Daily Devotional For Thursday, October 8, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from the words of Jesus found in Luke 9:1-6. Would you ever let someone who is not a surgeon operate on you? Bible scholar Donald Grey Barnhouse tells the story of such a feat:
“During World War II battles in the Pacific, a sailor in a United States submarine was stricken with acute appendicitis and was near death. The nearest surgeon was thousands of miles away. The sailor’s friend, Pharmacist Mate Wheller Lipes, watched his temperature rise to 106 degrees. The man’s only hope was an operation. So Lipes said to his stricken buddy, “I have watched doctors do this operation. I think I can do it. What do you say?” The sailor consented. In the wardroom the patient was stretched out on a table beneath a floodlight. The mate and assisting officers, dressed in reversed pajama tops, masked their faces with gauze. The crew stood by the diving planes to keep the ship steady. The cook boiled water for sterilizing. A tea strainer served as an antiseptic cone. A broken-handled scalpel was the operating instrument. Alcohol drained from the torpedoes was the antiseptic. Bent tablespoons kept the muscles open. After cutting through the layers of muscle, the mate took twenty minutes to find the appendix. Two and a half hours later, the last catgut stitch was sewn just as the last drop of ether gave out. Thirteen days later the sailor was back at work” (Source: Donald Grey Barnhouse, Let Me Illustrate, pp. 358-359).
This story reminds me of the words of Jesus in the Upper Room when He said these words to His disciples in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father” (NLT). Jesus gave us a promise that His disciples, then apostles and us today would be able to do greater works than He did through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we come to Luke 9:1-6, we get a glimpse of some of that prepentecostal power in the miracles His disciples would do as He sent them out. Luke 9:1 says that Jesus gave His disciples the power to cast out demons and to heal all diseases.
Can you imagine if you had been one of His disciples and you hear the demons screaming as you use Jesus’ name to cast them out or you were able to give sight to the blind or heal paralysis or dementia? This had to be overwhelming for them. Luke tells us that Jesus did not just send them out to do miracles, but to preach the Gospel. “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Though their preaching had a prophetic touch to it, it was overall good news, if the people accepted it. He told them to take nothing with them so that they would trust Him for everything. They were not to take advantage of people’s kindness and generosity nor demand to be treated better. They were to accept whatever bed, or food or lodging was offered. No room for Prima Donnas here.
If the Gospel was accepted, praise the Lord. If not, they were to shake the dust from that town off their feet. This was a cultural way to reject hostile reception. It does not suggest a short-fused, hostile approach to spreading the Gospel. It was a sign of a warning to Jews who rejected God’s servant and His message. Jews when they had to travel into Gentile territory, once they left, they shook the dust off their feet from that area. Matthew’s longer version of this gives us a horrific warning by Jesus to those who reject the Gospel.
Jesus said this in Matthew 10:14-15, “If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. (15) I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day” (NLT). To those who reject the Gospel, their punishment will be worse than the punishment God did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Reflection Assignment: How open and willing are you to share the Gospel with others? Do you think it is your church’s staff responsibility solely? Yes, Jesus is sending us out as sheep among wolves and when they reject the Gospel, they are not rejecting you personally. They are rejecting God. What consolation does this give you and why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 10:37-39, “If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being Mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. (38) If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. (39) If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, help me to be Your voice in this lost world. I cannot imagine a punishment worse than what you did to Sodom and Gomorrah for those who reject You and the Gospel. I do not want anyone to perish but all, especially my family and friends, to come to Christ. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly