One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

Simon (whom he called Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James (Son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot)
Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him). – Luke 5:12-16

After spending an extended amount of time in God’s presence and in prayer, Jesus called all of his followers together and distinguished between them who would be disciples and who would be the twelve apostles. We often use these two terms interchangeably so I thought I would look to see what the difference is.

According to the NLT Study Bible I am using, disciples were students and followers while apostles were specially commissioned representatives. I would argue that today we are all both disciples and apostles.

To be a disciple of Christ is to be a student or a follower. God has called us all to be students of the Word, to sit at His feet regularly and learn from Him. We spend time reading the Bible and we walk away with new understanding. His word is living and active and we cannot help but be changed by studying the Scriptures. We have so much to learn and we have a Great Teacher who loves His students.

We also learn by listening to other students of the Word or disciples. What a great investment of our time to read a book written by another follower of Christ or to listen to the preaching of another! We listen and call on the Spirit to discern the truth of the message, allowing our hearts to grow and be transformed through the words God is giving those He has called. When I question something I am reading or hearing, God’s word is the foundation of truth that I go back to each time.

Even pastors and preachers benefit from spending time listening to others and reading. With that comes a humility that God calls all of us to. We have not already arrived. We do not know all there is to know. We desperately need to keep learning, to continue increasing our understanding of God’s ways.

So we are all disciples but I would argue that we are also all apostles. If the definition of apostle is a person who is specially commissioned to represent something or someone then that is absolutely what we are. God has chosen every one of us for a specific purpose today. He has a plan and we have a choice. We can walk into that plan with the willingness to represent Jesus and fulfill His purpose for our day or we can focus on our own desires and plans.

Lord, this morning I pray that you would open up my heart and show me your purpose today. Confirm in my heart what you have called me to do. God I open up my life with a willingness today to be used by you, whether in small ways or large. Today is about you and your plan. Teach me. Show me. Use me. Guide me. Amen.

Show me the right path, O LORD;
point out the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you (Psalm 25:4-5).

Questioning Jesus’ authority to forgive sins was only the beginning of the many questions that would come at Jesus, questioning why he did something or why he failed to do something else. Things have not changed much today. We continue to question Jesus on the things we do not fully understand, or perhaps the things we understand but disagree with. God is Almighty and we say we trust Him, yet we find ourselves challenging him. We like to think of ourselves as nothing like the teachers of the law and Pharisees in the Bible, yet if we were honest, we would probably have to admit that we have moments that are much more similar than we wish to admit.

“Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” – Luke 5:30b

This was the question asked of Jesus when he attended a banquet that Matthew or Levi held in his home in Jesus’ honor. The guest list included Matthew’s coworkers and colleagues – tax collectors and other guests. Scripture says the Pharisees and teachers of the religious law complained bitterly that Jesus was spending time with people who were considered unrighteous. In the ancient world, meals were rituals of social status and Jesus act of dining with Matthew and his friends was seen as Jesus socially accepting them regardless of their lifestyle.

Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come not to call those who THINK they are righteous, but those who KNOW they are sinners and need to repent” (Luke 5:31-32).

I wish today’s Church could not be accused of questioning the acceptance of sinners into our fellowship, but sadly this happens often in our congregations. Investing in sinners by spending time with them and inviting them into our fellowship is not accepting their sin, as some would accuse; it is accepting anyone who needs Jesus and loving them as they come to recognize their sin and understand what it means to repent – to admit they have sinned and come to a point of change.

“John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?” – (Luke 5:33)

Why can’t you be more like your brother?!! Okay, this isn’t exactly what they were saying but it did remind me of the tendency for people to compare one follower of Christ with another. It also reminds me of our own tendency to compare ourselves with others and worry about how we measure up with someone else or how someone else measures up with us. God has made each one of us unique and He has a plan for each of our lives that is different from anyone else’s. It is not God’s plan for us to criticize our brothers and sisters in Christ, but to lift them up in prayer and support their obedience to God. Forgive me for getting off track here. Jesus’ response came to the heart of this question.

Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say” (Luke 5:34-39).

Sometimes the old is not compatible with the new. If I buy the newest available software and then try to load it on a computer I have had for ten years, the two are not going to be compatible. Would I build a brand new house and then fill it with old furniture? (Okay, I might but most people would not :)) Sometimes we hold so tightly to the old that we miss out on the new thing that God is doing.

“Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” – Luke 6:2

The Pharisees watched Jesus closely, especially on the Sabbath. They wanted to catch him breaking the Jewish traditions and laws so as to have grounds to accuse him and shut down his ministry. They had the activities of his disciples under surveillance and then watched to see if Jesus would heal on the Sabbath.

“The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”… Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” So the man came forward. Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! – Luke 6:5,8-10

Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there in that moment as Jesus took the time to make eye contact with each and every one of his accusers? Jesus knew their thoughts and he knew their motives. He looks at the heart of each and every one of us, individually. He knows when we use the Sabbath as an excuse to make the day about ourselves when His intention has always been that the Sabbath would be about Him. The Sabbath is not a day for us to focus on our own needs for rest but to slow down the busyness of our lives and focus our attention fully on Him.

If in that moment, when we are fully focused on God and we feel His eye contact on us, God moves on our hearts to do something for Him, our response should be one of obedience. The Sabbath is a great day to worship God and a great day to hear from Him. Isn’t it also a great day to respond in obedience, no matter what He is asking us to do? “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”

“Hold out your hand.” Let’s reach out and allow God to use our hands however and whenever He asks.

Last night I had the privilege of sitting and visiting with Pam Tebow, mother of NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. As we waited for her turn to speak at our pregnancy center banquet in Champaign, our conversation varied and I enjoyed so much her sweet spirit and genuine heart. We spoke of some of the big public moments in Tim’s life on the football field but we also spoke of some of their private moments as a family. By the time Pam rose to go to the stage, I no longer saw her as a public figure about to speak to a room of 800 people about prolife issues – I now saw her as another mom who loves her family and daily allows God to use her however He desires.

I had considered how BIG the life of the Tebow family must be but I had not considered what it would feel like to have your son call and express his hurt over the way the media had twisted his words. The cameras often show us the big moments of Tim’s life but we do not hear about the private moments when he talks to a little girl on the phone who is dying of cancer and explains to her how she can accept Jesus into her heart like he has, just thirty minutes before she would meet her Savior face to face. There is so much more to this family than what is made public. They are a healthy, loving and committed family, even when no one is watching.

As we read through the gospels, we see that Jesus’ ministry had both its public and private moments. In many of those private moments, Jesus instructs the person he healed to not reveal his identity to others. There was a bigger plan at work and there was wisdom in what Jesus was asking his followers to do, even though they did not always listen to him. Let’s look at the difference between these two kinds of moments in the ministry of the Messiah.

A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you” (Mark 1:40-44a).

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” – Mark 2:1-12

First there is a private moment when a man in need of healing falls on his knees before Jesus and is healed. There were probably very few people listening into their conversation. Jesus specifically tells the man not to tell anyone that Jesus has healed him. Then, just days later, there is a moment when Jesus displays his ability to heal and his authority to forgive sins in front of a large group of people. The result – God is praised!

There may be moments in our lives when many people are aware of something we have accomplished or a way in which we have served God. We may get a pat on the back or the applause of an audience and in all of that, we hope and pray that God is glorified. But there may also be moments in our lives when God asks us to do something for Him, something we will never get earthly recognition for. We obediently follow Jesus regardless of the presence of an audience. There is no need for public fanfare or media attention, we are simply daily responding to God’s lead.

At last night’s banquet, I was introduced and the crowd of pregnancy center supporters welcomed me warmly. In that moment, everyone in the room knew who I was and what my position with the ministry is. In the same room there was a retired couple sitting at their assigned table. Every week she comes in and volunteers, working with the young mothers who are learning how to parent. Her husband comes in each week and volunteers by cleaning the pregnancy center. Neither of them got specific public recognition last night but I was given the honor of privately thanking them for all they do for Living Alternatives.

