The disciples argue about who is the greatest

The disciples argue about who would be the greatest.

Mark 9:33-37 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else. Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” This is an interesting scripture and is important to us today. Jesus had to remind the disciples that it is not about how important or great we are. He says if you want to be great, be the least and serve everyone else. And don’t look down on anyone and welcome everyone, love everyone, and teach everyone about him. It’s about a relationship with Jesus and serving and helping the kingdom grow. It is not about who does more or who’s the best and we are not in competition with each other. Look, there is nothing wrong with using your gifts to help others and the church and being fruitful and have zeal and want to please the Lord. It talks about using your gifts and what the Lord has given each of us in Matthew 25:14-30. This is a serious scripture and we will be judged for how we used all that God has given us. The apostle Paul took the work he did for the Lord very seriously and it’s amazing all he did and how hard he worked. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ‘Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.’ They had athletic games where people competed every 5 years in Corinth. I think Paul is saying to the church in Corinth look I train harder and longer to become like Jesus and do the work he has given me for the kingdom then these guys in these games do and so should you. I like this translation because it uses the word temperate in all things meaning you have your desires and passions under control. It’s not just running the race to win or doing good, it’s how you run the race. You’re not like a wild animal running around just thinking about yourself and how much you can have and do. You are doing your best to glorify God and to help others with the love from God and the Holy Spirit in you. 2 Timothy 1:7, ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.’ This next line is a quote I picked up from a study a while back that I thought was good: ‘The disciples fell into the same trap of getting so "busy" with running the operation of "The Way" and competing for a higher place in heaven that they forgot why they were chosen in the first place’. I think it is easy to take what the Lord gives and the zeal and power from the Holy Spirit and end up forgetting what the most important thing is and end up maybe hurting people. Galatians 5:15 ‘If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.’  Honestly, I think I will be hurt and as bad as I don’t want to, I will probably end up hurting someone. But here is the big thing for me after writing this; we are all different with different experiences.  In my past, from 1^st grade to probably around 2005, being 40 then, I was always in very competitive situations. I was in athletics and then owned a business and was taught by the world how to compete. I didn’t know the Lord until 2003 and didn’t know God’s word, so I was taught at an early age if you don’t win you loose. And there is no prize or pats on the back or not many second chances if you loose. That’s what the world teaches and how it trains people and our kids to be. But the Lord had started stripping me of this way and attitude way before I came to him.  It was quite painful because I didn’t have an understanding of why things were happening to me like they were till about 10 years later when I accepted Jesus and started reading God’s word. When I came to the Lord I was very tired of this way and being like I was and he changed me. I am very different person in this area than I was before, completely different. I was a very competitive person in all I did and it was hard on me and a lot of people. I am far from what I hope to be and have a long way to go, but I am very thankful and grateful to the Lord for this change in my life. So I have no excuses not to understand this teaching because of my past and what the Lord has done and taught me and he will hold me accountable. Luke 12:47-48 ‘And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn't prepared and doesn't carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.’  When a person comes to the Lord, the last thing a person wants to see is people competing with each other about who is the greatest, the best leader, or who is more fruitful. They have had that shoved down their throat their whole life from the world. They need love and a place to heal and learn about the Lord. The kingdom, church, or body of Christ is a special place where everyone is loved by the Lord and everyone is valuable and needed. The church is held to a higher standard, it is responsible to the teaching of the Lord and God’s word. It’s not just about a good performance and running a race it’s about how we run, how we love and treat others, how we live by these examples. Romans 12:2 ‘Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.’ John 13: 34-35 “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Humility

I wanted to write about the importance of humility in our walk with the Lord. I still feel I have a long way to go so I know I will have even a deeper understanding of humility as I mature and grow and learn through trials and experiences. But for me I was always seen as a humble person as early as I can remember. After I turned 19 I lost my dad and moved from all my friends in Mo. to Az. He was a great example of this in my life he was a very humble person. I didn't know the Lord so the further I got away from this example the worse it got for me. I learned how to make money and was learning some teaching from the world from age 19 to 30 that was not good. There are no words to explain how awesome of a teacher the Lord is but the world and Satan is a very bad messed up deceiving teacher. So the Lord has been my teacher for the last 8 years and it is a process. Like my brother said a guy told him one day, your life is sort a like a twisted up garden hose you have spent your whole life messing up so humble yourself to your master and give him time to untwist you and straighten you out. Ha I thought that was great and true, it takes time and is a process. But for me I'm thankful for that time 19 to 30  for a lot of reasons but the main reason is I finally came to the end of my self broken and humbled myself before the Lord and asked him for help. Jeremiah 29:13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. So for me the beginning of understanding life and my purpose and why I'm here was finding my true Father, the Lord and having him teach me. It starts by getting yourself out of the way and knowing there is a powerful mighty God who made all this and is in charge and you need him.  