"Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 'Oh no, Lord. This will never happen to You" v22 Matthew 16:21-23 CSB
Jesus spoke some harsh words to Peter after this statement. From one point of view, it was quite surprising for this to happen, especially when He had just told Peter that he would be a 'rock' in the Kingdom of God (Matt 16:16-20.) But when you look at the bigger picture, Peter was trying to take over the will of God for Jesus. He told Him this would never happen. In other words, Peter began to dictate what Jesus should do and Jesus was having none of it, 'Get behind Me Satan. You are a hindrance to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns.' Ouch, that must have hurt. Jesus had told Peter that he was a hindrance to Him or, in other words, a stumbling block. He was using words from Satan.
Think about this, you can use words, such as, 'Lord' and yet be talking straight from the devil. Peter was trying to protect Jesus. Well, that's not a bad thing from a human point of view. However, Jesus doesn't need protecting because, when you try, you begin to block the work of God. Don't get in God's way, when you do, you can do more damage than you realise. There are times when you just have to let God, do His work. He doesn't need your help. When you try, you begin to come from the fleshy side of your spirit, not the spiritual side.
Proverbs 18:21 says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it, will eat its fruit.' Peter was not speaking life when he spoke to Jesus, he was speaking death - death to the situation; death to Jesus on the cross forgiving our sins and giving us eternal life. If Jesus had listened to Peter, we would have had no hope - only death. This is why Jesus spoke the way He did to Peter. He spoke life into the situation - God's will would be done and nothing, absolutely nothing, would stop Jesus from doing this.
We, as Jesus' followers, need to do the same. We must choose our words wisely, we must speak life into a situation, not death. How many times has a God-given idea or direction bit the dust and died because someone was trying to be God to us? We need to be discerning when God speaks to us and once we know it is God speaking, carry out His will no matter what.
Just let this thought dwell within your spirit, 'We have the power to speak life or death to a situation.' Choose to speak life into whatever situation you find yourself in, and then see how things change in your Daily Life with Jesus.
I never like to end without giving someone the opportunity to ask Jesus into their life, or, re-dedicate their life. If that is you, pray this prayer and please let me know:
Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.
In Jesus' Name. Amen
Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.
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