My obedience to what God has asked me to do with my time is no greater than the faithful service of this couple. I guarantee you they were not concerned last night that they did not get a standing ovation. That is not why they do what they do. They are humble servants of their Savior and King and it is His approval that they are living for.

May our testimony today be the same – willing hearts, with or without an audience, whether or not our reward is on earth or in Heaven. May our testimony be as strong in today’s private moments as it is in the public moments when others are watching.

The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus…Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John – but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”). – John 1:35-37, 40-42

Andrew encountered Jesus and what did he do next. Don’t miss this because it just might be one of the most powerful sentences in the New Testament. Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Friends, I have to admit to you that this sentence brought me to tears this morning and I had to just sit and consider the weight of these seven words. Andrew did not just soak up all the Jesus he could get and then just hope from a distance that his brother would someday have the opportunity to meet this incredible man. He brought Simon to meet Jesus – he introduced his brother to the one who would forever change his life!

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come and follow me and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him (Mark 1:16-18).

God had a plan for the lives of these two brothers – a plan bigger than they had ever imagined. I would guess that, even in that moment, Andrew and Simon Peter did not fully comprehend the extent to which Jesus was going to penetrate their lives.

After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them (Luke 4:38-39).

John the Baptist introduced Andrew to Jesus and then Andrew introduced Simon, now known as Peter, to Jesus. Now Jesus is not only impacting the life of these two fishermen, He is reaching out beyond Peter to his family. This woman who was sick in bed is now on her feet serving Jesus. All who witnessed this were now aware of the power of the Son of God. The number of people whose lives are being touched by Jesus is multiplying.

As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak (Luke 4:40-41).

Let’s back up a little. Simon is from Bethsaida (John 1:44) but has moved his home and his family to Capernaum for the sake of his fishing business. While in Capernaum, Andrew meets Jesus and then tells his brother Simon about this man whom John the Baptist had called the Lamb of God. Now, a short time later, Simon Peter’s family, as well as his entire community, have been greatly impacted by the power of the Son of God! No, not just impacted, touched. The touch of his hand healed every one. By following Jesus, Peter had shortened the distance between those he came in contact with every day and the Savior of the world. They now had the opportunity to be touched by Jesus because of Peter’s faith.

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking (Luke 5:1-7).

Now Peter’s relationship with Jesus was not only affecting his life and the life of his family and the life of his community, Peter had brought Jesus to work with him! Now all of his coworkers and colleagues were given the opportunity to see a miracle – to see Jesus at work in Peter’s life and also in their own lives! They were now going to reap the benefit of this huge catch of fish. How do we know his coworkers and colleagues gained from this large catch? Because Simon was officially no longer a fisherman of fish. His name was now Peter and he was now a fisher of men!

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me – I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” As soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. – Luke 5:8-11

Our response to our encounter with Jesus will determine whether or not those around us get an opportunity to have their own encounter with Jesus. When we fall on our knees, admit that we are a sinner and obediently follow Jesus – doing whatever He tells us to do simply because He said so – our submission impacts the lives of those around us. We can keep all this Jesus to ourselves or we can start fishing for people and take Jesus into our family relationships, our community and our workplace.

“Don’t be afraid!” Jesus is with you and will reach out and touch those around you if you will simply be His hands and feet to everyone you come in contact with today – if you will simply stop seeing yourself as “Simon” and begin seeing yourself as “Peter”.

When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone (Luke 4:13-15).

After 40 days of being tempted by the devil in the wilderness (4:2), Jesus returns home – not worn out and beat up by the devil’s attempts to destroy him but rather “filled by the Holy Spirit’s power.” I love this! With the same love, God strengthens us through the power of the Holy Spirit as we go through difficult times. At the end of our trial, we are often stronger than we were before the hard times appeared.

By this time, word has spread throughout the region about Jesus and everyone seems pleased with what he is teaching in their synagogues. He is in his homeland, but now it is time to return to the village where he grew up – Nazareth. It is time to go home.

