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	<title>The 12 Disciples &#8211; Peace Devotions</title>
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	<title>The 12 Disciples &#8211; Peace Devotions</title>
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		<title>Nathaniel (Bartholomew)</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/09/07/nathaniel-bartholomew/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[John]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evangelism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jesus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21711</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We try not to judge a book by its cover. That’s what Nathaniel also called Bartholomew did. And let’s see how it turned out for him.]]></description>
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<h5 class="wp-block-heading">John 1:43-51</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/MxqZpVeCZOk">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">We try not to judge a book by its cover. That’s what Nathaniel also called Bartholomew did. And let’s see how it turned out for him.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”<br>Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Come and see!” Philip told him.<br>Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”<br>Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” Then he added, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:43-51 EHV)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Word of God taken from John chapter one. Now, thankfully, the “book” Nathaniel misjudged was Jesus who has a perfect life and offers freedom and victory from sin and death for all who come to him. Thankfully, once Nathaniel realized who Jesus was, he found a Lord who was forgiving and gracious. But if you or someone you know has ever been dismissive or skeptical about Jesus or the Christian faith, Philip&#8217;s words to his friend Nathaniel give us a good script.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">What did Philip say? Come and see. We can also say, come and see this Lord who speaks through His word to your deepest insecurities and fears that maybe you haven’t been brave enough to confront on your own or tell to anyone else.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Come and see this Lord, who does not demand from you, but first gives himself for you on the cross, taking all of your guilt and shame away. Come and see this Lord, who in baptism claims you as his own, giving you identity and belonging and purpose and a future. Then come and see the body of Christ, fellow believers who have gathered around this Savior. How, even with their shortcomings and sins, you will find a love here that is deeper and more consistent, flowing from this Savior than you will find anywhere else. Come and see.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You know, Nathaniel was from Cana in Galilee, where Jesus did his first public miracle changing water into wine. So both by believing in Jesus and also getting to witness and and experience these miracles. Nathaniel was receiving what Psalm 34 promises. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21711</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Philip</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/08/31/philip/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[John]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[english]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evangelism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gospel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[language]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21651</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Today's devotion is about the disciple Philip. Philip is a Greek name, he probably spoke Greek fluently...]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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<h5 class="wp-block-heading">John 12:20-21</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/CUYVoxY3mLE">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">We hear about the disciple Philip in John chapter 12.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Philip was from Bethsaida, we’re told, which was a town on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. Compared to Judea and Jerusalem in the south of Israel, this region of Galilee, where Jesus grew up in Nazareth, had a higher proportion of Gentiles, people who were not ethnically Jewish and who were connected to this Greek speaking Roman world beyond the confines of Israel.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Interestingly, Philip is a Greek name. Famously, Alexander the Great’s father was named Philip. Now a lot of the disciples, as we’ve already seen in previous videos, had maybe both a Hebrew or an Aramaic name as well as a Greek name that they would go by, they would have multiple names. The interesting thing is, Philip is only referred to in the Gospels by this Greek name. So it could have been that though he was a Jew, he had more of a connection to this Greek speaking world and culture. Maybe he spoke Greek more fluently. And that’s why these Greek peoples, so non-Jews who followed the Old Testament religion, come up to talk to him at the festival in Jerusalem.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I bring this up because Greek at the time is what we call a lingua franca. That is, it was a kind of more universal language that spread across cultures and was used for business, for government, for education. And it’s because the Greek language had become so widespread in what was at that time the Roman Empire, and even beyond its borders, that the New Testament, written in the Greek language, could spread so widely. Why Paul, for example, who could speak Greek, could go and preach the gospel, plant churches in all these different places. That’s interesting, because the Old Testament religion did not have Greek as its base language. It had Hebrew as its base language. So the switch to Greek in the New Testament church, and even with the New Testament scriptures, tells us the gospel doesn’t depend on your language.