I have prayed for you. You are going to go through it...Be Sifted...but when you return take care of your brothers.
Sobering.
But Peter did not think he would deny Jesus.
But he did.
This rocked him to the core.
This stripped him of every pretense and high thought he ever had.
He denied Jesus three times.
Publicly. Three times. Just as Jesus said he would.
Insight: The stripping of trials, the sifting, allows us to let loose delusions and pretensions that hinder the fulness of the Gospel in us.
I've heard it said and have said it myself, "I've lost everything."
When in fact we have gained eternal life and refined grace and glory in Jesus.
Remember what Peter said to Jesus, "Lord I will die with you."
Peter meant it. That is how he saw himself.
But there were other things still in the way of the devotion Jesus required.
The simple facts of walking after Jesus are clear.
Jesus is the standard of righteousness.
We are coming into greater and greater understanding and encounter with his love.
Peter had run into this previously...."Get behind me Satan. You do not have the things of God in mind."
He made the first and greastest confession in human history, "You are the Christ. The Son of the Living God."
And then saw how high and wide and deep is the love of God in the wise plans of the Father through Jesus.
Like Peter we stumble and sometimes fall so hard that things get mixed up inside us.
The First thing to get mixed up is our hearts.
Religion. Self righteousness.
The thoughts we carry about our ability to fulfill righteousness...
Start the knock on the door in earnest. They seek to invade our hearts.
We are commanded to "guard our hearts."
This must be a key reason for such a command.
We see again - we are lost without Jesus and his work covering us.
We see again - the reality of his redeeming love.
We see again - that even if our hearts condemn us, the power of the Gospel is right there.....
"We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God..." I John 3:20
"Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Rom 8:34
Jesus is always right here....
- Welcoming us into the Fathers heart.
- Opening up our lives with freedom through his blood.
- Dropping buckets of grace filled forgiveness over us in waves.
- Cleansing us and washing us anew.
- Reminding us that truly it is by grace we are saved.
- Again and Again and again we are saved by grace.
When our hearts condemn us.
1. Find the place of abiding rest.
Don't rest until you do. Press in. Exercise grace in your life.
Run after mercy and forgiveness. Welcome the Spirit to call out what is in your heart. Slow down. Rest in the presence. Abide again.
Abiding is in the presence purchased for us in Jesus. He completed a perfect abiding work. We never have to leave the presence!
In repentance and rest is our salvation. For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, "In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength." But you were not willing, 16And you said, "No, for we will flee on horses," Therefore you shall flee! "And we will ride on swift horses," Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.… Isaiah 3015f
Look to what you are declaring and saying in response to the challenges and difficulties you are facing.
2. Find the place of resting peace in the Lord's arms.
He will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27
As the Lord commands, fear in the heart is deadly for zeal, passion and the knowledge of the Lord. Drive it out. Don't let it take up a seat in your heart. If it has the Spirit is able to lead you through getting free. The opposite of fear is trust.
Let trust return to your heart. Focus in on these things......
Jesus is trustworthy - "I am the Way."
Jesus is trust-able - "I am the Truth"
Jesus is leading me (John 14:6)
3. Remember - Heart surgery is a process. Remember what he has done.
Rest and resting is one of the great gifts of Kingdom citizenship. Learning to remain there requires regular heart check ups. Sometimes the Spirit allows the enemy to sift us and we feel the deep stripping. It is a deep work of love and grace and requires time and focus. We want the heat to shut off. We want the pressure to end. But it is working its work for the glory of God.
James promises us....."...knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:3-4
Jesus is seeking to bring us into perfection. The kind that is in heaven. The kind he died for. Let him do his perfect work through the power of the Holy Spirit.
He's got you.
No one can snatch you out of his hand.
Surrender
Come into the abiding place of his presence and find rest for your soul.
Testify to yourself. Remind yourself of all the amazing things Jesus has done. Tell of his wonders. Speak of his goodness. Tell yourself about the miracles, stories of his love. Remind your soul who Jesus is.
4. WORSHIP - Declare the praises of him who loves us.
Once your heart is worshiping again you can be assured you are moving back into the country where you belong. The unbounded Kingdom of the rule and reign of Jesus.
1 Timothy 4:9-10
It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Trustworthiness#sthash.xkw9BSCZ.dpuf
Enjoy it. Say those things that resonate in the Word and speak volumes of truth about the Father, Jesus and the Spirit. Say them out loud. Find a place in open country and speak them out loud. Tell them to the hills. Shout them to the mountains. He is Alive! He lives in you. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Trustworthiness#sthash.xkw9BSCZ.dpuf
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With much love in Jesus
You can do this thing! He's got you.
Jeff Reynolds ---
Brother Jeff
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