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About The Episode:

Have you ever stood on the brink of failure, only to witness an unexpected turnaround that led to your greatest triumph? Our journey through life’s trials often feels daunting, but it’s the wisdom gleaned from those very challenges that molds us into stronger, wiser beings. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of resilience, as we weave through stories of icons like Michael Jordan and Beethoven, whose initial disappointments were merely the prelude to their legendary successes. We also witness the transformative power of faith in the life of Charles Colson, who emerged from the shadows of scandal to walk a path of Christian leadership.

At the heart of our dialogue is the divine intervention that shapes our lives, much like it did for the disciples of Jesus. Imagine casting your net into the deep, as Simon Peter did, and pulling it back teeming with a catch so miraculous it ushers you into a new calling. That’s the magnitude of change we’re discussing – the call to abandon the familiar and embark on a mission of faith. As we reflect on the instructions Jesus gave to His disciples, we unpack the weight of responsibility they carried, and the resilience they needed to persevere in their calling, all while embracing the inevitable corrections along the way.

This episode isn’t just a collection of inspiring tales – it’s an invitation to view discipleship as a dynamic journey of learning, correcting, and growing. We delve into Jesus’ moments of teaching, where even His closest followers needed guidance and redirection. These lessons in discipleship serve as a mirror to our own experiences, reminding us that stumbling is an integral part of the journey toward grace. Join us in embracing the process of becoming, bolstered by the comfort that in our trials and triumphs, we are never alone.

Where to dive in:

(0:00:01) – Finding Your Way Through Challenges (12 Minutes)

This chapter examines the importance of learning from our failures to find success and how this approach can lead us to a path that works. I share the necessity of not repeating past mistakes and how self-reflection, in line with Scripture, can contribute to personal growth and align us with God’s will. We reflect on the challenging times we live in and the comfort that the Lord’s presence brings, reminding us that fear is not our burden to carry. The episode touches on the commitment required to follow Jesus, akin to the vows of marriage, and emphasizes the need for contentment regardless of our circumstances. Additionally, I address the dangers of self-criticism that goes beyond constructive growth, which can diminish our confidence and hinder our spiritual progress. We consider how relying on Jesus Christ is essential for living a life that bears fruit for the kingdom of God.

(0:11:40) – Overcoming Failure and Finding Redemption (10 Minutes)

This chapter examines the power of perseverance and the impact of overcoming failure on achieving greatness, as exemplified by the lives of iconic figures like Michael Jordan, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Thomas Edison. I highlight their initial setbacks – Jordan being cut from his high school basketball team, Beethoven’s criticism from his teachers, and Edison’s numerous failed attempts at inventing the light bulb – and how they each turned their failures into stepping stones for success. Additionally, the transformation of Charles Colson from a convicted individual during the Watergate scandal to a Christian leader who founded influential organizations is discussed, demonstrating the possibility of redemption and positive change. Lastly, we look at the biblical context of calling and transformation through the stories of Jesus’s disciples, focusing on how their experiences parallel the concept of learning from failure and heeding a higher call.

(0:21:20) – The Calling (17 Minutes)

This chapter reflects on the biblical story of Jesus instructing Simon Peter to cast his nets into the deep after a fruitless night of fishing, leading to a miraculous catch. I discuss the significance of Jesus’s timing and purpose, highlighting how he intervenes at the point of Simon’s despair. The episode considers the theme of perseverance as Jesus encourages Simon to not give up, despite his initial skepticism and exhaustion. The transformational power of this encounter is examined, emphasizing Peter’s deep sense of unworthiness in the face of divine blessing and the profound impact it had on him and his fellow fishermen, James and John. This leads to their decision to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, illustrating the magnitude of their epiphanal moment and setting them on the path to become foundational figures in the Christian faith.

(0:38:28) – How to Live Out Jesus’ Mission (16 Minutes)

This chapter examines Jesus’ instructions to His disciples in Matthew 10, emphasizing the mission of spreading the Gospel and healing. I reflect on the authority given to the disciples to cast out unclean spirits and heal afflictions, underscoring the importance of doing so with a God-centered mindset. We explore the expected persecutions that come with mission work, highlighting Jesus’ encouragement to be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ when facing opposition. The discussion includes the boldness required to proclaim Jesus’ teachings publicly, despite societal pushback on issues like the sanctity of life and gender. Moreover, I stress the significance of carrying one’s cross and the notion that true life is found in losing it for Christ’s sake, which leads to receiving God’s rewards. This passage ultimately encourages believers to stand firm in their faith and mission, regardless of external pressures or conflicts.

(0:54:04) – Lessons in Discipleship and Correction (14 Minutes)

This chapter examines the moments when Jesus had to correct his disciples, emphasizing the importance of understanding and correctly interpreting his teachings. I discuss instances such as the confusion over the parable in Matthew 15:16 and the misinterpretation of Jesus’s words in Matthew 16. Additionally, I touch on the correction Jesus gave when his disciples hindered children from approaching him in Mark 10:13, illustrating how they misunderstood the nature of the kingdom of God. The chapter conveys the message that as disciples, we are expected to strive for better comprehension and to correct our mistakes, with the reassurance that even in moments of failure, like Peter’s wavering faith in Matthew 14:22, we are not alone. This chapter underscores the theme of discipleship as a journey of growth and learning, where falling forward is part of the process, and we are continuously made to become through the grace and support of God.

