5-30-22 Rules of Engagement

This week’s reading: Matthew 10:1-42

Hi Friends, 

     Recall how we ended last week’s reading with Jesus encouraging His listeners, and us, to pray for workers to be sent out into the fields to harvest more souls for Christ? Well this week, we hear Jesus sending out His 12 Apostles and giving them the rules of engagement. He gives them specific instructions which still hold true for us today. The reading will be the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10, yes the whole chapter from verse 1 all the way through to verse 42. I am only going to touch briefly on seven topics we can glean from this reading, but may I suggest that you, please, take your time with these verses all week. Today, you may want to read the whole thing through, just to get an idea of what Jesus is saying, but again, please use the rest of the week to break it down into the areas I list below, and meditate on one each day for the rest of the week, so as to absorb as much of this goodness as possible. Here are two very familiar verses from this first official dispatch of workers:

“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Mt 10:38-39 NIV  

7 topics for the week:

1- The start of the Gospel. Mt 10:1-6

2- The worth of the Gospel. Mt 10:7-10

3- The welcoming of the Gospel. Mt 10:11-16

4- The persecution of the Gospel. Mt 10:17-25

5- The fear of the Gospel. Mt 10:27-36

6- The Love of the Gospel. Mt 10:37-39

7- The rewards of the Gospel. Mt 10:40-42

     Mt 10:1-6 The start of the Gospel. Jesus tells His Apostles to go to the lost sheep of Israel first, and this simply makes sense. Let’s say I wanted to start a shoe company. I would begin with people who know how to make shoes first, right? Then, once I have a nice group of experts formed, and the company is starting to get some traction, those already working for me can bring in others, who are not so experienced at shoe making, and teach them the trade. Once they are more experienced, they can bring others, who can bring others and so on it goes, until my shoe company is all over the world! Sounds like a logical and efficient way to expand my influence to the four corners of the planet, right? Well, it’s the same concept here. First, Jesus sends His followers to those who should be very familiar with God and His Word, the Jews. Once this gets some traction, then they will go out to the Gentiles and every corner of the globe…we are still in this phase, my Friends. Thus the need for workers. Again, you can either go yourself, if Jesus is sending you, or you can send those He has already called, like perhaps me. How can you do this? You can pray about sharing your time, talents and treasures with my ministry. Your time in reading and sharing my articles, videos, books and so on is the number one way to help me spread the news. But if you have any particular talents, especially in the area of marketing and social media, man do I need help in these areas.  Sharing your treasures can be as simple as buying a bunch of my books and giving them out to whoever God places on your heart. The point is, the Gospel has already started spreading, but especially in this current climate, it needs to be spread further and wider than ever before. God will send some, but God will also provide for all of us to send them. Question is will we join in this mission?

     Mt 10:7-10 The worth of the Gospel. The Apostles are challenged to not take any provisions along with them as they go out on this mission to spread the news. And why? Because the worker is worth his keep! If we truly believe the Good News is worthy of our time, talents and treasures, then we should be providing for mission workers, both domestic and international, to do the work they are doing so they don’t have to worry about how to pay for it all. Take it from me, it splits your focus when you are concerned about paying your ministry bills, while you are trying to do all you can to be open and available to spread the news! Again, if we do not go, we should support those who do go…but will we, if we do not truly believe the Gospel is worth it? It breaks my heart when people who claim to be Christians hold tight to their wallets when asked to share of their blessings with those of us who’s life calling is to help others know Jesus and be saved forevermore. There is NO issue more important to God than Salvation, and if we are truly born again, then there should be no topic more important to us either. Time to check our hearts, my Friends, because if we are not sold out for Christ and His Gospel, are we welcoming Jesus into our lives or is it just lip service?

     Mt 10:11-16 The welcoming of the Gospel. In this reading we hear how Jesus tells His Apostles to shake off the dust from your feet when you leave a home or town that refuses to give the Gospel any worth. These people believe that their tiny, temporary lives are much more important and valuable than this Christ that is being proclaimed. So often we do the same thing, we forsake the eternal for this world that is passing away. We focus our attention on politics. We spend precious time arguing about whether to wear masks and take vaccines or not. We use our finances to support companies that are completely anti-Christian. But then we go to church on Sunday and pat ourselves on the back at how much we welcome the Gospel! Would Jesus shake the dust off His precious sandals if He spent a day in our households? I am sad to say, He would probably think twice about my own home, and I am all about spreading the news! I am just saying, let’s not fall into the false thought that we are being “good Christians” if we are not being more and more conscious about every choice we make. To welcome the Gospel means receiving all of God’s Word and working with the Holy Spirit to constantly become more and more mature in Christ, so we CAN welcome it more and more. This goes along with Sanctification, which also includes persecution. Are we willing to welcome the Gospel to that extent?

