John 18: 10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” Simon Peter was apparently trying to do what He could to stop the soldiers from taking Jesus and His answer was to draw his sword and take the ear off of Malchus, the high priest's slave. When we try to do something for God, we need to make sure we have prayed about it and have the right attitude. Many times our discernment is flawed at best, and that is because we just don't get it. What I mean is we look at what is happening or what is going to happen from a worldly perspective. Discern (def) distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty by sight or with the other senses. Peter was thinking with his brain and not his heart, so his reaction did not line up with the perfection of what was happening. Jesus told them He would have to die for the sins of the world, but the reality of the whole thing was missing Peter as he actually saw this was happening.
Oh how we doubt God!! It is very hard to have total faith when we have total doubt all the time. God has brought down every barrier between us and Him and we still doubt. The enemy sows doubt in our minds and in our circumstances. In other words, we a Spiritual Pandemic and that Pandemic has afftected so many and when we get the sickness we are compromised at our deepest level of faith. So many times, instead of praying about something we worry about it and the peace Paul said we have that goes beyond all understanding is not peace at all. When we begin to doubt "all bets are off!" Doubt has become more of a lifestyle than faith, and the deconstruction of our faith has begun. Then we just begin striking out into the darkness trying to "fix" things with humanistic thinking. This should not be so!!
It is time to get our brains and our hearts wrapped around the Word of God and accept it with a Spiritual discernment that only God can give. The great thing is God doesn't hold back this discernment if we will just believe it. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah something that should drive our thinking when it comes to following God. Jeremiah 33:1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lordgave him this second message: 2 “This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord: 3 Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. How do we get this great understanding and spiritual discernment?
God says JUST ASK!! When was the last time you came to God in prayer and asked Him to show you His ways? You should try it.
In Isaiah 30 the prophet spoke God's words to the people of Judah and he told them to trust God. God said there were blessings for God's people if they would just listen (discern). Here is what God told Isaiah to speak in Isaiah 30: 21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Ask God to speak His truth to you, and He will do just that and show you which way to go and what you should do. God doesn't call us and say "Figure it out for yourselves." No. God shows us the what, the where, the who, and the how. How could we ask for anything more? If we ask?
I understand in the heat of the moment it is easy to react like Peter did in the above verses, but the Holy Spirit is in control of our minds and our heart, and He will give us the right thing to do at the right time. The problem is getting that instruction from us. If we doubt like the world we live in, we will always miss what God's will is in the situation and thus miss what God is trying to show us in it. Let God inoculate your heart and thus heal your doubt and replace it with faith, and then we will see the situation like God wants us to see it. Jesus could not be talked into using His awesome power to stop what God wanted Him to do.... for us. His reaction to Peter's action was 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?” You may ask "Can I have that kind of faith?" To which I would say, "Yes" as evidenced by the disciple Stephen's reaction to being stoned because of His faith in Acts 7. 54 The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” 57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
I guess we can say "Stephen gets it!" It's when we embrace the whole purpose of our life and realize it is to honor and glorify God, so we get His heavenly perspective for living our life and the we really come alive and experience the abundant life Jesus spoke about in John 10:I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly. Simon Peter was not wanting to miss the glories of heaven, but his worldly thinking overwhelmed His spirital reasoning as He struck out with his sword. Jesus had to die for him and us to experience eternity in heaven. And praise God He did!!
God has a plan and it is better to get in to following that perfect plan and ask Him to help us discern how to follow that plan and not be a hindrance. Here are some easy hindrances to realizing that plan. Don't study His Word. Don't pray. Doubt the obvious movement of God. There are many other hindrances that stem from the Spiritual Pandemic that has affected the church. Time to lift up Jesus and what He did for the whole world; that is salvation!!!
Today's Message,
David Warren
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