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Your sins are real no matter what language you speak. There is a God who is the source of life, and by your sins you have rebelled against him. And if nothing is done, there’s going to be eternal separation, eternal death in the end. But this God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, into the flesh through the Jewish people for all nations, so that by his death he would pay the penalty for your sin. By his resurrection, he would proclaim that your sins are forgiven. This Lord is gracious, though you have rebelled, God has sent his Son to rescue you.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now, if you’re understanding the words that I’m saying, that means you just heard a basic gospel message in the English language. And that’s important because English today is what Greek was in the time of Christ. There are more people who speak English in the world, including both native speakers and non-native speakers, than any other language. That means if you speak English fluently, as Philip likely spoke Greek pretty fluently, you have great power. There is great power in being able to serve as a conduit for the message about Christ. Not only do people in your little corner of the world who might speak your little native language, but in being able to reach people across cultures with this message about Jesus. So look for opportunities like Philip to share the message of Jesus so that others would see him and believe.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21651</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Matthew (Levi)</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/08/24/matthew-levi/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Matthew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[calling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forgiveness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[purpose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sin]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21614</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Matthew, also called Levi, was a tax collector. That means he collected taxes for the Romans from his own Jewish people.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/3ToPFRxu?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
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<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Matthew 9:9-13</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/yK78qCmxj-o">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Matthew, also called Levi, was a tax collector. That means he collected taxes for the Romans from his own Jewish people. For that reason, he would have been considered an outsider from Jewish life, a kind of traitor to his people. Tax collecting was also associated with certain immoral practices, extortion, taking more money than was due and skimming it off for yourself. And yet it’s from that work, when Matthew was at his tax collecting booth that Jesus calls him to be his disciple. We’ll read that account from Matthew chapter nine.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. He said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him. As Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were actually there too, eating with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “The healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ In fact, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Knowing he was a tax collector, we can safely assume some things about Matthew. He was probably fairly wealthy, upper class, well-connected, good communicator, persuasive speaker to solicit taxes and also navigate tense relationships on a lot of levels. But he also likely bore this sense of shame and a lack of belonging. He wasn’t truly part of the Roman ruling class, but he also wasn’t accepted fully by his own Jews. We see the Pharisees looking down on him and others like him. Yet it’s Matthew who has chosen to write the first account of Jesus life and ministry. What we call Matthew in our Bibles. Technically, the Gospel according to Matthew.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And each of the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John emphasize different points about Jesus life and ministry. So it’s interesting to think about what Matthew emphasizes. Matthew makes a very clear connection between Jesus and the Old Testament. He quotes the Old Testament again and again, saying, Jesus is fulfilling this scripture. Here’s how the Savior promised by God has come in Jesus. Here is how the law, which we could not fulfill, which Matthew knew he could not fulfill, has been fulfilled by Christ. Here is how all those sacrifices, proclaiming that we could have peace with God through the blood of someone else, someone innocent, shed in our place, is fulfilled in Christ going to the cross for us.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So Matthew emphasizes Jesus connection to the Old Testament, but also that this work has worldwide importance, is for all people. It’s Matthew alone who gives us the account of the Magi, the wise men, coming to worship the child Jesus. It’s Matthew alone who gives us what we call the Great Commission. Go and make disciples of all nations by baptizing them and teaching them. So I can’t help but think of Matthew. Who knew what his former life was like, who had Jesus come and while he was participating in what was likely a sinful profession in how it was practiced, calls him, claims him, redeems him, forgives him, and then gives him this great position of honor, of relaying what Jesus did and taught to others.