by Mike Benson www.oakhillcoc.org

"And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat'" (Luke 22:31; cf. Matt. 16:23).

He wasn't exactly a great prospect...

His resume had some rather obvious gaps in it. He was an uneducated fisherman (Acts 4:13; Matt. 4:19). He was impulsive (John 18:10; Matt. 26:50-51). He was prone to break his word (Matt. 26:53; Mark 14:29; Matt. 26:74). He started things that he didn't finish (Matt. 14:28-30). He experienced fear and doubt (Matt. 14:30-31). He could be cowardly (Luke 22:54-60a) and undependable (Matt. 26:40-41; Mark 14:37). He couldn't always control his tongue (Mark 14:71). He couldn't always see the big picture (Matt. 16:23; John 18:11), but was often preoccupied with the urgent and immediate. He was a narrow-minded racist (Acts 2:39; 10:13-14; Gal. 2:11-14) and a male chauvinist (John 4:27).

Let's be brutally honest -- Simon Peter (Matt. 16:17; John 21:15-17) wasn't the right man for leading the early church. Right?! The Lord needed an entirely different breed of man. He required an uncommon stock -- a man with minor blemishes, a near-perfect specimen, a spiritual giant -- or did He (Luke 6:12, 13)?

At Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ, there was Peter, boldly preaching the first gospel sermon with his fellow apostles (Acts 2:14; 38, 40). Yes, Peter! But it didn't stop there. The very same man who fled for his life when he was identified as a disciple of the Lord was the very same man who, despite the threat of imprisonment, fearlessly proclaimed the risen Lord (Acts 3:11-4:20; 29-31; 5:29).

Think for just a moment -- how can we account for this incredible transformation? How did this milquetoast Galilean fisherman become a notable force in the Kingdom of the first century? More significantly, what does Peter tell us about ourselves? Consider:

1. No matter what your previous background, the Lord can use you as a vessel in His service. Our faults can be molded and fashioned into virtue. Failure yesterday is not necessarily fatal tomorrow. Weakness can become strength. This He did for Peter, and this He can do with and for you.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10; cf. Isa. 64:10).

2. It takes time to become the person Jesus wants you to become. Evolving a Christ-like spirit is a lengthy process (1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18; cf. Heb. 5:12ff). No one is shaped into a leader overnight. Peter certainly wasn't.

In fact, approximately twenty years after His service during the Lord's personal ministry, Peter as an apostle, a gospel preacher, and an elder (1 Pet. 5:1) still needed some "internal refinement" (Gal. 2:11ff). I find that ironic. In Acts 2, on the birthday of the church, Peter had taught, "...For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off [i.e., Gentiles]" (v. 39). Then some eight to ten years later it took a vision from heaven (Acts 10:9-16) to convince him that God, in fact, accepted all men, including Gentiles, into the faith (Acts 10:34-35; 11:18). And perhaps yet another eight to ten years later, in Galatians 2, Peter still struggled with the concept of the Gentile equality (Gal. 2:11ff).

He was a slower learner. You might say he suffered from SADD-spiritual attention deficit disorder. Growth was an incremental element for Peter. The same is true for each of us today.

3. Jesus seeks a willing spirit. Peter's problem wasn't his lack of desire and zeal, it was how he employed these qualities that often got him into trouble. One of the reasons Jesus chose Peter was because he was a man of passion. Granted, his passion was misdirected at times, but once Peter came to terms with the concept of the risen Lord (1 Pet. 1:3), that same fervency was channeled in a very constructive and powerful way.

The good news is, the Lord sees beyond what we are to what we can become. We see spiritual resumes that are tarnished by transgression (Rom. 3:23). We see rank sinners; Jesus sees holy saints. We see humiliation; Jesus sees exaltation. We see despair; Jesus sees a living hope. We see Simon the crumbling disciple; Jesus saw Peter the rock-solid leader who would help stabilize the first-century church.

Dear friend, are you looking for a job?

Do you feel incapable?

Is your work-history marred by defeat?

Yes? Great! (You automatically qualify.)

The Lord is hiring new laborers at this very moment! You can start your new work NOW (Acts 2:38; 2 Cor. 5:17; 4:16).

by Barry Newton

Can the clarity of resolve become foggy in the crisis of decision? Conflicts of interest and the clash of values have always muddied the eyes of those who would otherwise see clearly.

We know this to be true. Those who accept a bribe will discover their heart twisted toward corruption. Ecclesiastes 7:7; Proverbs 17:23 Similarly if the lure of wealth gains a foothold, it can derail faithfulness since it is not possible to serve two masters. 1 Timothy 6:10; Matthew 6:24

When Abram told Sarai, “tell them you are my sister,” at the crossroads he chose self-preservation. Genesis 12:11-13 The cost of that shrewdness involved the weight of sin.

Ananias and Sapphira encountered an intersection when they sold some property. When they agreed to lie about the sale price of their property, presumably to gain favor and recognition as generous givers, they chose the wrong path.Acts 5:1-9 The price they paid was their lives.

King Jereboam’s decision inviting Israel to worship at Dan and Bethel involved him crumbling under the pressure to maintain his kingship by human means. 1 Kings 12:26-29 He could have chosen to trust in God and His promises. Instead his kingship sank into sinfulness.

We need to be acutely aware of the values which can tug at our heart strings so that we will recognize the crisis of decision for what it is - a challenge to our ultimate allegiance. Questions can reveal the clash of competing allegiances.

“Should I lie in order to avoid trouble?”

“Should I hide what I know is true in order to get along?”

“What should I do about the unethical practices I have discovered at work?”

“Should we go to this sporting event instead of worship?”

Such questions often boil down to trusting in God and doing what is right or capitulating to the pressure of pursuing self-advancement, acceptance by peers, greed, living for pleasure or some other value. If we are naively unaware of the crossroads of decision, we could wake up one day to “how did I get here?”

The more goals we entertain, the greater are the possibilities that we will find our service to God encountering conflict. The more important other goals might be to us, the stronger will be the temptation to make poor decisions.

Clarity of resolve involves starting with the conviction of who God is and His place in our lives. It is maintained by preventing the erection of competing allegiances in our hearts.