“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (Matthew 10:40).

Do we see Christ in another?  If Christ is in us and in all who believe, then when encountering another we receive one who is an image bearer.  This is not some mystic exposition, but a mystery of the Lord’s presence and our willingness to learn how to love our neighbor as ourselves.  The world is cold and harsh and we are called to be merciful, kind, and loving.  If, in Christ’s name you are received, then be welcomed.

Lord, this is not conditional, but reflects the reality of a world where people want all kinds of things, but do not know how to love.  Lord, You send me into a world that cares about itself and no one else.  It is the world I came from.  Help me to see the reality of these two worlds.  Help me to abide with Your Holy Spirit and humbly go as You send me, doing what You give me to do.

Lord Jesus, You went from town-to-town healing those in need.  You did not heal everyone, but those who believed were healed.  There are so many things I do not understand, but You have revealed to me the truth that I must humbly follow You always.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go.  Help me to not hold back because of circumstances, or even my thoughts, but to press on toward the goal of knowing even as I have always been known.  Amen.

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

You have been given the gift of life.  But, in a very real sense, although it is yours, it is not just yours.  You can make choices, but will those choices help or hinder your relationship with the Lord?  Will you turn to the One who made life, or will your life go down to the pit?  If you give up self-control of this life, you find life.  If you seek to control your life, you will lose it.  Who is God?  Are you your own god, or is the One who made you God?  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.

The struggle is in me Lord.  I want to be in charge.  Lead me out of the pit of this impossible idea so that I come into reality.  I cannot add one moment to my life.  You know the beginning from the end.  I can only come to You and walk with You, the One who made me.  Lead me away from myself as a god and toward You, the One True God.  Expand Your Spirit within me.

Jesus, you have told us that we must decrease so that You may increase.  You know the plans that have been made and You are guiding us by those plans.  Help me to be willing to die to self today so that I may humbly walk with You wherever You lead.  In Your goodness, may I not overly think about my life, but simply do what You give me to do.  Teach me how to be faithful.  Amen.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38).

The first commandment is very clear.  Our Lord is at the top.  The One through whom all things exist is the most important.  To get this priority wrong is to be at enmity with God.  In your family, it will be the same.  Yes, you love your family, but they, the created, are not more important than the Creator.  We all know parents who have ruined their sons by hovering over them.  God does not hover over us, but He is and must be first priority for us.

Lord, You are a God of order.  You are a God of balance.  You are a God of priorities.  Help me to see that this is an imperative but also, that it can be done with Your grace.  My family may not be first, but I can love them with all my heart.  I can and must learn to love You also with my whole heart, with the understanding that You are my first priority.  Lead me to know that in You, I have all the mercy and grace I need to work through these things.

Lord Jesus, some of the words You speak seem so hard.  You are teaching us how to live in eternity.  Help me today to have the right priorities.  You are first and I must follow You no matter the cost.  You give me the words of eternal life.  Help me to live by the priorities You set so that I may grow a little more in Your likeness each day.  May I take up the cross You give me today and follow You.  Amen.

“For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household” (Matthew 10:35-36).

What does He mean, “Set against?”  But then, why do we ask the question?  We are all born in rebellion, and there are those who will come into the grace of Jesus and walk with Him.  That immediately makes them opposed to those who continue in rebellion.  And we know this from the hostility we receive when we speak of Christ in public.  There are those who will walk with the Lord and those who will not.

Lord, I am sometimes torn in two between You and the world.  I understand this inside myself.  Help me to come to Your side fully so that You may eradicate the rebellion within me.  Take away from me the surprise I have when I am confronted by this reality.  You do not force others to come to You, and I cannot either.  This includes members of my own household.  My eyes need to be upon You.

Lord, there is rebellion within me and all around me.  You are teaching me to look to You in, through and for all things.  Guide me, Lord, so that I may be forever in Your presence.  Help me to love those around me, for I do not know whether they will come into Your presence with praise, but for a time need to continue as a prodigal.  I have enough to do with my own faith.  Lead me to live in that faith today.  Amen.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).

For the earth, there will be no peace until the end of the age.  We are to be bearers of the peace that surpasses all understanding.  The wicked will continue to hate and reject peace.  Jesus is not going to make peace with the world; that is, compromise the eternal truth of who He is.  He has come that between Him and me (you), there may be peace.  Come into the peace of the Lord.

Lord, at first this seems so confusing, but I do understand.  There are those with whom I have a relationship, but they are not a friend and I do not trust them.  I do not hate them, but I have learned that I cannot trust them.  Between us, there is no peace.  This is how I see this world.  I live in it, but there can be no peace so long as the wicked promote wickedness.  Teach me how to live faithfully in a world at war against You.

Lord Jesus, You are not calling me to make war, yet we are in a constant state of war against principalities, forces, and wickedness in the world.  Teach me how to be a peacemaker where possible and to do so fully armed with Your provision.  Grant me wisdom to know when to stand firm and when to shake the dust from my feet.  In the truth of what You have directed, teach me how to be faithful.  Amen.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Who are your friends?  When in another group, do you acknowledge your friend, or do you ignore them?  If Jesus is in your life, do you acknowledge Him as a friend always?  We do this with our earthly connections, but do we do them with our eternal relationship with the Lord?  Do not be dismayed by this.  If the Lord is your friend, and He is the best friend you can ever have, then acknowledge Him in all places.

