“And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (Matthew 11:6).

Have you never been offended at the words of Jesus?  Go deep inside and ponder those places where you did not like what Jesus said.  I’ve not yet met anyone who was not offended by something the Lord says.  Maybe you were not indignant, but you were annoyed.  If not, then what do I have to say to you?  Sinners do not like being confronted by perfection.  We make a list of excuses as long as your arm.

Lord, I want things to be the way I want them to be.  But they are the way You have determined them to be.  When these two truths clash, I wonder why?  My sin confronts Your perfection.  I need to come to that place where I understand that of course it is going to be the way that You have determined.  You are God and I am not.  Lead me away from sinful thinking and to the place where I trust You alone for all things.

Lord Jesus, You know the hard work of confronting sin and leaving it on the cross.  Guide me so that I trust You above all things.  Help me in Your goodness and mercy to humbly walk with You and let You lead me.  Who am I to question You?  I do Lord, so forgive me. I pray.  Help me come to the place where in every circumstance I say, “Let it be done to me according to Thy will.”  Amen.

“Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11:4-5).

Do not focus upon the how.  That’s what gets us sinful humans into trouble.  Next thing you know, we are arguing about who has what power.  Focus upon the who.  Who heals with a word?  Who forgives your sin?  Who tells you things you know in your heart are right and then asks you to do them, understanding that He gains nothing, but you do?  Hear the truth of the One who brings good news.

What do you hear?  What do you see?  Are you able to perceive the hand of the Lord?  Is your heart perceiving the truth when the word of the Lord is spoken?  This world tugs at you and never wants you to remain too long in any one place.  Eventually, this world will kill you.  But the Lord shows you the life He has created, and it is all around you.  Look, see, hear, trust, and believe.  The Lord is always speaking truth.

Lord, my world gets wrapped up around me.  Guide me in the way of true life and help me in my times of difficulty to look to You, for You alone can lead me through all of the difficulties of this world.  In Your goodness and mercy, help me to see the miracles You perform and trust the Father’s will to work all things together for good.  Let me receive the truth and live by the faith You give me.  Amen.

“When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3)

Many if not most of us tend to think that suffering or even death is not a part of the bargain.  Contrast this with the number of times Jesus told us that we would suffer.  The battle is between clinging to what we know life to be and having faith in the life to come.  It is not a death wish, but a willingness to be completely in the Lord’s hands.  It is the place of complete faith.

Lord, I am afraid of the unknown.  I would like to think that I would be brave in the face of death, but I just do not know.  I suspect I would be like John and wonder what I have gotten myself into.  The faith of Abraham was such that he was willing to sacrifice everything he had lived for, hoping to see the promise come to fruition.  Help me to come to that place where I question You less and trust You more.

Lord Jesus, You are perfectly One with the Father.  Equality with the Father is nothing to be grasped, but You offer us Your faith to trust You unto eternity.  I too question, doubt and wonder.  Forgive me.  Bring me to the place what I trust You above all things.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to live in faith and walk with You knowing that only You have the words of eternal life.  Amen.

“Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities” (Matthew 11:1).

Many of the towns that the disciples came from rejected the Gospel.  Jesus gave a woe to three of them and to this day, there are no longer towns there.  We go and proclaim anyway.  Everyone should have the opportunity to receive the Gospel.  We do not choose, our Lord does.  The light comes to us and we are to reflect that light.  If we stand in the way, it casts a shadow.  Our Lord is telling us to look both ways as we live life.

Lord, this life You have given me is not just about me.  You have called for me to live in the goodness of Your grace and mercy and to share the truth of my life with others.  Guide me in the way to live life so that I too proclaim the truth of You in my life to others by word and deed.  Lead me to see that in You I have eternal hope and the only future worth living.  Continue to teach me that I may share what You have taught me.

Lord Jesus, many times Your words are difficult for me to understand.  It often seems You are saying two different things.  Help me to trust that You are continuing to do Your work in me.  Let me not stop with myself, nor even with the reaction of others, but to press on, doing what You give me to do.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go and give me the fortitude to always press on.  Amen.

“Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward” (Matthew 10:41-42).

This has nothing to do with receiving something for what you do and everything to do with relationship.  When you see another as a human being, created in God’s image, you see reality.  Many treat others as things.  The Lord calls us to treat people as persons and image bearers.  If your loved one is thirsty, you offer them a drink.  This is about the character Christ is developing in you.

I know that I often think in terms of exchange, Lord, but what do I have that I can give You that You do not already have?  Take from me that way of thinking that is always seeking to bargain with you.  My reward is life now and treasure stored in heaven.  You have given me the promise of eternal life, an unearned reward, and You want me to share the life You have given me with others.  The reward is built into the doing of righteousness.

Lord Jesus, I know this is not about how I feel, or even what I do, but who I am and who You are making me to be.  Guide me today Lord so that I may walk a little farther down the narrow road upon which You are leading me.  Help me to be gracious and kind to all whom I meet, treating them as I would want to be treated.  Guide me in the way I need to go always and help me to walk Your way of life.  Amen. 

“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.