SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/22/2021 8:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Master’s Men, Peter: A Lesson in Leadership”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:2a
Message of the
verse: “Now
the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called
Peter,”
I want to begin by saying that this
introduction to this section is going to take a very long time to get through,
but I do believe it will be worth our while in looking at it. We want to begin by talking about the
greatness of God’s grace, as it is seen in His choosing the undeserving to be
His people along with the unqualified to do His work. I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the
only people that the Lord has to work with are sinners as all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. Because
God chooses to work through us, that, then should be a great encouragement to
every believer to realize this great truth.
Let us look at an example from James 5:17 “Elijah was a man with a
nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did
not rain on the earth for three years and six months.” We can see from this verse that just like
Elijah, the apostles had a nature like ours.
As mentioned that there was no other way, so God chose to bestow
sanctifying grace on those who believe in His Son and by His own power to then
transform them into men and women of having great usefulness.
John MacArthur writes the following,
something that I truly can relate to on many, many occasions: “We are tempted to become discouraged and
disheartened when our spiritual life and witness suffer because of our sins and
failures. Satan attempts to convince us
that those shortcomings render us useless to God; but His use of the apostles
testifies to the opposite. They did not
lead the church in turning the world upside down because they were extraordinarily
talented or naturally gifted, but because—in spite of their human limitations
and failures—they surrendered themselves to God, whose power is perfected in
man’s weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
“That has always been God’s way,
since He has never had anything but imperfect and sinful men through whom to
work.” (I love it when MacArthur agrees
with me.) “Soon after God delivered Noah
and his family through the flood, Noah became drunk and acted indecently. Abraham the father of the faithful, doubted
God, lied about his wife, and committed adultery with her maid. Isaac told a similar lie about his wife when
he thought his life was in danger. Jacob
took advantage of his brother Esau’s weakness and extorted the birthright from
him. Moses was a murder, and in pride he
struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God had instructed. His brother Aaron, the first high priest, led
Israel in erecting and worshiping the golden calf at the very time Moses was on
Mount Sinai receiving the law from God.
Joshua disobeyed the Lord by making a treaty with the Gibeonites instead
of destroying them. Gideon had little
confidence in himself and even less in God’s plan and power. Samson was repeatedly beguiled by Delilah
because of his great lust for her. David
committed adultery and murder, was an almost total failure as a father, and was
not allowed to build the Temple because he was a man of blood. Elijah stood fearlessly before 850 false
prophets but cowered before one woman, Jezebel.
Ezekiel was brash, crusty, and quick to speak his mind. Jonah defied God’s call to preach to the
Ninevites and resented His grace when they were converted through his
preaching.
“Apart from the brief ministry of
His own Son, the history of God’s work on earth is the history of His using the
unqualified. The twelve disciples who
became apostles were no exception. Even
from the human standpoint, they had few characteristics or abilities that
qualified them for leadership and service.
Yet God used those men, just as He did Noah, Abraham, and the others, in
marvelous ways to do His work.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am so
thankful that God gives me something that I need at just the correct time in my
life, and that is what this long quotation from John MacArthur has been.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to
be thankful to the Lord for using me in the way that He has chosen to use me,
and that He will continue to do so.
7/22/2021 9:06
AM
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