Matthew 9:38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”

Send us O Lord.   We are a complacent  people, giving in to our comfort and self.  We are filled with excuses and justification of why we can’t  obey Your Word when You say “Go!”    Show us Lord the way…direct our paths for Your glory…drive us out of the four walls of the Church into Your Church – the world.   Give us Your passion for the lost…Your fire for the perishing.      Send us O Lord.

Mark 10:17 ” As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. ‘Good Teacher,’ he asked, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ “

“What must I do?”   The short answer to the question  is that you can’t  do anything.  No amount of good works will get you any closer to the promised land  and the peace you seek.  The only thing you can do is to say Yes to Jesus,  turn from your sinful life, and  come into agreement with Him that you can’t run your miserable  life anymore.

Psalm 44: 6-7 ” I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but You give us victory over our enemies, You put our adversaries to shame.”

We can’t put our trust in others.  Our security can’t be found in our  shrewdness or the most noblest of acts.  For the confident expectation we seek can only be found in God.   Zechariah 4:6 states, ” Not by might nor power, but by My spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”  Our victory can only be in and by the Lord.

Romans 10:9 ” That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Do you admit that you’ve been living a life far from God?  Do you accept the fact that you’ve made a mess of your life so far? Do you acknowledge that Jesus came into this fallen world to save your soul from eternal damnation and hell?  Do you recognize that saying yes to Jesus and turning from your old life isn’t the end but just the beginning of a brand new life…a life filled with peace rather than strife, and love where there was loneliness and fear.  Do you agree that you need a Savior today?

Romans 5:8 ” But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God’s love for you was being manifested even while you were far from Him…His care and kindness were being revealed, even while you used  His name in vain and scorned His very existence.  Yes, over the course of your life God has continued to make it very clear that He loves you…to the point,  that if you were the only person on earth – Jesus would have died to save your soul.

Hebrews 10: 37-38 ” For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

In these scriptures, Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:3-4 to help explain that justification is by faith alone, not by works.  No amount of good deeds and clean living will make me right before God…for it’s only by trust and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, that I’m saved.

Mark 6:7 ” Calling the Twelve to Him, He sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.”

Why did Jesus send the Disciples out in twos?  It goes back to Deuteronomy 17:6, “On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.”   By sending them out in pairs, there was built-in   accountability, safety,  and responsibility for them.  With them both witnessing the same thing…they could then validate and verify the miracles, signs, and wonders they saw.

I Corinthians 16: 13-14 ” Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”

As a Christian, are you a leader or a follower?   If your group of friends are doing something that you don’t agree with, do you stand up for your faith, or do you just remain quiet and compromise?  This scripture tells us to be cautious on how we conduct ourselves and lead our lives.  In any questionable situation we should be asking ourselves…would Jesus do this?

Job 7:11 ” Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

Only the Lord may know the personal suffering and grief you’re going through today.  And it’s perfectly OK to be completely honest with God and tell Him how you feel…even to the point of yelling at Him.  For the Lord has very broad shoulders and will never take offense…for only He can truly understand.

Matthew 9: 6-7 ” Then He said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.’ And the man got up and went home.”

A group of friends brought a paralyzed man to the Lord and Jesus  gave him a three-stage command.  “Stand up on your once useless legs,  pick up and carry the mat you were brought here on, and go home and witness.   Jesus was asking the paralytic to do something he couldn’t do before …”Stand to your feet.”  Jesus then commanded him to pick up his only means of transportation and carry what had carried him in the past.  And finally, He said, ” Go home and testify of your  healing to everyone that  has only known you as a paralytic…and take the mat as a remembrance. “