by David Brenneman
"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds." Matthew 16:13-27.
"If your brother sins , go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:15-20.
Part of the general plot line of a popular movie had to do with the mess the main character made by interfering with a supposed spell another main character was making in order to satisfy the request of the main character. The chaos that ensued was essentially the whole movie.
In our lives we oftentimes miss the point of praying and prayer. We can lean on our own understanding even just a little bit and thereby mess up what should have been left in God's hands all along. We pray for people or ourselves and then comes the conditions we truthfully want God to abide by. We can blind ourselves to the reality of a given situation. We can be brought to a season of painful moments because the situation breaks the hearts of some it involves and this too colors our judgment in how prayers are offered.
The Apostle Paul cut to the heart of the matter with many, both written about in the Epistles we know of in New Testament referred to as Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. Things are also hinted at in letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon.
Paul looked to the hearts of people. He anguished over many disobedient people claiming to be Christians.
He wanted those who sinned to repent and return to a right relationship with Jesus. Jesus wrote of this as the model we read of in Matthew 18.
Our desires are essentially to soften the blows that need to come from Jesus, through His Spirit, to whomever is the offending party. Our desires ought to only be your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Nothing more, nothing less.
In our best intentions we will still interfere and still not see the fruits of repentance in someone's life.
In our limited understanding we will not see truth as God sees truth. Our understanding is tarnished by our sin nature.
Life, no matter what the reasons we have to the contrary, ought to always be His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Life should always be in restoration of Believers to a right relationship with Jesus regardless of what steps the Spirit says must take place to bring about that desired result.
Someone who refuses to acknowledge the truth of God in their broken relationship will need to be removed from God's protection for a time until they realize He is God and they are not.
A restored relationship is what salvation is about between God and man. After coming to Christ we are, much as we read happening to Peter, susceptible to demonic influences if great care isn't taken.
Believers can't be possessed by demons but any unbeliever can.
The fruits of the Spirit are only truly found in the Believers of this world. The fruits of darkness are abounding among the unbelieving.
We do reap what we sew more than we sew for much longer than we sew. Jealousy, strife, bitterness, none of these or their many other fruits of darkness have any place in the lives of Believers.
Set your mind on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world. Take up your own cross and follow Jesus.
Don't get in the way of whatever is right and necessary to restore errant people back to a right relationship with Jesus. Recognize what is really happening in the lives of people through spiritual discernment. Pray for discernment. Pray for the knowledge to know what's going on before you step into something that might be a pile of manure. Have the fortitude to even pray for God's protection to be lifted from such a disobedient child in order to bring restoration of that person to Jesus.
It's hard. It's heartbreaking. Now you know what a separation from a right relationship with Jesus looks like.
Our Savior is willing to do whatever must happen in the lives of those chosen, called by God, to be sons and daughters of God to be in a right relationship with Himself. Whatever bonds must be broken will be broken. Jesus knows all about every situation that we only think we do.
The whole of the story of the Prodigal Son is of a restoration of a right relationship with Jesus. Many have gone through this low valley of darkness and been brought back to a right relationship with Jesus. I have been through it myself.
Our humanness would say that we wouldn't wish this upon anyone. Our Savior's desire is for us to be in a vibrant right relationship with Himself.
It has to be His will be done if this end result of His is to come about...no matter what the cost.
What happens in the restoration process, as the Bible says, must be done out of love.
It may take hours, days, months or even years but a restored life in Christ is a priceless work.
A hard truth as well is just acknowledging what needs to be prayed for as well as whether or not we are to be part of the process of restoration personally or from a distance in prayer only. Peter meant well but didn't realize he overstepped.
Paul was willing to even turn people over to Satan in order to bring about a Godly result. Paul also wasn't afraid to confront people face-to-face. Sometimes that's necessary. Discerning whether or not the person you are talking about is saved or not matters in every way. A prayer leading to salvation or a prayer leading to a restored relationship with Jesus hangs in the balance.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.
"Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10.
Pray for discernment before jumping into the foray. Pray for discernment before claiming a full understanding. Pray for your spiritual eyes to see the truth and not what the world will say is a psychological mumbo-jumbo problem.
Jesus is in the business of growing people in Christ through His Spirit.
Our sin nature as well as all the forces of wickedness in the heavenly places and all over the world are against this by whatever means they're permitted to do so.
Intense fervent prayer sometimes is the only way as Jesus told His disciples when they couldn't cast out a certain type of demon.
Intense fervent prayer changes the one praying as well as the recipient of the prayer.
His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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