About your host:

Jaime Luce’ testimony has daunting personal mountains and treacherous financial valleys. She was trapped in day-to-day stress and couldn’t see a way forward. But how she started is not how she finished! And she wants you to know God has a plan for your life too, no matter how tough it seems. Today, Jaime has been married to the love of her life for almost three decades, owns two companies, and has become an author and podcaster. God’s way is always the blessed way! 

Free chapter of Jaime’s new book: You Don’t Need Money, You Just Need God: https://jaimeluce.com/book/

Connect with Jaime: 

Website: https://jaimeluce.com

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Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

0:00:01 – Jaime Luce
When one have. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work. Now, there’s a whole lesson in that, right there, that if you can understand that you learn from what does not work and you don’t repeat what does not work, you eventually find your way to what does work. Okay, so that means there is a not repeating of the mistakes of the past. Welcome to the Jamie Luce podcast. Thank you for tuning in today.

It’s my pleasure to spend some time with you today, because I know that you are either looking for some teaching, you’re looking to understand the Lord, you’re to understand His Word, and probably also looking for something to encourage your spirit. We’re living in a really complicated and sometimes scary time, and we have to be reminded that the Lord told us that we did not have to fear and that he is with us on and wanting to rightly divide the word and, at the same time, by doing so, bring encouragement to your spirit. As I read this particular passage, it was as if the compassion of the Holy Spirit was making itself known, and so many times we saw that Jesus was moved with compassion, but I think that so many of us, because times are difficult and we can be very self-critical and I want you to hear me in the right sense right now but it’s good for us. Scripture tells us that if we will judge ourselves, we will not have to be judged. So I’m not talking about incorrectly looking at how we line up with Scripture and in our obedience to Scripture and how we need to make changes or corrections or have growth in certain areas things that we should concentrate on but so many who are doing a good work, who are serving the Lord, who have laid down their own agendas, laid down their own desires, laid down the plans and the dreams that they thought that they had for their lives and said, as the disciples did, that they would pick up their cross daily, as Jesus told them to, to follow him. He said that was the prerequisite. I don’t think we understand that enough. We understand that enough. There’s a group of people who want salvation. They know they need a Savior. They say a prayer of salvation. They want not on their agenda.

We live in a society that wants comfort above all else, and we’re being. Our feathers are being ruffled right now because people are having to deal with, especially in the United States. They’ve gone from a place of comfort to a place of non-comfort. No comfort, displeasure, discomfort, and in that state we can kind of get caught up in the how do I make myself feel better? And if you are not, somebody who has determined to, whether it be through good circumstances or bad, serve Jesus Christ, no matter what it’s really.

You know marriage we’ve learned through scripture and the pattern of scripture that marriage is the picture. In fact, pastor Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Texas taught a beautiful message about this. But that marriage is the picture of what our relationship of God and his relationship to us should look like. And in our marriage vows we tend to make if you use traditional vows, we will say a vow that says, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death, do us part. And those vows are truly a picture of our relationship with God, that the covenant that we have with him should be, whether in comfort or not in comfort, whether I have abundance or I am in lack.

What did Paul say? He said that whether I have abounded or been abased, I have learned to be content. And so that should be in marriage. Yes, but that should be in our relationship with Jesus Christ as well.

And I say all of that to say that there is now also that’s one group of people. There’s another group of people and you may find yourself in this place right now where you’re doing everything you know to do to serve the Lord with all of your heart. Whether you’re doing ministry through your church, whether you have ministry and you’re in a place of leadership, whether you are raising a family and that’s what God has called you to right now whether you are working on the job and your call is to be a light in the darkness of the place that you work marketplace or home or ministry, doesn’t matter. Whatever your platform is, whatever your call is, whatever God has gifted you in because we’re all gifted with something. We’ve all been created in His image and then he has put eternity in our hearts there is something he wants us to accomplish. There’s purpose in every one of our lives and if we’re doing that, we tend.

This group of people can tend, and this is because the enemy knows that this is a tactic to attack God’s people but contend to come after God’s people in a way that we diminish what we’re doing, that we look at our failures and the places where we missed it and the places that we didn’t get it right and the places that were difficult and we thought we should have done it better. I wish I would have done it this way, I wish I wouldn’t have done that, I wish I wouldn’t have made that mistake. And we can’t go back and change those things. But the way that we look at ourselves and the way that we criticize ourselves. I’m not talking about for good growth. I’m talking about the tearing down of who we are, the diminishing of what we are able to do.

In those attacks from the enemy, we tend to wipe out our own self-confidence. In the word, by faith we wipe out not only our faith, but then it stops us and hinders us from going forward and doing what God called us to do, because we’re looking at our flesh, we’re not looking to Jesus, we’re not looking to the Father, and Peter did that walking on the water. We’ll talk about that later. But we have to be so careful that we do not allow the trick of the enemy to come in and undermine what is possible. Folks, without Jesus Christ it is not possible to live a holy, righteous life that produces good works for the kingdom of God. It’s just not possible without Jesus Christ. But with Christ, everything is possible. There is nothing that is not possible, and so the encouragement I want to bring to you today we’re going to be talking from two passages mainly. I’m going to give you a lot of different scripture references that I’ll hope you will write down, but out of Matthew 4.19 and Luke 5.1-11, mainly Luke 5, 1 through 11.

But I really want you to understand that you don’t have to worry that you haven’t done it perfect to this point. None of us is perfect. We are called to walk before him perfectly. Now, what does that mean? We need to walk before him in humility, in reliance on him, in reliance on the Holy Spirit, but not relying on our own ability, because we don’t have it in us to do. We fail sometimes, we blow it sometimes, but my encouragement to you today is that God is going to, no matter where you started, no matter where you are right now. If you’re starting right now, no matter what mistakes you’ve made, no matter where you’ve come from, no matter what your background is, no matter what sin you have come from, no matter what dirty, miry place you have gotten pulled out of, you’re going to make it and you are going to become all that God has called you to become. He will make you. He will make you.

