This event took place before the kingdom was opened up to all those of us of non-Jewish inheritance, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was one of the 'last chances' for the Jews to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

It was to be a tough trip, for Jesus knew they would, in large measure, be rejected by the Jewish people.

17 "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:17-20)

It was also a training session for what they would experience after His departure.

16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

There are, at least, three primary lessons here that apply to us today.

Firstly, 'the kingdom of heaven is near'.

To fully understand this prophecy we need to understand the Jewish mindset. When we hear a prophecy we automatically look to a single fulfillment. Tick it off! Done and dusted! Finito! But that is not the Jewish mindset. For them, prophecy is expected to have past, present and future fulfillment. The kingdom existed in the Garden of Eden and was lost through sin. Jesus came as the embodiment and restorer of the kingdom. Then again, the kingdom is and will continue to be established in preparation for the return of Jesus.

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15b)

Secondly, the miraculous will become common place amongst those who are prepared to sacrifice themselves completely to Jesus in order to become '100 fold' kingdom people. Healing the sick, even those with incurable diseases, raising the dead and driving out demons will change from being an occasional to a regular occurrence.

But miracles come at a cost - a cost of the full submission of our lives to the will of the Father, as Jesus modeled, even unto physical death.

42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." (Matthew 26:42)

Thirdly, Jesus said here, Freely you have received, freely give.

This is a concept that all those in ministry struggle with! Where is the next dollar going to come from? Who really is our provider?

When I started in ministry, the Lord made clear to me that we were to provide the revelation He graciously gave me to others free of charge. For the revelation is not mine but His. He has the copywrite, not me!

Over the years I have been called a fool and told people will not value information they do not have to pay for. In the end, I simply decided to be a 'fool for Jesus'! As He had instructed me to be.

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:20)

The disciples were instructed, Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts. Now that takes, 'faith in fear and trembling'! It certainly did for me when I went to Africa for 2 months with $30 in my pocket. Of course, the Lord did not start to provide until I had spent the $30! But provide He did!

Yes, the worker is worth his keep. But, as Jesus showed here, his keep wasn't to come from his own efforts or self promotion, but from the people he was ministering to - voluntarily. It would not be easy. Some would accept, while others would reject you.

11 "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. (Matthew 10:11-15)

That certainly was my experience during that trip to Africa. A white man coming without money was a unique experience for most. It certainly sorted out the sheep from the goats - those seeking the Lord's word from those simply desiring the Westerner's bounty.

I cry when I see how commercialised ministry has become in this day and age. Ministers pressuring people to give, then giving guilt trips if they don't. Prophets selling prophecies! Healers healing for 'a gift'. Teachers selling books that will give you a quick fix to your spiritual - or physical - life. Using spiritual gifts to make money is an abomination to the Lord!

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money 19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." (Acts 18:18-23)

"He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! "So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law- a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."" (Matthew 10:1-42)

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."" (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Simon the Sorcerer

930. Heaven is reached through obedience to God's will, not simply the recitation of a 'Sinners Prayer'.

931. Godly obedience is the present outworking of belief and faith.

932. I cannot truly say I'm a believer if I'm not prepared to follow the path of the one in whom I believe.

933. Freewill is a choice, obedience the choice of freewill.

934. Doing what God wants us to do when it differs from what we want to do is our true test of obedience.

935. "I will obey You", is the ultimate form of worship.

936. The path of obedience takes a different route to that of our natural understanding.

937. To do what we don't understand, because God said it, is the ultimate test of obedience.

938. It may be easier to die as a martyr, than to die to one's self!

939. As I die, so God grows in me. There is only room for one of us!

940. In God, submission is a sign of success, not one of failure.

329. SURPRISE PUNISHMENT
A man appeared before St. Peter to receive news of his eternal fate. Peter said, "I have good news and bad. The good news is that you get to choose where you will spend eternity, the bad news it, it won't be heaven. Come, let me show you your choices."

So Peter took the man down a long corridor. After walking a bit, Peter opened a door so the man could look in. Inside was a huge room with a cement floor, filled with hundreds of people standing on their heads. The man said he wanted to see a couple of more rooms before deciding, so Peter took him to another room where hundreds of people were standing on their heads on a hard wood floor. In the next room they were on their heads in a carpeted area, so the man silently reasoned that each situation was a little more bearable.

Then Peter said, "I'll show you one more room, and then you must make your decision." In this room were hundreds of people floating in sitting up position, drinking coffee. But there was a terrible stench, for what they were sitting in was a combination of garbage and sewage. But reasoning that he probably could soon become accustomed to the smell, the man made his decision to be consigned for eternity in this room. As he settled down into the slop, a cup of coffee was handed to him.

However, it wasn't more than 10 minutes later when a small side door opened and out came a demon who yelled, "O.K. Coffee break's over. Everyone back on your heads!"

328. SUBSTITUTE PREACHER
A supply speaker was invited to fill in while the pastor was on vacation. He began his sermon by saying, "Today I'm just substituting for your Pastor, I kind of feel like the cardboard you temporarily place in the window while the glass is being repaired." Then he went on with his sermon.

