Disguised in Love

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"  Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Matthew 16:23-24

Even with the best, heartfelt intentions, we can be overtaken by our flesh.  Peter had good intentions when it came to shielding his Master from harm but he forgot that God's plan wasn't for Jesus to reign in this world but the next.  In order for that to happen, Jesus needed to sacrifice His mortal body to save the world.  We all can be like Peter, losing focus on the eternal goal replacing it with the immediate or temporary one.  God's word and Godly counsel will tune our hearts correctly. 

The last few days and weeks I've been seeing a lot of prayers go through email asking for healing.  My thoughts are compassionate so I agree but at the same time how is that aligned with what God wants?  I don't know if I over think God's mercy but I feel the prayers we should be saying are words of submission and help to recalibrate our hearts so that we can accept and be content with what God's doing in and through the person needing prayer.  I want to be as lobing and compassionate as the person next to me but is that being like Peter now?  Saying something that is focusing only on the temporary life?  Should I be correcting or rebuking like Jesus did?  The devil is sly, he disguises himself in Peter, going against God's will in the form of temporary love.  We need to take a stand and be bold about the truth in Jesus.  We need to love the person but rebuke the devil by reminding ourselves that God's will prevails.

Heavenly Father, thank You for all that You are!  You are this amazing beacon that we always can see no matter what's happening around us.  You provide so many ways for us to find our way back to Your will and desire, all we need to do is follow the directions.  Help train my mind and disciplining Your servant to always focus in on what You desire for us on an eternity level.  Thank You my wonderful Savior, Amen!