Luke 6:13 (NIV) When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus picked twelve apostles to be His closes friends and trainees. Let Jesus show you the progressive spiritual journey of two of these twelve men, Peter and Judas. Peter was a very special person who wanted to excel in all Jesus was training him to do and be. He put his best efforts into trying to be one of Jesus’ top disciples. He had his share of spiritual weaknesses and shortcomings. But, if you were to dig down into his heart, he really loved Jesus.

Judas was also picked by Jesus to be close to Him. Judas had a lot of spiritual problems. The main reason Jesus made him a part of this group of twelve disciples was because this special relationship was his only hope of making it into eternity with God. Judas needed intensive care if he was going to head in the right direction. So, Jesus pulled him into His top twelve so he would be in on everything Jesus said and did. Judas got in on most of the special meeting of just the twelve. And, he got to spend a lot of time with Jesus to see Who He really was.

Mat 10:1-8 (NIV) He (Jesus) called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. What was their motive for using this power? Was it to heal or to be powerful?

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Peter got to experience this incredible opportunity to do these things and so did Judas. Jesus didn’t hold anything back from them seeing what love was all about.

Peter and Judas were both exposed to all the wonderful power of God. They were given a chance to experience God's love for diseased and hurting people. God actually flowed through them and set people free from all kinds of sins, diseases, death, and demon possession. What a glorious time they had helping hurting people. This was an opportunity to see what can happen if they completely turned their life over to God. Seeing these hurting people look to them for help could open their heart to true love.

Mat 16:15-19 (NIV) “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

What an opportunity to be mightily used to advance the Kingdom of God! Peter and Judas both heard what was possible for those who gave themselves over to Jesus. Peter loved Jesus enough to be willing to hear the encouragement and the citiquing from Jesus. He was motivated to try to resist anything that might separate him from Jesus. Judas wanted to stay in the background; he didn’t want to be noticed because he was doing things that Jesus wouldn’t like.

John 12:3-6 (NIV) Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Jesus, taught Peter and Judas the principle in Luke 16:13 (NIV): “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” When you resist the pressure to do something wrong that causes you to lose a friend, a job, a deal, a relationship, or a promotion, you love Jesus more than money. That love empowers you to resist allowing something wrong, bad, or evil to come into your life.