TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Mending “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:10-11 Suffering is not a sign of The Father’s abandonment. He inclines His ear to hear the cries of His children. Whatever He brings to them, He will walk through it with them. The Father brings His grace upon His children when they suffer. His purpose is to perfect them, not to reject them. Embrace grace. “Perfect” does not describe a flawless condition. It is a term used to describe the mending of nets. As a fisherman, Peter was intimately familiar with the necessary task of mending nets to prepare for the next catch. It was not punishment for being a bad fisherman. It was an essential part of being an effective one. Prayer repairs the tears in your net. When you bend your knees, you mend your ways. The prideful are prayerless. The humble are prayerful. Humble hearts lead to bended knees and mended nets. The race to embrace grace begins on your knees. The way you come on is the way you go on. No one enters into The Kingdom of God with a prideful, self-sufficient and self-centered spirit of independence. When Jesus expressed the preamble of The Constitution of The Kingdom, He led with the credentials of citizenship. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” ~ Jesus – Matthew 5:3 Humility leads you to the threshold of The Kingdom. Every time you bow your head in prayer, you yield your personal preferences, and place your rights under the mighty hand of God. “…humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,…” There is a huge connection between the bending of your knees to enter The Kingdom and the mending of your nets to serve in The Kingdom. When you mend your nets, you end up with a catch. When you refuse to bend your knees, you fail to mend. You end up with a sore back and an empty net. “Children, you do not have any fish, do you? The answered Him, ‘No.’ And He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat.’ ” ~ Jesus –John 21:5-6 Peter’s ears heard these very words spoken to him on the Sea of Galilee, from the lips of Jesus. When he obeyed them, his life was changed, forever. He, along with other anxious fishermen, had labored through the night, only to face the dawn with empty nets and no catch. In an instant, by a simple act of humility they obeyed the voice of Jesus, and discovered overwhelming abundance and unexpected grace. Some things never change. Citizens of The Kingdom yield to the direction of the voice of Jesus. When Jesus began His earthly ministry at the wedding feast of Cana, Mary prepared the servants with this powerful and timeless admonition. “Whatever He says to you, do it.” ~ Mary – John 2:5 The way you come on is the way you go on in The Kingdom. Humbling His children is not a sign of The Father’s punishment. Contrary to contemporary church pop psychology, suffering is essential preparation for The Father’s blessing. Far from being an expression of His lack of concern, suffering is often a vehicle through which He delivers His most tender care to His children. Prayer releases your suffering into The Father’s hands. Some times He relieves it. At other times He makes sense out of it. Prayer puts you in touch with The Father’s care… “…that He might exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” V. 7b You will not like suffering when you face it, but don’t fail to embrace it when it arrives. It is coming. Any crisis, chaos, or confrontation with the enemy is meant to bring you to your knees. If you let suffering lead you to prayer, it will empower you to mend your ways, and to resist your real adversary. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren in the world.” V. 8-9 Prayer yields your rights, wounded pride, and stretch-marked faith to The Father’s personal touch. He reserves the right of a caring Father to expose areas of weakness in your life. His purpose is to challenge you to mend those areas in order to be a more effective fisherman, not to sink your boat. “The God of grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm strengthen and establish you.” V. 10 Peter moved seamlessly between words of exhortation and prayers of intercession. He called on believers to yield to God’s grace to mend their ways, and to come to Him on bended knees. “To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.” V. 11 NOTE TO SELF: There is little hope of yielding to The Father’s grace to mend your life, without being humble enough to bend your knees to His dominion over your life. Bend your knees and mend your nets. TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 11:44:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015