A changed Perspective

Who am I looking out for? Who do I want to be perceived as?

What do I want people to think when they see me? What do I wish upon myself?

Paul writes, "The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers."

Would I rather be on the receiving end of an offense than the giving end?

Would I rather be cheated than be a cheat?

Of course I would rather there be no offense or no cheating, but if it happens am I willing to accept it upon myself before I would pass it off to others? Would I rather suffer the consequences or have someone else suffer? What if people knew about it? Would my pride get in the way of my heart?

Am I completely defeated already? Are you?

I'll Show Him

What is it that God wants to show S/Paul? His glory? His power? How much God can accomplish through Paul? The error of Saul's ways? The mighty needs of those in the world? The best way to preach to the gentiles? The wonders of heaven? The right words to say? Nope.

"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

Yay! How exciting is that?

Don't you wish God would show you how much you must suffer for his name? If you knew ahead of time, would it be worth it? But, looking back can you see how it couldn't have gone any other way?

I want to see suffering as a blessing.

Hitting Close to Home

So, this morning I wrote a few things about suffering. Not because I really felt like suffering, but because that was what spoke to me. A few hours later I'm faced not with my suffering, but with the suffering of a dear friend.

When we see Jesus on the cross we know that he suffered for our sins. He didn't deserve it, but we can see the reason behind the suffering. It was done for the good of all mankind.

Again, when we see Peter denying Jesus, being sifted like wheat, we can see the reason. It got him ready for his ministry, for the sermon at Pentecost and a life of never again denying his master.

But what about my brother suffering right now? I have no idea what the reason for this struggle is, and I may never know. It would be partially comforting (for me, at least) to know why God has placed this time in his life. What is he being prepared for? In what great way is God going to use this problem? We don't know and we may never know. We don't even know how big the problem is right now.

This is why Jesus prayed for Peter to have unfailing faith. It is when we don't know that we must believe. It is when things seem darkest that we must keep going. It is when our friends feel alone that we must show them they are not. It is when our brothers and sisters are on the precipice that growth happens, but that is where it is easiest to fall.

That's my prayer for my brother - that his faith will be unfailing.
And that's my job as his brother - to be ready to catch him if he fails.

Luke 22 - Gee, Thanks

Jesus takes Peter aside and lays some hard truth on him. Satan had asked to "sift him as wheat," which really sounds terrible. Luckily for Simon, Jesus had intervened in prayer. If Jesus was praying, you should be covered, right? The only problem is that Jesus tells Peter specifically what he prayed,"that your faith may not fail."

Wait, what?

Where is the prayer for safety and protection?

Where was "I bind you Satan" and all that?

Jesus doesn't pray for Peter's safety or his protection or even for him to be delivered from evil. Jesus could have prayed these things, and they would have worked. He could have protected Peter from every evil in the world, but that wasn't his choice. He prays that when Peter faces this evil, when he is sifted, that his faith will not fail. Peter needed to be sifted. He needed to be tested. He needed to be made stronger so he could face the assignment ahead of him.

We aren't any different. We need to be sifted too.

Why do we run from it?

Why do we try to shield others from it?

That's not what Jesus would do.

Luke 22 - Eager

Jesus tells the disciples that he has eagerly desired to eat the Passover meal with them, because it was the last one that he would eat before he suffered.

It seems like there are 2 possible explanations for this:

1) Eating Passover meals with the disciples was such a terrible experience that Jesus couldn't wait to get them all over with.

2) Jesus was eager to suffer.

Assuming that 1 is not the case...

Jesus was eager to suffer. But, he wasn't eager to suffer. Just a few verses later we'll read about Jesus asking his father to take the suffering away from him. If he was eager, why would he try to get out of it? It looks like he wasn't eager to suffer.

"Yet not my will, but yours be done."

Jesus wasn't eager to suffer, but he was eager to see God's will be done - even if that meant suffering.

I'm eager to see God's will done too, but what if that means I have to suffer? What if the only way God's will will be done is if I suffer to bring it about? What if it causes me pain to do so? Am I still so eager?

We pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done" but do we ever consider what it might cost us to bring that about? Would we be so willing to to pray that prayer if we considered the cost?

My father, who's in heaven, your name is worthy of my devotion.

I pray for your kingdom to shape the earth in the same way that it does heaven.

Make me eager to do my part to help your will be done here on earth like heaven, no matter what it may cost me. Make me eager to obey and willing to suffer.

Like you.