“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." (Matt. 10:2-4). 

God uses unqualified people to accomplish His purposes. We live in a qualification-conscious society. Almost everything you do requires you to meet someone else's standards. You must qualify to purchase a home, buy a car, get a credit card, or attend college. In the job market, the most difficult jobs require people with the highest possible qualifications. 

Ironically, God uses unqualified people to accomplish the world's most important task: advancing the Kingdom of God. It has always been that way. Adam and Eve plunged the human race into sin. Lot got drunk and committed incest with his own daughters. Abraham doubted God and committed adultery. Jacob deceived his father. Moses was a murderer. David was too, as well as an adulterer. Jonah got upset when God showed mercy to Nineveh. Elijah withstood 850 false priests and prophets, yet fled in terror from one woman—Jezebel. Paul (Saul) murdered Christians. And the list goes on and on. 

The fact is, no one is fully qualified to do God’s work. That’s why He uses unqualified people. Perhaps that truth is most clearly illustrated in the twelve disciples, who had numerous human frailties, different temperaments, different skills, and diverse backgrounds, and yet Christ used them to change the world. 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

The devil wants you to take your guilt and bring more shame into your lives. Any pursuit of blaming others, trying harder, denying your sin, or minimizing your sin will ultimately keep you in bindage. Here's why: You are guilty.

The beautiful truth about God and His Gospel is that you don't have to run from your sin any longer. God wants you to face it, but He doesn't need you to fight it. He's already won the battle for you by fighting and destroying sin.

You were saved by grace alone through faith alone. Your sin will imprison you, but the grace of Jesus will free you.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Jesus always had perfect love (Psalm 18:1) for His Father. He always found refuge in God (18:2) and called upon the Lord for salvation (18:3). On the cross, “the cords of death” and the “cords of Sheol” reeled Jesus in (18:4–5). In the mysterious agony of the cross, God did forsake His Son to death, but Jesus never gave up hope as He cried out for help (18:6) to “My God, My God” (Matthew 27:46). The Father heard His Son, and though He allowed His Son to taste death, Jesus’ cry reached the Father’s ears (18:6). Then God shook the earth out of anger at the unjust killing of His Son (18:7). The devil and Christ’s enemies had overcome Jesus in death, but the Father rescued Him from them in the Resurrection “because He delighted” in His only-begotten Son (18:17–19).

Psalm 18 is a psalm of David, a servant of the Lord. Jesus is the ultimate Servant of the Lord. The superscription says this psalm is a “Song . . . on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hands of all his enemies.” Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this, when on the first Easter He was delivered from His enemies—even death. Jesus did not deserve to die because of His perfect righteousness, so God rewarded Him with everlasting life (18:20–24), which He now shares with us through the Gospel!

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Many of us go about our lives like a couch sitting in our living room. On the outside, the couch appears just fine - clean and tidy. But underneath the cushions lies all kinds of junk. A life in which we look good on the outside but are wasting away on the inside is not the free and abundant life that God wants for us. In Matthew 23:27, Jesus drives home the very point when He compares Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, :which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." If all we ever do is stuff away or suppress the worst parts of our stories, we'll never be fully free.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, God reminds the prophet Samuel: "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." God isn't interested in cleaning up your life only on the outside. God is interested in the complete removal and destruction of sin in our lives. To be made alive in Him requires that a part of us must first die. We cannot have a free and abundant life outside the presence of God.

Jesus, a sinless man, substituted His life for ours, shedding His blood, and by doing so, satisfied the consequence of sin. Jesus didn't just go to the cross so you could clean cobwebs out, modify your behavior, and manage your sin. Jesus came to kill sin. A free life does not come from training your sin, but killing your sin.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

One of the most popular television shows of all time was Seinfeld. Predictably, after a long run of success, it's always difficult to please the critics and fanbase in a series finale. The finale of Seinfeld left many disappointed, even outraged.

We often think of sin as something we have committed. But there is another type of sin that often goes unnoticed and doesn't get dealt with - sins of omission.

Omission, of course, is a failure to do something.

Read Luke 10:25-28

Jesus is talking primarily to a Jewish audience, and the one who addressed Him is, in fact, a Jewish expert in the Law. The expert knows the commandments. He even recites the correct summary of all of the law.

Many of us read the Bible and the commands of God - especially the commands that tell us what we are called to do - as suggestions. The clarion call of Jesus to His disciples is to go and make other disciples. Any pursuit of Jesus without making disciples falls short and misses the mark of what Jesus has asked.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

The Bible is all about Jesus. The story of Jesus as Savior of the World frames the entire book from Genesis to Revelation. Inside the pages of the Bible, Jesus offers not just an invitation to be saved by Him, but to walk with Him and let Him be the Lord of our lives today. One of those invitations was very clearly given to a man named Peter.

You could argue that Peter is the only other fully formed character in the Gospels besides Jesus. He is listed first chronologically in any story that mentions disciples, and he is mentioned more than five times the number of any other disciple.

The story of forgiveness that Jesus offered Peter is the most personal and relational story of forgiveness in all of the Bible. While Jesus is the hero of the Bible, Peter serves a foil for Jesus. A foil is a supporting character whose part contrasts, highlights, and even exalts the qualities of the lead character. Just as Jesus reveals and represents God, Peter represents all who seek to follow Jesus.

The story of Peter and Jesus is significant for you and me, because much like Peter, we've been given a new name and identity in Jesus. And yet despite all that He's done for us, we still fall woefully short of God's expectation. If Jesus can forgive someone like Peter for what he did, He can forgive you too!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Every Scar tells a story. When you tell your story of how Jesus brought grace into your life, you end up bringing freedom to others. This is what the apostle John reminds us in Revelation 12:11: "They triumphed over Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."
 

The "blood of the Lamb" is the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. He is known as "The Lamb of God" all throughout the Bible. John reminds us that the power of our stories, rooted in THE story of Jesus, will bring ultimate freedom and victory over our enemy.

God has chosen you and filled you with His Spirit to make a difference in this world. In a world filled with division, unforgiveness, and bitterness, we are the forgiven sons and daughters of God, and we have the opportunity to bring freedom to others just as God has brought freedom to us.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,