And before I dive into the scriptures I wanted to give you, I looked these up and you can just Google these, and I should have given you the references that I looked these up, but you could Google these and find these on your own. I have four different people that I wanted to give you and you’ve heard of some of these before, I’m sure. But I wanted to remind you. Whether you’re in the workplace or whether you’re in ministry doesn’t matter. There is a process that we go through once saved. There is a process of sanctification, of becoming, and our failures so far do not define you. Your failure so far will not, cannot, does not define you. As long as you are relying on the Holy Spirit to take you where he’s going to take you, as long as you are following Jesus, then you are on the right track and you will get where you’re going. Okay, the first one. I wanted to give you a couple of these are these are just earthly people. We’re all just human. There’s no greater human. We’re all just humans born into a sinful world. Okay With gifts and talents and things to be used, so I’m going to give you some different ones. These first several are not. These were not Christians as we know, famous Christians, though a couple of them did know the Lord. One in particular definitely followed Christ, but I just wanted to give these to you.

Number one Michael Jordan. It is, and I’m just going to read what was said of him. It is very hard to believe. The man acclaimed as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Michael Jordan did not let this setback discourage him from playing the game, as he once said in a very popular ad I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. Now, if you only understand the failure, he’s leaving out all the details of all the successes, but what he means is he keeps up and goes after it and he continually works and he continually does it.

Ludwig von beethoven we’ve all heard of beethoven. His music is beyond beautiful and complex and difficult and he had lost his hearing to be able to compose under those circumstances. But I want to read you this In Beethoven’s developing years he was extremely awkward on the violin. He was also so busy working on his compositions that he often neglected to practice. Despite his deep love for music composition, most of his teachers felt he was hopeless and would never be successful in composing or with the violin. In fact, his music teacher actually told his parents he was too stupid to ever be a music composer. He was too stupid to ever be a music composer.

Thomas Edison I’m sure you’ve all heard this before the man who invented the light bulb, who also learned and invented other things but went through thousands of iterations to make his dream a reality. He failed over 10,000 times trying to invent a commercially viable electric bulb. At one point, when asked by a reporter whether he felt like a failure after so many failed attempts 10,000, he said I have not failed 10,000 times, I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. Boy, there’s so much there. When one have, when I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work. Now. There’s a whole lesson in that right there, that if you can understand that you learn from what does not work and you don’t repeat what does not work, you eventually find your way to what does work. Okay, so that means there is a not repeating of the mistakes of the past. Okay, this one is the one I wanted to get to, because this is somebody who I think we can all relate to, in that they were guilty in their sin and they needed Jesus to save them, to turn their life around, and this is not an example out of the Bible.

Okay, his name is Charles Coulson. He was known within the Nixon administration as the evil genius who served special counsel to President Richard Nixon, who masterminded ways to sabotage his opponents. In his own words, I’d walk over my own grandmother to re-elect Richard Nixon. Mr Colson was sentenced to prison for seven months in federal Maxwell prison for his involvement in the 1970s Watergate scandal on the charges of obstruction of justice Behind bars. He became a born-again Christian and became an evangelical Christian leader. He founded several impactful non-profit organizations, including Prison Fellowship Ministries, which was designed to bring a Bible study to prison inmates and their families. In 1983, he set up Justice Fellowship to develop the Bible-based criminal justice and prison reform. He found the Breakpoint radio show and Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which is a research and networking study center of growing Christians looking to defend the Christian worldview. The remaining of his life he dedicated to the rest of spreading sorry, the remaining of his life. He dedicates the rest of it to spreading the gospel. Now he’s passed now and he did do exactly that. So whether you were considered the evil genius and done prison time does not disqualify you from becoming, in Jesus Christ, all that he has designed for you and destined for you to do.

So I want us to look at this couple passages of scripture. The first one is Matthew 4.19. We’re all very familiar with this. This is when Jesus is calling his disciples, and you have to know that in each of the gospels we hear some of the same, a lot of the same material of Jesus, but it is spoken of in a different perspective and to a different group of people. So Matthew is speaking mainly to the Jewish community. And then we’re going to look at Luke, and Luke is doing a historical, more in-depth look, and so we’re going to hear more from him. But there is a key phrase that we need to hear the way that Matthew said it, and then also I’ll let you know of another place as well. But Matthew 4.19 says I’ll turn there with you. I’ll be flipping my Bible with you.

I’ll start with verse 18. While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, simon who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men. Now I want us to turn to Luke 5, and we’re going to read verses 1 through 11. This is a beautiful passage and I heard a message years ago preached, and in that message and I will never forget it and we’re going to talk I’ll just briefly talk about it. I won’t re-preach somebody else’s message, but I want you to picture this story. Don’t let me just read this to you, but I want you to see this event as it’s unfolding, because Luke does a beautiful job of giving us a much fuller picture of what we just read. What we read in Matthew was very concise and it was just the main points, just the main points, but it wasn’t the whole story, and so we’re going to read that here in Luke.

