As we saw yesterday, the disciples went out at the Word of the Lord, at His command, before they really knew who He was. Is. We go out in the fullness of His atoning death, His glorious resurrection, and the anticipation of His soon coming, to gather His own to Himself, to be with Him forever.
Today we go out in the further notice that “some have been taken captive,” and that “some have been unable to enter because of unbelief.”
We know that there were whole cities where Jesus Himself performed very few miracles, also “because of their unbelief,” and that those that have hardened their hearts because of the deceitfulness of sin” are in grave danger.
The soon coming of the Lord, whenever it may be, will not be soon enough for those who cannot lift up their heads today, those suffering an agony of tribulation, debauchery, or bondage that they neither understand nor have faith to abandon, and it will be too soon for them if they do not break free with grace enough to put their faith in the Lord who loves them. They do not always foam at the mouth or run screaming, naked, among the tombs. Sometimes they recline in easy chairs and dwell in the shadows of disappointment and hopelessness.
Today is the day of salvation (Hebrews 3:7-19) for them, and ours are the weapons of warfare, all-powerful to finish the work He left to us …
“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6)
We are going to look at the “strong man” and his influence and how he has been left undisturbed for too long among too many. (Luke 1:21)
As we begin today, we are determining that the Giant Undisturbed does not rule us anymore, forever. Amen.
Today’s response: Choose any part of what you have read today, say it as a warrior or pray it as the servant of the Lord, and mean it with all your heart.
Scripture references:
2 Timothy 2:26
Hebrews 3:19
Matthew 13:58, Mark 6:5
Disappointed, by Julius LeBlanc Stewart, 1882
by permission, Wikipedia, public domain
DISAPPOINTMENT binds people fast. Deliver us and our loved ones from every oppression of disappointment, Lord.
Marketplace Monastics 