When You’re Up You’re Up & When You’re Down You’re Down

In Matthew 16:16, Peter makes one of the greatest statements one can ever make. Jesus's response to praise him. “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus gives him the name Peter which means Rock. He places on him the keys to the kingdom and announces the authority that his good confession bestows.

All and all a pretty high point for him.

Yet just a few moments later in verse 22, He makes one of the dumbest statement he’d ever make. Jesus' response is to rebuke him. "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." Jesus then lectures him and the other disciples on what it takes to be his follower.

All and all, not a very good follow up for him.

It is sometimes like that for us in our spiritual walk. The highs and lows are a lot closer together than they seem like they should be. We can go from really with it to really not in a flash.

A couple of things I’ve gleaned from this passage. In both his up and down Peter is trying to revere Jesus. Yet when he does it in his own interest rather than God’s it gets him in trouble.

Also, in both cases, Jesus doesn’t change his love for Peter. Whether Peter is on the right track or out in left field, Jesus' desire for him is to protect and save him. He’s helping him by both giving him a pat on the back or a pat on the backside whatever the need may be.

Life is often a series of successes and failures. We get it right and we get it wrong. No matter the situation, God is there helping us either way. The key is to grow from both. Keeping our focus on his will. Not letting our mistakes keep us down or our success keep us from moving forward.

Comments

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission. It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...

The Right to Arm Bears

In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head. As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25 It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...

The Mighty Gulf

It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding. To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two. Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God? In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...

Ecclesiastes 12:10

Search This Blog