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him, jesus, to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret and he saw two boats by the lake but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. They were washing their nets, their nets. They were washing their nets, and what I heard preached about that was have you ever been in a position where you’ve come to the end and you’re just done? You’ve done all you know to do, all you know that can be done, and you’re trying to produce something and nothing has been produced and you’re just done. Well, you don’t wash nets unless you’re done. You’re done. And if they’re washing them, they’re not cleaning fish, something’s missing, something’s lacking, and these men are in a position of they’re fishermen, they got out of the boats and they’re just washing their nets. One passage says they were mending their nets, and you can be trying to. I know this might be a little flip of an example here, but it’s kind of like licking your wounds and washing the defeat off, if you know what I mean. But we’ll continue Getting into one of the boats we’re talking about Jesus, which was Simon’s, who is Peter.

He asked him to put out a little from the land and he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. And that in my Bible, and I’m sure it’s the same in yours, is an exclamation point. We worked and worked and worked. We gave all of our effort. We have been doing all we know to do. We did everything we could. We’ve got nothing to show for this effort. There aren’t any fish out there. Obviously there’s nothing to catch out there. We have no energy left. We were cleaning our nets. We’re done with this today. There’s nothing that we can accomplish if we keep going. We’re just at the end. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt that way, but these men, they were in a hard moment here.

Yet Jesus does nothing by coincidence. Everything he does is with purpose, everything that he says, everywhere he goes. He told us he did nothing without first hearing the Father speaking to him and telling him what to do. He saw what God wanted him to see and go do. And so he picked this day on purpose. He picked those boats. On this day on purpose, jesus shows up at the point of their misery and their failure. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Is Jesus asking you don’t give up, do it again. Get up, keep going. Is he giving you an instruction? You think I’ve done that before. It didn’t work last time. And Simon answered Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets.

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them and they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. Now I want you to get a picture of this, because these were not little dinghy boats Now they aren’t full-size sailing boats, but they are decent size fishing boats. And these men have their boats that are so filled with fish that the boats are literally sinking from the plenty that they have got. This one, I think it’s the King James says, a draught. It’s so much. Just think of the boats. Just picture them piled so heavy with fish, that the boats are literally sinking.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying depart from me, for I am a sinful man, o Lord. Peter is saying God, you’re blessing me and I don’t deserve this. You’re having mercy on me. You’re doing something for a man who has blown it. I don’t deserve you to bless me today. I don’t deserve you saving me from not having the finances in my business to pay my bills and to bless me like this. I haven’t done things right. You don’t know what I’ve done. I mean, he’s wrapped himself down at his knees. Depart from me, I am a sinful man, o Lord.

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon do not be afraid, jesus isn’t here to condemn you. What did he tell us in another passage? I did not come into the world to condemn the world. He came to save the world. Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men. Now get this, because so many leave this out. This is an amazing verse this.

Peter had such an encounter with Jesus this day and so encountered the power of God this day, the convicting power of God. Because he was convicted here, he was blessed. Doesn’t scripture tell us that it is his kindness that leads us to repentance? And God was so kind that day, jesus bestowed so much kindness on Peter that day that Peter was convicted in his spirit about the life he was living. And listen to what Peter says, or what they did, sorry, verse 11. And when they had brought their boats to land, their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Now, that is an epiphanal moment because Peter, in that moment, he has just made the catch of a lifetime, more money than they’re going to know what to do with from the catch that is sinking their boats. Their business is booming, it is absolutely booming this day by the power of God touching it. But Peter is so touched James and John as well. But they are so touched and so changed in their spirit by this encounter with Jesus that when they bring those sinking boats filled with fish to land, they leave everything behind to follow him. Just think about that for a moment. They leave everything behind to follow him. That’s amazing, that is truly amazing.

These men understood in that moment the power of God is real, so real, and it affected them so personally in the things that mattered to them. These men had to provide for their families. This was their trade. These were not Pharisees, these were not scribes, these were not men who were making their lives in the temple. Making their lives in the temple. These men were out working and they were dealing with real life stuff, and they still had a lot of. You know, this is the pivotal moment. They’re going to follow Jesus, they’re going to be his disciples. They end up being the men that God chose to literally turn the world upside down. They went from living lives for themselves to bearing their cross and following him, dying all of them, except for John a martyr’s death. Though John greatly suffered, he just didn’t die the martyr’s death, he suffered. Anyway, they all suffered greatly, they all carried a cross and that encounter put them on the road to become, to become.

In the Aramaic Bible, the passage in Matthew that says that I’m going to make you fishers of men. I’m going to make you fishers of men. The word is actually I will make you to become. I know you’re not that right now. Jesus says I know, I know who you are. Right now you could be like Charles Coulson and be in a prison and have the title of evil genius, but I am going to make you to become Folks. You need to take that for your encouragement today. You may not be where you want to be yet, but you are in Jesus’s hands and in his process of making you to become. You aren’t going to be this way forever. You will become. He is faithful to complete his work. He will finish what he started. Scripture tells us he will do that. He will do that. You don’t have to fear. That’s what Jesus was telling Peter. Don’t be afraid. I know, I know your sins. I know where you come from. I know the mistakes you’ve made. But that’s not who you are. You’re made in my image and I will make you To become. What’s the caveat? You have to follow me.

They left everything to follow him. Now, leaving everything meant they just left the biggest blessing that they ever received, which means they knew that they were not. It wasn’t the. This is the same thing about people who have wealth, and either wealth can have you or you can have wealth. If you have wealth, then that means you’re a good steward. You know how to deal with money. Money doesn’t have you. But if you look at people for instance the statistics for people who have won the lottery they’re usually completely in debt and devastated after they win because they have no ability to steward the money they’ve been given and it is wasted and dwindled very quickly and the state that they end up in is usually worse than the state they began in when they received that blessing.