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And I like to think how Matthew probably rejoiced as he was writing lines like, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Instead of the legalism of the Pharisees who put burdens and rules to make people think, they had to keep them in order to gain God’s favor. Here Jesus was proclaiming grace through what he had done. So he, an outsider from Jewish life, could be included and belong among God’s people through this grace which would go out to the world and continues to go out to claim people, sinners like you.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21614</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Thomas</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/08/17/thomas/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[John]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[knowledge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[questions]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21610</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[When you hear the disciple's name Thomas, your mind might immediately add the prefix doubting.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/3oxDXpsw?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
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<h5 class="wp-block-heading">John 14:3-6</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/J6ClrFPKYNM">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When you hear the disciple&#8217;s name Thomas, your mind might immediately add the prefix doubting. Certainly, this disciple of unknown origin finds his most prominent moment after Jesus resurrection. Jesus appears to the disciples the evening of Easter and shows them all that he’s risen from the dead. Thomas wasn’t there, and later, when Thomas hears about it, he says, unless I can put my fingers into the holes in Jesus hand and my hand into his side where the spear pierced, I will not believe. Well, a week later, Jesus appears to all the disciples. Thomas is there, and Jesus invites Thomas to touch his living, risen body and believe. And at that, Thomas gives us one of the clearest outright statements of Jesus divinity in the Gospels, &#8220;my Lord and my God,&#8221; Thomas said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">From this account we can say a couple of things. First, Thomas did follow the evidence. His doubt was not stubborn. It was just skeptical.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Speculating a little bit, but maybe he did understand that his role as a disciple was to witness all that Jesus did, including ostensibly this greatest miracle of the resurrection. He had to be able to see this so he could give his eyewitness testimony later on in a way that could be verified and trustworthy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Second, from another account, we get the sense that Thomas’s doubt or his questioning was not only because of doubt, but because of his candor. He was willing to say things that the other disciples were maybe thinking, questions they had, or questions they would have had if they were in his shoes. So this other example comes from Maundy Thursday. And here’s the exchange we have. Jesus says,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">if I go and prepare a place for you</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And he’s talking about going to the cross and death, but also then ascending to heaven and leaving,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:3-6)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In many ways good on Thomas for asking. There’s also one other instance that isn’t brought up in connection with Thomas and should be more often. That is several times before Jesus went to Jerusalem to suffer and die, he predicted that he would. And on one of those occasions, it’s Simon Peter, this great leader and bold, faithful confessor among the disciples tries to dissuade Jesus from going. No, Jesus, don’t let that plan unfold. It’s Thomas who at that moment steps forward and says, let us go to so that we may die with him. So Thomas may have required verification at various instances, answers to his questions, but he was not soft in his commitment to Christ.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So Christianity is a religion that invites questions not in unbelief, but in faith. So you repent of any times when you’ve maybe demanded of God an airtight explanation for something in Scripture, or something going on in your life. God doesn’t owe us an explanation for everything, but take comfort in the things he has revealed to you so clearly. Take comfort in the forgiveness and life that Christ won for you when he paid for all of your sins on the cross. Take comfort from the fact that Jesus resurrection gives you innocence before God now, and also a place prepared for you with Thomas in heaven.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21610</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>John</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/08/10/john/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[John]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intelect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inteligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the bible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wisdom]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21571</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The disciple John played a fairly minor role in the Gospels, but he wrote five books of the Bible using simple language to convey profound ideas.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/6gl6Adu1?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
		</figure>
		


