Apostles

Dobre Vecer! (Good Evening in Czech)
When Chuck and I first heard about the mission organization that we eventually joined, a friend asked us to go to Czech for them. Chuck was hesitant and I said: when do we go? I'd been praying for fourteen years to serve the Lord, I just never thought it would be overseas. After prayer and counsel, we went and served.
Today's scripture is from Mark 3:16-19. It's talking about Jesus' call on the men that He would call Apostles. The definition of Apostle is: Called by Jesus and sent out on a commission. If you check the scripture out it gives the list of the men.
Their commission was to go and preach the gospel of salvation through belief in Christ Jesus. He also gave them the authority to drive out demons (vs. 15). If you notice the names, you'll recognize them because of their various ministries throughout the New Testament. All, except for the Apostle John, were martyred. John died in old age.
What do you think about the men that Christ chose? Do you see that Christ changed names or gave nicknames to some? To me that showed the He knew them intimately. Of course being God, He knew them because He created them. But I also think that He had spent considerable time with them and watched them develop into men that He could mold and shape, usable vessels for His service.
What I think is the most important is that He knew their hearts and that their hearts were His. So, is your heart His? Do you hold back things from Him that keep you from being more usable? Can you truly hide anything from Him?
He gave authority to them and sent them to preach what He had taught them. He personally trained them. We have His Word the Bible to learn from. It's God's love letter to each of us, training us to be more usable for Him. Are you called? Do you want to be called?

Called,
Sandy