New Testament: Matthew 10:24-11:6
Old Testament: Genesis 31:17-32:12
Wisdom & Instruction:
Psalm 13:1-6 / Proverbs 3:16-18

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New Testament – Summary: John preached warning and repentance, while Jesus preached fulfillment and invitation, yet both spoke the same truth. 

John’s preaching was confrontational and urgent. He called Israel to repentance and warned of coming judgment. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ~Matthew 3:2. He spoke of axes laid to roots and fire that would burn chaff ~Matthew 3:10–12. John pressed conscience hard and pointed forward to the One who was coming.

Jesus preached with authority and mercy, but not softness. He proclaimed the same kingdom ~Matthew 4:17, yet He demonstrated it through healing, restoration, and gospel proclamation to the poor ~Matthew 11:5. His preaching revealed who He was by what He did. He did not argue His identity. He fulfilled Scripture openly.

  
The Cost of Being on the Right Side of Truth

Yesterday, Jesus sent His disciples out into danger with eyes wide open. He told them plainly that following Him would not be safe, applauded, or admired. Today’s passage presses that reality deeper. It asks a harder question. What do you do when faithfulness does not look like victory, and obedience lands you in chains?

Jesus begins by leveling expectations. “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord” ~Matthew 10:24 KJV. He is not motivating. He is preparing. If He was slandered, His followers will be slandered. If He was opposed, His followers will be opposed. This is not accidental suffering. It is shared suffering. Jesus strips away the illusion that devotion to God earns earthly comfort. He tells them to fear God rather than men, because men can only touch the body, but God alone holds the soul ~Matthew 10:28. That is not poetic language. It is a call to settle the question of who ultimately matters.

Then Jesus draws a hard line. Allegiance to Him will divide homes and cost relationships. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” ~Matthew 10:37 KJV. He does not soften it. He defines discipleship as losing your life in order to find it ~Matthew 10:39. In God’s kingdom, clinging to self is the fastest way to lose everything.

That is the backdrop when Matthew shifts the scene to a prison cell. John the Baptist, the fiery preacher who once shook Israel, sends messengers to Jesus with a question. “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” ~Matthew 11:3 KJV. This is not unbelief. It is the weight of unmet expectation. John preached repentance with urgency. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ~Matthew 3:2 KJV. He warned of axes laid at roots and fire consuming chaff ~Matthew 3:10–12. John expected swift judgment. Instead, he sits in chains while Jesus heals the sick.

Jesus does not rebuke John. He does not shame him. He answers with Scripture fulfilled in real time. “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” ~Matthew 11:5 KJV. Jesus lets the Word of God speak louder than explanation. He shows that the kingdom has arrived, not with immediate judgment, but with mercy first.

This contrast reveals something vital about preaching in God’s plan. John preached warning and repentance. Jesus preached fulfillment and invitation. John pressed conscience. Jesus revealed identity. John pointed forward to the coming King. Jesus stood there as the King Himself. Different tone, same truth. Different emphasis, same gospel. God was not contradicting Himself. He was unfolding His purpose in order.

And then Jesus closes with a sentence that cuts straight to the heart. “Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” ~Matthew 11:6 KJV. That word offended matters. It means tripped up. Stumbled. Jesus knows some will struggle when God’s timing does not match their expectations. Some will stumble when obedience does not produce immediate deliverance. The blessing belongs to the one who trusts Christ anyway.

For today’s believer, this passage confronts shallow faith. It asks whether we follow Jesus only when He fits our assumptions. It asks whether we fear men more than God. It asks whether we are willing to lose reputation, comfort, and control for the sake of truth. It also comforts weary servants who find themselves faithful yet frustrated. Even John wrestled. And Jesus did not discard him.

As we move forward in Matthew, Jesus will speak openly about the generation that rejected both John’s warnings and His invitation. Tomorrow’s passage will expose hearts that wanted entertainment instead of repentance and signs instead of surrender. But today leaves us with this sober truth. God’s work may not look like we expect, but it is always moving exactly as He promised.

The question left hanging is simple and searching. Will you trust Christ when obedience costs more than you planned, and God’s plan unfolds slower than you hoped?

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Sheep Among Wolves, Part 1

Overview: Matthew 1-13 –  Click Here

 

 

New Testament – Summary: Jacob obeys God and leaves Laban, protected by God’s intervention. Facing Esau’s approach, fear rises, but Jacob turns to prayer, clinging to God’s promise and mercy.

  

 

When the Past Starts Riding Toward You

Jacob leaves without ceremony. No speeches. No guarantees. Just obedience mixed with fear. Genesis 31 opens with a man walking away from a house that drained him, knowing trouble might follow. Yesterday showed us tension building. Today shows us what it costs to obey when God says it is time to go.

Jacob packs up and crosses the river because God told him to return ~Genesis 31:3, 17–21. That obedience stirs up pursuit. Laban comes after him angry, accusing, and ready to reclaim control. But God steps in first. “Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad” ~Genesis 31:24. That warning shuts Laban down. Jacob does not win this standoff by strength or strategy. God draws the line.

When they finally speak, Jacob unloads years of truth. He worked. He endured loss. He suffered injustice. And God saw it all ~Genesis 31:38–42. This is not revenge talk. It is reality. Jacob knows he survived because God stayed faithful even when men were false.

The stone covenant ends the relationship. Laban goes home. Jacob moves forward ~Genesis 31:55. That is how God works sometimes. He closes doors firmly so His people can stop looking back. But freedom does not mean ease. The next message hits hard. Esau is coming with four hundred men ~Genesis 32:6. The brother Jacob cheated. The past he never fixed. Fear floods in.

Jacob prepares for disaster, dividing his camp ~Genesis 32:7–8. But then something changes. He prays. Not bargaining. Not boasting. He confesses. “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies” ~Genesis 32:10. This is not the old Jacob. This is a man who knows survival depends on God’s promise, not his own cleverness.

This passage shows a God who guards His covenant people even while they are still being shaped. It points forward to Christ because salvation has always rested on God’s mercy, not human merit. Jacob cannot face Esau without God. We cannot face judgment without Christ.

Tomorrow, Jacob will stop running. He will wrestle. And the man who limps away will not be the same man who crossed the river.

Here is the question that will not let you off easy. When the past comes charging toward you, will you rely on old instincts, or finally cling to the God who promised to bring you home?

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Psalm 13:1–6
David feels abandoned and hunted by despair, but he refuses to quit. He chooses trust, lifts his voice in faith, and rests in the Lord’s faithful salvation.

Proverbs 3:16–18
Wisdom is not soft advice. She leads to real life, steady peace, and lasting strength. Those who grab hold of her walk a path that does not collapse.
  

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 Key Scriptures to Hold Onto Today

“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” ~Matthew 10:28 ESV

Jesus cuts through fear and resets priorities. Faithfulness may cost the body, but eternity belongs to God alone.

“And I said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee” ~Genesis 32:9 KJV

This is Jacob clinging to God’s own word when fear is closing in. He anchors himself to what God said, not to what he feels.

 

 

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