Maybe We Are a Little Like the Apostle Peter

Peter, love his heart, had good intentions when he followed the Lord. In the 21st chapter of the book of John, we see a child-like side of Peter as he jumped excitedly out of the boat into the sea as soon as he realized it was Jesus calling out to them from the shore. We see a zealous and protective side of Peter when he cut of Malchus' ear in retaliation of his Savior's unlawful arrest. In all of his times with Jesus, we can see that Peter loved Him dearly. Peter's only problem was his lack of faith in what was going to happen and in his sin-corrupted flesh, he innocently lied to the Lord about his complete devotion to Him. You know the story. After the Passover Feast, Jesus told them that they would fall away and Peter, believing in his true commitment to the Lord (faith in self), told the Lord that even though the others will fall, he will not (Matt 26:33). Jesus, being omniscient, told Peter that even he would deny him 3 times before the rooster crowed. Innocently yet foolishly, Peter replies right after with: "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" (v. 35)

You know what happens after. After they arrested Jesus, Peter and the other disciples took off running. If you backtrack to the feast, Jesus hinted to Peter that a prophecy was about to be fulfilled when He quoted the words of the prophet Zechariah found in Zechariah 13:7.

"...Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered..." Zech 13:7

"Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'" Matt 26:31

How many times have we acted like the Apostle Peter? We have good intentions when we serve and speak to the Lord, we say we love Him but seem to lack in faith or even when tried, we high-tail it! What are some things in your life that are hindering you from serving Christ better that makes you make empty promises to the Lord about how you will stop doing a certain thing in your life but you still seem to fall into that same nasty pit? I can't tell you how many promises I've made to the Lord and have broken almost all of them. I keep telling Him that I will stop worrying about a certain issue, keep telling Him that I'll do this or do that but in this old flesh of mine, I keep falling back to the same routine. After that ole Rooster crowed, Jesus locked eyes with Peter on purpose. The Bible says that they both heard the crow and Jesus purposefully turned around to meet eyes with Peter. At that moment, what must have felt like his heart falling to the pit of his stomach, Peter went away and wept bitterly. Wept bitterly. A grown man, confident in his "commitment" to following Christ even unto death, ran again but this time, he was sobbing uncontrollably. His heart was broken and he was devastated. He was devastated because it took the Lord to open his eyes to see that in and of himself, Peter cannot follow Christ if his confidence is in his own strength.

This was a defining moment for Peter. I do not believe that the Lord was angry. I do believe He was sad more than anything. I also believe that this was a lesson to Peter, a lesson that gave Peter a strength that he had never had before until after his eyes were locked with Jesus at that moment. Does this sound familiar? Remember when Peter said he could walk out on the water to Jesus and was in complete confidence right up until he took his eyes off of Jesus and started to sink? We can learn all kinds of things from Peter because WE ARE PETER. When Jesus was arrested, Peter lost focus of Jesus just like he did on those waters. Instead of staying awake and praying (what he and the others should have been doing), Peter woke up and went stab-happy with a sharp weapon when company arrived. Losing his focus, Peter ran. We also run, don't we?

Our promises to the Lord are futile unless our focus and our eyes are on the Lord Jesus constantly. We have to do the opposite of what Peter did, though. We have to admit in the beginning, that we are nothing without Christ. We have to rely on His strength alone and put our confidence where it should be, IN Christ.

That moment of eye contact with the Lord was the defining moment that Peter needed in his life and he didn't realize it then but we see a different and more bold Peter after that encounter. Before the Lord ascended into Heaven, He commanded the Apostles to go out into the world and be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). Peter did just that. Peter was ultimately crucified upside down (at his request) around 66 AD in Rome because of his newfound boldness. That emotional collapse he had, created within him, a more focused Peter. His focus led him to the cross like his Savior but glory to God, the pain wouldn't last long because Peter's confidence was in knowing that Christ was waiting for him on the other side.

If you are anything like me, we can relate to the Apostle Peter. Our promises might be empty, but the Bible tells us that it is impossible for God to lie to us. He never breaks His promises and here are 4 verses to give you just that hope:

"God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?" Numbers 23:19

"And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that He should have regret." I Samuel 15:29

"So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us." Hebrews 6:18

"Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David." Psalm 89:35

It is also important that we focus on the Lord at all times. Let us not act like the disciples did in the garden and sleep. We have to pray without ceasing and always keep our eyes on the Lord or we will fail. There is also beauty in God's forgiveness when we do fail. He loves you and He will never leave you nor forsake you and that's a promise you can bet your life on. Peter did.

Why the Lord Tarries

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." II Peter 3:9 (kjv)

 

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." II Peter 3:9 (nkjv)

 

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." II Peter 3:9 (esv)

 

 

If you've ever wondered why the Lord hasn't returned yet, this verse answers that. As much as I would love for the Lord to come right now, if it doesn't happen, it's because the Lord is waiting on more people to come to Him before it's too late. How does this characterize the nature of God? Why before it's too late? What happens if you fall under the "too late" category?

 

The world we live in, has always been influenced by the evil one. From the first recorded murder (Cain and Abel) to ISIS raping and slaughtering children, the world we live in will continue to be in chaos. In my feeble mind and non-prophetic mind, I yearn for the Lord to return now. If I continue to think like that, I wouldn't be taking into consideration that if the Lord came when I wanted Him to, there'd be a whole lot of people who would have to endure their eternity in Hell.

 

What does this verse reveal to us about God's nature? Easy. He is longsuffering and extremely kind. He loves us so much, that He will allow evil things to happen in order to give others an opportunity to come to Him before it's too late. As cringe-worthy as it is to watch the news and to see what happens to children in this world, I personally have to remind myself that God knows best. God knows exactly how painful and tumultuous Hell is. He also knows that there are no second chances or turning back once there. Remember the story of Lazarus?

 

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,

and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house  for I have five brothers so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31

 

The rich man begged Lazarus to bring just an ounce of physical comfort to him because the flames were too much to bare but Lazarus couldn't pass and it just wasn't allowed. Abraham explained to him that there was a "great chasm" that had been fixed to where it was impossible for parties to go back and forth. A chasm is defined as a "cleft in the earth's surface" or "gap or gulf between" something. Once on one side, that's it. You can't go to other side and the other side cannot pass over.

 

God, knowing that there are no second chances, gives us the opportunity to choose what eternity we would like to experience. He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to follow Him. Because of free will, He had no other option but to create Hell because of Lucifer's fall from Heaven. Lucifer had to have an eternal place to go and so did his followers.

 

The Lord tarrying is a sign of great grace and patience, but with that being said we have to remember that only God Himself knows when the Lord will return for His true followers. I Thessalonians 5:2 says,  ^"For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." Do you know for sure you will be one of the ones who will go Home with the Lord? What if you passed on tonight? The only one who knows when our time is up, is God alone. What if you thought you were okay but once facing the Lord, He says: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23). If you have any doubts, it's better to call upon the Lord and seek Him. The Bible says that if you call upon Him, He will answer. You too can experience life with the Almighty and wait for the glorious day when He will return to take His children home.

 

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." Titus 2:11-14