Daily Gospel Devotional: April 28

Matthew 10:1-16 / Mark 6:7-13 / Luke 9:1-6…

I send you…

Now Jesus applies what He had said to them; they were going to be the answer to their own prayers He asked them to pray about sending laborers into the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). He is applying this to you as well. You are to pray for laborers to be sent for the harvest, and be about laboring in the harvest too.

So now these disciples who have seen Jesus do all these wonderful things, but who have also seen Jesus be rejected, they are gathered by Him, empowered by Him, and sent out. They probably reasoned within themselves that they would not be able to do what He had called them to do. But if Jesus has the power, and is the power, then He has the power to give the power.

You know yourself and your failures, flaws, fears, and frustrations, all too well. You know who Jesus is, too. You protest, saying, “I haven’t been given the powers they have”. Haven’t you? It is no real surprise that Jesus calls on you to do something extraordinary, although you wonder why He would choose you to do it. But you’re no different than the original disciples. Jesus has always been the master at turning weaknesses into strengths and making useless people useful.

It isn’t that Jesus is giving us all the power to physically raise the dead, but to be involved in raising the spiritually dead. He has given us the power to raise ourselves from out of the worldly dead and into the godly people we ought to be, to die to self (Mark 8:35 / John 12:26 / 1 Peter 4:1-12) and become people who can live for Christ (Philippians 1:21 / Galatians 2:20), win others to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:19-27 / James 5:19-20 / Proverbs 11:30 / Luke 5:10), and edify our brothers and sisters in Christ (Ephesians 5:18-21 / Romans 15:1-6).

That takes as much supernatural, Holy Spirit power as anything any other disciple has ever done.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©