<h5 class="wp-block-heading">John 14:2,6, John 1:29, John 20:30-31</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/drLpr0Uuj5w">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The disciple John intersects with the three covered so far and rounds out the big four: Peter and Andrew, James and John. From these two fishing families on the Sea of Galilee, thoroughly Jewish but interfacing with the Greco-Roman world beyond. In the Gospels, John plays a relatively minor role. He doesn’t have many lines, although in his own gospel he refers to himself five times as the disciple Jesus loved. (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20)</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He does figure prominently in the crucifixion, where it seems he alone appears at the cross of Jesus, and Jesus commends Mary, Jesus mother, into John’s care. John is best known for his writings. He wrote The Gospel according to John. He wrote the epistles that bear his name first, second and third John, as well as the Book of Revelation. Not bad. He was one of the pillars of the early church, one of Jesus&#8217; inner circle. They got to witness some of the most pivotal moments in Jesus&#8217; ministry, that others weren’t able to see, revelations of his glory and his power.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Later in his life, he moved to Ephesus, which is in western modern day Turkey, and then, because of his faith, was exiled by the Romans to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. It’s perhaps that he is the only one of Jesus&#8217; disciples, living disciples after his ministry, that was not killed for his faith. And yet, throughout time, Christian communities have seen his exile to that island of Patmos as a sort of martyrdom. It’s a good reminder to us that it’s never worth it to sacrifice our faith for the sense of a familiar home. Instead, our faith may require us to sacrifice that home for the one we have in heaven.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s through John in his gospel that we have Jesus&#8217; words recorded.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.&#8221; (John 14:6)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;In my Father’s house are many rooms… I go there to prepare a place for you.&#8221; (John 14:2)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As one reads John’s Gospel in the original Greek, but also in many English translations, the language can seem simple, but the concepts are profound. John seems to have been a thinker, someone who dwelled on these deep things about God and spiritual life. Maybe it was that John was also tempted, like we are, to use his intellect in a bad way. Doesn’t matter how smart you think you are. We all love to be able to use our reason to prove others wrong, or to show how we are so much smarter than they are. Well, instead, John’s writings show a submission of that skill a recognition of Jesus as the one who bears all wisdom and knowledge and doesn’t use it in those sinful ways, but instead righteously calls out those who oppose God’s grace and God’s Word, but also bearing patiently with those who need understanding.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a way John is used by God to provide this simple patient guidance toward the truth that we often need. And also to those who come broken and with many sins. Jesus is described by John as embodying grace and truth, bringing the conviction of sin and its reality in the truth, but also applying the lavish grace he himself would win and create through his own body. It’s John who records John the Baptist’s words,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!&#8221; (John 1:29)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And then in the book of Revelation, after this great act of Jesus&#8217; life, his crucifixion, which is also seen as his glorification, the saving act of God for people by which we can know him and praise him. The Lamb in Revelation is the one who sits on the throne, to whom his ascribed salvation and praise and honor and glory forever.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So there is a through line in John’s writings come to a true repentance of any sufficiency of ourselves. Recognize our sinful use of God’s gifts, whether it’s your reason or something else. See how Christ’s perfectly used it in your place, atoned for all of your sins, and now promises you a life beyond this one, where you can finally enjoy all of God’s gifts in full.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">John summarizes not only the purpose of his writing, but really of all of Scripture in a basic way. When he writes toward the end of his gospel,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21571</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>James (the Greater)</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/08/03/james-the-greater/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Luke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arogance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[faith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pride]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21562</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We continue our series on the 12 Disciples with a close look at James.]]></description>
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			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/guRY2AXe?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
