And when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James [the son] of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James [the son] of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Matthew 10:1-4

And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

Mark 3:13-19

If someone were to ask you what you know about the Apostle Peter, what comes to your mind?

He walked on water!

He confessed that Jesus was the Christ.

He saw Jesus transfigured.

He raised a young girl from the dead!

All of these are true.

Peter did all of these great things and many more, but he also did the following:

Peter spoke and acted too quickly at times.

He had to be rebuked by the Apostle Paul for not showing love equally to the Gentiles.

He argued with God when he had the vision about animals before he went to preach to a Gentile.

He was hasty and tried to violently defend Jesus from being taken in the garden of Gethsemane.

He denied Jesus.

Peter truly had a roller coaster ride with his discipleship. As it is with us many times, but the most important thing to remember is that Peter never stopped being one of God’s elect through all his hills and valleys. In fact, we should especially remember that Jesus allowed him to confess his love for the Lord three times as well! There is always forgiveness from God for His children. Therefore, we should repent, confess our love for Jesus and do as He instructed Peter – feed His sheep!

Art work:

“Feed My Lambs” 22×24″ oil on canvasKathryn Morris Trotter www.kathryntrotterart.com