January 14

Seen by God, Sent by Christ

New Testament
Matthew 10:1-23
Old Testament
Genesis 30:1-31:16
Wisdom & Instruction
Psalm 12:1-8
Proverbs 3:13-15

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New Testament: Matthew 10:1-23

Summary: When the Kingdom Arrives, Resistance Follows

When Jesus Sends You Into Wolves

Matthew 10:1–23

Jesus does not sugarcoat the call. Matthew 10 is where following Him stops sounding safe and starts sounding real. Authority is given, boots hit the ground, and Jesus makes one thing plain. This road will cost you something.

Yesterday, Jesus looked out on the crowds and saw sheep without a shepherd. He told His disciples to pray for laborers. Now He turns to them and answers His own prayer. “He called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them power” ~Matthew 10:1. They did not volunteer. They were summoned. And the authority they carried did not come from themselves. It came straight from Christ.

The mission is clear and urgent. “As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” ~Matthew 10:7. This is not motivational talk. This is a warning and an invitation. God’s reign is breaking in. Repentance is required. Healing and deliverance follow, but they are not the centerpiece. The message is that God is acting, and no one stays neutral.

Jesus strips away false security. No backup plans. No stored money. No extra clothing. God’s work is done God’s way, and that means trusting Him day by day. Some will welcome the message. Others will slam the door. When that happens, the disciples are told to walk away clean, leaving testimony behind. Rejection does not mean failure. Obedience does.

Then Jesus tells the truth most people try to dodge. “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves” ~Matthew 10:16. This world does not reward faithfulness. It resists it. Courts, councils, families, and rulers will turn against those who belong to Christ. But fear is not the final word. When the pressure comes, God does not leave His people speechless. “It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” ~Matthew 10:20.

This passage confronts modern Christianity head-on. Many want the authority without the suffering. Jesus offers no such deal. He promises conflict, endurance, and rescue through it all. “He that endureth to the end shall be saved” ~Matthew 10:22. Endurance does not earn salvation. It reveals it.

Tomorrow, Jesus will force the issue even harder. Allegiance to Him will be weighed against family ties and personal safety. Today leaves us standing at the edge of a hard truth. Christ still sends His people into hostile ground with nothing but His authority and His Word. And that is enough. The question is not whether the road is dangerous. The question is whether you will come to know His Word and settle it that Jesus is worth following, even when the path runs straight into wolves.

Sheep Among Wolves, Part 1 – Matthew 10:16–23

Overview: Matthew 1-13 – Click Here

Old Testament: Genesis 30:1-31:16

Summary: Driven by envy, deception, and human striving, Genesis 30:1–31:16 shows God quietly overruling rivalry and manipulation by sovereignly prospering Jacob according to His promise, proving that blessing comes from the LORD and not from human schemes.

Blessing Is Not Seized, It Is Given

If you have ever felt the pressure to force outcomes, to hurry God along, or to compete for what only He can give, this passage is going to press on you. Genesis 30 opens with noise, jealousy, and manipulation. Genesis 31 closes with quiet clarity. God has been at work the whole time.

Yesterday we watched Jacob step deeper into God’s promise while still carrying old patterns of fear and self-protection. Today, those patterns collide with family rivalry, workplace exploitation, and God’s sovereign hand. Tomorrow, the tension will break open as God calls Jacob to move. But first, Scripture slows us down and shows us what God is doing when human striving fills the room.

Genesis 30 begins with Rachel’s desperation. “Give me children, or else I die” ~Genesis 30:1 KJV. Her words expose a heart measuring life by comparison. Leah has sons. Rachel has envy. Jacob’s response is sharp because the issue is spiritual, not emotional. “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ~Genesis 30:2 ESV. Scripture is clear. Life, fruitfulness, and blessing belong to God alone. Human pressure cannot manufacture what only the LORD opens.

What follows is a cascade of human schemes. Servants are given. Names are claimed. Credit is assigned. Everyone is keeping score. Yet tucked into the middle of the chaos comes a quiet, decisive sentence. “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb” ~Genesis 30:22 ESV. The Hebrew idea behind “remembered” is not recall but action. God moves when He chooses. Not because of bargaining. Not because of manipulation. Because of covenant purpose.

The same pattern continues in Jacob’s work with Laban. Laban changes wages repeatedly. Jacob uses selective breeding strategies. On the surface, it looks like cleverness against cleverness. But Scripture refuses to let us believe the blessing came from technique. Jacob later testifies, “God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me” ~Genesis 31:9 ESV. The increase did not come from rods or patterns. It came from God overturning exploitation and keeping His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This is where the passage lifts our eyes to the bigger picture. God is not merely growing Jacob’s household. He is preserving the line through which the Messiah will come. Genesis is not a self-help story. It is a redemption story. Every son born in this chapter becomes part of the nation through whom Christ would come according to the flesh. God is moving history forward even while His people stumble forward imperfectly.

Notice also how God speaks. In Genesis 31:3, the LORD finally says plainly, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you” ~ESV. God does not shout over the chaos earlier. He waits until the lesson is learned. Blessing is not seized. It is received. Direction does not come through pressure. It comes through obedience.

For today’s believer, this passage confronts our modern impatience. We live in a culture that celebrates hustle, strategy, and control. Scripture tells the truth. Striving without trust breeds anxiety and conflict. Faith waits, works honestly, and leaves results to God. Psalm 127:1 says it plainly, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” That truth does not make us passive. It makes us dependent.

This also presses us toward Christ. Jesus never grasped. He trusted the Father fully. Philippians 2:6 says He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Where Adam, Rachel, Laban, and Jacob reached, Christ rested. And because He trusted perfectly, the Father exalted Him. That is the pattern for every disciple who follows Him.

As you read Genesis 30:1–31:16, ask yourself where you may be forcing what God has not yet given, or clinging to what God is asking you to release. God is not absent in seasons of tension. He is often most active there, quietly advancing His purpose.

Tomorrow, God will call Jacob to move forward in obedience, not fear. Today, He reminds us of a hard and freeing truth. The blessing you are striving to secure may already be in God’s hands, waiting for you to trust Him enough to walk when He says go.

What This Demands of Us

Scripture does not offer selective obedience. Jesus speaks with authority, not suggestions. The question today is not what you read, but whether you will submit to what God has said.