"The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. "
2 Corinthians 10:4
POOR PETE
Read It: 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
If you ever look for a good illustration of the truth Paul shares in today's .reading, I can tell you where not to look. Don't look at Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's fighting the wrong battle with the wrong weapon. If you take out your sword (meaning human methodology) when God wants to give you His cup of suffering (that is, His divine will), when you adopt man's way rather than God's way, then you interfere with the plan of God for your life, and you are about to become a candidate for spiritual tual rebounding. As we said yesterday, a fundamental issue that all of us face is whether we are using God's way or man's way of addressing the problems and circumstances cumstances and needs in our lives. Well, Peter used man's way here. Not only that, but we find out from Matthew's gospel (26:36-46) that he was supposed to be praying, and he was sleeping. So Peter had a poor prayer life, and he had a worldly perspective spective on how to go about this thing of being a disciple. More than that, Peter was also being disobedient here. Why do I say that? Because when Jesus told the soldiers in John 18:8 to let the disciples ples "go their way," I believe He was telling Peter and the others, "Leave here now and go back home. You don't need to be a part of this." In fact, John adds in verse 9 that Jesus said this to fulfill His own prophecy that none of His disciples would be lost. In other words, Jesus was acting to save Peter's neck by trying to get him out of there. But instead of leaving, Peter fought back.
Let's see. Peter is prayerless, worldly, and disobedient. That's a lethal combination. When you have a weak prayer life, when you're thinking like the secular world thinks rather than like God thinks, and when you're not doing what God tells you to do, you're a sitting duck for the forces of hell. You are a big target for Satan. You are ripe fruit ready for the picking. ing. That is exactly what was happening in the life of Peter. No wonder he was about to do what he never thought he would do. Think About It If Peter's situation describes you today, it's time to hit your knees.
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