Sidelined But Still In The Game

And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was the greatest….

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Luke 22:24, 31-34

At the last supper the disciples squabbled about who was the greatest.  Jesus listened and said that it was not who man thought was the greatest who would lead them, but who God selected.

Peter was always shooting off his mouth.  He was overly confident and had what we call good self-esteem.  Neither of these are bad characteristics for evangelists, but they can get in the way when trying to minister to people.  Jesus did not reject Peter, but He let him know that as much faith as he had, it would not be enough to overcome the trial that was coming.

Peter denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62) but Jesus did not deny Peter rather He called Him again.  We see this in Luke 16:7 when the angel at Jesus' empty tomb told Mary and Mary Magdalene to “… go tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him….” 

What does this tell us about being a Christian?  It tells us that even when we fail that God still loves us and that we are still called to minister to others for Him.  We may be temporarily sidelined, but with God we are not out of the game.

If you think you have somehow failed the test for being a Christian, think again.  God loves you and Jesus loves you and they have work for you to do. 

Get busy.

Follow the Man with the Water Jug

Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”

They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?”

And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters.  And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’  And he will show you a large, furnished upper room; prepare it there.”

And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

Luke 22:7-13

I am in the midst of having a spiritual ah-ha moment.  I have been highly agitated the last few days because somethings have not been going in what I consider to be the right way or even in a way that most normal people would consider to be within the boundaries of not the best, but O.K.  I am angry that God allows for people to do stupid things which impact innocent people.  I must confess I have been doing some serious yelling at God.

Then I am reading this scripture about the preparations for what we know as the Last Supper – which was a big event chronicled in the Bible.  The Disciples did not spend weeks on the telephone booking a venue; they did what Jesus told them to do and everything was just as He said it would be.

I am thinking that I need to make less of the circumstances of the moment and trust God that the final outcome will be a greater testimony to the power of God than if everything was done the way that I consider to be the right way.

I am going to follow the man with the water jug, because I trust that God knows where He is going.

Snatch Someone Out of the Fire

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Jude 1:22-23

When I was very young, very new to the faith and on fire for the Lord, I ran into a friend who proceeded to tell me about his new found faith.  The more I listened the more I realized that he was being manipulated by a cult.  He had shreds of truth, but the bulk of what he spoke was far outside the truth of Christianity.

I felt panicky about what I should say.  I said the first thing that popped into my head; I said, “Hey, why don’t you come to the church I go to on Sunday?” 

At first he balked, but then he agreed to come.  The next Sunday, he and his family came to church and he and his wife accepted Jesus as their Lord, Master and Savior.  Over the next few weeks they discovered that they were not judged by their past mistakes, but were accepted and loved as part of the church family. 

This is the mercy we are to have; mercy that extends the love of God and the truth of the Gospel to everyone.

Be brave; snatch someone out of the fire. 

Nothing But The Best

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

Isaiah 55 is rich with encouragement for us.  The message is that God will never abandon us and that He wants to bless us and fill our lives with joy which can only come from knowing Him. 

Read the whole chapter and savor the goodness God has for you.

God Holds Us Up

If the Lord had not been my help,

My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

If I should say, “My foot has slipped,”

Your loving kindness, O Lord will hold me up.

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,

Your consolations delight my soul….

Psalm 94:17-19

We know that God helps us, but we do not know how often He intervenes for us when we are not aware. 

God holds us up, and for that we are thankful.