Learn from Peter

Peter was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was actually in the inner cycle meaning he was very close to Jesus.He is very interesting character because he is very quick to speak like most of us today. He was able to get revelations of the kingdom and yet a few minutes later being human enough to deny the cost for it. I feel it is pretty important to learn from his life both the good and bad things.


Lessons from his life can be learnt right from his calling( Matthew 4:18-20, mark 1:16-18). He forsook all(mark 10:28) and followed Christ the savior. people nowadays have problems in stepping into worlds they do not know especially when it comes to following Jesus. When you forsake all, you move God to perform in your life because that shows that you have faith in Him and you know that He exists(Hebrews 11:6). The prize for what you have forsaken here on earth is that you will receive eternal life and a hundred forth of you have forsaken in this present age( mark10:30).


A second lesson from Peter is about prompt obedience(Luke 5:5-6). When God commands you, no matter how silly, stupid or senseless it seems, just do it! Peter was a fisherman by profession but with his colleagues they had toiled all night, they tried whatever means of catching fish but to no avail,'on this day there was no fish in the lake' they might have thought atleast.

Then comes Jesus a carpenter by profession and tells them to launch out to deep with the nets they had just finished washing. Peter had every excuse not to follow that commandment: what did Jesus, a carpenter, know about fishing. They had toiled all night, he (peter) and colleagues where more than tired and frustrated, and by the way it was senseless to go fishing at this hour of the day. But in his reply after mentioning his frustrations he says,'nevertheless at your word i will let down the nets.' Peter saw more than a carpenter, he saw the Messiah. 'But at your word' signifies haste to follow the command showing prompt obedience. He was able to see God's greatness because of of prompt obedience but many are the excuses we have today. We doubt our God so much that we are afraid to look as fools in the eyes of men if we show that we are standing in faith and it doesn't work. When God acts at the time of your prompt obedience then you are able to see that He is The Almighty God, Supreme and Holy and that is why Peter begs Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinner after they caught fish that nearly sunk two boats(Luke 5:1-11). You need to forget all the excuses and follow God's commandment in His word and you will see how He will prosper and bless you(Deuteronomy 28:1).


A third lesson that can be learnt is that Peter desired the manifest glory of God. At the mountain of transfiguration he saw how holy God was through the whitening of the clothes of Jesus and he knew he needed cleansing but he asked to remain on that mountain. we are afraid to approach the throne of God and remain there. We normally think that we are able to lead a more righteous life and then we will approach God. But you should know that your righteousness is just like filthy rags before Him and it is only him who is able to make you holy(Mark 9:3, Isaiah 1:18). We should not have confidence in our works but we should understand that it is by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Approach the throne of God just as you are, there will never be a better time. The more you wait the difficult it becomes because the adversary, the devil does not let go of you unless you completely surrender to Jesus Christ. There is beauty in the manifest glory of God. You will understand why you should seek Him diligently because when you find Him there will be no mistake about it, in His presence that is where you will fulfill the very essence of the purposed fellowship with God.



The bible teaches us to cleave spiritual food( 2 peter 2:2) in order for us to grow in our Faith. We should be able to step out of our comfort zone and trust God wholly. There are some people that indeed have committed their lives to Christ but then given a chance to leave, they would gladly do so. It should not be burdensome receiving the word of God whether it comes to rebuke, correct , refute, encourage and reveal God's plans. During the time of Jesus because of the His teaching most followers left but Peter was one of them that remained committed(John 6:66-69). He knew who Christ was and he hungered deeply for the words that he spoke which is the bread of life. In the same we should cleave for that food that leads to eternal life and we should desire to be in the counsel of the Lord(psalms1:1-3) because then we shall be blessed. Peter like the psalmist David who desired to be in the presence of God all the days of his life(Psalms 27:4) and only people like this make God smile and He is able to call them 'men after God's own heart.'



The other lesson that can be learnt from peter is the importance of focusing. The waves of the sea tossed the disciples' boat while going to the other side of the sea. At that juncture Jesus turned up walking on water and this scared the disciples. How many times are we scared when Jesus shows up in the midst of our troubles? We are not willing to accept Him and we panic just because He intervenes in a way we did not expect. The disciples started shouting but Peter said, 'Lord if that is you command me to come to you.' Peter understood the will of the Father and that it is His will to deliver us from trouble and not to harm us(Jeremiah 29:11). The Father will allow you to draw near to Him and will not cast you away. And have you noticed that Jesus came on time, when the disciples were totally helpless. As peter focused on Jesus he was able to walk over the storms of life but the moment his focus shifted from Jesus unto the storms themselves he started to sink. Brethren lets focus on Jesus, if you turn from Him you take away the source of faith. Remember Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), which He sent to deliver you from your depressions, sicknesses and enemies (psalms 107) and that word became flesh in Jesus(John 1:14). The troubles that we meet now are all temporary and should not shake your Faith and remember that your reward is greater and can not be compared to your troubles even if you meet the same persecutions like Paul(Romans 8:18). As Peter started to sink he shifted his focus back unto the only source of salvation and called upon His name and indeed His arms were not short to save him nor closed to welcome him(Isaiah 59:1). It doesn't matter how many times you feel you have failed but He is faithful and just to forgive all unrighteousness and make you whole again with the righteousness God wants( 1 john 1:8-9, Isaiah 1:18). Do not focus on anyone or anything else because the arm of flesh will fail will fail you(Psalms 20:7), trust on Jesus and He will never let you down. Let me give you an example of why you should focus on Jesus alone:



