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Every time I read about the apostle Peter's early life, I feel that we must be related. Poor Peter, always putting his foot in his mouth over one thing or another. I remember many times in my life when my mouth opened, seemingly of its own accord, and words came out that I longed to grab and stuff back in.
Soon after declaring that Jesus was the Messiah, Peter rebuked Jesus when He told the disciples that He must be killed and raised to life on the third day. Rebuking Jesus! I can just imagine his chagrin when he realized the enormity of what he'd done, especially when Jesus quickly turned to him and said, "Get behind me, Satan." (Matthew 16:23 NIV) How he must have grieved — as I have grieved over sins during my life.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter rashly offered to raise shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, turning a glorious gathering into a mundane moment. So typical of his — and my — personality, to offer unneeded solutions on the spur of the moment to those who don't need or want them.
He's probably best known for denying that he knew Jesus in the courtyard of the high priest, especially after he had stoutly declared just a few hours before, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." (Matthew 26:35a NIV) Scripture records that he went outside and wept bitterly. I can, unfortunately, remember times when my actions or words have not shown that I am a child of God.
Soon after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples as they were fishing. Still the impetuous Peter, he jumped into the water (leaving his friends to take care of the net full of fish), and waded to the beach. Jesus met him on the beach, and forgiving all, He gave Peter his life's task: "Feed my sheep." (John 21:17b NIV) Because of this, Peter later wrote:
2 Peter 1:3 – His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (NIV)
God's grace abounds. I've experienced that grace, as I hope you have.
After being filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter was a changed man. He had a personality transformation — foot-in-mouth Peter became stand-up-for-the-Lord Peter, courageously and boldly preaching to the Jewish leaders, enduring prison hardships, and accepting the Lord's challenge to get out of his comfort zone to witness to Gentiles.
I have discovered that as I spend more time with God in His Word, in prayer, and in fellowship with other Christians, I, too, have experienced God's grace and forgiveness and am learning to control my Peter-like tendencies. Have you discovered that this is true for you, as well?
Prayer: Father, thank You for putting Peter's life in the Bible to show us Your grace and forgiveness for a life that is so much like ours. Thank You for Peter's testimony of his transformation and witness, to show us that we, too, can be transformed into Your image. Amen.
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Thanks for the encouraging thoughts, Sharon.
Thank you, Sharon, for a wonderful devotional.
Amen Sharon. Good one.
Blessings.
Amen, Sharon! Pete’s faux pas give me solace! Blessings.
Thanks Sharon, gives me a different way to look at Peter’s actions.
Blessings.
Thank you , Sharon. Definitely so encouraging to those of us with a Peter personality.
Peace.
Yes, Sharon! I have often thought of what you write of Peter here. Grateful that you have recorded exactly the most helpful in your understanding. Helps me today.
Hello Sharon
Wow, can I identify with this, and yes sometime both feet.
So thankful for Jesus and who is He is and what He is all about.
Beautiful! It’s a great comfort to know that we are “not the only ones” who get things wrong; and that our Lord doesn’t discard us when we do, but in His great love and mercy just keeps on drawing us to Himself. What wonderful truths. Thank you for sharing your insights. God bless.
You have portrayed Peter well and recalled for me many times when I have had similar regrets. Gratefully, there has always been forgiveness and restoration.
Thanks so much for your DD, may it bring many blessings to others and to you.
(BC Canada)
Dear Sharon,
Wow! You hit a nerve with me and no doubt, many others.
Of course, rethinking after what has been said is distressing.
Letting “the foot out of the mouth” go, is at times difficult!
Thanks for the reminder that we must learn and watch before speaking with the grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus.
Carry on with your Christianity wisdom.
(On, Canada)
Good morning, Sharon,
Today you reminded me of when my dad would say you have “foot and mouth disease”. Letting us know we had miss stepped in his eyes. It brought a lovely smile to my face since he is not around any longer to be part of our lives.
A great message of how we all mature with more experiences and learning and understanding as we age. We grow to understand the messages of the Bible at a great depth which helps to improve how we react and treat others. Thank you for encouraging all of us that we can change, and that God does not expect us to be perfect but to grow and mature and become more like Jesus, one small step at a time.
May you be blessed with many more learnings to share with others. Blessings.
Dear Sharon,
St. Peter is my favourite Apostle as well. And I agree with your views, but I have always had a strong feeling about this passage:
“Get behind me, Satan.” (Matthew 16:23 NIV.
I strongly feel that Satan was actually using Peter, Jesus’s best friend to get to Jesus, especially since his direct approach during the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert before he started his ministry, did not work.
I believe the lesson here is that oftentimes because our faith is strong and we know that we should avoid doing wrong like for instance start smoking, doing drugs or shoplifting, or driving too fast, a friend who is close could tempt us to do these things “just for the fun of it”. This is how Satan tries to get to us. When our own faith in God is too strong for Satan to break, he will try to use our friends to get to us.
God bless.
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Thank you, Sharon – a strong lesson for us all.
Don’t know why, but maybe it was you or someone like you that “witnessed” to my sister about 10 yrs. ago when she was/is commuting back and forth between USA and Canada. She told me about this, and we continue to pray for her growth in Faith in Jesus the Light of the World: NO SECRET, eh!!!
from another sister in love with God.