We were talking about
Peter’s journey of cleansing and transformation. He had an idea of what the journey was and
what his role was to be. In Luke 22:31,
32, Jesus said that Satan desired to sift him as wheat. This is the enemy’s plan for all of us. Our seeing eyes that do not see and hearing
ears that do not hear set us up for that sifting. The truth is, we all need a “Do Not Disturb”
sign hanging around our necks. I only
want the journey to be that which is fun and full of non-disturbance. I want to be amazing in MY work for the
Lord. Regret, remorse, ridicule,
rejection—all those things that are a part of the transformation journey are
too much for us to bear in the human. It
takes God’s Spirit to discern that these things are meant for our destruction
by the evil one. God, however, will grow
us up through them. He does not bring
them upon us. The devil is allowed that
because we chose a path of knowing “good and evil.” The glory of God is made manifest in bringing
life out of death. This is true in the
physical realm and in the spiritual realm.
Each day has the opportunity for Gethsemane, Calvary,
and resurrection.
Luke 22:32: “But I
(Jesus) have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have
returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
This is a wonderful thing that the Lord says to Peter. In effect, He is saying: Once you have
recovered from your disgrace and other wounds, strengthen others. This is the path. You cannot give away what you do not
have. You cannot take someone where you
have not been. Our deepest wounds are
training for transformation of ourselves and recovery for others. These wounds create compassionate and
sympathetic people. This process creates
humble, non-judgmental people. This
helps us be observers rather than criticizers…discerners rather than
judges. Jesus has prayed for us! John 17:15: Jesus prayer to the Father—“I do
not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep
them from the evil one.” We are always
devising ways, plans, and even theologies about be taken out of the world. Matthew 10:24: “A disciple is not above his
teacher, nor a servant above his master.”
Grief can take at least
two paths—bitterness and transformation.
The purpose for this disillusionment is to reveal our conscious and
subconscious motives. You can watch this
in the world. How many times have people
said that the Lord will come on such and such a date or this way or that? People rally around that because they are
fearful; because they want to escape something bad. The Bible says no one knows the day or hour…except
the Father in heaven. When the day
passes by and nothing happens, those who are of the Lord will use their grief
as a transformation tool. They will get
into the Word and learn for themselves what it says. Those who had others motives will turn
away. They will become hard and
cynical. Peter was convicted and became
soft.
Someone told me the other
day that they were glad that I am writing about these things because we are not
taught about doing the journey by way of the cross. This teaching has done more for my
understanding than anything else. I am a
black and white person. I do not like
the “gray” age that we are living in. I
need to find something redemptive in everything…even suffering. When I go to Word and really see what is
modeled by Jesus and His disciples, the gray goes away. Thank you, Jesus! Seeing more clearly, I can walk more
correctly.
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