And here these men understood you don’t chase the blessing, you chase the one who gives the blessing, you chase that one. So we follow Jesus. We don’t follow his blessing, we follow him. The blessings will be there, the needs will be met. I mean, think about it. Pretty soon. In scripture we see that Jesus goes to Peter’s house and his mother-in-law is sick and Jesus heals her. Well, you can’t buy that. You need the one who makes the way. You don’t just need the means, you need the one who makes the way. You need Jesus. But in having him, in following him, you will get to where you’re going. You will become what he’s destined you to become.

I wrote down some things and I’m not going to read every one of these scriptures. I’m going to give you the scripture references, but I wanted to give these to you because in their becoming there was a system, I guess or at least it seems that way the way that Matthew wrote it. He wrote the book of Matthew in a beautiful way. It’s almost written like a manual. He takes us and he gives us in each portion of scripture kind of the next steps, the next steps, and he groups them all together beautifully so we can see all of those things in a way that’s easy to understand. That kind of unfolds itself, and so I wanted to give this to you. So if you’re taking notes and I encourage you to do that if you look through Matthew’s gospel, we’re going to see a pattern, and I wrote down six different things that we will see through the chapters in Matthew, almost in a succession of how they became, how Jesus took them, from their beginnings, from their lost in sin state, through the process of becoming Okay.

So we can take this and use this for us too. We can learn from what they learned from, and the very first thing was we see that the first in Matthew anyway, the very first things we see is that Jesus goes onto the mountain, teaches the Beatitudes. So the very first thing was that he taught his disciples the Bible. He taught them the Torah. Thing was that he taught his disciples the Bible, he taught them the Torah.

And he had to correct some old thinking, some wrong thinking, because Jesus was constantly telling them and saying you’ve heard it said, but I say to you so, during this process he was saying you’ve been taught all this time but you’re missing the real depth of what’s here to be taught and learned and that in the Beatitudes it was all about expressing. It’s not just these outward things that you do that matters, it’s the inside. Take it to the next level. Don’t just not do the act but correct the attitude behind the act, correct your spirit, your character. And so Jesus really works through this and you’ll see that in Matthew, chapter 5, all through chapter 5 are the Beatitudes, and so especially the ones where he’s confronting old mindsets. And again, I’m not going to take the time to read those all to you, but I want you to be able to write those down.

Second, jesus taught them in Matthew chapter this is chapter seven and chapter eight, and this coincides with Torah and learning the Bible and what they’ve been taught of the scripture, but Jesus gave them the beware. Beware of the traditions of men, because this was their religiosity. The traditions of men were things that God did not ordain. This was just the way they did it. This was the way men interpreted and then placed rules and regulations on them, and Jesus, over and over, had to say beware whether it was the leaven of the Pharisees, beware of what they had taught you, beware of the traditions. The bewares are in there.

So in our becoming, we not only need to learn the word of God, we also need to have our eyes wide open and beware that we’re not just believing things that people have said or people have done. We need to be like the Bereans. We need to get into scripture. Is this biblical? Is this really what God said? Is this really the way that God asked us to do this and become real students of the word, so that we are not trapped in things that are well.

The indictment against the Pharisees is that you put on and to the lawyers of the day too but that you put on heavy burdens that you yourself don’t carry, and so we don’t want to be weighted under unnecessary heavy burdens, religiously speaking, but we also don’t want to put things on others and expectations on others that God hasn’t put on them. If you think about it, especially the story of the Sabbath day, when they came after Jesus for his disciples eating on the Sabbath and plucking the heads of grain, and Jesus is saying listen, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Do we honor the Sabbath? Yes, but that is the letter of the law kills. It’s the spirit that gives life. Do I do good? Jesus corrected him. Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath? Well, it’s to do good, and so we have to understand that. Yes, there are laws, there are things we need to do according to scripture, but I also need to understand that Jesus is a compassionate God who doesn’t not follow scripture, but that he follows it in the way it was intended, and so we need to be careful that we follow his instructions the way he intended, not just the way man has interpreted that and the way man says it. Okay, but that takes knowing the word. That takes knowing the word. You can’t know that without the Holy Spirit and the word.

Then, if we move to the next section of scripture, in Matthew chapter 10, we see that Jesus is teaching them what we call mission. Okay, these are go and heal the sick. In fact, the scripture I do want to read this one to you let’s go to Matthew, chapter 10, because this is really good. This encouraged me, because today’s about encouragement for you. This encouraged me Matthew, chapter 10. In fact, I’m going to read you a couple things right here, A couple of different headings in here.

Verse 1. And he called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. This is Jesus commanding his disciples. So he’s taught them the word, he’s taught them what they need to be wary of. And he’s saying okay, now, this is your mission, now that you have word in you and you know that you need to be discerning and you need to be doing this in the attitudes and in the mindset that God has not. That’s why Peter was corrected later, because he said you have things of man in mind, not the things of God. We have to have the things of God in mind. So, now that you have that, now that you know that here is your mission, this is what I’m calling you to. Okay. Then, if I jump to verse 16, it says behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves loves. Okay.

So he’s saying you’re going to suffer persecution, you’re going to be dealing with very difficult things and people coming against you and people saying negative things and hindrances that will come your way. So in your mission, just be aware of this and that doesn’t mean that you did something wrong. If you’re suffering persecution, it doesn’t mean you did something wrong. You could be on mission and suffer persecution. You can be on mission and be dealing with all kinds of resistance and people trying to stop you and ugly. Just try to put on social media.

