Tag: Peter

Following the Footsteps of the Master

July 6, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

In an episode of M*A*S*H, a soldier tells how he was wounded. He had gingerly followed the footprints of other soldiers across a snow-covered minefield. So long as he could see their tracks, he knew he would not set off a mine. Problem was, half way across the field, the tracks disappeared. He stood contemplating his fate for what seemed like hours, and finally resigned himself to follow his instincts. He took one step and triggered a mine.

Today, we will discuss following footsteps that never fade away.

Here is something that I find remarkable about the American culture: the more we try to separate our society from Christ and Judeo-Christian Values (now there is a term you never hear – look it up), the more alternative spiritual systems pop up to take the place of Christianity.

One can follow any number of thousands of God and be accepted by society, so long as one doesn’t follow the God, Yahweh, or His son, Jesus Christ.
One can follow the Golden Rule, so long as they don’t quote the Bible.
One can worship Mother Nature.
One can follow any number of sages, so long as they don’t seek the wisdom of the Bible.
One can follow Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, The Bahai Faith, Jainism, Hinduism, American World Patriarchs, The Grail Movement, The Order of the Golden Dawn, or any of a thousand other religions, and our “secular” society doesn’t care, so long as you don’t follow Jesus Christ.

Considering what Jesus has done for us, I don’t see a choice but to follow Him. He has filled our hearts with love, so how can we not follow Him?

In our study of holiness we have learned that only God can sanctify us, and that by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

We have also learned that discipleship is our response to God’s sanctification. Once He fills is with His Holy Spirit, we want nothing more than to follow in the footprints of Christ.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 ESV

Why do we love Christ? Because He first loved us.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:22-25 ESV

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV

God makes sanctifies us holy, and only He can do that, but – because of the love He has poured out for us – we should want to follow in the steps of Jesus. It is when we follow any one of these other paths – or a path of our own choosing – that we step on a land mine.

When My Child Cries

June 25, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

You put my tears into your bottle... — You put my tears into your bottle…

Those of you who have children will likely know what I mean when I say that raising boys is completely different than raising girls. It is true in many different ways. For example, when my boys misbehaved, they world rarely confess to doing anything wrong, even when caught red-handed. My girl, though, when corrected would always tearfully repent of her wrongdoing – whatever it was – and promise to change. As Christians, we should be more like my girl, ready to repent when we’ve sinned.

Repentance is perhaps the most important aspect of our relationship with God. Without true repentance, there is no salvation. Matthew tells us in chapter 4 that, from the beginning of His ministry, Jesus began to “preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'” (v. 17 NKJV).

On the Day of Pentecost, at the birth of the Church, Peter – filled with the Holy Spirit – preached a moving sermon. Everyone within earshot was cut to the quick. “What do we do?” They asked.

“Repent and be baptized in the name of Christ Jesus for the remission of sins,” Peter answered, “and you will receive the Holy Spirit.”

If repentance was message of Christ, and if repentance was the message of the Apostles, then what role should it play in our lives – me and you, 21st century believers?

Repentance should be central to our relationship with Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that he died daily. As for myself, before I get out of bed in the morning, I lay down my life before the Lord, telling Him that I am a weak and lowly sinner who, without the presence of His Holy Spirit, can never change. And I beg Him to fill me anew and provide the power to make it through another day.

And, if I do sin, I immediately confess it repent of it, and pray for more strength so that I don’t do it again. John, in his first epistle (2:1-2 NKJV) tells us that we should not sin, but indicates that he knows we will.

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

And, that’s just it. We are liable to sin; we are only human. But if we fully surrender to God, He will live through us. If He lives through us, then we will find that those same old sins – those ones that always trap us in a snare – we’ll find they no longer tempt us.

Once God deals with the major sins in our life, then He will begin showing us sins that we thought we had kept hidden from Him, or that He didn’t care about. This is how we know that God loves us. He loves us too much to let us continue living in an manner that will rob us of His joy.

God is not a ruthless tyrant who restricts us from all worldly pleasure. On the contrary, He is a loving Father who desires only the best things for His children.

He loves us so much that He carefully watches over us. When we wander, he knows our every step, never letting us out of His sight. He collects all our tears like precious oils (Psalm 56:8).

God is like the dad who takes his child to the playground. He turns loose of the child so she may run and jump and climb and swing (how would she learn to grow, if he didn’t) but he never takes eyes off her, and he’s there to dry her tears if she falls.