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<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Luke 9:56</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/QrsrkVbAE2M">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">James, the son of Zebedee, is the first James. There was another James as a disciple of Jesus, but this one is far more prominent. He and his brother John were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and their business associates were none other than Simon Peter and Andrew, two other brothers who were disciples of Jesus. James and John were known as the sons of Zebedee, referring to Zebedee, their father. Jesus named them the Sons of Thunder, likely referring to their fiery ambition and zeal. When James and John are approaching a Samaritan village with Jesus and see that the village doesn’t immediately receive Jesus with hospitality. They ask if they can call down fire from heaven to consume them. Jesus, who could rightly call down fire from heaven, responds,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8220;The Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s souls, but to save them.&#8221; (Luke 9:56 EHV)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">At another time, James and John have their mother asked Jesus if James and John can sit at Jesus right and left hand in heaven, positions of great power and importance. James even promises to follow Jesus into martyrdom if necessary. Little did he know all the things that James and his great fiery ambition claimed and desired would, in a sense, come true. Fire would fall from heaven to consume sin. Not on James or on the Samaritans, but on Jesus. Jesus would bear the brunt of God’s wrath for all of our unbridled selfishness and pride and arrogance. But Jesus also came to save people’s souls. In there is an atonement for James, for the Samaritans and for you.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now James by faith will occupy a prominent position in heaven, maybe even more prominent than others because of his contributions to the faith and to the early church. But James did follow Jesus into martyrdom, his as the one death of a disciple we have recorded for us in Scripture. Acts chapter 12. We hear that Herod Agrippa the first, that’s a grandson of Herod the Great, who pursued the young Jesus life, had James killed for his faith by the sword, that means he was probably beheaded.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I don’t mean to be casual about James’s death, but he who could get a big head lost his. But thanks be to God, who decapitates our selfish ambition and gives us a new head, the head of Christ, the church whose blood runs through our veins, who claims us as God’s people, who directs us away from our own purposes and toward the purposes of God’s kingdom, the salvation of souls.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21562</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Andrew</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/07/27/andrew/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[John]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christian life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[example]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[faith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[godly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manly]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21540</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Andrew, the disciple of Jesus was manly and godly. Today Pastor Ernst guides us in a study of Andrew in our series on the 12 Disciples.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
		<figure class="wp-block-jetpack-videopress jetpack-videopress-player" style="" >
			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/PobLbXHG?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
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<h5 class="wp-block-heading">John 1:40-41</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/8D-htLwsweM">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the last 20 years the name Chad, perfectly normal name for men, has come to have the connotation of an alpha male, competent, confident, athletic, socially successful. Of course, it can be used ironically to illustrate some of the excesses of men.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Do you want to see the example of a biblical Chad? Take Andrew. Andrew’s name literally means in Greek manly, bold, brave. He was a fisherman with his brother Simon Peter, and even though they were engaged in physical work, that doesn’t mean that they were backwater folk. They grew up in Galilee, which was connected even more than southern Judea to the outside Greco-Roman world. His name in Greek reflects this contact with the broader society. Andrew is known as being one of the two disciples who first followed John the Baptist, and then turned to follow Christ. He had heard the call, “look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” and in reverent repentance and holy joy he followed Christ. The one to whom John the Baptist was pointing.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Significantly also is that he directed his brother Peter to follow Jesus. He is the one who introduced Peter, who would become the leader among the disciples and early Christians, to the Savior in the first place. We know Simon Peter for his great confession about Jesus. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. But it actually may be that he was parroting his brother Andrew. John records in the first chapter of his gospel that when Andrew met Jesus, the first thing Andrew did was to find his own brother Simon and say to him,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated “the Christ”). (John 1:41)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Andrew is sometimes found in the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples. This inner circle of three Peter, James, and John. Andrew is sometimes included as a fourth. He’s also participating in the conversation with Jesus and Philip when they’re trying to feed the 5000. Andrew is actually the one who finds the boy with the five loaves and the two fish, which Jesus miraculously multiplies.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Andrew did not write any scripture, but it’s believed that he, like his brother Simon Peter, was crucified for his faith and also didn’t believe he should be crucified as Jesus, that that was too dignified for him. So they crucified him on beams set in an X. Not only does this in a way represent Christ, this letter X is the first letter of Christ in the Greek language. It said that Andrew preached from the cross for three days while he was hanging there before he died. Of course, this is tradition, but is very much in keeping with his life of faithfulness, of doing the practical things that the kingdom needed while he was a disciple, as we find him in the Gospels.