Day 26: February 22

SCRIPTURE READING: MATTHEW 10:26-42

SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHTS:
10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  
10:31 “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
10:38-39 “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
10:40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”
 
OBSERVATIONS:
The key theme of this passage is the costs and benefits of being a follower of Jesus. In the first eight sentences Jesus says, ”fear not” three times and “do fear” one time.

They are not to fear those who will persecute them because of their allegiance to Jesus.

They are not to fear the possibility they may be killed because of their allegiance to Jesus.
Instead, the one they should fear is God who has the power to punish them eternally in hell.
However, as followers of Jesus they do not need to fear because they are not in danger of God’s judgment. Instead, God will preserve them regardless of how others treat them. 
 
In choosing to follow Jesus there is a cost. We will lose certain benefits that the world has to offer. However, the benefits we will gain by giving up all for Christ are far superior.
 
Acceptance of Jesus is acceptance of God the Father. Acceptance of Jesus’ followers is acceptance of Him. This is a principle repeated often in the NT. 
 
APPLICATION: 
How foolish it is to desire the approval of men and fear their judgment rather than to desire the approval of God and fear his judgment. The devil wants to deceive us to believe the crazy notion that we have more to lose than we have to gain by following Jesus but the truth is we lose everything and gain nothing of eternal value if we don’t follow Jesus!
 
Ultimate security and ultimate blessings are mine so long as I am in Christ. I have nothing to fear and nothing to lose. Being “in Christ” places me squarely in the Father’s hand!
 
I cannot claim to love God the Father if I don’t love Jesus. I can’t claim to love Jesus if I don’t love his other followers. They are part of the “Body of Christ”. 
 
PRAYER: 
Dear Lord, Thank you for reminding me that I am in your hand. You control my destiny, both my earthly and eternal destiny. Help me to recognize that whatever costs I must incur by following you are worth it and that obedience to you will ultimately be for my gain, for the gain of others, and most importantly for your glory. Thank you for reminding me how important it is that I treat your people with love. To love Christ is to love the body of Christ.

Randy Eliason

No Comments


Recent

Archive

 2025
 March
Reading Plan : The Gospel of John Reading Plan1. John 1:1-18-Jesus, the Word Made Flesh(The Incarnation)2. John 1:19-28 - John the Baptist: The Forerunner of Christ3. John 1:29-34 Jesus, the Lamb of God Who Takes Away Sin4. John 1:35-51 Jesus Calls His First Disciples5. John 2:1-12 Jesus Turns Water into Wine6. John 2:13-25 Jesus, the True Temple of God7. John 3:1-21 Jesus, the Giver of Eternal Life8. John 3:22-36 Believe in Jesus, Receive Eternal Life9. John 4:1-19 Jesus, the Giver of Living Water10. John 4:20-26 Jesus Teaches True Worship11. John 4:27-42 Jesus Calls Workers for the Harvest of Souls12. John 4:43-54 Jesus Heals an Official’s Son13. John 5:1-18 Jesus Heals at the Pool of Bethesda14. John 5:19-29 Jesus, the Son Who Shares the Father’s Authority15. John 5:30-47 Jesus, The Fulfillment of Scripture16. John 6:1-21 Jesus, the Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15)17. John 6:22-59 Jesus, the Bread of Life (Exodus 16:4, 14-15)18. John 6:41-71 Jesus, the Source of Eternal Life19. John 7:1-24 Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles20. John 7:25-52 Jesus, the Messiah rejected by the World21. John 8:1-30 Jesus, the Light of the World22. John 8:31-59 Jesus Declares Freedom23. John 9:1-23 Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind24. John 9:24-41 Jesus, the just judge of the world25. John 10:1-21 Jesus, the Good Shepherd and the Door26. John 10:22-42 Jesus, One with the Father27. John 11:1-27 Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life28. John 11:28-44 Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead29. John 11:45-57 The Plot to Kill Jesus30. John 12:1-19 Jesus's Triumphal Entry

Categories

Tags

Adultery Anger Apostles Attitudes Authority of Jesus Beatitudes Being a blessing Belief Blessings Blessing Body of Chirst Bridegroom Caesar Call Commitment Compassion Consequences Control Covenant Crucifixion Daniel Death of Jesus Delegated Authority Discernment Disciples Discouragement Divorce Doubt Drawing closer to God Elijah End Times Equality Eternal Life Failure Fairness Faith in Action Faithfulness Faith False Prophets Family of God Fear Forgiveness of Sins Freedom Fruitfulness Genuine Faith God is in control Golden Rule Govenment Grace Great Commission Greatness Healing Helping others Herod Holy Spirit Hope Humility Hyperbole Hypocrisy Incarnation Injustice Innocence of Jesus Introduction to SOAP Jesus the Messiah John the Baptist Jonah Judas Judging Others Judgment of God King Herod Kingdom citizens Kingdom of Heaven Law of Moses Learn Live Share Listening Love Loving others Marriage Mercy Mess Misguided Faith Moses OT Prophecy Obedience Our Legacy Parable Passover Persecution Persistence Peter Pharisees and Sadducees Prayer Priorities Promises of God Questions Reconciliation Redemption Repentance Responsibilities Righteousness Royal Priesthood Sabbath Sacrifice Salt and Light Salvation Second Coming Seeds Servants Service Sign from Heaven Sinners Son of David Son of Man Spiritual warfare Stewardship Storms in life Suffering Servant Suffering Surrender Temptation Testing God The Church Tradition Transfiguration Treasure Tribulation Triumphal Entry True Life Trust Truth Two paths in life Valuing People Wealth Witness Word of God Worry