…Peter
It's one thing to say you will
always believe in Me, but an entirely other whether you will go the
road of one that puts Me first in their life & is willing to
forsake all to follow Me (Lk. 14:33).
Like Peter who asked Me, 'How
can you doubt my love & loyalty for You, Lord? Even if everyone
else forsakes You, I never will!' And you all know what happened.
I rebuked Peter sharply, just a
short while after having praised him before all... One minute he was
declaring Me the Son of God, for which I praised him & practically
made him the leader of My church, and the next moment I had to rebuke
the Devil speaking through him... So, watch out who you are letting use
your tongue and who you're allowing to speak through you. Always be on
guard, and claim the promise I gave you, that I would constantly fill
you to overflowing with My Words, My Spirit & My love (Jn.7:38)!
Remind the Devil of that when he comes around to try to use you for a
channel of his message... his little sarcasms or worldly attitudes.
Keep washing your heart & mind with My Word & My positive input!
(Some people) seek not the will
of the Father, just like Peter didn't when he was trying to convince Me
not to go to Jerusalem to be crucified. Imagine if I had let him! The
greatest and most important mission in the entire history of man could
have been foiled!
If you go in My full anointing,
then you've already won! But it's a little bit like Peter walking on
the water: the moment you get your eyes off Me & you start looking
at yourself & you lose the anointing of My Spirit, you'll sink.
"Simon, Simon, Satan hath
desired to have thee, that he may sift you like wheat. But I have
prayed for you, that your faith fail not, and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren!" And he did! He wasn't tossed about by the
Devil forever. There came a time when he was converted & he
strengthened his brethren & became a leading & major supporting
pillar of My church!
Often those who make their
dedication to Me so very vocal turn out to be the ones to deny Me
before men, like Peter in the night I was betrayed. When he had vowed
just a few hours earlier that he would follow Me even into death, he
hadn't really considered that the moment to prove it might be closer
than he thought.
How ready are you to truly
follow Me wherever I lead? Do you really have what it takes & are
you really ready to give what I ask?
You're quick to pull out a
sword, like Peter, when he cut off Malchus' ear. But I have told you to
"bless them that persecute you & pray for them which despitefully
use you…" I'm asking you to remember that I endured much more
contradictions of sinners against Me, so that you may learn patience,
meekness & humility from Me & not come across as hostile to
people. Remember that I came not into this World to judge or condemn
them, but that through Me they might be saved.
It's a little known or
acknowledged fact that Simon Peter had a wife, and if he had a wife
it's safe to assume that he also had children. And yet he forsook all
to follow Me. He must have had the faith that the Father was going to
provide for them somehow, right? That making the decision to follow His
Son, Who had just helped them to catch the biggest load of fishes they
had ever caught in their entire lives, was not going to result in his
family starving.
Doing nothing but trusting Me
is a little bit too much to ask of you, is it? You see your funds
shrinking to a bare minimum and you start freaking out, & like
Peter, you decide you should go back to doing what you've always been
doing, back to the old way of doing things, back to leaning on the arm
of the flesh...
When Peter was offended because
I recruited a tax collector as one of My disciples, he had to learn
that I don't make a difference: a sinner is a sinner, and if you
believe in Me, you're already forgiven.
I could not spare Peter the
shame of having denied Me thrice, because he was just thinking too
highly of himself, and likewise I could not spare you your numerous
falls, which bring you back before My throne with the right and
appropriate attitude and on your knees, instead of patting yourself on
the back.
I knew that Peter was going to deny Me, and yet I never stopped loving him…
