Forgiven, Restored and Used for Service

I talked about Jesus predicting Peter's denial on Tuesday, but today I want to talk about when he actually denied Jesus.

"But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." "But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as was speaking the rooster crowed.  ~ Luke 22:55-60

Look at how a course of a few hours really changed Peter's life. According to my life application Bible, Peter's experience would change him from a halfhearted follower to a repentant disciple, and finally a person Christ could use to BUILD HIS CHURCH!

Wow! I think that is amazing. What Peter did was pretty bad, but with a repentant heart he was forgiven, restored and used for service.

In verse 57, he denied knowing Jesus
In verse 58, he denied being one of His followers
In verse 60, he denied even knowing what they were talking about

Peter's denial grew as he was questioned. He denied knowing Him until finally he didn't even know what they were talking about.

Like Peter, if we continue to leave sin unchecked, it has a way of growing.

We are human and can fall at any second. We need to be aware of our breaking point and not become OVER-CONFIDENT or SELF-SUFFICIENT.

We must be sure our full trust is in God and God alone. We are not strong enough within our self to do what God has called us to do. We must have His strength, His Word, His direction flowing through us. He must be the One guiding us. We can lead ourselves off course really quick.

We must remain humble and realize that it is ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

How many of us would knowingly deny Jesus?

It is easy to say we would NEVER deny Jesus, but we do. We deny him many times a day!

Luke 22:31-21 says,

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

~ these are the words of Jesus
~ Jesus allows satan to sift Simon
~ sift means to break down
~ Jesus says He has prayed for Simon: that his faith would not fail
~ when he had repented and turned back to God, he wanted Simon to strengthen his brothers

This passage is when Jesus was predicting that Peter would deny him. Peter said that he would never do that.

Peter was one of Jesus' 12 disciples so he was on the inner circle. If Peter can fall, we can fall.

We deny Jesus when...
~ we have a critical attitude
~ we snap at our children out of frustration
~ we say things to our spouses that tear them down
~ we don't follow the instructions of Jesus because we have our life mapped out

Jesus allowed this because He knew that it would strengthen Peter and he would in turn be used to strengthen his brothers in Christ.

What is it that the Lord is trying to teach me?
How am I being sifted?
How will I use it for the glory of my Father?
Who is Jesus wanting me to strengthen?

Just as Jesus prayed that Peter's faith would not falter, He is praying our faith will not.
He went BEFORE Peter and He will go before us.

Things may look rocky, but rest assured He is going before us and we have to use it for good.

Peter was renewed and became a powerful leader.

If God can use Peter after he denied him publically, He can use us. We have to be willing to get up, dust off the pain and regret and get about the Father's business.

Dreams ~ God-Sized Dreams

How many of you have dreams of where God wants to take you? How many of you are walking in a God-sized dream right now?

I see myself doing many things for God. I have many dreams that I am not yet walking out. I have other dreams I am right in the middle of right now.

One thing I have learned is when we have a God dream, it takes over our world. It doesn't matter if it's a small or a big dream, it takes over.

I have been reading You're Made for a God Sized Dream by Hollie Gerth and it is a GREAT read.

"God-sized dreams are not controllable. To believe any different is to tell yourself that a bucking bronco in the rodeo ring is no different than a sweet pony at the petting zoo. The reason we can't tame our dreams is because the One who gives them to us is wild. We want God predictable -- especially when we're doing what we think he wants." ~ Hollie Gerth

Let's stop right here~

I think many of us stop short of God-sized dreams because we are scared of how it will alter OUR life, OUR plan. We stop because we don't see a "blueprint" before us. It is a faith walk AND that scares us because for us to succeed, we are NOT in CONTROL, but GOD is in CONTROL. We have to give up our rights and we have a hard time doing that!

Why are we so scared to let God be in charge?

~It might mess up our perfectly grafted plan
~It might put us in places that make us uncomfortable
~It might make us look crazy
~We can't control EVERY detail

But how many times has Jesus let us down?

NEVER~ not once! He is faithful! We CANNOT fail with God!

We must be faithful to follow. We must put our faith and trust of our unknown future in our All-Knowing God.

Rest assured, He has our best interest at heart.

No matter what, remember:

"...whoever is really in control is responsible for the results."

"Our part is not control. It's not results. IT'S OBEDIENCE. It's intimacy with the One who asks us to trust Him even when nothing makes sense." ~Hollie Gerth

Letting Go of Control

OK, I know! I have not blogged in forever. I may not even have ONE person read this post and that's OK.

I have felt an overwhelming desire to blog lately, but I'm SCARED. I know that sounds crazy. BUT I'm not much of a writer, but I have an overwhelming desire to share what God is teaching me in hopes that some things I write will resonate with you. 

What exactly am I SCARED of? 

1. I will let you down. 

2. I will not represent God properly. 

3. It will consume too much of my time. 

4. I will have writers block. 

5. Control: If I'm not careful I control things. Hint: I am a firstborn. Once it's on the web I have put myself out there and I can no longer control where it goes and what happens with this information. 

6. Who am I to share and write about anything? I'm the same as you. I'm no different. Why me?  I'm only a sinner .... Saved by grace!  

7. Writing grammatically correct is not always my strongest attribute. 
8. I will sound like I have it all together when in fact I don't!
 

That being said... I have to follow God. I don't exactly know what that looks like. I don't and that's what scares me. 

But 2 Timothy 1:7 states

 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

So because I know FEAR COMES FROM THE ENEMY, I am going to follow God! He has given me power, love and a sound mind. BECAUSE of that I can be a voice piece for Him. I can do it without fear. He will guide me EVERY step IF I CHOOSE to follow Him! 

My ONLY desire for this blog is to follow Him as best I can in hopes that the people who read it are drawn closer to Him.... Grammatically correct or not, whether I let you down or not, whether I'm as consistent as others would like. It doesn't matter when it's all for HIS GLORY~ not mine. 

And I'll leave you with one of my favorite verses: 

 

"He must increase, I must decrease." ~John 3:30

So for this to work, He has got to increase and I have got to decrease!