Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
I truly believe that nothing surprises God. Today’s verses begin with Jesus and time spent praying to God and end with “Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” This was not a surprise to God. This was not an accident, not an “Oops! How did that happen?!?”
Luke 6:13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
God knew what was coming (I don’t think He caused it, but that’s a devo for another day), Jesus knew He needed to stay rooted in God in order to stay in His will, stay intimately connected to Him, Judas probably had no idea what was coming, but he eventually he gave up fighting the good fight against his negative impulses, and here we are.
Luke 6:14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Precious Savior, I can learn a lot from today’s verses: First, You are sovereign and loving. You can be trusted. No matter the chaos in my life, these things are true. Second, I must stay rooted in You by establishing time daily to read and study Your word, sitting with You, communicating in a way that allows me to feel connected to You, staying connected to Your people. Third, I can never give up fighting the good fight to conquer those traits within me that do not bring You glory. Help me, Jesus. Always. Amen.
Luke 6:15-16 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Have a blessed day.