April 2, 2011 … Peter’s Impulsive Self-confidence

Passage of the Day: Matthew 26: 33 … Peter replied [to the prophesy of Jesus that all of His disciples would flee in denial that night], "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."

My Journal for Today: Of the twelve original disciples, I often identify with Peter the most … with his brash, impulsive, foot-in-mouth approach to life … and even toward Jesus, his Rabbi, his Master, and yes, even his Messiah. However, there is one major difference between me and the Peter who brazenly declared he would never “fall away” from supporting Christ. I know that I am quite capable of failing my Lord.

Given the right, or should I say, “wrong” circumstances, I could be the weakling who would fall into selfish retreat. Peter simply could not see himself as being weak enough to flee His Lord; but most certainly I know that I could. The advantage I have in my life now over Peter at the time he spoke today’s passage, is that I know beyond a shadow-of-a-doubt that I have the Holy Spirit residing in my soul, who can, in moments of my weakness, give me the strength to take on the challenges of life where I know I might, in my own capabilities, fall short of what it takes to follow my Savior. I know, and believe, the truths of 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9; and so, I actually have a faith advantage in my life that even Peter didn’t have at this moment of crisis in his life in the upper room with Jesus. [And I hope you have these verses memorized by now!] ...

SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 10: 13 … No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

SCRIPTURE: 2nd Cor. 12: 9 … But He [Jesus] said to me [Paul], "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

I also have the advantage of “reading ahead” in Peter’s life, knowing the outcome of his relationship with His Lord days after Peter’s fateful denial of Christ. In John 21: 15 – 19 - [linked here], we read of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to Peter, where Christ gave Peter three opportunities to be restored with declarations of love to his Lord, …once for each of the three times Peter had denied Jesus when he ran during the confrontation with the soldiers and people in the garden.

Don’t you just love it that we have a Savior Who will love even a turncoat sinner like Peter, or one who could easily run in fear in the same way, like me, … a Savior Who will, in mercy and grace, completely restore into fellowship an impulsive hothead like Peter. It is the picture of the merciful Savior, full of grace, Who will allow sinners to be reclaimed by what He accomplished on the cross. It is the fulfillment of what we read in 1st John 1: 9 about our absolute cleansing upon the confession of our sins. Wow! What a Lord Peter served! … and so do we !!

My Prayer Today: O, my Lord, You are my blessed redeemer. Amen

2009 – Day 182.July 2 – Redirecting Our Gaze

2009 – Day 182.July 2 – Redirecting Our Gaze

Passage of the Day: 2nd Kings 2: 9 – 13 … Linked for your study …

Second Passage of the Day: Matthew 17: 1 – 13 … Linked for your study …

My Journal for Today: It’s my last day studying the life and works of Elijah, one of God’s great prophetic heroes of the Old Testament. And Chuck Swindoll makes an interesting and accurate observation to close out this study. He makes the personal study note that Elijah’s life was one which causes us to look to the life of our Savior.

And in this final look, Swindoll redirects our thoughts, remembering how Elijah often spent time alone to allow God to shape his being just as Jesus did when He was on His trek to the cross. >>> And we saw Elijah’s courage to face the ungodliness of the leaders of his day. Certainly that has to remind us of Jesus as He confronted the misguided religious leaders of His day. >>> Then there was the compassion of Elijah which was exhibited during his time with the widow in the wilderness; and reading this, I immediately thought of the compassion of our Lord with the woman at the well or with the prostitute whom he restored to life eternal. … Then, we studied how Elijah had his own time of agony, much like Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in Gethsemane. >>> And finally we see Elijah being lifted directly into heaven much like our Savior who was lifted by the Spirit of God directly to be with God, the Father.

Is it no wonder that when Jesus asked his disciples about whom the people said He was [see Matt. 16: 13-14], they responded with the image of the Prophet Elijah. And any well schooled Jew of that day would know the prophesy of Malachi (in Malachi 4: 5 – 6) that when the Messiah comes, He would be preceded by one like Elijah; and we know, of course, from Scripture that this was fulfilled by the life of John the Baptist.

Swindoll is right that studying the life of Elijah takes our spiritual vision off of the world and ourselves and places our directional focus on Christ. Certainly Swindoll is right when he claims that one of the primary goals of every Christian is to be transformed into Christlikeness. And in seeking Christlikeness, we need to be able to see that we must take our eyes off of the world or our own desires and to do what Christ commanded of His disciples in Luke 9: 23, a passage I really hope you have memorized and internalized, because it is Christ’s command for us to become like Him … to deny ourselves, … to take up our crosses daily, … and to follow Him. Following in the life example of an Elijah certainly is walking in the truth of Christ’s commands.

And once again, as it so often happens when I come to my time with God in these morning times of my life, as today, my mind is taken back to that great old hymn …

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this world will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Studying Elijah’s life has allowed me to do just that; and it has re-energized me with the desire to become more like our Savior. And for anyone who might be spending time with God along with me here in this study, that is my prayer for you as well.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, turn our eyes to You so that we can follow You and become more like You. Transform us, Lord, into Your image so that we might glorify You, our Father, in Heaven. Amen

A Few More Holy Land Memories

Well, there are so many memories I could lay out for anyone who reads here to give you some idea of our memorable trip to the Holy Land, ... from which we just returned. But above are just a few special ones.

Photo #1 ... On a brisk Jerusalem morning, I mounted a camel with Elly for a short ride up on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus had walked down to the Temple from where we were on the Mount down through the Hebron Valley into the Temple @ Jerusalem for the first and last time he would enter those Temple gates. He would enter being hailed as a King; and within a few days He would be crucified, mockingly as the "King of the Jews," ... and He would rise again from His death eternally as the "King of kings and Lord of Lords!"

Photo #2 ... We'll never forget coming out of the long trek to Mt. Hor in Petra to see this incredible monument to human engineering - "the Treasury" site, where the Nabatean arabs had chisled monuments to their gods in Roman and Greek style into this mountain. And to think that this doesn't even compare with the sites we'll see one day in heaven.

Photo #3 ... And dthe last one I'll bring up - for now - is the remembrance of standing on the very stones on which the Roman soldiers nailed our Lord to the tomb, realizing that is was my sin which did the nailing ... and my sin for which our Savior died (along with yours) to save us forever from our selves.

These are just a few strong memories from the travels which had us walking where Jesus had walked. ... Bill