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So let’s review. Andrew, no stranger to physical work was a successful fisherman in his previous life. Yet he has a spiritual sense about him, follows John the Baptist, and then follows John’s pointing to follow Jesus. He introduces Peter to Jesus, supplying the church with one of its first great leaders. Oh, and it’s also said that Andrew went on to do mission work among Slavic peoples in modern day Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan before being crucified for his faith.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You know that X-shaped cross is known as Andrew’s Cross and has become a symbol of the country of Scotland. So in addition to doing mission work, following his Lord, trusting in that Savior for salvation as the one who had come to redeem Israel and redeem all people. And now a rugged nation of Celts known for their fine spirits and golf, reveres his memory and his faithful service. Chad moves indeed, man or woman, be like Andrew. Believe like Andrew.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21540</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Simon Peter</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/07/20/simon-peter/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Acts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Galatians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boldness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christian life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jesus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21501</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[You couldn’t always depend on Peter to get it right, but you could depend on him to show up and take action.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/DJJGSklQ?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
		</figure>
		


<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Matthew 16:16, 21-23 14:28-30, 26:69-74, Acts 2:14-41, 10:9-23, Galatians 2:11-15</h5>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://youtu.be/5Xk78SeVhco">Watch on YouTube</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Simon, originally a fisherman from Galilee, was not the first to follow Jesus, but he quickly became a leader among the disciples and is labeled a pillar of the early church by Paul. It may not have been lost on the early Christians either, that his name Simon was also sometimes spelled Simeon, which was the name of Jacob’s second son. In the new leaders of God’s People, the new 12, there is also continuity with the old. But Jesus also gave Simon a different name. That name was Cephas (כֵּיפָא) in Aramaic, Petrus (Πέτρος) in Greek, both of which mean the rock.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You couldn’t always depend on Peter to get it right, but you could depend on him to show up and take action. Peter is the one who gives us, at a poignant moment, the rousing confession about Jesus. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016%3A16&amp;version=ehv">Matthew 16:16</a>)</strong> Peter walks on water, <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014%3A28-30&amp;version=EHV">Matthew 14:28-30</a>)</strong> speaks at Pentecost. <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202%3A14-41&amp;version=EHV">Acts 2:14-41</a>)</strong> He sees a vision for a church that includes Gentiles as Gentiles in the book of Acts. <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2010%3A9-23&amp;version=EHV">Acts 10:9-23</a>)</strong> And yet it’s Peter who denied knowing Jesus during Jesus trial. <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026%3A69-74&amp;version=EHV">Matthew 26:69-74</a>)</strong> Who before had shirked back and wanted Jesus to turn away from this plan of crucifixion as the way God’s mission would be fulfilled. <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016%3A21-23&amp;version=EHV">Matthew 16:21-23</a>)</strong> Peter doubted on the water and began to sink. Peter, who could see this future, who was given so much instruction by God about how Gentiles could be incorporated into the church, failed to perfectly put it into practice. <strong>(<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%202%3A11-15&amp;version=EHV">Galatians 2:11-15</a>)</strong> Peter was not infallible. He had to be rebuked by Jesus and Paul.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But Peter, especially in the epistles he wrote by inspiration first and second Peter that we have in the New Testament expresses a deep sense of humility that over time, through his instruction and as he grew in his faith, that assertive boldness in his personality was refined, was sanctified. He knew that not only were his excesses forgiven alone through this plan of crucifixion, which Jesus went through for him, but also that his personality was now at the disposal of God.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">From a book outside of Scripture, we hear that Peter was crucified at the end of his life for his faith. But by that point, he who had repudiated the vision of crucifixion as the path of God now didn’t even consider himself worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was, and he asked to be crucified upside down. You who come with your bold sins like Peter, take heart. Jesus boldly went to the cross to forgive all of those sins, to lay his life on the line and take the wrath of God for all the ways that our assertiveness can turn into violent aggression, into arrogance, into boasting, into recklessness. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But also you who share the personality traits of Peter take heart as God shaped him to be used powerfully for his kingdom, so he can also use you. And we all should be a bit more assertive like Peter, because in the many situations we find ourselves, when there is an opportunity for truth, a word fitly and maybe even boldly spoken in that moment off the cuff is worth far more than our perfectly worded response long after the opportunity has passed. The time is short dear friends, take hold of the opportunity, whichever is before you, to serve the Lord. And, like Simon, take hold of Christ.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">21501</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why 12 Disciples?</title>
