Good Morning Friends,
Long before the wilderness experience and long before Jesus sent His disciples from a hillside outside Jerusalem with a commission, He first sent them from Galilee with a message, a method, and a means. They didn’t feel ready. They stepped out anyway. Like anyone who reaches for “more,” whether in the desert or in a drive‑thru, they discover that faith begins where self‑sufficiency ends. Their successes and failures became the training ground of grace. This morning, the question turns toward us: How has God gifted you to love, and be loved, in ways that strengthen your call?
Scripture Summary:
Proverbs 30:5–9
God’s Word is true and protective. The writer asks for two gifts: honesty and daily bread. Not wealth that leads to pride, nor poverty that leads to desperation, but the “golden mean” where dependence on God is learned and His name is honored.
Luke 9:1–6
Jesus gathers the twelve, gives them authority to heal and confront evil, and sends them with nothing but trust with no bag, no bread, no money. Their task is simple: proclaim the Kingdom and embody its healing. If rejected, they are to move on in peace. And they go preaching and restoring life everywhere.
Message: We all remember our first job, first date, first time behind the wheel. Awe and anxiety mingle whenever we step into something new. The disciples felt this too when Jesus commissioned them. He wasn’t abandoning them, but He was teaching them to rely on God rather than their own preparation. Before the Great Commission on the mountain, there was this smaller commission in Galilee. And its principles still shape us:
There was a message to proclaim the Kingdom and announce that God’s saving life has come, is coming, and will come in fullness. Every Christian shares in this calling.
There was a method of how words and deeds come together in a way that speaks the gospel. Lives the gospel. And this lets each of our lives become a signpost of God’s renewing work.
There was a means whereby love is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives authority, but the Spirit gives power. Our calling is sustained not by our resources but by God’s provision.
And So, we love in ways that relieve pain, teach wisdom, honor dignity, and refuse to treat people as projects. When we trust God’s provision, transformation follows and this is true for people, communities, and the new creation itself. This is how the Kingdom breaks in. Nothing brings hope like the love of Jesus.
Pray to live content in the “golden mean” with neither too much nor too little. Pray for daily bread and daily trust. Pray for lives rebuilt by grace. Pray to speak and act in ways that glorify God. Pray for the touch, affirmation, generosity, and service of Christ. Pray to give time to His cause. Pray to believe in transformation. Pray to resist deception and grow in wisdom. Pray to cherish the name and nature of Jesus. Pray to know what truly brings joy. Pray to seek first the Kingdom, trusting God to provide. Pray to bring health to others. Pray in the Spirit’s power to see beyond weakness and share Christ’s love. Pray to use the authority you’ve been given to love in ways that glorify God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
