86th Week, Matthew Chapters 10-12 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

 

Click on Title for Video Intro

Monday, Matthew Chapter 10

Matthew 10

Mindy Strayer

THOUGHT

In Chapter 10 Jesus is speaking to His disciples.  First He calls them to serve Him in specific ways.  Then He gives them authority over evil.  He tells them to spread the Gospel to the lost.  He warns them to expect persecution because of their belief in Him. He tells them not to be afraid of the opposition.  He tells them how important they are to Him.  He tells them that His message will not be a peaceful one to all.  He tells them that everything in their life that to them is important must be made least important next to life in Christ.  He tells them that they will be rewarded for their acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord and for their service to Him.

Guess what.  Are we not Disciples of Christ Jesus also?  This chapter 10 can be read as if Jesus were physically sitting or standing in front of us and speaking this to us. In fact, this is Jesus speaking to us today, as the Word of God speaks to us still today.

Did anyone notice that in verse 38 Jesus says, “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me?”  He spoke of the cross; the object on which He would be made to take up and carry, be nailed to, hung on, and die.  The cross, a message taught by Jesus BEFORE He was crucified. I have never read this statement by Jesus in this particular way before, and I found it to be fascinating.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, thank You for Your love. We desire to be Your faithful disciples. Thank You, Lord, for calling each one of us to serve You in specific ways. Holy Spirit, I pray that You guide each Salt Shaker this weekend to be salt and light in the way in which You have called them.  Fill their spirits with the love and joy of the Lord that they may spread Jesus to whomever You have placed in their path.  Help us, Lord, to not worry about the world’s opposition but to be bold for the sake of the Gospel and those who need its saving power. We love You, Lord Jesus. AMEN

Tuesday, Matthew Chapter 11

Matthew 11

Verses 1-6

Heather Williams

Verses 1—6

THOUGHT

I found this part interesting because I don’t remember this. I don’t remember John the Baptist doubting that Jesus was the Messiah. I find it a bit comforting that even a strong faithful man of God whose life was dedicated to preaching about the coming Messiah had doubts, even after meeting Him. I definitely don’t blame him. He was in a rough situation. 

It’s also interesting because my Bible study was on doubt last week. We had some interesting discussions on this topic. One of the main points, was that doubt is an alternative belief. If you doubt something, then you must believe something else - Interesting.  Anyway, I think the main point to drive home here is that it’s human and natural to doubt. Unfortunately, the devil wants us to doubt.  He tries to put those doubts in our mind and strengthen them in us. Not good.  When we doubt, we need to turn to Jesus, like John the Baptist did, and not away.  We need to dive in and really find out the truth instead of shying away.  As it says, the Truth (Jesus) shall set you free.

  

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, we come before You as humans. We acknowledge that at times we may doubt our beliefs or our purpose or Your will.  Lord, show us the truth. I pray that each of us would come to You with our doubts or fears that we have and dive into finding out the truth which can be found in You. Embrace us even in the midst of our doubts.  AMEN

Wednesday, Matthew Chapter 12A (Verses 1-21)

Matthew 12A

Verse 7

Heather Williams 

Verse 7:  “if you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”

THOUGHT

Here we see the Pharisees trying to catch Jesus breaking the law again.  If they had only expended all that energy into listening to what Jesus had to say instead of trying to trap Him, they could have had very different lives. 

My Bible said that the Pharisees had 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath.  Harvesting was one, which is their ‘Uh huh’ moment with Jesus and the disciples at the start of this chapter.  However, the disciples and Jesus were picking grain because they were hungry not to make a profit. However, the Pharisees couldn’t see past the technicalities.  Then we see Jesus heal a man’s hand.  Again, you weren’t supposed to help someone on the Sabbath unless it was a life or death threat.  Can you imagine that? The law was placed above human need.  They were so focused on the rules again that they didn’t even care about a man’s shriveled hand.

I just think about how many times, I’ve gotten caught up in the technicalities and not been able to see the big picture. We need to be focused on people and their human need before looking at the rules.  This isn’t a very spiritual example.  However, I watch the show Grey’s Anatomy, and this week one of the doctors was just supposed to be observing instead of interacting with the patients. Well, the other doctor missed the whole issue, and this doctor spoke up to the patient and uncovered what was really going on by talking to her.  She broke the rule, but this person’s life was saved because of it. Sometimes we may need to break the rules. (See you can get some good lessons out of T.V.)

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, we see by Your example how in tune with people You were. You saw needs and met them despite what the world was telling You to do.  Lord, help us to be You on earth now. I pray that each of us would see past the rules and into the deep human need.  Don’t let us be afraid to help someone even if it may break a rule or two.  Lord, help us to be aware and concerned about our fellow man. AMEN

Thursday, Matthew 12B (Verses 22-50)

Matthew 12B

Verse 30

Heather Williams

Verse 30:  “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

THOUGHT

This verse struck me as it’s a reminder to us that we must choose.  You can’t be neutral when it comes to Christ.  We either believe and follow or we reject Him.  Like we hear later, being lukewarm is the worst thing to be.  This also means more than just verbally accepting Christ.  We need to be actively following Him.  If we’re not, then we are in turn rejecting Him.

PRAYER

Lord, we pray that we would be active followers of You.  We acknowledge that You are the true Christ, and we want to follow You.  Let our actions reflect what we know in our minds and feel in our hearts.  AMEN

Friday, Study a Disciple

The list of the disciples that Jesus chose are found in Matthew 10:2-4.  Please choose one or more and do some reading about them.