Skip to main content

The Other Guy

            When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

            Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 

            Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” 

            But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” Deuteronomy 18:20

 

            Yesterday, the discussion centered around freedom. And many of those things we need to seek freedom from get in the way of our following Him. Today’s passages deal with ways we get off track when we’re trying to follow Jesus – ways we need to pray for power against. The first is the other guy… the person God seems to like better than us, the spiritual giant who seems to have it all together. It’s so easy to compare ourselves and to be envious. It’s also easy to be confused. The giant is going in that direction; shouldn’t we be, too? Or, we’re following Jesus by going in that direction, so shouldn’t the giant, too?

            The second is also the other guy… but this time it’s the person who claims to be a spiritual giant (or another form of expert) but starts proclaiming with authority that we may, should, or must do something we (should) know we should not do. The Jews were told to kill self-identifying prophets who suggested they follow other gods. I’m not going to advocate killing anyone, but you can certainly treat that person as “dead to you.”

            This was also the problem they had in Corinth. Some folks claimed to follow one person, and others claimed to follow another. We need to pray that in 2023, we would follow Christ and not allow ourselves to be distracted by the other guys. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more