You know scripture and stories that tell the truth. Talk about life versus death and giving babies the opportunity to live and not aborting them. Just try to talk about that and see what happens. Just try to say what the Bible says, that we were created male and female, and see what kind of persecution and opposition that comes. Well, we’re on mission by saying it. We’re on mission and the persecution will come, but Jesus gives us encouragement in verse 26. So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden, that will not be known.

What I tell you in the dark, say in the light and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. Jesus is saying don’t back down, don’t be afraid of that persecution. Stand up, say what I’ve said, declare what I’ve told you to say. Don’t be someone who lights their candle and hides it under a bushel. My word is meant to spread the light, to say it, to proclaim it, and the promise to that is so.

Everyone who acknowledges me before men this is verse 32, I also will acknowledge before my Father, who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. And this is when Jesus says listen, don’t misunderstand peace. Are we to be those who bring peace? Yes, jesus said. When you walk into a house and you’re taking the gospel out, and you go into a house, you bring your peace. If that person is rightfully accepting your visit and the words that you have to say and accepts what you’ve said, then that peace will stay with them so we were and accepts what you’ve said, then that peace will stay with them. So we are deliverers of his peace. However, jesus did not come with a message that would bring peace, because those who don’t want to hear it will fight against it. They have a violence against it. Okay, so let’s look at verse. Let’s see 38.

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. This goes to what I said at the very beginning we have to be those who understand. To follow Jesus means I leave everything behind to follow him. I leave behind whatever security that I am relying on, because he is now my security. I leave behind whatever things that tie me to the world. Instead of saying I seek you first, I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Then all of these things will be added to me.

I have to pick up my cross. I have to forego the peace of not having people upset with me. If you’re a people pleaser and trust me, I have fought this battle. If you are someone who doesn’t like people to be upset, you’re somebody who doesn’t like confrontation, you’re somebody who you know it unnerves you when someone’s upset and you see that the waters are no longer peaceful and waves are splashing and people are getting wet. We have to know that’s part of being mature Christians. We have to learn to accept it and to deal with it and know that it’s part of the process, and not be afraid of it, but to stand to stand.

So let’s look at what this verse says Verse 41, I’m sorry, let’s read that again. Verse 38, whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Will find it, and then he gives rewards. Whoever receives you receives me. Whoever receives me receives him. Who sent me? The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water, because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

We need to know the word, we need to beware and be those of discernment, and we need to be on mission, on purpose, not afraid what’s the next. The next thing is we need to understand what the spiritual kingdom is like. This is what Jesus did In Matthew, chapter 13, the entire chapter. Jesus gives examples, through the parables of what it is to understand how the kingdom of God is run. We are now a part of his kingdom. How does God run his kingdom? What is expected of me in this kingdom? How do I treat others in this kingdom? All of that is in Matthew 13. And again, I’m not going to read all those parables to you, but you need to go back through there and look at those.

The kingdom of God is like Jesus continually said. What can I attribute this to in the kingdom? This is the way we do it in the kingdom and we are those who learn how to be stewards in the kingdom. We understand that we are to multiply in the kingdom, that we are not to hide our gifts and talents, that we are to have faith, and it grows. These are all the lessons that Jesus taught them. And if these disciples, if it was necessary for them to understand this, to be able to do what God is calling them to become, what he is making them to become, because he’s doing the work we’re taking and following the instruction. We are learning his ways. We are implementing what he’s teaching us. We are following his example. We are implementing what he’s teaching us. We are following his example. We are doing what he tells us we will become. He’s doing that in us, through his word, through our relationship with him, through our following. But this is what we have to learn and understand. So it’s prudent for us to go into the word and say, okay, if this is how it works in the kingdom, this is what I need to do.

The next thing is shepherding a community. He teaches his disciples how to deal with the community of believers. How am I to be a part of this whole thing? We find all of that in Matthew, chapter 18. This is all about shepherding, and it doesn’t just mean being a pastor. We have to know how to live with one another as Christians, and this is how we have to do it. And then the last thing he teaches them in the book of Matthew Now I’m leaving out, and that’s a study for another day, but that’s before they are sent out when he ascends, he says you need power.

So while he was with them on the earth, the Holy Spirit had not been given. Yet Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit. So they are following and doing everything he tells them to do. They go, they heal the sick, they deliver from demons. They do what he tells them to do. They spread the gospel is sick. They deliver from demons. They do what he tells them to do. They spread the gospel. Now Jesus is physically leaving and he says now that I’m not here and you’re not relying on me and the spirit here, you need the Holy Spirit yourself. So I’m not talking about that in this particular passage of your becoming. You need that. I’m just giving you what we see in the book of Matthew, but that’s also we have to become. Part of our becoming is we now have received Jesus. We need to be living and active by the power of the Holy Spirit, because that is our becoming. But anyway, the last one, the sixth thing that he showed them, and this is in Matthew 24. This was all about judgment, the judgment of God, teaching them how God will judge what that will look like on this earth for their generation and for the future and his second coming. So it’s important for us to know all of that.

If you’re somebody who thinks, well, I really don’t understand all of that stuff. You know it can be confusing and difficult to understand and the scholars disagree. It’s not like there’s one train of thought. I get it. I know that there’s confusing things in there, but I still need to read what his word says and rely on the fact that if the Holy Spirit wants me to know something, he will show it to me in scripture, and I have to be faithful to stay in his word and understand that he is a God who will judge. Jesus didn’t come to judge, but there is coming a judgment. There is coming a judgment. I need to know what that is. I need to understand that facet of God. I need to know that he’s not just the love God, he’s not the God of the 60s, he’s not a love child. He loves, and everything that he loves he says I correct, I discipline all those that I love. If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be mine. A father corrects his children. So we have to know there is a God who gives us commands, who trains us and raises us up, who corrects us and disciplines us and all the while loves us more than anybody could even understand love. He is all of those things and we have to understand all of those facets and receive all of that teaching, that training, that discipleship, that correction in our becoming, in our becoming. Now again, remember we’ve read the passage in Luke.