It is a completely different understanding of things and way of life then what you learn from the world. When you accept Jesus you are reborn spiritually and you have God and his ways and character and heart inside of you teaching you and changing you. You have the Holy Spirit in you and the fruits of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. I want to use 4 scriptures in God's word to show how important humility is and examples of 2 people in the bible. The opposite of humility is pride, Satan became prideful and God hates pride, I'm pretty sure it gets in the way of our relationship with God. James 4:5 ‘But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Humility to me is you know you need God and are dependent on him and you also know you need others in the church or body of Christ. God gives his strength and grace to the humble. The world and Satan will teach you and your flesh will tell you this is a weakness. When you are humble and meek and God's strength and love is in you it is no comparison to that of the world or your own, that I can tell you with all my heart I have experienced both. Ephesians 4:2-3 ‘With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.' I love this chapter and read it a lot it talks about being humble and patient with each other and being unified with in the Spirit of God. Loving, helping, equipping, teaching each other so the church will be healthy and full of love and everyone plays a part. But the chapter starts with being humble, gentle, patient, and forgiving.  Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” We are all going to go through very hard things in life and our walk with the Lord. Jesus says in this scripture to come to him with these burdens and we can find rest, his yoke is easy and he will teach us. It says he is humble and gentle. We know that Jesus was humble and was dependent on God for everything he needed and did but he wasn't weak by any means. If your a man and you think men in the church are weak or a godly man is weak come and accept Jesus and walk with the Lord. You will soon discover that being a Godly man and leading your family and becoming like Jesus takes a real man and is hard. You will have a different understanding of what being a man is and a new understanding of what humility is. Isaiah 66:1-2 ‘This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.' This is a very humbling scripture for me. He is reminding us who he is, the maker, creator and life giver of everything and everyone. It reminds me that we serve, help, and love each other because of our love from God. But to humble myself and desire to know God and have relationship with him is the most important thing we do in our day everyday. Like God says in Exodus 34:14 I'm a jealous God about my relationship with you. In other words I'm the one who builds everything, not you, I want to know you and love you and have a relationship with you. There is nothing we will ever do or have that will compare to our relationship with the Lord. The 2 men I want to look at in the Word is Moses and the apostle Paul. They both had this amazing relationship with the Lord and I think humility played a big part. Numbers 12:3 & 6-8 (Now Moses was very humble--more humble than any other person on earth.) And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say: “If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams.  But not with my servant Moses.  Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the Lord as he is.' It says that Moses was more humble than anyone and God spoke to him face to face.’ Moses had a very close relationship with the Lord. Remember back in Exodus 33:12-23 Moses is talking to the Lord about the responsibility given to him to lead over a million of God's people to the promise land and Moses is asking God not to send him if he is not going with them because they would die. Moses was in a very humbling place where he was very dependent on the Lord. The in verses 18-23 Moses asked to see his glorious presence and God didn't let him look at his face, no one has ever seen God but he let Moses see him from behind. Paul is another great example of humility, the story of his conversion, when he started believing in Christ is in Acts chapter 9. After his conversion he went to Arabia for a length of time to spend with the Lord, some say 3 years. Galatians 1:15-17 ‘But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. ‘Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me, so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.' Then in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 it says that Paul was caught up to the 3rd heaven by the Lord and given visions and revelations and seen paradise things he couldn't put into words. Then in verses 7-10 ‘even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. 'So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.' Paul's story and past and how God used him and the relationship he had with the Lord is amazing. It also showed how much Paul was given from the Lord and Paul also was put in place of great humility and a place where he was very dependent on the Lord. This really reminds me how important humility is in our relationship with the Lord and am I going to open my heart and give God full access to my life and allow him to work in me and take to a place where I am humble and very dependent on him. Reading, writing, and learning about these things is important but doing is the hard part. Pride will destroy a relationship with the Lord and cause division in the church, the body of Christ. Humility will restore or bring one closer in a relationship with the Lord and bring love, life and unity to the body of Christ.