ANSWER:
It's not because they're dirty animals or like being dirty. Pigs don't perspire and wallowing in mud simply helps them to cool off. (Do mud baths improve their complexions too?)

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
What is the only bone in the body that does not connect to other bones?

SOME FUN FACTS

79. PALATIAL
Originally built as a palace, the Louvre was made into a museum after the French Revolution. (The monarchy was now a relic, their 'play palace' displayed.)

80. NO BUGS PLEASE
If you are 'mysophobic', you have an intense fear of infection. (Would you keep a spotless house?)

81. STICKABILITY
A 4-inch-long (10cm) abalone can grip a rock with a force of 400 pounds. Two grown men are incapable of prying it up. (You wouldn't want to be eaten either!)

A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU

Make another word from this word using all the letters.

MORALS

A - Dove
B - Vulture
C - Turkey
D - Pigeon

Source: www.biblequizzes.com

!!!!!! When you talk about someone behind their back, they will be there someplace.

!!!!! Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. - Kurt Vonnegut

!!!! "Intelligent" is a term used to describe someone who agrees with you.

!!! Things aren't like they used to be and they never were.

!! Horse sense is what a horse has that keeps it from betting on people.

Months later, the hill man came into the drugstore, complaining that "them mothballs wouldn't work nohow, noway. Marthy and me we aimed carefully, too. But we ain't hit a single moth! Maybe you got a bigger size, like one of them pool table balls."

120. SOMETHING FAMILIAR
While traveling in Quebec, my father complained that all the street signs were in French. His comments and sarcasm went on and on. Then after passing a billboard for a restaurant that featured filet mignon, he belted out, "Finally! Something in English!"

121. HOW OFTEN?
When I go to a local discount store to get oil and filters for my car, I buy my wife a bouquet of flowers on display near the checkout counter.

During one trip, some women in line behind me were oohing and aahing about a husband getting flowers for his wife. "How often do you do that?" one asked.

Before I could answer, the cashier, more than familiar with my routine, said, "Every three months or 3,000 miles, whichever comes first."

122. IT'S SIMPLE
A reporter was interviewing Jack Nicklaus. He said, "Jack, you are spectacular, your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course. What is your secret?"

To which Jack replied, "The holes are numbered!"

123. LOCKED IN
Walking through the hallways at the middle school where I work, I saw a new substitute teacher standing outside his classroom with his forehead against a locker.

I heard him mutter, "How did you get yourself into this?"

Knowing that he was assigned to a difficult class, I tried to offer moral support. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Can I help?"

My Last Day, premiering worldwide online April 21, is the first professionally produced Christian movie ever done in animé, Japanese-style animation. Seven years in the making, the nine-minute movie frames the story of the crucifixion through the eyes of the thief crucified next to Jesus of Nazareth.

Barry Cook, director of Disney's Mulan and visual effects supervisor for Disney's Beauty and the Beast, wrote the story for My Last Day. Since animé appeals to media-heavy cultures, Cook explains, the potential impact of using animé for a Christian movie is staggering.

"I believe the type of animation we desire to achieve with this project will appeal strongly to a young generation, a postmodern generation," said Cook. "It won't be their grandparents' JESUS film. It won't even be their parents' The Passion of the Christ. It will be the story of Jesus told in their language."

My Last Day, animated by Tokyo's renowned STUDIO4°C, unfolds through the eyes of one of the criminals who receives the same brutal crucifixion sentence as Jesus. The criminal passes from regret to repentance to redemption as his own guilt causes him to realize Jesus' innocence.

Drawn from the trilogy 'Eagles Fly High!', this picture of the final church is presented through prophecy, allegory, poetry, and scripturally based vision.

Definitely a tasty morsel for the hungry in God. For those seeking to discover more about God's plans for their lives and the church as a whole. Find out all about the 'Taberneagle Army' that God is starting to raise up at this critical time in our history.

A 72 page read to both inform and inspire you to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

To some it may seem like a tragedy but the reality is that it was the final victory for Jesus over sin and death, and through Him, for us too. The ultimate example of the saying, 'No gain without pain!' For the pain Jesus suffered that day was indescribable. He was beaten to a pulp, unrecognisable, not at all like the sanitised pictures we have of this gentle looking man sadly looking down on his followers from the cross. He suffered the most agonising and extreme torture and death that it was possible for the Romans to inflict, and they were real experts at it.

This poem attempts, inevitably inadequately, to describe some of the events of that day, a day that had amazingly, been specifically predicted hundreds of years before it came. Indeed it was foreshadowed from the very time that it became necessary, the moment that Adam and Eve were separated from God through sin.

Sorry it is a week late.

SEVEN TIMES SHED FOR ME

(Matthew 27:46)"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabaacthani" He cried,
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
On the stroke of the ninth hour he died
Rejected, cruelly nailed to the God deserted tree.
My Jesus, shedding his blood for me.

To Gethsemane he came, the holy one
(Luke 22:42) Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me;
Yet not my will, but yours be done.
For I'll ever be obedient, until you set me free.