Why is it Lord that I disconnect with friends?  If they are truly friends, then what difference does it make what the circumstances are?  Help me to be consistent so that I may truly be a friend to all whom I call friends.  Rather than seeing them, or You, as attachments to my world, help me to have genuine relationship with others.  Teach me so that I do not deny You or my neighbor despite the circumstance.

Lord Jesus, this is not the law You are speaking, but the reality of relationship.  I am sometimes (always?) selfish and see things through appearances.  Help me to move to the place where I see things through Your eyes.  Guide me in Your grace to repent when I am not genuine or deny my friends because I am afraid.  Lead me into all righteousness so that I may humbly walk where You lead.  Amen.

“And even the hairs of your head are all counted.  So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:30-21).

Every particle of the universe has a purpose.  The Lord does not allow things to go by chance but has planned perfectly for all that is needed.  We are unable to fathom this, but it is so.  The Lord God knows you down to the last atom in your body.  All your days are before Him always.  If the Lord has all things in His hands, what will happen to you that He already does not know about?

Lord, You know how often I am afraid and fear the circumstances in which I find myself.  I worry about outcomes.  Help me to be responsible, yes, but with the knowledge that nothing will happen apart from Your knowledge.  You will guide all things as they need to be.  You have stated that I have value.  Help me to discover the truth of what this means.  Help me to discover the abundant life.

Lord Jesus, You did not just die a horrible death for just a few random folks.  You intentionally went to the cross to set things right for eternity.  You have told me that I have great value.  Yet, I am often conflicted in my own mind.  Send Your Spirit to minister to me that I may stand in the righteous place, with right thoughts, to be empowered to do right things.  Guide me in Your grace to know that all things are in Your hands.  Amen.

“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.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matthew 10:28-29).

The world hates the Lord.  It is not necessarily you, but the Lord whose voice they want to still.  The Father knows all of this and even if He allows you to be killed, so what?  You will not add a moment to this life.  Hold fast to the faith that you have been given.  Be guided by the truth of the reality of eternity which has been shown you in faith.  Do not worry about the outcome, for you already know what it will be.

Lord, You have promised to work everything together for good for those who love You.  Let that truth be what leads me, especially when I face those who are trying to kill my faith.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to hold fast to the truth You have revealed.  Lead me in all righteousness to seek You first in all things.  You have given me the words of eternal life.

Lord Jesus, You were led to the slaughter, but it was not them who led You, but You who were marching to the cross.  You are the One who must lead me.  I worry about where things will lead and what will happen.  Guide me to see that only in You do I know my future, a future which is in You.  Let me not be ruled by fear, but by the truth of Your continued presence so that I may live the life You give me to live.  Amen.

“What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops” (Matthew 10:27).

Keep the focus of your mind and thoughts on the things of the Lord.  If your mind is filled with the truth of faith, it will not have room for the wickedness of the world.  Let the truth of Scripture be in your mind so that when you speak, it is of those things that the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance.  You have received from the Lord many things through reading, teaching,  preaching, meditating and inwardly digesting His word.  Let the whispers of what you have received be the voice that comes out of your mouth.

Lord, You have given me the truth in so many ways.  There is more I could use.  Fill my mind with the truth of Your word so that when I speak, Your word is in my speech.  Teach me to be one who proclaims with my life the truth of the salvation You give to all who turn to You.  You have taken me out of the dark and placed me in the light.  May Your light shine through me with all I say and do.

Guide me, dear Lord Jesus, in the way You know I need to go.  You have equipped me to be who I am.  You have called me as Your disciple to go to all the world.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go, and may Your Holy Spirit fill my mouth with the words You would have me speak.  Lead me in living the life of a disciple and guide me in the way You would have me walk today.  Amen.

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known” (Matthew 10:26).

The Lord reminds us to take on a big-picture view of things.  Amidst the hideousness of the Nazi regime, it was very hard for the faithful to not want to cry out at the horror going on around them.  It was twelve years in which some of the demonic was revealed.  This age will end, and all of the evil will be uncovered.  Live knowing this.  Sometimes it’s hard, but the Lord reminds us to keep our eye on what He is doing and not what the wicked one does.

Lord, Your words are two-edged.  There are things in my past life I would rather not have revealed, but I am seeking You, and not wickedness.  You will make all things known, and I suspect we all shall see how much need we have of Your grace.  Keep me on the narrow path so that I may live knowing that I am forgiven and that Your Holy Spirit is with me.  Guide me to seek nothing but righteousness.

Lord Jesus, You are the judge of the living and the dead.  Uncover the sin in my life so that I may remember, repent and come under Your grace.  Bring me to the place where I stop trying to hide and humbly live in the grace You have given me.  Keep me from the evil games of hide and seek that goes on, knowing that all things are not hidden from You.  Grant me a heart that seeks righteousness.  Amen.