| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Deep Discipleship” Our Bible verse for today: “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Mark 8:33 (NIV) Our thought for today: “We need the divine perspective” So, Peter was in trouble with Jesus again. Jesus had just explained to the disciples that the Son of Man was going to be rejected by the Jewish leaders, He would suffer, he would die upon a cross, and then He was going to rise again from the dead. But rejection, suffering, and death were not part of Peter’s understanding of what should happen to the Messiah and so, Peter rebuked Jesus. Yes, you read that right, Peter rebuked Jesus. Then, Jesus rebuked Peter. Peter’s problem was that he was viewing things from a worldly perspective rather than from the divine perspective. He was not seeing God’s plan God’s way. It probably didn’t even occur to him that there was a difference. He was sure that the way he was seeing and understanding things was the right way. Peter’s problem is also our problem. We view things from our own perspective rather than from God’s, and then we quickly conclude that our perspective is the right one, the only one. We think, “This must be the way God sees it too, right?” Peter was brash, impetuous, way too sure of himself, and too quick to jump to conclusions. We are too. But the practice of deep discipleship gives us pause. It teaches us to slow down, think, pray, and to seek facts. It teaches us to place ourselves in a position before God whereby the Holy Spirit can speak to us, open our minds, and give us deeper understanding. And we are to stay there, in that position before God, until we are reasonably sure that we do see things from His perspective and not just from our own. And lo and behold very often that sort of calm, reasoned, patient seeking of Godly wisdom and perspective will often lead us to surprising conclusions. Peter learned that the role of the Messiah was indeed to be rejected and to suffer and to die so that He could then be resurrected. After all, there can be no resurrection without a death. As God reminds us through the prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9. We need the divine perspective on our situations, but that doesn’t come from our own reasoning and in our own understanding. We must spend the time before God so the Holy Spirit can form our perspective for us. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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