I beg of you: confess and repent of your sins, and ask God to fill you with His Spirit, giving you the strength and the love to change, for we are unable to change on our own. He is not an abusive Father; He won’t be angry when you repent. He will try your tears, hold you in His arms, and fill you with the joy of His perfect love. What good father can resist hugging a crying child?

Fear Not 365 – For We Must Speak…

May 1, 2017 by ChristianHolinessDaily Leave a Comment

Acts 4: 1-22

Text: Acts 4: 20 “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

The change that the Disciples of Christ experienced after the Resurrection and Pentecost was amazing. Contrast this passage with the passage telling about how Peter, when questioned by a servant girl in the courtyard of the High Priest, denied that he even knew Jesus. It is like he is two different people! What was the reason for such a drastic change? What motivated the Apostles to face hostile crowds who persecuted them and eventually even put them to death? Where did they gain their courage?
Let’s review the information we have about Peter and John in particular and see what the Holy Spirit can teach us.
I. PETER AND JOHN BEFORE THEY MET CHRIST.
a. From the information we have in the Gospels we know that Peter and John and John’s brother James were fishermen. Speculation from historians suggests that they were more than likely involved in a highly successful commercial fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. They probably marketed their catch to the wealthy in Judea as well as to those in Galilee. We are told at the time of Jesus’ arrest that John was known by the house of the High Priest (See John 18: 15), lending speculation that his family was well-off financially and that they probably had business contacts among the wealthy Judeans and especially with the Jewish Religious Leaders. And we know that Peter and John definitely had different personalities. Peter was the obvious leader—and probably in his younger days, the instigator. He tended to speak before he thought. And you always knew where you stood with Peter—he would tell you. And, while we sometimes tend to think that John was a little more passive in temperament, it was he and his brother James who wanted to call fire down from heaven to destroy the Samaritan village that rejected Jesus. I would suspect that both Peter & John were muscular from having labored with the fishing nets. And they probably could tell some pretty good fish stories. These were men’s men, strong, boisterous, with a good sense of business in their heads. They were destined to continue their families’ commercial fishing business. And we know also that Peter and John were religious Jews. They had no doubt been schooled in the local synagogue in their hometown of Capernaum by the local Rabbi—that was the custom of that day. And, because of their religious training they were aware of the Promise of a Messiah King who would someday restore Israel to its former glory days. Simon Peter’s brother Andrew had become a disciple of John the Baptist, so it is very likely that Peter and the other fishermen were aware of this unusual prophet who was spreading the news that the Messiah would soon arrive. So, we assume from the knowledge and the probabilities in accordance with the culture of that time and place, Peter and John were good men, good Jews, and inclined to lean towards the Religion of their people.
b. As I think about these men prior to them becoming disciples of Jesus, I realize they were much like our children. Raised in a Religious setting, exposed to the secular world, developing their own opinions of politics and refining values of their own—Good people who stood at the cross roads of their life purpose. I think of my own experience. When I was a young boy, church was not the priority of my family’s life. My dad had been raised a Methodist and my mother had attended a Pentecostal church out in the country where she was raised. We went to church occasionally, but I really don’t remember us being regular attendees up until I was about 10 years old. My folks were honest, hard workers, and well respected. People often came to Dad to get his opinions about situations they were facing. While Dad wasn’t the oldest son in his family, he really filled the role of an older brother. By outward appearances we were solid folks—Religion was accepted as a part of the culture, but was not to the extent that anyone would have thought us as being religious. And in our present world there are a lot of people who live very similar lives. I have heard so many times people say they moved to Branson because they felt God was directing them here. And many of those people are good people, but they really are not connected with any particular church. It is more a cultural relationship with Christianity than anything else.

