SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2021 10:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Simon Peter”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:2a
Message of the
verse: “The first, Simon, who is
called Peter.”
I suppose that this may be a surprising statement, but
then maybe not for those who have studied the Bible for a while. All of the twelve, including Judas, were
integral parts of the Lord’s plan.
However when we look at Peter, he was by far the central figure, both
during those three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry on earth and also during
the early years of the church that took place right after Pentecost, as Peter
was the one who preached the very first sermon of the church age when 3000
people came to know Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord. As we look through the gospels we can
determine that Jesus spent more time with Peter than any of the other twelve,
and this was partly because Peter was constantly at the Lord’s side, which is a
very good place to be. Peter never was
far from Jesus and was constantly asking Him questions, and also giving advice,
and even giving commands, and all I can say is that was Peter, and yet the Lord
would greatly use him in spite of all his faults. Here is a fact that you may not know and that
is that apart from that of Jesus, no name is mentioned more often in the New
Testament than Peter’s. There is no
other person who speaks as often or is spoken to as often. Then there is this fact, which may not be a surprise
and that that there is no other disciple who was reproved as often or as
severely as Peter, and only he was presumptuous enough to reprove the
Lord. No other disciple so boldly
confessed Christ or so boldly denied Him.
There is no other disciple who was so praised and blessed by Jesus, and
yet no other did He call Satan.
John MacArthur writes “How could Jesus take such an
ambivalent, inconsistent, and self-centered man and make him into ‘the first—the
protos—of the apostles? For the gospel record we can discern at least
three instructive elements that were instrumental in the Lord’s preparation of
Peter: the right raw material, the right
experience, and the right lessons.”
As you can see this is also an introduction into the life
of Peter, and we will go over those three topics mentioned at the end of John
MacArthur’s quotation in our next several SD’s and then as mentioned in our
last SD we will do that for all of those twelve men that were chosen by Jesus
to bring about the kingdom of God in what is called “The Church Age” an age
that we are still in, but I am praying that it will end soon as our Lord comes
back at what is called the Rapture of the church to take us, His bride back to
heaven to be with Him forever. The
church age is what we have called in the past “The invisible kingdom” as the
King is ruling from heaven as He sits at the right hand of God in heaven ruling
over His church on earth.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It is good for me
to understand the lives of all of Jesus disciples that will be His apostles,
minus Judas, knowing that as I see their faults and their strong suits, and
still be used by Jesus, then I can have the hope that He will use me with all
of my faults too.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to use me to bring glory to
His Son today. 7/30/2021 11:21 AM
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