The twelve apostles included "James the son of Zebedee" (Matt. 10:2).

God can use overzealous and ambitious people for His glory.

Like Peter and Andrew, James and John were fishermen. One day as Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He saw them in a boat with their father Zebedee and some hired servants. When Jesus called them to follow Him, they immediately left the boat and went with Him (Mark 1:19- 20).

James and John were zealous and ambitious men—so much so that Jesus nicknamed them "Boanerges," which means, "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). At times their great zeal got the better of them. In Luke 9:54 for example, after a Samaritan village had rejected some of the disciples, James and John asked Jesus for permission to call down fire from heaven to incinerate the whole village! On another occasion they sent their mother to ask Jesus to give them the most prominent places in His kingdom (Matt. 20:20-28). They wanted power, prestige, and honor, but Jesus promised them suffering and, in James's case, a martyr's grave.

James was probably the eldest of the two brothers. His name is listed first whenever their names appear together in Scripture. Perhaps he was also the most zealous and passionate of the two since that he was the first apostle to be martyred. When King Herod decided to persecute the early church, he had James put to death with a sword (Acts 12:2). When he saw how much that pleased the Jewish people, he had Peter arrested but didn't kill him. Apparently James was a bigger threat than Peter. That tells us something about the powerful ministry he must have had.

Like James and John, some Christians have a zeal that prompts them to run ahead of the Holy Spirit. If that's true of you, be thankful for your zeal but also be careful to allow the Spirit to govern what you do and say. However, if you've slipped into spiritual complacency and your life isn't much of a threat to Satan's kingdom, you need to repent and become more zealous for the Lord!

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God to give you a holy zeal that's motivated by love and governed by His Spirit.

For Further Study

Read John 2:12-22.

• How did Jesus demonstrate His zeal for God's house?
• Why were His actions necessary?

“God has not given us a spirit of timidity [fear], but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The true follower of Christ has no reason to fear potential sufferings and trials.

Concerning frustration and fear at the 1992 Winter Olympics, speed skater Dan Jansen said, “What happened was I skated a race that I can only describe as tentative. I looked good. I didn’t slip. Yet something kept me from going flat out.” The favored Jansen, haunted by well-publicized failures to win medals in 1988 or 1992, finally overcame his fear and triumphed in 1994 in the 1,000-meter speed-skating event.

Believers’ can also react with intense fear and painful disappointment to life’s trials if they are not prepared for the possibility of difficulties. But many centuries ago Proverbs 29:25 encouraged God’s followers not to be afraid: “The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” Paul exhorted Timothy in a similar way when he wrote the words of today’s verse.

In Matthew 10:29-31, the Lord Jesus provides a wonderful reason for His disciples not to serve Him under a cloud of fear. The point of His commonsense illustration is simple. If the Father cares for small birds and numbers each hair on our heads, He is certainly concerned about our physical and spiritual welfare and the ultimate good of our souls. No matter how bad the situation is or how prolonged the trial may seem, God is able to sustain us.

Later Jesus provided an excellent summary of His teaching on fear with these familiar words to the Twelve: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). With such a strong promise and reassurance that the Holy Spirit will always be present, how can any of us who profess Jesus Christ make room for debilitating fear, no matter what tough tests and persecutions may yet face us?

Suggestions for Prayer

If you have a particular situation or person in your life that causes you much fear and anxiety, pray that God would strengthen you and remove the cause of that fear.

For Further Study

Read Psalm 118:5-9. Memorize verse 6 or another one in this brief passage that will be a helpful resource should you face persecution.

Reading for Today:

• 1 Samuel 28:1-25
• Psalm 61:1-4
• Proverbs 16:6
• John 3:1-18

Notes:

1 Samuel 28:3 mediums and the spiritists. By divine law, they were banned from Israel (Deut. 18:11), and Israel was not to be defiled by them (Lev. 19:31). Turning to them was tantamount to playing the harlot and would result in God setting His face against the person and cutting him off from among His people (Lev. 20:6). Mediums and spiritists were to be put to death by stoning (Lev. 20:27). Even Saul understood this and had previously dealt with the issue (v. 9).

