Matthew Chapter 10 Verses 11 – 15

• I love this. When you go to a city…seek out the nicest house with the best food and suitable living quarters…no! When you go to a city, ask around…who here is worthy…not who here is rich…who here is the best cook…who here has an extra bed…truly man I’d rather sleep on the floor of a house owned by someone sweet and humble and receiving and teachable then in the king size pillow top en-suite accommodations of someone proud and hard…holler!

• So find who the folks say is worthy…who has juice in that city…go to their house and bring with joy! Embrace the house! Tell them the truth of the gospel and if they receive you, go from evangelizing to fellowship and let peace reign. But if they don’t receive you, don’t lose your peace man. Remember, the battle is the Lords. Take it down a thousand and, here’s the thing, be ok with this word…depart. Your witness and message to them is the testimony, man, and get out of the way…God will handle them.

Matthew Chapter 10 Verse 16

• Now this is a cool thought. Typically, you see the wolves hunting the sheep but Jesus says, “Sheep, go after the wolves.” Do you see that? And what’s interesting is that He says here that He sends them but He’s not talking about now. After this conversation, they didn’t scatter and go off…why? It wasn’t time. They stay with Him all the way until the end and don’t actually deploy until they are armored. Like armored sheep! HA! What armor? The Holy Spirit Himself, equipping us with the armor of Ephesians Chapter 6 (truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the sword of the Spirit! – Love…we take love)….Jesus said in Acts Chapter 1 verse 8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth!”

• If Marvel got saved then the next movie would be Iron Sheep! Super sheep vs. Wolf Man! Captain Sheepica! HA! I’m so sorry…Ima sick puppy I know…(The Incredible Sheep!) HA! And so Jesus prepares them and says the world out there is prepared by the enemy as well…they’re going to be like wolves…run in packs, blood thirsty, meat eaters, smell like wet dog….HA! But be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Now in the ancient world a serpent was thought of as the most cunning of animals. Prey for many and predator of few they practically, as an animal, have to be elusive, avoiding opportunity to be eaten even using creativity and wisdom to survive.
• But this wisdom is not the same that we see all over the scriptures. That’s sophos. Which means to be a skilled expert, forming the best of plans. This word is phronimos. An entirely different word and it means more of a cunning, resourceful wisdom. A wisdom that is able to navigate a millisecond at a time. Jesus says you must be ready, cunning, fast, agile, flexible…thick skinned and soft hearted.
• How? Track the word. You find it again in Matthew 7:24 where Jesus says, “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man…” That is how we almost innately, second-naturely know exactly how to navigate the present predicament…we invest in, trust and hold to the Word of God. Jesus says, as you go…trust Me over even your own fears and senses and find yourselves cunning, defeating and putting down even the packs of wolves and yet preserving their precious souls in the mix!

Matthew Chapter 10 Verses 17 – 20

• I love this concept of trusting God not just in the moment but for the moment ahead. I have been living on this lately because I am just wired up to be anxious. I am always thinking forward and what will be and what will happen and fear sets in and anxiety grips my moment…but as of late, an answer to prayer that God so clearly gave to me…I’m NOT ready. And that is ok.
• Of course I’m not ready for tomorrow…I’m not there yet! But when tomorrow comes, and when the time for that thing that I’m thinking about comes…then…and then only will I be ready and so fret zero now…doesn’t make sense. Prepare and trust that when it is time…God will be with me. Man how that has brought peace to my soul.
• Jesus says to them here, preparing them, you will hit hard times and even circumstances that cause suffering and look hopeless…I will be with you then just as I am with you now…and notice how He hints at the coming abiding ministry of the indwelt God. God and man joined. The indwelling abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit!

Matthew Chapter 10 Verses 21 – 22

• The gospel of salvation is radical. The message of godliness and the name of Jesus are counter to the world and so Jesus says, prepare yourself. You’re not always going to receive a warm welcome and it may even come from family. In fact, because of the message you carry, especially to the Jews, you’re going to see families turn on each other…possibly even to the extreme. As you teach, endure. Don’t be reactive but rather be wise and be gentle. Something that my heart longs for…less reaction, more faith, more wisdom, more harmlessness.

• Jesus says, trust the truth, not your eyes. Endure to the end and you will see the whole of the matter. Remember who He is talking to. I’m not so sure this “saved” is salvation necessarily although one could go down that path. I believe Jesus is telling them to stay the course. Finish strong. And when you’ve reached the end, there will be nothing left unwhole…that word “saved” here, means “whole.”

Matthew Chapter 10 Verse 23

• So many trip over this verse because surely Jesus wasn’t talking about His return to earth and so what could He mean here? Well to me since I know He can’t be talking about His literal return, I look at this in context of His present position, where He is, who He’s talking to and what He’s already said and when I do that it becomes clear to me…He’s saying, “Leave that city, and leave them to Me.” They hate you and cast you out, surely while you are still on your way I will deal with that city. How? DKDC. Don’t know, don’t care. I’m on to the next city! HA!

Matthew Chapter 10 Verses 24 – 26

• Beelzebub is an interesting name. It’s a name used for the devil but it was also the name of a Philistine god worshiped at that time in what is known today as the Gaza Strip. Literally translated it means, “The Lord of the Flies.” What’s interesting is that if Jesus is being called Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, then what does that make the disciples? A bunch of flies. HA! Insects, pests…and that’s how the religious elite looked at them! As pests.

• Jesus says, don’t fret over their petty insults. Be a fly. What’s the big deal?! Listen we all wanna be somebody and be great and be powerful and be amazing in the eyes of others…a total product of the fall…a total ridiculous goal by the way because we are but a vapor and then gone off of this world and while we are here we are in the mix of billions…and humans are so petty and so tiny! HA! Just get in a plane, man!

• But know this…Jesus says to them, let the truth lead you! Let the Spirit of the Father guide you! Live for eternity! Make eternal life your life’s work and then every minute of every day…just living with Jesus, man…He makes you somebody because you are somebody to Him! Every moment of every day will one day be knowable and known by all as it is by the Father and then all will be great! All will be revealed as powerful. All will be acceptable and pleasing to God the Father and you and I…WE will be amazed…