Matthew 10:16-39: Persecutions Predicted

I'm studying with the Spiritual Growth Guide (S.G.G) this week from church. We're going through the book of Acts. Acts has become a favorite of mine! One of the passages for yesterday and today is Matthew 10:16-39. Definitely very timely. May we be ready and be found faithful to Him when we are persecuted for following Jesus. Jesus did promise that we will be persecuted and hated by even those that we love the most. He also tells us in this same passage to not be afraid of those that kill can the body, but can't kill the soul. Finally, He tells us to not be afraid because His eye is on the sparrow; sparrows cost very little and we are worth more than a whole bunch of them. 

Matthew 10:26-39

Comparison/Covetousness: the Quickest Road to Unhappiness

1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions^a are at war within you?^b 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people!^c Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

{James 4:1-9}

The quickest road to unhappiness is comparison. We should always be thankful for what God has blessed us with. God is the gift giver and supplies our needs--not us.{See Philippians 4:19} God knows what we need even before we ask Him. We ask, but do not receive because we ask wrongly to spend it on our own passions. "You adulterous people!" exclaims James in the Bible. God's spirit yearns jealously.

He chooses to bless us. Not us. We don't provide for ourselves. He does. 

Covetousness is sin. It's wanting what someone else has and it's pretty much telling God that I know what I need and He doesn't. That's pride, folks. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 

The good news is that God is always willing to forgive us of covetousness or pride when we confess our sins to Him (See 1 John 1:9)--when we agree that we don't know what we need and He does. With that there is freedom and joy and even happiness because you're realizing what you truly have. 

In essence, we're saying bless me with something else. 

Comparison is also jealousy. Not being thankful for what you have. I think comparison, covetousness, and jealousy all go hand in hand.

17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

{Exodus 20:17}

It's our job to be thankful for what we do have--not coveting what someone else has!

Thank you, Lord for revealing this to me! 

No more Fear. . .My God is with me

9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD  your God is with you wherever you go. {Joshua 1:9}

God has set me free from all my fears and He is more than able to do the same for you! As believers, God hasn't given us a Spirit of fear (see 2 Timothy 1:7). Being fearful isn't of God because God's perfect love drives out all fear since fear has to do with punishment. When a person is fearful, they don't really know the depths of God's love for them (see I John 4:19). They aren't believing that God is going to supply their needs like Philippians 4:19 says. When we are afraid, we are saying that we don't trust the Lord and that's sin. To be set free from all fear, we need to repent (agreeing with God about our sin) and confess it as sin to God (see 1 John 1:9) and then we have to depend on and put our trust in God. In essence, when we're afraid we are trying to be in control when we aren't and can't be. God is the only One who is in control. He is sovereign and He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (see Romans 8:28). When you are afraid, be honest with God about your fears and tell Him that you trust Him to take care of you (see Psalm 56:3 and 1 Peter 5:7). In Psalm 34:4, the psalmist David sought the Lord and He heard him and He delivered him from all his fears. And just like David and just like me, God wants to do the same for you today. 

The Gospel Changes Everything

1Now I would remind you, brothers,^a of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. {I Corinthians 15:1-4} 

Because of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, I have been freed from the bondage and chains of fear, worry, anxiety, and doubt. I'm so thankful for the truth of God's Word that has set me free! 

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[b] to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." {John 8:34-36}

Isolation Prevention 101

{Ecclesiastes 4}

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

I think it's bizarre how people often choose to isolate themselves from people when they are going through a hard time. According to the above verses in Ecclesiastes, this should not occur for a believer. Believers clearly need each other. I catch myself doing this exact thing, though. It's normal to want to be alone after a stressful day, but we weren't mean to live as hermits. Personally, I need to work on serving and thinking about others more than myself. Often, I'm not aware of the things people are going through around me, I've become so self-focused. The universe is not about me. God didn't create me for me to spend my days self-consumed.

"Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for being so preoccupied with my worries that I don't think about You, first and then others. Thank you for being so patient with me. Use the next two months of summer off from work to grow in You and to serve others. I love you, Lord. In Your name and for Your glory."