1 Samuel 28:12 the woman saw Samuel. Though questions have arisen as to the nature of Samuel’s appearance, the text clearly indicates that Samuel, not an apparition, was evident to the eyes of the medium. God miraculously permitted the actual spirit of Samuel to speak (vv. 16–19). Because she understood her inability to raise the dead in this manner, she immediately knew 1) that it must have been by the power of God and 2) that her disguised inquirer must be Saul.

John 3:15 eternal life. This is the first of 10 references to “eternal life” in John’s Gospel. The same Greek word is translated 8 times as “everlasting life.” The two expressions appear in the New Testament nearly 50 times. Eternal life refers not only to eternal quantity but divine quality of life. It means literally “life of the age to come” and refers therefore to resurrection and heavenly existence in perfect glory and holiness. This life for believers in the Lord Jesus is experienced before heaven is reached. This “eternal life” is in essence nothing less than participation in the eternal life of the Living Word, Jesus Christ. It is the life of God in every believer, yet not fully manifest until the resurrection (Rom. 8:19–23; Phil. 3:20, 21).

John 3:16 For God so loved the world. The Son’s mission is bound up in the supreme love of God for the evil, sinful “world” of humanity (see 6:32, 51;12:47) that is in rebellion against Him. The word “so” emphasizes the intensity or greatness of His love. The Father gave His unique and beloved Son to die on behalf of sinful men (2 Cor. 5:21).

DAY 13: What does it mean to be “born again”?

In John 3:3,Jesus answered a question that Nicodemus does not even ask. He read Nicodemus’s heart and came to the very core of his problem, i.e., the need for spiritual transformation or regeneration produced by the Holy Spirit. He tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again.” The phrase literally means “born from above.” New birth is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the believer (2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18). Chapter 1:12, 13 indicates that “born again” also carries the idea “to become children of God” through trust in the name of the incarnate Word.

Unless one is born again, he “cannot see the kingdom of God.” In context, this is primarily a reference to participation in the millennial kingdom at the end of the age, fervently anticipated by the Pharisees and other Jews. Since the Pharisees were supernaturalists, they naturally and eagerly expected the coming of the prophesied resurrection of the saints and institution of the messianic kingdom (Is. 11:1–16; Dan. 12:2). Their problem was that they thought that mere physical lineage and keeping of religious externals qualified them for entrance into the kingdom rather than the needed spiritual transformation which Jesus emphasized (see 8:33–39;Gal. 6:15). The coming of the kingdom at the end of the age can be described as the “regeneration” of the world (Matt. 19:28), but regeneration of the individual is required before the end of the world in order to enter the kingdom.

Restating it, Jesus said that one must be “born of water and the Spirit” (v. 5). Jesus referred not to literal water here but to the need for “cleansing” (Ezek. 36:24–27). When water is used figuratively in the Old Testament, it consistently refers to renewal or spiritual cleansing, especially when used in conjunction with “spirit” (Num. 19:17–19; Ps. 51:9, 10; Is. 32:15; 44:3–5; 55:1–3; Jer. 2:13; Joel 2:28, 29). Thus, Jesus made reference to the spiritual washing or purification of the soul, accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at the moment of salvation (Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5), required for belonging to His kingdom.

“‘And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words’” (Matthew 6:7).

If we’re honest, all of us have been guilty of repetitive prayers—before meals, at prayer meetings, before bed—with little or no thought to what we are saying or how God feels when He hears us do that. But such prayers are offensive to God and should be to us as well.

We should understand, however, that Jesus here is not forbidding the repetition of genuine requests. In His parable of the midnight visit, Jesus pointed to the persistent man as a model of the believer’s persistent prayer to God. In another parable, the Lord praised the godly widow’s persistence before the ungodly judge: “Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7). Paul asked God three times to remove his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7–8).

Jesus Himself could be persistent in prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He pleaded, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). Christ prayed this prayer a second time, and again He “prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more” (v. 44).

Sincere, honest repetition of needs and praises before God is not wrong or ineffective. It is the mindless, indifferent repeating of tired, cliché-filled “prayers” that is not pleasing to Him. God wants our hearts and our minds properly engaged when approaching His throne.

Ask Yourself

What would enliven your set times of prayer, transforming them into fresh, expressive, genuine moments with God? Even if the same words and requests are made, what could you do to make them real and in-the-moment?