Disciples Sent Out to Preach and Heal

 Prayer Practice

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Luke 9:1-62

REFLECTION

Disciples Sent Out to Preach and Heal

by Pastor Jeff Morlock

Jesus’ disciples have received his teaching and witnessed his authority over disease and the demonic. Now Christ gives them the responsibility and authority to do what he himself has been doing - proclaim God’s kingdom and demonstrate its power (verses 1-6). Jesus sends them without the necessary provisions of bread, money, or extra clothes, asking them to trust him for daily provision. Their faith will grow in proportion to their experience of  God’s faithfulness (verses 10-17). Of course, this is all preparation for the day when Jesus will ascend to heaven, and they’ll be given the task of taking the Gospel to the nations. Like their master, these disciples will receive from God a cross and a crown (verses 23-27). And as they obey him, they'll experience his triumph and truth (verses 37-45).

This is a long passage, but its bottom line is simple: to answer Jesus’ call is to be in over your head and out of your comfort zone. When you go in the authority he provides, with his promises in your heart and on your lips, when you dare to speak his good news in word and deed to the people around you, you’ll be desperate for the Lord to supply even the simplest of needs. Are you desperate yet? If what Jesus asks of his disciples then and now seems risky, consider this: you, me, and all of us together are like a conduit that the Spirit of God uses to deliver his grace and power to those trapped by sin and its consequences. So the real question is, “What blocks the flow of the Spirit's power in your life and mine? What blocks the flow of the Spirit's power in our life together as church?”

Joining Jesus in his mission always demands adjustments of us. Our text highlights four attitude adjustments that are necessary in order for Jesus’ disciples to be conduits of the Spirit who are able to effectively reach others for the kingdom. Spend some time reading, praying and meditating on the need for these adjustments. Which one is most applicable for you right now?

- He turns us from pride to humility (verses 46-48)
- He turns us from tribalism to cooperation (verses 49-50)
- He turns us from vengeance to mercy (verses 51-56)
- He turns us from security to sacrifice (verses 57-62)

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I confess that I have often been too comfortable and content to be sent. I’ve been silent when you’ve called me to speak, and timid about operating in the
authority you’ve given me. Please forgive me, and make the necessary adjustments
in my attitude, so that your Holy Spirit can freely flow through me to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and to set the oppressed free. In your holy name. Amen.