"Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

But beware! 

For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. 

You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. 

But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.

When you are arrested, don't worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking - it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

Matthew 10:16-20 NLT

Jesus instructions to the 12 Apostles take a bit of a turn here - it's one thing going out with no money or resources, quite another expecting arrest, torture, imprisonment, just so you can talk about Jesus. 

However consider the attitude Jesus asks them to walk in as they go into enemy territory - smart yet peaceful.

Consider the resources Jesus is providing when there is nothing else - God's Spirit.

Consider the mission, the opportunity, to talk about who Jesus is. 

Consider who he paints the apostles as - sheep - heading out to the wolves - crazy mission, doomed to fail, yet that is where he is sending his people...because in the upside down kingdom, what looks like losing is where the victory is...

#wordsofJesus

#redletterBible

#upsidedownkingdom