Mark 3:13-15

God calls whom He wills. Some with the most unlikely pasts become willing participants of His plan to save the world from evil.

The Apostle Paul shared these same traits in His ministry. Paul was an Apostle born out of time.

Jesus said, “A branch cannot bear fruit if it’s severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me” (John 15:4). The dominant duty of the branch is to cling to the vine. The dominant duty of the disciple is the same.

We Christians tend to miss this. We banter about pledges to “make a difference for Christ.” Yet our goal is not to bear fruit. Our goal is to stay attached. When a father leads his four-year-old son down a crowded street, he takes him by the hand and gives him one responsibility: “Hold on to my hand.”

God does the same with us. Your goal is not to know every detail of the future. Your goal is to hold the hand of the one who does and never, ever let him go. Max Lucado

In rebirth, we draw from the well of compassion. Beginning with self-compassion. We wake up to the affirmation that “what lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

This is not easy. Birth never is. But “Compassion asks us to go where it hurts,” Henri Nouwen writes, “to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.” Terry Hershey “Sabbath Moments”

Mark 3:13-15

13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:  The New King James Version

Jesus had a large group of followers. John 6:66 indicates that even after the Twelve were appointed, He still had a large and continual following. Luke 10:1 notes that later Jesus sent out an additional 70 disciples.

These twelve were Jesus’ apostles—a chosen group sent out to fulfill a particular mission. Christ gave power or authority to these twelve apostles. The apostle Paul called this authority “the signs of an apostle”. Christ and the apostles authenticated their ministry through signs, miracles, and wonders. The NKJV Study Bible

Christ calls whom he will; for his grace is his own. He had called the apostles to separate themselves from the crowd, and they came unto him. He now gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. May the Lord send forth more and more of those who have been with him, and have learned of him to preach his gospel, to be instruments in his blessed work. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Matthew 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Luke 6:13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:

Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.