, our families are filled with them. From the young to the old the sick are endless. Just imagine being given the power of Jesus to heal ALL manner of sickness, all manner of disease! Your family members, your friends, strangers, all of them, you could heal them all, but NOT you, the POWER OF JESUS working through YOU! The power given to you by Jesus who KNEW it would not be misused, that it would not corrupt you, that you would give all glory to the giver of the power!

We abuse so much of our lives in NOT giving the glory to God where it belongs!  Any thing good in us comes from GOD! We possess no goodness of our own, yet we imagine we do so that we do not have to give glory to God, but keep the glory for ourselves.

Please LORD, help us to give you all the glory for all!  We know you are the Giver of power to those who are YOURS, wholly YOURS.   We aren't asking for power, the disciples did NOT ask for power. They received of Christ what He chose to GIVE to them.  Lord, we only ask You to give to us what you will, and for us to recognize the gifts You've given us, and for us to USE all that you would have us use for YOUR GLORY no matter what that power is- great or tiny, all for YOU and YOURS!

All by YOUR LOVE! YOUR MERCY! YOUR HOLY SPIRIT, the COMFORTER YOU WOULD GIVE TO US WHO LOVE YOU, and our love for you is because YOU love us!

Please LORD, help us, keep us, know us, bless us, help us to be selfless, not selfish, all through YOU!

Glory to YOU God!
Praise to YOU God!
Thanksgiving to YOU god!

Jesus - in ALL points tempted like we are!

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Heb_4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

When Jesus took on our human sinful flesh, He took it on in such a way to prove IF it were even possible, at all, whatsoever, for sinful man to obey God's commands.

If God's commands were too hard, too impossible to obey, then Jesus WOULD have consented to sin with His mind, just as all of us have consented to sin with our minds, joining our natural sinful flesh nature to sinning willfully.  But Jesus NEVER consented to sin with his mind, not once! Jesus proved that through a connection with GOD the Father it is possible for man to NOT consent to sin in the mind, even when His flesh nature cries out towards sin. 

Our trouble lies in our believing that of our OWN ACCORD, separate from God, we should be able to not consent to sin with our minds. We want OUR minds to have that power, but truthfully it is ONLY GOD who has the power to keep our minds, IF we consent to allow HIM to use His power in us.  Christ consented to GOD, and God through His own power kept Christ from sinning.

There was no reason for Christ Jesus to take on flesh and become a man if He were NOT going to be ABLE to prove to the toughest of judges, the most critical of challengers, that what He was doing proved that-- God's laws and mankind's obeying them-- was POSSIBLE.  For NOT sinning is NOT breaking the laws of God. When Jesus lived a life of perfection, never consenting to breaking a single commandment of His Father's, commandments they had agreed upon as one in their creation, He proved the righteousness of God and God's laws.

Is it any wonder Christ's mind must be in us for us to live?!

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

What mind was in Christ Jesus?

A mind that NEVER consented to sin, but trusted in His Father for all things!!!!!!!

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Joh 6:38  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Jesus consented to the FATHER and the FATHER only, and this alone gave Him victory over every flesh tendency to sin. He NEVER consented with His mind to sin, not a single time though He felt the pull of the flesh temptations even more so than we ever will, He literally, truly knows the strength of every temptation we face.  You might say there's no way He could, but He does, He does.  Our temptations might come in different forms but the force of them throughout all ages has never altered.

Jesus proved that through perfect obedience to God's will, a will that is perfectly JUST,  it is possible NOT to sin. MANKIND chooses to sin by keeping themselves from God.

We consent with our minds to sin because we choose NOT to rely upon GOD.

Eve first sinned by choosing to no longer rely upon God's word, His command.  Otherwise where did she sin? The act of sin was and is choosing not to rely upon God's love, but believing rather that somehow, someway we can live separate from our CREATOR to our own good. 

We didn't and don't understand that it is ONLY by remaining connected to our CREATOR that we can be the CREATURES He intended for us to be in HIM.  We were not created to be separate from God, but we were created in His image to be part of Him. God truly is LOVE and when we abandon God we abandon true love and substitute something else for it, a self serving love, believing we can somehow bring about a life that serves us at our pleasure, our goodness, our love.

How many of us STOP loving when we are abused? We reserve our love for only that which serves us selfishly.  You holler we should never be abused.  True, that is how it was intended to be, no abuse ever. But the ability to abuse and hurt others came about when man turned away from God's selfless love, to serve themselves. 