Peter thought that the mistakes and the disciplining that he thought he needed were disqualifiers. They do not disqualify you, disqualifiers. They do not disqualify you. They do not disqualify you. In fact, everybody starts from this place of needing him to save us. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all need his salvation. We all need Jesus, our Savior. So there’s not one of us who can stand over someone else and say that I am more qualified than you. I am not more qualified than you. You are not more qualified than I. We are at the same place, at the foot of the cross, at Jesus’ feet, wrapping our hands, like Peter, around his knees, and saying oh, oh, lord, I’m not worthy, and it’s by his power and his mercy that he bends down and picks us up and says I will make you to become. Let me do that work in you. It is my surrender that allows him to make me, Instead of me saying I’m going to make something of myself. No, I’m going to allow Jesus to make something of me. I’m not going to make myself anything. I’m going to let my Savior make me to become Okay. So those are the six things Jesus teaches them.

I’m going to finish up with giving you some scriptures and reminding you of all the failures that the disciples and mainly Peter. I love Peter for this reason, because we just know more about Peter. Peter was the most vocal, he was the most active, he was the one who we know the most about, and so he gives us a picture for all of us to easily relate to in some form or fashion. And so I wanted to list these for you and give you scripture references for them, so that you can look at all the ways, just like how Michael Jordan says I failed all of these times. How many times did he say thousands of times? He says 9,000 shots he missed. Okay, if you identify with the missed shots, with the failures, with the lost games and the missed opportunities and you identify with Peter’s mistakes, you can know God will make you to become. Look who Peter became. Jesus said on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And folks, peter was the leader of the church. When Jesus left, peter was the leader of the church. He wasn’t the only leader, but we had Paul who came even after and during that shared time, but he was the lead apostle of the church. He was the lead apostle of the church. So let’s look at these.

Jesus had to correct his disciples because they did not understand the teachings he was giving you here. I said that he taught them all of the Beatitudes. He taught them the parables about the kingdom. And Jesus had to correct his disciples. In Matthew 15, verse 16, he corrects his disciples because they don’t understand the parable. I mean, he tells them if you don’t understand this, how are you going to understand anything I teach you? He was frustrated. He’s like come on, I need you to put more effort into this. This is part of his correction. He would correct them, he would expect more of them. Don’t be surprised if God says I expect more from you. But, lord, that’s hard, that hurts.

Yeah, pick up your cross and follow me. I will help you to become. I will help you to carry. What does he tell us? He says take my yoke upon you, for my burden is easy, it’s light. You can carry this because I will be there with you. I’m the one carrying the load, I’m the one causing you to become. It is me, my help, my grace, my mercy, my open doors, my persuasion, my ability, my connections. He is the source and he will cause you to become so if he tells you like he told these disciples before. They were even his disciples. I know you toiled all night long. Put your nets in the water again. Let’s get back out there in the deep water again. Let’s do it again.

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Okay, number two Matthew, chapter 16. They misinterpret Jesus’s words. Boy, that’s encouraging for me because if I’ve ever said anything, and Lord forgive me and cause me to know where if I am misrepresenting your words. This is easy to do. You can read a scripture and not truly understand it. The Pharisees didn’t understand the scripture and they were all the teachers. I mean, come on, I’m sure most pastors cringe when they look back at their first messages that they preached and they think, oh my gosh, I can’t believe I said that, or I got that wrong, or I didn’t have the right meaning or I didn’t understand what that word meant. It’s so easy to do and it’s not a disqualifier, but we have to get it right. We have to get it right and Jesus corrected them. You’re misrepresenting me. You got to get it right and Jesus will make sure that we get it right.

Okay, the next one I have is in Mark, chapter 10, verse 13. And this is when Jesus has to correct his disciples, the children. The parents are wanting the children to come up to Jesus and he wants that. They want him to lay his hands on his kids and bless their kids. And the disciples are like get the kids away, keep them away. He’s trying to hinder the children from coming and Jesus has to correct them. No, that’s not right. The kingdom of God is you have to be like this, you have to be like a child. Bring these kids to me. You’ve got it backwards. The kingdom doesn’t work like that. Let’s get this right. Okay, so these are all corrections. Okay, all of these things are there.

I’ll say it this way as disciples, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re going to fall, but this is what the marker of a disciple is A disciple falls forward, disciples fall forward. You probably heard that before. I’m not the creator of that statement Disciples fall forward. If we go to Matthew, chapter 14, verse 22, we see that where Peter’s faith totally wavers Okay, all the disciples in the boat, their faith is wavering, but Peter is out on the water, walking on the water and his faith fails him while he’s doing a supernatural, miraculous deed by walking on water to Jesus and his faith failed. Okay, that’s, that’s a hard failure.