II. BUT THEN THEY MET CHRIST.
a. Jesus was raised in Nazareth, a little village not far from the Sea of Galilee and not far from Capernaum which was the hometown of Peter and John. There is even some speculation (by me mostly) that Jesus may have been a cousin of James & John, but that is not really provable. We really don’t know when Jesus first met these men, but it does seem likely that he was acquainted with them prior to their leaving their fishing nets to follow him. From John’s Gospel we are told that Andrew was one of John the Baptist’s disciples who had witnessed the baptism of Jesus and had followed him afterwards and had decided that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. He had then gone and found his brother Simon Peter and brought him to Jesus, telling him, “We have found the Messiah.” (See John 1:35-42). It was sometime after that that Jesus had invited Peter to leave his fishing boat and follow him “to become a fisher of men.” (See Matthew 4: 18-23). Immediately after that, Jesus had invited James & John to become his disciples and they too left their fishing boats and followed Him. Their schooling under Jesus went on for the next three years as Jesus mentored them and taught them about the Kingdom of God. He had trained them to minister to others. They had witnessed miracle after miracle performed by Jesus—miracles of healing, miracles over winds and waves, miraculous catches of fish, miraculous supplies of food for vast multitudes. They had seen the love of Christ as He ministered to those who were “like sheep with a shepherd.” They had even seen Jesus bring the dead back to life. And as they followed Jesus he gradually released them to minister to others as they had been sent out 2 by 2 to go to various towns and villages to prepare them for Jesus’ arrival.
b. “Were they truly saved? “ I have heard people ask. And I have to say, “Yes, they were.” They were new followers. They had much to learn. They were being mentored to become leaders, but they were works in progress. They were “walking in all the light they had” at that time in their lives.
c. And I have to say similar things of all who first come to Jesus. We experience His love, His forgiveness, His peace, His Joy. But we are mere infants with so much to learn. We may not yet be mature, but we should be moving towards maturity. Our progress may involve unlearning some of our pre-conceived notions about what it means to be a Christian. We will make some mistakes and have to seek God’s forgiveness. As we mature, those mistakes should become less and less frequent, but reality is that we will always be “In progress” even when we are much more mature as Christians. Remember how Peter thought he was being so mature when he asked how often he should forgive a person, suggesting maybe up to 7 times? And Jesus set him on his heels when He told Peter, “70 times 7,” indicating that we should reach a place where we freely forgive and have compassion and mercy towards others. We should always be learning.
d. The disciples were definitely different after becoming followers of Christ. They indeed were learning how to become fishers of men! Have you allowed Jesus to teach you how to become a “fisher of men?”
III. AND THEN THERE WAS THE CROSS AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED.
a. We are told that all his disciples forsook Jesus and fled that night when Jesus was arrested. Only Peter followed, but when push came to shove, he lost his nerve and denied that he even knew Jesus. But the Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection certainly had a profound effect on Peter and John and all the other followers of Jesus. They had seen his torture and death. They had witnessed the Roman soldier ramming the spear into his side and penetrating His heart so that blood and water poured out. They had seen His dead body placed in the tomb. And then, they had met Jesus face to face, the Risen Lord. He had taught them for 40 days until one day when Jesus suddenly was taken up into heaven. They had tarried in Jerusalem until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit had suddenly come upon them and empowered them to be His Holy Witnesses. And now, in the streets of Jerusalem and in the Courtyard of the Temple, they had told everyone what they had seen and heard. This is the same Peter who had cowered before a servant girl. And he and John and the others had hidden behind locked doors fearful that someone would be coming to arrest them after Jesus was crucified. But now, faced with the threats of the very same people who had arrested Jesus, their response: “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4: 20). The threats of beatings and imprisonment and even death, did not deter them—they HAD to tell what they had seen and heard.
b. And that brings me to us: What will it take for us to be so compelled that we are willing to risk rejection and even ridicule and still be willing to tell others what we have seen and heard in Jesus!
c. Leighton Ford, an evangelist similar to Billy Graham, in his book “Good News is for Sharing, copyright 1977, published by David C. Cook Publishing), wrote this: In preparing for this book, I have talked to a lot of people, and the fear issue comes up front again and again. What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned to me:

– “I am afraid I might do more harm than good.”
– “I don’t know what to say.”
– “I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions.”
– “I may seem bigoted.”
– “I may invade someone’s privacy.”
– “I am afraid I might fail.”
– “I am afraid I might be a hypocrite.”

Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, “What is your greatest hindrance to witnessing?” Nine percent said they were too busy to remember to do it. Twenty-eight percent felt the lack of real information to share. None said they didn’t really care. Twelve percent said their own lives were not speaking as they should. But by far the largest group was the 51 percent whose biggest problem was the fear of how the other person would react! None of us likes to be rejected, ridiculed, or regarded as an oddball.
I think the biggest reason we have so many bench warmers in the church is that too many have not really focused on the Cross. If we really get our eyes focused on the love displayed on Calvary, if we really encounter the living Lord, if we really are filled with His Holy Spirit, if we are really fully yielded to His Control—How can we help but tell others the Good News about Christ!
We should never have to beg for Sunday School Teachers and Vacation Bible School Workers, and other workers around the Church. We should never be hung up on what style of music the church is singing—we should be so excited about the Living Lord that our number one desire should be to tell others about Jesus and do all we can to see others coming to know our Savor and Lord!
Fear Not “for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”