"Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Matthew 10: 5-8
So after a LONG time looking through the bible, asking friends and family what they think and thinking and sleeping on it I have come to this post. I hope it's not just me; but I find writing a guest post is harder to write for than a post for your own blog.
Nothing really stuck out to me these past few days. SO after emailing and asking and THINKING and PRAYING and continuously going through the new testament I hope this is okay.
I woke up this morning thinking about our plan... What's our plan? What's our mission? What's our instructions? What are we suppose to do? So I spent a good hour looking through the bible. And I came across this perfect reading to fill my hunger for these questions.
Why wouldn't Jesus want us to go to the Samaritans and Gentiles? Because Jews and Samaritans had different believes, and they just didn't get along. And there could certainly be a death penalty to those Jews who go into Samaria and vice-versa.
We are told to Go into the lost parts of Israel. No, we are not suppose to go now, onto a plane and go to Israel. We are to go to the lost part of our own home towns and cities and preach the Good news there. And well of course unless we are the 12 apostles we can not drive out demons or raise the dead, but we can Pray.
4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirits power, 5 so that your Faith might not rest on mens wisdom, but on God's Power.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5
Now we can fully see, our mission. If we love God and love Jesus and ask them anything it will be given. ( taken from John) If we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he will have mercy on us and give us the Holy Spirit. When we have the Holy Spirit we can do anything... Maybe not raise the dead, but something among those lines that we can do.
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But What about those who Do not listen to us? Those who hate us, what do we do with them? What are we suppose to do?
12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
Matthew 10: 12-14
Back in the time of Jesus, dusting the sand off your feet at the door was a big insult. It was to show anger and disappointment. When ever you would go into someones house, the host or the person who lives there would bring a some water for you to wash your feet because most people didn't have shoes. It would have only been the rich that would have sandals on there feet.
So shaking the dust off your feet at the entrance would bring a "curse" to the place of dwelling. It was an insult to the people of the house. And it would then create a separation between those who are nice to who.
18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
John 15:18-20
We are hated by this world because it didn't accept Jesus. Jesus bore the message of God, and the world went against it. They crucified him. ( Luckily for us crucifying isn't as common so we probably won't be) The world did not want to accept us. But we still must continue the work of God.
Why should we continue the work of God? Because Jesus chose us from the world, to be HIS disciples. To be his followers. We did not choose him; He Chose US. And Jesus Loves you. And that loves is strong enough to put down the hate of the world.
No servant is greater than his master. So what happens with the master happens with the servant. Ever since the last supper we have not been called servants but friends. We are friends of Jesus. And We bring Joy to others through the works of Jesus through us. So for those who hated Jesus they will hate us because we bring the same message has Jesus.
So now that I/ we can understand this we can now fully know God plan for us and to know what he wants from us. We have our instructions, we have our plan and know it's time to wake up and make it happen... Everyday... not Just today and tomorrow but everyday of the week. :)
Many Blessing be with You all,
Mike
**You can find Mike at http://lifeofusandsaints.blogspot.com/
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