Seeing and growing

Previously, we talked about dying to ourselves. God is always teaching us so I wanted to share how he taught me through a string of events.  When God wants to show me something he usually does so by multiple teachings or times.   I guess he sort of keeps showing it to me in different ways.  Maybe through his word, devotionals, people, God can use anything or setting to teach you something.  I had been wearing these old glasses with scratches on them for a while so for my birthday I received a gift certificate for new glasses.  I was excited to get better glasses to see, the scratches were annoying me.  I went and picked out frames and after the eye exam they told me I needed bifocals.  They told me I could go with the line or the progressive, the 3 dimensional ‘deal’.  Ha, so I went with neither and got my glasses right away, but I had this area where I couldn’t see 2 to 4 feet in front of me very well with or without my glasses.  So after awhile I thought man how annoying is this and I just spent 300 dollars.  I finally decided to go back and get the progressive.  It took two more weeks and when I went to pick them up I was excited, they explained that my eyes would have to adjust for a while, up to 2 months.  I said, great all I’ve been through, how hard could it be to get used to.  It was a little harder then I thought at first, every time I moved my eyes it was blurry.  After about 4 to 6 weeks it got better but was starting to hurt my eyes and head and I was beginning to think it wasn’t going to end.  Then finally after about 2 months, it’s pretty much all gone and I can see.  About 2 weeks after I started with the progressive I was studying this devotional on truth based on scripture John 8:31-32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  On this certain daily devotional I get, you can go deeper or go to studies that relate.  So I went a little deeper and ended up looking at a scripture James 1:22-27, ‘But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you’.   It also had a catchy commentary with it from Forerunner; ‘In essence, James describes a person who sees the truth from God's Word and responds by using it.  He sees himself as an instrument of God to be used, even spent, in service to Him and His people. He holds the feelings and well being of others to be as important as his own.  Unlike the myopic person, he sees beyond his comfort zone, following the example of Jesus Christ.’   This devotional, the scriptures and the commentary really spoke to me and stayed with me all day.   I was thinking about what God has done in my life and was thankful that even though I have a long way to go I was humbled and thankful for what has happened.  That night I was just sitting there thinking about the scripture and 2 more came to mind that I thought added to this for me.  In the commentary it says, he sees the truth and uses it and wants to be used by God and holds feelings and well beings of others as important as his own.  John 15:10 ‘When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commandments and remain in his love.’   I  John 3:18 ‘Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.  Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God’.  What was being spoken to me was how important it is to see the truth from God’s word, abide in Jesus and his love and act upon the truth, obey love and help others.  Like James says, don’t just read the word do what it says.  So the next morning I was looking at the study and commentary again thinking about the verses and then I realized how important the great commission, Jesus’ command, is in helping each of us do this.  I realized it was sort of like the blurry glasses, I had on and not seeing things properly.  What I mean is how much God has taught me and been able to serve and help but also I realized I have such a long way to go in a lot of areas, very humbling.  So I shared this with some people close to me but the lesson wasn’t over yet.  A few weeks after that, as I was reading in Mark 8 and this scripture hit me, Mark 8:22-25 ‘When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.  Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?  The man looked around, “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”  Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened.  His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.’  This scripture really spoke to me about how God opens our eyes to him and his ways as we grow.  How important it is to stay close and abide in him to learn and see his lessons and that it will also take time and happen different for all of us, a process.  It also spoke to me again about my glasses and that it took time for me to adjust to them, and how important it is to have others around us to help each other grow and see things through other people eyes and what’s on their heart. But the lesson still wasn’t over about 2 weeks after that, I received a text from a guy I meet with, with a scripture from Mark 8.  I was going to a leadership meeting at our church so I didn’t read the scriptures till later.  At the meeting this guy spoke on Luke chapter 15 and tied the whole chapter together, which really spoke to me.  