Title: Who is in Your Circle of Influence?
Text:
Mark 3:13-19 (NLT)
13 Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him.
14 Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles. They were to accompany him, and he would send them out to preach,
15 giving them authority to cast out demons.
16 Here are their names: Simon (whom he named Peter),
17 James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them "Sons of Thunder"),
18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (the zealot),
19 Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
Observation:
This pursuit of determining who God wants me to be is becoming too easy. I don't know which of my teachers said this but it fits here, "It's just like falling off a log, and not nearly as dangerous". Well, back to the focus of the day; the one word for today is friends.
In our text we see Jesus going about establishing His inner circle. We see He invites a large group to go with Him to a mountain. Then from that group He selected twelve of them, and He appointed them as apostles.
Notice He had two purposes in choosing this smaller group. First, he wanted them for companionship, and to teach them; they were to accompany Him (v.14). If Jesus needed companionship, then what about you and me?
Secondly, He chose them to send them out on mission. The mission was to preach and cast out demons (vv. 15-16).
Finally, we see Jesus selecting an even smaller group that would be His inner circle; this was a group of three. Here they went apart to pray with him.
Luke 9:28 (NLT)
28 About eight days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain to pray.
God does some of His most important work with a few good people. We can learn from how Jesus went about accomplishing His purpose on earth. Don't despise small things; they can yield huge results when God is in it, and with you.
Here is a question to ponder: Is your circle of influence open or closed?
Prayer:
Father God, my dear Father, I am so thankful for this instructive example of Jesus showing us how much we need others in helping us to accomplish our God ordained purpose, mission, and ministry in this present age. Father, help us to wisely choose our friends. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Matthew 4:4 (HCSB)
4 But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Psalm 2:8 (HCSB)
8 Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.
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