You could be in the peak of ministry doing amazing things and have a lapse of faith and get your eyes off Jesus and start looking at all the issues and all the things you need to carry and how difficult. It is. Our pastor, pastor Jensen Franklin, always talks about how he has so many responsibilities with all the different ministries and the things that they oversee all over the world not just here, not just the church all over the world, and the finances and all the people that he’s technically, spiritually responsible for, and he feels so unqualified. He’s just a man and he’s very humble and he’ll just say it’s like it can be overwhelming and there’s times when it has gotten so hard and the battles he’s fighting are so difficult that he’s wanted to quit. You get your eyes on the problems and you’re surrounded by them and they’re hitting you. The waves are pounding you in the face like they did Peter, and you start to think I can’t do this anymore. You are not by yourself. You are not alone when you feel that this is something disciples battle. You’re not disqualified. This is you’re not disqualified. You’re not disqualified. Child of God he’s making you to become and he will get you there. Get your eyes back on Jesus. You’ll make it back to the boat. Get your eyes back on Jesus.

The fourth thing I have written down. Sorry. The fifth thing is in Mark 9, verse 33. It’s also in Mark 10, verse 35, and again in Luke 22, verse 24. But we see that these disciples kind of get a little full of themselves and start liking the position and the power and they start vying for position and debating amongst themselves and arguing amongst themselves who’s the greatest? I mean pride. Pride is a battle. Pride is a battle. And thinking that being in the kingdom means that it matters what position you are in the kingdom and that you think you’re in competition with others. All of that is wrong. All of the disciples were a part of this mess and Jesus had to correct them. It did not disqualify them Okay, it did not disqualify them.

Peter blurts out inappropriately we see that in Matthew, chapter 17, verse four, and in Mark, chapter nine, verse five. He blurts out inappropriately Open mouth, insert foot. I’m sure we’ve all done it at some point. It does not disqualify us. We might be embarrassed, for sure, but it doesn’t disqualify us. You are becoming. You are becoming and, like the example of Thomas Edison, we learn from our mistakes. Don’t put your foot in your mouth again. Let’s think twice. Let’s move a little slower. Think a little wiser. Put our discernment into use. Remember what Jesus said If we don’t know what to do, slow down. You’ve got one mouth, as they say, and two ears. Listen longer, speak slower, okay, the next thing Peter spoke for Jesus. He spoke for Jesus before asking what he should say. This is in Matthew 17, 24.

You don’t speak for Jesus. I don’t get to pretend that I know exactly what he would have me to say before asking him. I do not the sin of presumption Boy, and I’m sure we have all kind of done this at some point without realizing what it was. But we just presume we’re right, that we know what we should do. Spiritually speaking. We kind of have this pious, righteous attitude and it has to be corrected. But it doesn’t disqualify us If we look at I’ve got, we’re on number eight, we’ve got 13 and I’ll close.

Peter tries to correct Jesus in Matthew 16, 23. This is where Jesus has to say get thee behind me, satan. You have not the kingdom of God in mind, you’ve got man in mind. You have not set your mind on spiritual things. You’re wrong about this. You’re aiming at the wrong target. You care about things you shouldn’t care about, and this is important for us to know, because we can be caring about the world, the flesh and our comfort, and God says don’t, that’s not what we care about. You care about the kingdom, you care about the mission.

Number nine Peter resists Jesus washing his feet in John 13, 8. He corrects it, of course, but he has to be corrected. They fall asleep during Jesus’s need, when he’s in the Gethsemane preparing for the most difficult day of his whole mission here on earth, and that’s in Matthew 26, 40 and in Luke 22, 45. They fall asleep on the job. There’s a lot there too. But number 11, they deny Jesus and they desert him when he’s arrested Matthew 26, 74. Number 12, they return to their old life and profession. They kind of throw in the towel on this ministry thing. In John 21, 3, peter says I’m going fishing and the guys go, I’m going with you. And the last one, number 13, peter falls to pharisaic pressure and the law in Galatians 2.11. And that was even after receiving the Holy Spirit.

So, folks, I give you all of those examples so that you are encouraged. Today you are not disqualified, you are, even if you’re being corrected right now, you are in the right place, in his hands. We have to pick up our cross. We need to leave all and follow him, but he is making you to become and he will get you to your destination, you will do what he’s called you to do and you will finish what he’s called you to finish.

Let me pray for you, father. We just come before you knowing that you are our savior, you’re our security, you’re our strong tower. We run to you and we are safe, and though without you, we are completely incapable and unable, we know that we are sinners and we have no way of coming to you in conscience and saying that we’re worthy of anything that you would use us for or how you would bless us and forgive us and make us into something beautiful for your kingdom. But you said you would, and so we are so grateful today that you have looked past our sin and forgiven us and thrown our sin into the sea of forgetfulness, never to be remembered against us anymore, and that, as we are falling in this following, we are falling forward and we are still following you, and you will give us the grace and you will be good to us and discipline us and you will strengthen us. And you will be good to us and discipline us, and you will strengthen us and you will be merciful to us, you will bless us and you will give us the authority we need. You will open doors we need opened. You will make the way straight that we need made. You have been so faithful to us, Lord, and I’m so grateful.

Lord, I pray for your people today. May they find encouragement in your word. May they find themselves always in your word, in conversation and prayer with you, understanding your kingdom and your ways and being safe in your very capable hands. Lord, may they receive a blessing today. May they be encouraged to let out into the deep again, to not feel that they can no longer do it. But at your word, they will do it and they will receive a bountiful reward. We give you all the thanks and all the praise in Jesus’ name, amen, amen. Thank you so much for joining me today. I really pray this was an encouragement to you. If it was, I’m asking you to hit that little thumbs up, give me a like and even a share. If you know someone that needs this encouragement, send it to them, send them the link, tell them where to find some encouragement today. And let’s be the body of Christ, loving one another, encouraging one another as we are encouraged in Christ. Thank you again for watching. We’ll see you next time.

Transcribed by https://podium.page