Latest / The Daily Word / April 23 – You’ve Been Given Power and a Mission
Transcript
- Brandon Dirmann: Well, welcome once again to the Daily Word podcast. My name is Brandon and it is a pleasure today to have you joining me as we're taking time today to simply go to the scripture, ask God to speak to us and capture what it is that he is saying. It is part of the goal of our podcast. We do want to be an encouragement in our insights that we're sharing from the scripture, but maybe as much or maybe even more than that. It would be our great hope that you would find inspiration from this to go and spend time with God for yourself and allow him to speak to you personally and profoundly from the scripture. We're simply on this podcast looking at the Life Journal reading plan and taking time to from the New Testament portion of that reading plan to simply share what it is that God is speaking to us. We use the SOAP method, the scripture observation application prayer. method of journaling. ⁓ It's not the only way to journal, certainly. It's not even the best way, but I'll tell you, I have found it in my life personally to be the most helpful way to think about my journaling. I generally don't write S-O-A-P out, but it's been so helpful for me because it is important to take a scripture, first observe and understand what it's saying, then seek application to your life, and then respond to God in prayer. asking him to help you to actually live it out. That being said, today is April the 23rd and our New Testament reading today, it is in Matthew chapter 10. And I want to share with you from Matthew chapter 10 verses 1 and then jumping over verses 5 through 8. Let's just, let's do that. Matthew chapter 1, Matthew chapter 10 verse 1, and then verse 5 through 8. Here's what it says, and he, he being Jesus, had called his 12 disciples to him and he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Let me remind you, as a disciple of Jesus, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, you have power. You don't have power, but you've been given power and authority in his name. In the same way He gave them power, we have in the name of Jesus, we have power over every unclean spirit to cast it out and to heal, to lay hands and in Jesus name bring healing to sickness and all kinds of disease. Now verse five, these 12 Jesus sent out and commanded them saying, don't go into the way of the Gentiles and don't enter a city of the Samaritans, but go. rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the leopard, raise the dead, cast out demons, for freely you have received, therefore freely give." The thing that I'm observing today and being reminded of is number one, that we have been given power and authority, and number two, that we have been given an assignment. Matthew chapter 28 verse 19 through 20, 18 through 20, really Jesus says, authority has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and lo, I will be with you always even to the end of the age. Excuse me, it is the mission and the mandate of every believer to be about the Great Commission. Matthew chapter 6, we just read it a couple days ago, Jesus goes, don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven. It's the mission and the mandate of every believer to be about soul saved and disciples made. And I'm reminded, what I'm observing is we've been given power and authority and a mission and a mandate. Here's what Jesus says, he goes, guys, I'm giving you the power and authority that's been given to me, I'm giving it to you. to have power over every unclean spirit, to cast it out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Then a couple of verses later, he goes, guys, ⁓ don't go into the way of the Gentiles and don't enter the city of the Samaritans. Now, Gentiles and Samaritans, are they excluded from the gospel? No, but it's not the assignment he was giving them in that moment. I got an assignment for you. I've got people for you to reach. And so I want you to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And I want you to preach and proclaim that kingdom of heaven is at hand. And I want you, anyone who's sick, lay hands on them, pray for them, heal them. Anyone who's got something that's on, cleanse them, cleanse the leper. Hey, people who were dead, raise the dead, cast out demons, freely you've received, therefore freely give. And I'm reminded again. Every one of us have been given power and authority in the name of Jesus. And we all have a mission, a mandate to go into our world and preach the good news of Jesus and whatever needs people have, whatever needs people have to lay hands and faith believe that God can use us to supernaturally meet those people's needs. Here's how I think it applies to us specifically. ⁓ We all have a different sphere of influence. So like if I were preaching to youth, I would say something like this, I'm not going to your campus today, you are. So your high school is your assignment, not my assignment. If I were speaking to you, I'd say, hey, I'm not going to your workplace today. I'm not going to your office, you are. So your office is your assignment, not my assignment, but in the same way, you're not going the places I'm going. And you don't have the circles. So we all have a different sphere of influence. And Jesus to his disciples goes, guys, I'm not telling you to go to the Gentiles or go over to the Samaritans. I'm telling you to go to where I'm telling you to go. Go to your people, go to your assignment, go to your sphere of influence right now and there boldly preach and proclaim the good news and be bold to lay your hands on those who are sick, to pray for people and to be a minister. the gospel of Jesus Christ and to see heaven come here on earth just as it is in heaven. See the will of God, the kingdom of God come and invade earth. I'm gonna share one more verse because I think this is helpful. If you go to the end of Matthew chapter 10 verse 34, just listen to this, he goes, don't think that I came to bring peace on earth. I didn't come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. I've come to set man against man, father against ⁓ man, father daughter against mother, and a daughter-in-law against a mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be those of his old household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." What does he say at the end? He goes, guys, this mission and mandate that I have, it's not one that's always gonna bring peace. Not everyone's gonna agree with you. Not everyone's gonna side with you. Not everyone's going to see it the way that I have declared it to be true. But don't let that phase you. Don't worry about bringing peace and pleasing people as much as you are worried about bringing heaven and the kingdom of God and fulfilling the mission and mandate that I've given you. So can I just encourage you and maybe give you some application today? Would you be encouraged that you've been given the power and the authority of Jesus? that you can in the same way Jesus ministered, you can minister and wherever you're going to, maybe you're in the car right now, you're driving to work, maybe you're heading to school, maybe you're in the gym and you got people, wherever you're going today, can I encourage you? Go into that place and see it as the mission field that it is and be reminded of the mandate you have to be a carrier of the gospel, to preach the good news and to as God leads you, to minister like Jesus ministered. Can I pray for you God today? This is a challenging and a hard thing for so many of us. But I pray that Holy Spirit, you would fill us, embolden us, empower us, and remind us that we've been given the power and the authority of Jesus. Just like you have, it's been given to us. That we have power over every unclean spirit and we can lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. I pray that we'd be less interested in peace and fitting in and more interested in obedience and fulfilling what you've called us to do. So as we go into our mission field today, God, I pray that we would be able to faithfully fulfill the mission and the mandate of heaven that we'd be about soul saved and disciples made today. God, I pray you go before us and would you work mightily through us as we are your ambassadors in Jesus name. Amen. Well, once again, I pray that you were encouraged and blessed today and we will see you again tomorrow on another episode of the daily word podcast. We'll see you then.