When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious (Luke 4:16-28).

Jesus was revealing to them that he was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Jesus knew their hearts and that they would struggle to see him as anything but the son of a local carpenter. They had watched him grow up, watched him play in the streets with the other kids. They were excited that he had come home and amazed at what a good teacher of the Law he had become but they did not see him as the Promised Messiah.

Jesus laid out his calling for everyone. He was anointed by the Spirit to bring good news to the poor. He was sent to proclaim that captives would be released, the blind would see and those who were oppressed would be set free! The time of the Lord’s favor had come, but Nazareth was not going to experience all that God had for them because they would not accept all of who Jesus was.

I know several people who grew up in the church but who still struggle to fully believe in Jesus. My heart aches for them to have faith – to fully accept Jesus for who He is! They spent so much time in the presence of the Church without taking the time to truly seek God. When eyes are focused on religion, we miss out on seeing God Himself revealed.

The village of Nazareth was going to miss out on all of the miracles because they wanted to define Jesus one way instead of listening to what he was trying to teach them. How much do we miss out on when we decide to define Jesus from our own perspective and make him who we want him to be?

This is who Jesus wants to be in our lives today if we will just stop trying to contain Him in a box and truly allow Him to be Lord. He wants to bring good news into the areas of our faith where we are lacking, where we are poor. He wants to set us free from the bondage of sin and from the oppression of this world. He wants to open our eyes today and allow us to truly see Him. He wants us to stop deciding we already understand him and daily open up to what He wants to reveal to us today. He wants to open the eyes of our heart so that we can truly see Him.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You…

Three of the four gospels tell of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Mark is a man of very few words so my focus this morning is on Matthew and Luke. They tell the stories a little differently and they do not list the temptations in the same order, but their versions are for the most part very similar. I have combined the two passages to retell the story with the most detail.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God’” (Matthew 4:1-7).

Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you worship me” (Luke 4:5-7).

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus (Matthew 4:10-11).

When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came (Luke 4:13).

Here are some of my thoughts from looking closely at this Scripture:

– Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. God was not tempting Jesus but He was allowing Jesus to go through a time of temptation, just as He allows us to experience temptations. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed (James 1:13-14).

– By fasting through this time of temptation, Jesus was showing his intention to depend on God for his strength and God only. He was giving God his full attention, away from the distractions of his daily life and away from the satisfactions of the earth’s nourishments. Jesus was able to say no to temptation because his focus was on God.

– Knowing Jesus would be hungry, Satan tried to play on this weakness in order to take advantage of his vulnerability, just as Satan tempts us where we are the most vulnerable or weak.

– Jesus’ response to each of the temptations was to quote Scripture, a great model for how we can handle temptation. But we have to study the word and be prepared by knowing the Scripture in order to be equipped to use them in similar situations in our lives.

– Satan wanted Jesus to test God by jumping off the highest point of the Temple in and then ask God to rescue Him. Listen carefully because I think we do this more often than we think. Satan tempts us to do something we know we should not do by convincing us that it will be simple to ask God to forgive us after we have sinned. If God is full of grace and all we have to do is ask for forgiveness, why not enjoy a time or moment of sin and simply ask God to forgive us afterwards? I believe we should take Jesus response seriously. “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

– My first reaction to this next temptation is that Satan is lying when he says he has the ability to give earthly kingdoms and authority to men. But, the more I think about it in the context of other scriptures, the more I think Satan does have this ability. That would explain why so many sinful people have gained high position and earthly wealth. But beware. If we compromise and live a life for earthly gain, we are worshipping Satan.

– Our response to Satan’s temptations could be just as powerful as Jesus’ response was. I love how the NLT translates this response: “Get out of here, Satan.” With strength and determination we can face temptations by declaring that we will worship God and serve only Him!

– Satan left Jesus until the next opportunity came for him to tempt the Son of God. Satan will be back. He is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may destroy (1 Peter 5:8). We can be prepared for this temptation by giving God our full attention, studying the word of God and building our faith so that we can easily say, “Get out of here, Satan!”