     Mt 10:17-25 The persecution of the Gospel. If they persecuted Jesus, then the world will persecute His followers too. So we need to ask ourselves, when was the last time I was persecuted for my belief in Jesus? There are so many people who claim to be Christians but, besides the normal annoyances of life, they never really sense any type of persecution. You see, the devil has deluded those to the point where they are not a threat to his kingdom of darkness, so there is no need to persecute them. I am no longer surprised when unbelievers say what they say about me…while I do not seek it, I take it as a compliment when I am called a fanatic. “Jesus freak” is not an insult to me! The hard thing comes when my own sisters in Christ say something. I recently ended a Bible study at my church and the flack I got, kind of hurt my heart. I was called selfish for obeying God’s guidance to close the class. I was told I was abandoning the attendees by moving on to whatever God is calling me towards. And I only had one or two ladies who actually encouraged me to follow after God, and these were women who had just begun coming to the class. Again, we expect opposition from the outside, but as Jesus says here, the real heartbreak is when brother will betray brother, to death! To death! Wow. And we are called to stand strong till the end, no matter what, knowing that God is with us and He is the only one we must give account to, not others. So are we willing to follow even when those around us try to instill fear into our hearts?

     Mt 10:27-36 The fear of the Gospel. We must ask ourselves, who should we be afraid of: man who can kill the body but then do nothing else? Or God Who can destroy both soul and body in hell! That’s Jesus speaking, not me, so take it up with Him if that offends you! If we do not live with a respectful fear of the Lord, then we have not truly begun to understand who this Almighty, All-powerful, All-knowing God of the Universe is. With just the mention of the Name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth…that’s hell, just in case you’re not sure! Every knee will bow, but whether out of humility or humiliation is another story all together! You see, there will still be some created creatures who will refuse to submit to the authority of Jesus as Lord. Does that reflect any of us? Oh how many times do I still think I am the lord over my thoughts, words and actions!?! Lord forgive me and help me! I think the more mature I get, whatever that means, the more healthy fear I have about how amazing my God is. It is so beautiful that Jesus does not stop with the warning of verse 28, but continues with these lovely words: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Do we see the love of the Father, the tenderness of the Son and the devotion of the Holy Spirit? As He has told me many times in the past, “Child, if you fear Me, there is nothing else to fear.” No need to fear men when we receive the love of God more and more. But do we love Him more than everything and everyone?

     Mt 10:37-39 The Love of the Gospel. Jesus is in NO way telling us not to love others. That would be ridiculous, especially given that 1- He IS Love and 2- the greatest commandments are all about loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. What He is saying is that first things must come first. We must love Him MORE than anyone else. I first understood this clearly when I was trying to love my daughter, but quite frankly, I lacked the strength to do so. You see, we cannot give away what we do not have for ourselves first. So I wanted to love Beckie, but my own resources could only get me so far. I had to turn to God and fill myself with His love first, then I could turn and give it to her, and whoever else God put in my path. If we love God first and foremost, then we will be able to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. If we try to put anyone ahead of Jesus, we are not worthy of Him. As one of the commentaries I read on Mt 10:37 states: “that no man is worthy of Christ, that is, worthy to bear His name, or be accounted a true Christian….” (Benson Commentary) If we truly belong to Christ, then Jesus is of first importance in our lives, and it is through Him that we view every other relationship we have, as well as every thought, word and deed we indulge. The love of God colors every single part of who we are, as we are transformed into the likeness of our Savior. This is only what is right for followers to do, and yet look at how generous is our God! 

     Mt 10:40-42 The rewards of the Gospel. Let me back up one verse: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” If we try to continue living our lives for ourselves, our way, according to our thoughts and desires, then we will not have the Abundant Life Jesus died to give us. First if we surrendered our life to Jesus, it is not our life anymore. As a matter of fact, it never was. Whether you surrendered or not, Jesus died to purchase your life back from death, back from Satan, back from hell. Jesus holds the ransom for your life. Now you can choose to agree with this or not, but either way, you do not belong to yourself anymore. But here’s the lavishly generous heart of God, if we have surrendered to Him as Lord, not only do we GET to go to Heaven when our time here is done, but we can increasingly sense this Abundant Life here, on our way to Heaven! Jesus puts it this way in Luke 18:29-30: “‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus said to them, ‘no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’” (NIV) Life and blessings here, and then forevermore! And the more we start spreading the Gospel… because we have begun to understand the worth of the Gospel…because we are welcoming the Gospel in our lives more and more…not fearing the persecution that comes with the Gospel…learning to respect God more than man because of the Gospel…and receiving His Love first, so we can give it to others more and more, because of the Gospel…well, as we choose to live this type of life, ours will automatically be more abundant! It is what we were created for so this life will be fulfilling, on our way to Paradise! That continues to be my experience. Want it too? 

Then won’t you join me?

     Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.

<>< Peace, Diane