I had been honestly praying for one of my cousins who had just lost a father. He needed deliverance, transformation, meaning to life and hope. He was addicted to alcohol, nicotine and Chamba (marijuana). He seriously wanted to stop but there was just no way out on his part he might have thought. I introduced him to Christ and after time of prayer and fasting he finally gave his life to Christ and was totally transformed into a better life. People were surprised with the change. He even joined our intercessions and fasting session. On one occasion we prayed for his brother who had problems with Asthma and was going to be operated upon because he had sinus/nasal problems and he is still healed to this date. The power of Christ was real to my cousin and there was no way of turning back, ooh so i thought. We took a break from school and went home where he aspired to be like one of the powerful youth pastors. On one occasion he went out to play pool in a pub with a friend but he found the youth pastor there with scandalous girls. The pastor came to him when he was leaving and said, ' drink as much as you can but remember tomorrow we go to church!' that statement shocked him, this pastor thought my cousin was drinking but he went on to encourage hypocrisy just like his. My cousin gave up on Christ because of that statement.

The problem could be partly the pastor but the major part of it was that my cousin focused on the wrong person. The only person who will not let you down is Christ Jesus.



The other lesson from Peter is very important as it shows how the Spirit is constantly wedging war against the flesh(Galatians 5:17). Jesus on His way to Jerusalem during His norm time with the disciples tried to find out what people thought of Him. He used this opportunity and made the disciples to face the fact that He was the messiah. Peter confessed this truth to the whole group but Jesus made it clear that it was not just from him but from the Spirit of God. But just a few moments later when Jesus had started to state the cost He had to pay for the salvation of Man, guess who rebuked Him? It was Peter whom the Holy Spirit had just used a few minutes before but now he gave chance to the flesh that Jesus when rebuking him said, 'get behind me Satan(Mark 8:27-33). when we think we are strong then we should be careful because we might seriously fall(1 Corinthians 10:12). I have seen powerful men of God in their powerful sermons give false teaching because of just being carried away by the flow.



The very best lesson from Peter is on whose strength you rely on. Peter was a very close friend of Jesus. Jesus foretold of Peter's denial and that He would be forsaken by all of the disciples. Peter prepared himself and said he would not, but would fight even unto death. Most people think the major problem with Peter was that he was not fully committed to the Lord and didn't know the full cost. when the the facts are reviewed we can see that the very fact that he was able to draw the knife and cut the servants ear was enough for a death sentence because at this moment he had fully associated himself with Christ. Peter knew the full cost he had to pay, 'death', but the problem was from where did he draw the strength to face that prize? Himself!!! hm mm. The bible says again and again that the arm of flesh will fail you because flesh grows wearily, does not know the future and can not fight against spiritual forces of evil(Zechariah 4:6, Isaiah 40:29-31). Jesus had to be comforted and encourage in the garden of Gesthesame and His source of strength was from the Father as He sent those angels. Peter was not going to deny Christ only if he heeded to His request earlier on to just stand with Him in prayer for just an hour.



The last lesson from Peter's life is humbleness. Peter denied Christ three times. He was so bitter about it that it made him cry and weep like a baby. But there was something very important in his crying and brokenness before God becuase this lead to repentance. Many people are not able to come before that Father and repent of their sin because they were too righteous and considered themselves as something big but while they are not. True repentance results from the brokenness in one's spirit(Psalms15:17). Jesus Christ will always forgive your sins and make you whole again(1 John1:9). Remember though a righteous man falls seven time( complete number 0f times) he will rise up seven times . Come to God with a heart that has surrender all the excuses and is broken before Him.



Peter is one of the Powerful Apostles of Christ who have ever lived on earth. He after the day of Pentecost was greatly used of God. He preached sermons that lead thousands to Christ in his time. He had the boldness to stand in the synagogue and proclaim that he was only going to be obedient to God's voice and never try to please men(Act 4:19). He performed the first miracle in the name of Jesus and in his ministry some received loved ones back from the dead. He is still made mistakes after receiving the Holy Spirit and that made him human and not a sinner. He was humble enough to take rebuke from his colleagues like Paul when he acted as a hypocrite and that made him great.

Promise it is coming to an end but just one more truth, how many of us fail to recognise God's voice because of what RELIGION tells us? How many of us fail to serve God to the best of our ability because we are stack to one DENOMINATION? Well learn from Peter break the barriers of DENOMINATIONS and the yokes of RELIGION and step out and do God's will. Peter after serving religion most of his life was asked to step and proclaim God's true love and plan for salvation for all mankind and break the mind set that told him only the jews were selected for fellowship with God. It is a difficult thing but remember we want to please and serve God and not man(Galations 1:10, Act 10). We are one in Christ, we drink from the same Spirit of Life and we serve the Same God and we are here to proclaim the same truth, 'Jesus Christ the only way of man's salvation.' We are here to glorify God and not a denomination nor a person, remember Paul says, 'neither I nor Cephas matters because we are only servants of the High God.' Step out into the world unto your God's given ministry. He wants to use you the way your are and not a duplicate of someone else. He might call you to serve Him in a different and specific ministry, don't try to be like everyone else remember there are lots of different ministries but the same Spirit gives them all according to His will, but when we serve we must do it according to our major of Faith (Romans 12:6-11,1 Corinthians 12).


God bless.