		<link>https://peacedevotions.com/2026/07/13/why-12-disciples/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Ernst]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Genesis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The 12 Disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disciples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new testament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[old testament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the church]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://peacedevotions.com/?p=21470</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[This is the first devotion in our series on the 12 Disciples. In this video we talk about the significance of the number 12.]]></description>
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			<div class="jetpack-videopress-player__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="VideoPress Video Player" aria-label="VideoPress Video Player" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://videopress.com/embed/Jb9b1cyb?cover=1&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;controls=1&amp;loop=0&amp;muted=0&amp;persistVolume=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata&amp;useAverageColor=1&amp;hd=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent="true" allow="clipboard-write; presentation"></iframe><script src='https://v0.wordpress.com/js/next/videopress-iframe.js?m=1770107250'></script></div>
			
			
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">12 men, 12 men with personalities, passions, ambitions, flaws. Too often we see them cast in black and white, stilted figures, stoic faces. We are going to cast them in color, as the scriptures do, sense the fire in their bellies, squirm at their competition, relate to their outbursts, ask their questions as they’re caught up in the most momentous events in human history the ministry of Jesus from Nazareth, the Son of God.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">First, why 12? We all use numbers in ways that signify more than the numerical value. 5:00 isn’t just a time. It’s signals the end of the workday. 13 stripes on the American flag signal the 13 original colonies. 50 stars, the 50 states. The biblical importance of the number 12 starts with the 12 sons of Jacob in the Book of Genesis. It actually connects to the earliest chapters of Genesis. Genesis in many ways a structured as a search for the people of God through which God will save the world.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In Genesis three, Adam and Eve fall into sin, fall to the deception of Satan, the tempter. You were in Adam and Eve, born into this death grip of the serpent. When God addresses Satan in his curse to him, however, he gives a promise to humanity, to you. God said,</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I will put hostility between you, [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head and you will crush his heel. (Genesis 3:15)</p>
</blockquote>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This seed to come from Eve is Christ. After the flood, God identifies Abraham as the one through whom the Savior would be born, and he systematically eliminates branches of Abraham’s family, going son after son down the line as the bearer of the promise. Not that other branches wouldn’t be saved, but that through this line the Savior would come into the flesh, and this promise of God would be preserved for all nations. But reaching Jacob’s 12 sons, it’s not one of them chosen, but all 12. They lay the foundation of this people of God. They become the 12 tribes of Israel.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Importantly, it’s not because of their faithfulness or deserving nature. It’s because of God’s gracious choosing. Now, in the time of Caesar Augustus and King Herod, the Savior has still not come. But lo and behold, in the city of David, Bethlehem, from the line of David, from the line of Judah, one of Jacob’s sons is born Jesus, who is Christ the Lord.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jesus had many people follow him during his ministry, but he gathers 12 close disciples. This is not insignificant. Jesus is saying, here is the continuation of Israel, those with faith in me. Here is the true people of God, you who descend in your faith from these 12 spiritual brothers. These men would go on to lead the church to such a great extent in this symbolism, that when Judas would betray Jesus and bring about his passion and death for our sins, the 11 would gather after Judas committed suicide and choose another to round out the grouping of the 12.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You are part of the 12, you who hold on to Jesus in faith, trusting in him. You who are undeserving on your own but made through Christ, true children of God, and true people who can bear his name.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Finally, in the book of Revelation, there is a group whose symbolic number is based on 12. Who is the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language who are crying out. Salvation comes from our God and from the lamb. Salvation does come from this lamb, indeed slain for our sins and raised to rule over us forever by grace now and in heaven. And you who follow him by faith are heirs of the inheritance of the faithful 12.</p>
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