John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."







Saturday, February 21, 2015

5th lesson about Peter, one of the twelve disciples.

Great lessons that Peter and the disciples learned. What do you ground yourself on?

 
Good morning, grace and peace in the name of the Lord Jesus to all who seek him and love his presence. Great are the lessons in the Word of our God and today once again we want to meditate on the life of Peter and what he learned in his journey following Jesus Christ.

I like to study the Bible Handbook of Halley it teaches us many things that give us a clearer picture. If you have this manual, you will find on page 478 more information on this subject. We will just mention a few here to help you better understand the issue here. Peter's confession is also described in Mark 8 and Luke 9. This manual explains that it was already around three years that when Peter had accepted Jesus as the Messiah; according to Jo. 1: 41,42. A year later, he he called him "Lord" according to  Luke 5: 8. Approximately six months after this he called him "the Holy One of God" = Jo. 6: 68.69. Now after spending two and a half years traveling with Jesus, he expressed the conviction that Jesus is the Son of the living God.

Take some time to meditate a little, how long is it that you follow Jesus, after having accepted him in your heart? What do You declare  about Jesus in the sight of the people? Or, are you one of those who only believe in it, and live how you think it's right; although you do not believe it to be necessary to always preach about God? We have to be very cautious in this, because one thing is to preach, quite another to let Jesus shine through our lives. And, sure Peter left his light shine, he was not ashamed to confess what he believed about Jesus; the master now he followed. In the verse of Mt. 16:18 Jesus answers about this statement of Peter the following: "For I tell you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it;"

Upon this rock (v. 18) The rock on which Jesus would build his church is not Peter; but about the fact that he confessed that as a human being, that Jesus is the Son of God. The divinity of Jesus is the foundation on which the church is based, This is the fundamental creed of Christianity. This is the unmistakable meaning of this language.

The keys of the kingdom of heaven . (v.19) The common interpretation of this verse is that Peter opened the door of salvation to the Jews at Pentecost (Acts 2); and then to the Gentiles Acts 9-10. He was not given the power to forgive sins, but to proclaim the conditions of forgiveness. Whatever authority was granted to Peter, also was granted to the other apostles as Matthew 18:18. and Jo. 20:23. - And that only in the sense of being able to declare forgiveness through Christ. All this happened in Caesarea Philippi located in the far north of Israel, one of the initial tributaries of the Jordan River to Mount Hermon foothills, 80 km southwest of Damascus was the city that in NT times was called Caesarea Philippi. (Halley's Biblical handbook pg. 478).

We have much to learn from the life of Peter and the other disciples that learned as they walked with Jesus; just like you and I do aswell. We learn in our daily journey. We note that Peter had a very natural reaction as a human being to what Jesus said to them in verse 21 .

In Matthew 16: 21-23[1] Jesus Predicts His Death: “21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

We see clearly that at this ocasion Peter reacted as a person who thinks with the mind of man. The revelation he declared before was given by the Holy Spirit; But at this time he acted as Peter only. We see the love and respect he had for Jesus and as a friend and teacher who Jesus was, Peter just wanted to protect him from such suffering and all that he had said he would pass. We do not always think with the mind of Christ which is given us to us; and this is what happened with Peter at this ocasion. This is natural, and at a situation like this we need that Jesus shows us once  again  the purpose that God has in all this. Peter learned a profound lesson that day. And you and I learn what from the experience of Peter?

Why you believe that Jesus said to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan, who serves me scandal; because you do not understand the things that are of God, but those that are of men. "I think it was because Peter allowed Satan to put those thoughts in his mind, that that do not proceeded from God. Each of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, we must always ask for discernment if what came into our hearts to speak was inspired by the Holy Spirit or if it came from another source. Great lesson to be learned. Glory to God. Jesus has patience in teaching us, hallelujahs. Glory to God for this.

 

Antonina.
Missionary



[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016:%2021-23&version=NIV

Monday, February 2, 2015

4th lesson about Peter. = Tremendous lessons about Peter.




 

Living and Learning with Jesus our Lord and Master.


Greetings to all dear friends and visitors of our blog in the name of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God is with us and we have this wonderful promise in the Bible. Mathew 28:20 = “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I love this passage for three important reasons. 1st reason = because of who said it. 2nd reason: “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”. 3rd reason = “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This was one of the lessons that Peter and the other disciples all had the opportunity to learn in theory and practice. They heard Jesus teaching it, in person. And they experienced it that Jesus never left them. Peter tells us about many things he learned with Jesus in his letters, and we are going to study them later on.

If we take a look at the chapters 16-18 we can notice how many experiences they had on a daily bases. In the 16th chapter we read about the fact that people watched Jesus, they were aware of his reputation. Pharisees and Sadducees always were watching him to see if they could find anything to hold against him. Jesus was for them a nuisance, for he was beginning to be very famous, and they feared he would take over their leadership. They all remembered the fact that when Jesus was born the three wise men came from the East: and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. Mateus 2:2”. In their mind probably was a questioning going on: ‘might he be the one the three wise men referred to?’

In chapter 16[1] we have several lessons what Peter learned about. In verses 6-13 Jesus calls their attention to be cautious about the pharisees and sadducees saying in verse 6:  “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And shortly after this we read in verse:

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”

In this passage we see how much Peter learned walking alongside of Jesus. Walking with him, working with him and he came so close in his relationship with the Lord that he heard the Father in Heaven reveal the truth about Jesus to him. Because we read that Jesus says: ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven’.

Peter shortly before this was merely a fisherman who was earning his life fishing. All the twelve were on a daily bases transformed into fisher of men. They were taught that they could hear the voice of the Father if they followed Jesus. These are tremendous lessons to be learned. You and I can learn how to listen to our heavenly Father as well.

Are you willing to come close to the Lord so that you will be able to listen to the Father in heaven? May God bless us in our daily walk with him, in such a way that you can learn how to communicate with him, and listen to him; learning as the 12 disciples did. Peter was one of them, and we are disciples too. May God find in us followers whom He can trust.

 

God bless each one of us.
In His Service,
Antonina Penner.


[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mathew+16&version=NIV

Rev. Billy Graham