So when we choose to despise others we are choosing to serve ourselves, whether we want to believe this or not, it is true. Even when we cry out our despising is justified, we are serving ourselves.   The truth is we absolutely must HATE SIN, but at the same moment, absolutely LOVE the sinner, because the sinner truly is a VICTIM of sin- even if a willing victim, they are a victim of sin and were NEVER intended to be so by God, never! And we must LOVE all of those who are GOD'S which are ALL, because we have NO RIGHT to judge who belongs to God and who does not. We can NEVER put ourselves in God's place, never! 

Jesus came and revealed we are to love all, and this is why.  From the greatest of sinners to the least of them, He came and died for, offering to stand in their place, to forgive them, to give them of Himself all they need to be once more united with God. 

Being right with God is NOT having a life of ease, but rather an understanding that HE knows better in all things and we trust Him in all things no matter how awful, no matter how horrific.  As sin and it's evil results rage all around us on every side, abusing us in all the ways it possibly can, we can KNOW that the evil has an end in CHRIST'S VICTORY! Suffer it all to be so now, but there is an end in CHRIST'S LOVE.  He never consented to sin with His mind and He won the VICTORY for US! THROUGH HIM ALONE WE LIVE, WE LOVE!  We ask for forgiveness for all, praying they seek God, that they seek forgiveness in CHRIST and cling to HIM, seeking HIM to LIVE IN THEM, for HIM to LIVE IN US, that through HIM we live, we love! 

All by HIS GRACE!

Christ says- "Pray ye..." Cost of Discipleship Pt 114

Section III  The Messengers

Chapter 21 -  The Harvest

Mat 9:35  And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Mat 9:36  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Bonhoeffer -  'The Good Shepherd protects his sheep against the wolf, and instead of fleeing he gives his life for the sheep. He knows them all by name and loves them. He knows their distress and their weakness. He heals the wounded, gives drink to the thirsty, sets upright the falling, and leads them gently, not sternly, to pasture. He leads them on the right way. He seeks the one lost sheep, and brings it back to the fold. But the bad shepherds lord it over the flock by force, forgetting their charges and pursuing their own interests. Jesus is looking for good shepherds, and there are none to be found.

The prospect grips his heart, and his divine pity goes out to this erring flock, these multitudes who surge around him. From the human point of view everything looks hopeless, but Jesus sees things with different eyes. Instead of the people maltreated, wretched and poor, he sees the ripe harvest field of God. "The harvest is great." It is ripe enough to be gathered into the barns. The hour has come for these poor and wretched folk to be fetched home to the kingdom of God. Jesus beholds the promise of God descending on the multitudes where the scribes and zealots saw only a field trampled down, burnt and ravaged. Jesus sees the fields waving with corn and ripe for the kingdom of God. The harvest is great, but only Jesus in his mercy can see it.'

'No man dare presume to come forward and offer himself on his own initiative, not even the disciples themselves. Their duty is to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers at the right moment, for the time is ripe.'

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My thoughts-

'Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that HE will send forth laborers into his harvest.'

'The harvest truly is plenteous.'

We must PRAY!

We must pray and asked the LORD over all the harvest, over the entire harvest, over all those that would be HIS; that He, the LORD, will SEND laborers into HIS harvest.

Bonhoeffer mentions that NO MAN dares to presume to be the laborer sent, yet we know God WILL send laborers. Our focus however cannot and should not be on whether we are sent. We can't do that, we get all caught up in 'who is the greatest'.  Maybe not in the exact same sense that the disciples had, but it's the same principle. When we focus on our standing, our place among God's chosen we are focusing on the WRONG thing! When we focus on whether or not we are among the laborers that God will send to work among His chosen, we are NOT focusing on God, or the harvest, but just ourselves.

We have to keep our minds OFF ourselves, to the point of DENYING ourselves.

Mat_16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

DENY HIMSELF.  NOT focus on himself.  But rather come after CHRIST. Picking up OUR cross, something we can only truly do when we deny ourselves, and THEN we can follow CHRIST.

It is our duty to PRAY. 

There is constant reference to our praying.  We must pray and Jesus tells us here a 'particular' thing to pray for.   Pray that He, the LORD, will send forth laborers into the Lord's harvest.  Pray that HE sends, not pray that we put ourselves out in the harvest.

Do you imagine the harvest is as plentiful today as it was two thousand years ago, or rather in the time of Jesus life upon earth prior to the cross?

Some might argue that there is no harvest to speak of, but ONLY CHRIST knows what His harvest consists of now in our day and age. If there is ONE bit of His harvest yet to be in need of a laborer, then HE will provide that laborer.  He is the Shepherd that does indeed go after a single sheep gone astray.

All by HIS GRACE, through HIS LOVE! May we pray, may we be HIS!