(Luke 22:44) Being in anguish he prayed more earnestly,
His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
The disciples exhausted, slept on peacefully.
Returning from his prayers, by Jesus they were found.
My Jesus, he shed his blood for me.

(Luke 22:47) While he was still speaking a crowd came up,
Included traitor Judas, with whom he did sup.
The chief priests, officers, soldiers and all,
They arrested him, for that was their call.

At the chief priests house they questioned him,
(Matthew 26:67) Spit in his face and struck him with their fists.
The cup of his blood now overflowing its rim,
Grieving eyes closing, seeing through mists.
My Jesus, again he shed his blood for me.

So Jesus, my Saviour, to Pilate was now taken,
His determination to do God's will, never shaken.
(Matthew 27:11) "Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate demanded,
(27:11) "Yes it is as you say". My Saviour then remanded.

(Matthew 27:23) "What crime has he committed?" The people, they were consulted.
(27:22-3) "Crucify him! Crucify him!" The rabble cried out loud.
(27:26) Then he released Barabbas to them, Pilate's feelings most insulted,
(27:26) While he had Jesus flogged, simply to please the crowd.
A third time, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

Seven hundred years before that terrible day,
Through the prophet Isaiah my Jesus did say,
(Isaiah 50:6) "I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting",
To happen to Jesus, God's son, was not befitting.

(Isaiah 50:6)"I offered my back to those who beat me,
My cheeks to those who pulled out my beard."
With beard gone, Oh God, how could it be,
So intense the pain, more than he had feared.
Four times, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

(Matthew (Matthew 27:27) Then the Governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium.
No peace for him there, no place to rest, was no sanatorium,
(27:28) They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
Preparing my Jesus to die, out on that awful limb.

(Matthew 27:29) They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head,
(27:29) They put a staff in his right hand, for truly he was the righteous king.
They used the staff to beat the thorns in deeper and deeper instead,
(27:30) Struck him on the head again and again, making worse his suffering.
Five times, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

Under the weight of the cross, voice slurred,
(Psalm 22:15) "My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth",
Step by step weakening, as he headed south.

(Psalm 22:16) Hung on to the cross, "they pierced my hands and my feet."
(Matthew 27:33-4) At The Place of the Skull. There they offered Jesus wine to drink.
The time was coming near, with his Father again to meet.
His blood poured out, his body near death, it began to shrink.
Six times, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

(Mark 15:33) Darkness came over the whole land until the ninthour,
An 'awe-full', fearsome display of God's fury and power!
(Mark 15:37) With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last,
His worldly pain, now a thing of the past.

(John 9:33) The soldiers came to Jesus and found that he was already dead,
So now there was no need to break his legs.
A lunging spear into his side, spewing forth blood so red,
All poured out, right down to the dregs.
This final time, Jesus shed all his blood for me.

Yes, seven times my Jesus shed his blood for me,
Receiving from the Father, forgiveness of all my sin.
He came to earth; he died, forever to set me free,
He opened the heavenly gates, now to welcome me in.
All because, seven times, Jesus shed his blood for me.

Article from our local paper, 'Hawkes Bay Today'.

NAPIER CHARITY STORE TRASHED

ROGER MORONEY | 20th April 2011

Amid trashed shelves, scattered clothing and household items there was a message - sprayed on to walls and a mirror using a vandalised fire extinguisher.

It simply declared: "HA HA".

But David Tait wasn't laughing. Mr Tait manages the Kaydee Charitable Trust which operates two fundraising shops in Napier - Seekers Megamarket at Ahuriri and Seekers in the City, off Hastings St in the CBD.

Sometime between Saturday evening and 9am yesterday, when the shop manager arrived to open up for the day, the Hastings St shop was targeted by vandals.

"I don't think they've taken anything - they just tore the place apart," Mr Tait said.

The basement shop had been open for about a year, and there had been an almost constant problem with shoplifting.

"We've had a lot of problems with thieving but seeing this was almost the last straw," he said. "It's just mindless. They've come in and just trashed the place."

Racks were pushed over, clothing torn from them and thrown about. Curtain rods on changing rooms were swung from and bent. Small crockery items were smashed.

The vandals also sprayed extinguisher foam across walls and windows leaving the message that they thought what they'd done was funny.

The day-long clean-up meant a day's trading lost, and Mr Tait was annoyed the vandals didn't understand they were hurting their own community as the prices of second-hand items helped those on budgets.

"And the profits we make all go to help aid projects in Africa."

Mr Tait said the offenders would have needed to clamber over a high wall into the back of the property, or over high roofs to get down fire escape ladders. A rear door was smashed to gain entry.

Police agreed with Mr Tait that it was more a vandal spree than a burglary, pointing out that most thieves were quiet "on the job".

"While it's a nuisance and a setback, it won't beat us," Mr Tait said.

"We'll stay here as long as we have to today to get it ready. We'll be open again on Wednesday."

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Your prayers for the Lord's protection over 'Seekers' would be much appreciated.

Until next week___

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.

His servant and yours

David Tait

Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: MOLARS