Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice, for Your sheep hear Your voice and follow You (John 10:3). ...
"From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to You.' But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things'" (Matthew 16:21-23).
You were determined to fulfill Your destiny. Even the anticipation of rejection, betrayal, and abuse could not dissuade You or distract You. Even the seemingly encouraging rebuke of love from an assuring friend and faithful disciple could not redirect Your steps, confuse Your thoughts, or alter Your course. You had set Your face and sights on going to Jerusalem and fulfill all righteousness with the holy sacrifice of Your holy life for all of us.
However, all along the way, You had the freedom to say "No," at anytime, but continued to say "Yes" -- "Yes" to the will and the way of God, "Yes" to Your identity and Your destiny (Luke 22:42). And all along the way, it was necessary for You to continue to set Your mind on divine things, not human things, to "set Your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).
Peter thought he knew what best. for You. He even "took (You) aside and began to rebuke (You)" (Matt. 16:22). I look at Peter and I think, Wow, what an idiot! But how many times have I done the same --sometimes as directly, maybe a little more passively-aggressively, but with just as much insistence on the things and the ways of this world, instead of the things and the ways of God, nonetheless.
But in my arguing with You, You were resolute. So Jesus in Your grace and Spirit, give me the grace and resolve to do the same. Give me the humility to seek the will of my Father, the faith to believe God always knows best from heaven's perspective even if it doesn't look like it from earth's perspective, and the courage to simply obey. Let me like Jesus exhibit immediate Radical Costly Obedience, In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you will be empowered by the grace of God, in complete humility, faith, and courage to be determined in the destiny our Father has for your life, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I also pray the Lord will encourage you to not simply read my reflections but actively participate in our journey through these Scriptures together by please sharing your thoughts, reflections and prayers as the Lord’s speaks to you from the daily reading in the comment box below.
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We started three weeks ago beginning the journey of reading through the New Testament in a year and we still have 50 weeks to go! This plan has only one chapter to read each weekday. There are no assigned readings on the weekend. The plan we are using is from Bibleplan.org. Click the button below to go to the site, enter the starting date January 1, 2021, enter your email, and a time you want to receive an email reminder, then click subscribe. Every weekday then you will receive an email reminder of the chapter reading for that day.