Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Righteous and Almighty God, please forgive me when I have not told the lost about your love. Please help me past my discouragement when people won't heed your message of grace. Please forgive me most of all for forgetting that the Gospel is so necessary for salvation that to reject it is to reject hope. Please give me wisdom and passion to share that Gospel story boldly and with gentleness and respect. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Jesus gave these twelve apostles some orders. Then he sent them {to tell people about the kingdom}. Jesus said, "Don't go to the non-Jewish people. And don't go into any town where the Samaritans live. But go to the people of Israel (the Jews). They are like sheep that are lost. When you go, tell them this: 'The kingdom of heaven is coming soon.' Heal sick people. Give dead people life again. Heal those people that have leprosy. Force demons to leave people. I give you these powers freely. So help other people freely. Don't carry any money with you—gold or silver or copper. Don't carry a bag. Take for your trip only the clothes and shoes you are wearing. Don't take a walking stick. A worker should be given the things he needs. "When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in his home until you leave. When you enter that home say, 'Peace be with you.' If the people in that home welcome you, then they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished them. But if the people don't welcome you, then they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them. And if a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place. Shake their dust off your feet. I tell you the truth. On the judgment day it will be worse for that town than for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. So be smart like snakes. But also be like doves and do nothing wrong. Be careful of people. They will arrest you and take you to be judged. They will whip you in their synagogues. You will be taken to stand before governors and kings. People will do this to you because of me. You will tell about me to those kings and governors and to the non-Jewish people. When you are arrested, don't worry about what to say or how you should say it. At that time you will be given the things to say. It will not really be you speaking. The Spirit of your Father will be speaking throughyou. "Brothers will turn against their own brothers and give them to be killed. Fathers will turn against their own children and give them to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and will send their parents to be killed. All people will hate you because you follow me. But the person that continues strong until the end will be saved. When you are treated badly in one city, go to another city. I tell you the truth. You will not finish going to all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes again. "A student is not better than his teacher. A servant is not better than his master. A student should be satisfied to become like his teacher. A servant should be satisfied to become like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul (the devil), then the other members of the family will be called worse names!

Related Scripture Readings

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that every person that believes in him would not be lost, but have life forever. God sent his Son into the world. God did not send his Son to judge the world guilty. God sent his Son so that the world could be saved through his Son. The person that believes in God's Son is not judged (condemned). But the person that does not believe is already judged. Why? Because that person has not believed in God's only Son. People are judged by this fact: The Light (goodness) has come into the world. But people did not want light. They wanted darkness (sin). Why? Because they were doing evil things. Every person that does evil hates the light. That person will not come to the light. Why? Because then the light will show all the bad things he has done. But the person that follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that the things that person has done were done through God.

"I tell you the truth. If a person hears what I say and believes in the One (God) who sent me, that person has life forever. That person will not be judged guilty. He has already left death and has entered into life.