Thoughts From the Bible

Luke 10: 17- 20- ( 17) The n the seventy returned with joy saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” (18) And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (19) Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and n othing shall by any means hurt you. (20) Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”   The seventy missionaries were so excited to tell Jesus about what all had happened on their missions for Him. Jesus was excited too, but Jesus again sho wed them what was individually important. Seeing Satan defeated is important but our individual souls are most important and being seen as a child of God is the most important thing we should never lose focus on.    Proverbs 14 :3 - In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preser ve them.  

Read Luke 10: 3- 16-   Jesus is giving instructions to the seventy missionaries He selected. He is giving them ground rules on how to respond to the cities and homes they will find themselves. Jesus then speaks of judgment to those who do not positively receive the missionaries . As Jesus ends His instructions, we see him give us all a lesson on how He sees people who receive His message. In verse 16 Jesus says, “(16) He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”   Many people do not understand the consequences of rejecting Jesus Christ. They simply do not believe the message of Jesus Christ is important. We see in this passa ge how Jesus sees those who go in His name on His mission. It is so important and we need to be ready to convey the importance of believing in Jesus Christ.    Proverbs 14: 2 - He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises Him .  

Read Luke 9:1- 11-   “(1) The n He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases . (2) He sent them to preach the king of God and to heal the sick.”   Jesus disciples became the first Christian missionaries. Jesus wanted the disciples to become accustomed to speaking to people and learning to work on His behalf. Jesus knew there would be a time when the disciples would be challenged, and this was part of their preparation.  The lesson I need to take away from this story is to stay prepared to work to convey His principles wherever and whenever necessary. We do not know when the challenges will arise, but we do need to continue to prepare ourselves and study to not only show ourselves to be approved but to continually study to respond to how our society may approach us when we profess our faith and be lief i n Jesus Christ.      Proverbs 13:9- The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp...

Read Matthew 9: 35-38 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."" Matthew 9: 37-38 We are living in a time when there are more Christian missionaries in the world than ever before. Many denominations and other Christian organizations are supporting missionaries in places some never considered. That is something Jesus directed us to consistently pray about. We have obligations to support those in full time service to God and that includes prayer for these people. I need to be more diligent in knowing this should be always on my prayer list and to pray for yet more people to see this as a call on their lives.