In those days He departed to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God

You are a member of the household of God by your faith in Christ Jesus. You have become an exclusive member of a right given to us by the death of our Savior Jesus Christ Who as Paul puts it is the “capstone” of the foundation of all Christian followers. I spoke to a friend last night who recently attended a retreat called “A Walk to Emmaus” where she described a peace had settled over her after experiencing the weekend. I believe this peace she felt was a relationship she developed with Christ Himself and is the reason why we read our bible, pray unceasingly and proclaim with confidence. Everyone is growing “into a temple sacred in the Lord; in Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:21-22 Trust in the Lord with everything and experience the Spirit of the Lord’s grace. Loving your love of Christ gives you the right to become an exclusive member of His House of Faith, Hope, Charity and Love where all sin has been wiped clean from the Blood of the Lamb.

Luke describes the naming of the Apostles after Christ proclaims He is the Lord of the Sabbath and healing the man with a deformed hand before going to pray on the mountain. One by one He called each for a predestined purpose including Judas Iscariot who would betray Him by handing Him over for mere silver. I try to remind people Jesus is God Who knew before hand Judas would betray Him and He used Him as a part of His Plan for Humanity’s saving grace. How do you fit in the world of apostleship? We are all called by God to not become boastful in ourselves but to boast in the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 1:27-31, Paul explains we should “consider y(our) own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. It is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, Who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

And so we pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we accept Your calling from us to be Apostles of Your Son’s Truth. Help us to see His Love in everything we do. Teach us to be faithful never to boast but in the Lord’s love. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.