We got home late and I remembered that I still had to read the scriptures from my friend.  I have been in Mark 8 a lot before, a few years back I had some major decisions to make in my life and walk. We were being tested by losing a lot of things in our life but we were also being blessed spiritually.  One of the scriptures I went to a lot was Mark 8:14-21, we had to decide were we going to follow after Jesus and the blessing he was giving or were we going to chase after worldly things?  Were we going to focus on the lack of money that we were used to or trust Jesus and find out what he has a head for us?  When I looked at the scripture that night the whole chapter just sort of spoke to me in a different way.  The chapter starts off with Jesus doing this huge miracle, feeding 4000 people with very little food.  Then right after Jesus does this, the disciples seam to be in a place of disbelief or loss of focus. Jesus gets on them for their hard hearts and not being able to see or hear properly.  They couldn’t understand his ways.  Then Jesus heals the blind man in 2 stages in front of the disciples, I think to teach them to see or perceive spiritual truth will be a process.  Peter then gets a revelation from God that Jesus is the Messiah and that understanding could only come from God.  Right after that, Jesus tells the disciples he is going to be killed and 3 days later rise from the dead.  Mark 8:32-33, ‘As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.  Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then he reprimanded Peter.  “Get away from me, Satan!” he said, “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” This is an interesting scripture because we know Peter wanted to do the right thing but didn’t have a spiritual understanding yet about Jesus and the kingdom.  We can read this and see Peter and the mistake he made we need to understand we will also be tested with times where we are not yielded fully to the Lord or have our heart in the right place or seeing things correctly.  We could think we are making a decision to protect someone or help but get in the way of or oppose someone who is doing a work of the Lord.  In the last of this chapter Jesus says, “If you want to be my follower you must deny yourself and follow me. Give up your life, lose your life and gain me and something better.”  I think what is important for me is to be humble and have my heart in the right place with the Lord to be able to see spiritual truth and what God’s heart is for us and others.  But not only be able to see the truth, because all believers of Jesus has the Holy Spirit and most all can reads God’s word, but also apply the truth and do what it says with love and humility.  Easier said than done I think, for all of us.  1^st John 3:18 ‘Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.  Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.’  Sometimes I think  the works we do, which is important don’t get me wrong, may become a little more important to us than the people, the body of Christ, and the love we have for each other. Mark 8:15 "Be careful," Jesus warned them, "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."

dying to ourselves

God had no children too weak, but a great many too strong to make use of." —D. L. Moody Hosea 10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars.  John 3:30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. In the last blog we talked about following Jesus. Every believer has to carry their own cross and follow Jesus. Today I’m going to write about dying to ourselves, getting our flesh and selfishness out of the way as we grow and become more like Jesus. I know in writing this that I still have a long way to go in this area and to help me grow in this area there will be shaping, molding, trials, and some painful situations ahead. Looking back, when I came to the Lord I was broken and hurting in a lot of ways and very tired and frustrated. Even though I was in this condition it was also a blessing, because the Lord had a empty vessel to pour his Holy Spirit, grace, and love into. What an awesome experience that was at the time, but also though very painful.  John 12:24-25 ‘I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life’.  I also noticed that when I came to the Lord that a lot of things in my life started to change for the better. I started noticing that a lot of the struggles I was having just sort of went away, you know problems, worries, relationships, and a lot of it was just knowing the Lord and my state of mind. But I also noticed after awhile that a few struggles and problems were left in my life. And after time I learned that these were left to refine me, shape and mold me, test my heart and help me grow. I didn’t like them and wanted them gone but God used them for his purpose in my life and still does. So when I was going through this and asking the Lord for help and understanding, he helped me and taught me day by day. Here is a huge verse he gave to teach me, Judges 2:22, ‘I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.’ The Lord was teaching me to learn his ways and obey him because he loves me and has a plan for me and it was a blessing for me in my walk with the Lord. The Lord has a purpose for the things he does and uses in your life even discipline and pain. We can look at some scriptures and some examples of people in the bible. Even if I want to change and turn from something in my life to grow or become more like Jesus, I know I can’t do it on my own. We can do nothing apart from the Lord and his hand is in everything we do. I know I have free will and I have to yield to the Lord and fear him and want to change in my heart, but he does the work not me. Jeremiah 18:1-3 ‘The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, "Go down to the potter's shop, and I will speak to you there." So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.’ This translation says spoiled, without the Lord shaping and molding us I think we would be spoiled. Instead of becoming more like Jesus and the salt of the earth. John 15:1-2: “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”  It says here that the Lord will even prune the branches that are fruitful so they will produce more. We will each be pruned according to his will and purpose for our life. Hosea 10:11-12 "Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain--an easy job she loves. But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground. I said, 'Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.'  I know this verse sounds harsh but sometimes in order for us to become loving and have our hearts in the right place, we need to be disciplined by the Lord or we will just be a good person and mask it and do our own thing. I think we can get pretty good about looking good on the outside but what’s on the inside, God knows.1 Peter 4:1-2 ‘Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.’  I know when I first came to the Lord I was very ready to listen and do his will. In order for me to keep this hunger, he has to continue disciplining me with his love, it’s just the way it is. In order for me to die to myself everyday little by little and get my flesh and selfishness out of the way I will need help from the Lord or it won’t happen. I want to give 2 or 3 examples in the bible of men who the Lord changed. One is Jacob his story is in Genesis 25-49, he was a great guy used in a huge way by the Lord but was selfish and a manipulator in his dealings with people. So Jacob cheats his brother Esau out of his family inheritance and angers him so he flees to Paddan-Aram for 14 years where he starts a family, all in Gods plan. God called Jacob back to his home to bless him with 12 sons the 12 tribes of Israel. But before he used him for this purpose he seams to have changed his life in Genesis 32:24-28 ‘This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!" But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." "What is your name?" the man asked. He replied, "Jacob." "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won." There are some different theories on this about who it was, how and why this happened. But whether the man was Jesus or an angel they allowed Jacob to wrestle with them for a long period. Then he wrenched Jacob’s hip out of socket, which sounds painful and I’m sure stayed with him the rest of his life.  Maybe, before God could bless him or use him for the purpose ahead, he needed to change Jacob. Maybe God tested Jacob to see if Jacob would give up his will and flesh and selfishness and be submissive but he wouldn’t, so he had to humble him for what was ahead and for God’s purpose. The point I’m making is maybe in our life we are fine and God comes in and put us through some pretty hard stuff for how he wants to use us ahead. That’s the sovereignty and will of God for our lives, he has the agenda and plan, we don’t, we follow he leads. Romans 9:19-20 ‘Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?" No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?"  The 12 disciples, I love to read about these guys and Jesus and how he taught them. Jesus spent 3 years teaching and training them for the huge part they would do in the kingdom and help starting the church. Even though they were with Jesus it was hard for them to get their flesh and selfishness out of the way and understand the kingdoms ways and why Jesus had to die. As they spent more time with Jesus, learning his ways, seeing his miracles and how much he loved them and all people, they changed and really wanted to serve and give their lives to him. But they needed a little help from God to become who he wanted them to be. Luke 22:31-33 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not: and when you are converted, strengthen your brothers.” And Simon said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both into prison, and to death.”  I’m sure in Peter’s heart he wanted to die for the Lord and do fully what the Lord wanted him to do. But Peter and the others need to mature in their faith so God put them through some testing, refining, shaping, molding, and failure to grow. It says after you are converted, strengthen you brothers, meaning after you change, grow stronger and learn help your brothers. It is good to know how much God loves us and that we can have peace and an understanding why we have to go through some of these things to grow and get our flesh and selfishness out of the way to become more like Jesus.