The Making of God’s Servants

Introduction: Do you want to be USED by our Lord Jesus in a mighty way? Did you remember that is why we are here on earth? Our purpose is to glorify Jesus Christ through our life. But does all of this come overnight? The answer is NO! There is a process whereby Jesus MAKES His servants usable. Take Peter for example.
 

1. Peter – the Sandman.

“One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” (John 1:42)

The name Peter- Πέτρος, (pet’-ros), which is a Greek name meaning rock. Peter needed to be shaped into another image – the solid rock – after he began to follow Jesus.
 

2. Peter – the Carnal man!

“21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matt 16:21-23)

Peter had just made an earth shattering confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God; and then he has a lapse back into the flesh as seen here. He vehemently opposed Jesus having to die. Little did he know.

Do we see flash backs of the flesh in our walk and talk? One minute spiritual leaps and bounds and the next minute a major trip which causes stumbling.
 

3. Peter – the Broken man!

“8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.” (Luke 5:8,9)

Peter recognizes that he is sitting on “holy ground”! Any time we encounter the radiance of our Lord’s glory, we ought to come away seeing our inadequacy and insufficiency, and yet realize our total dependency.
 

4. Peter – the Pentecostal Preacher!

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words.” (Acts 2:14)

This was after his shameful denial of Jesus. Consequently, he wept bitter tears because of his self-reliance to do what he thought he would never do – deny his Master. But he did. Jesus restored him (John 21). He became the catalyst of bringing the gospel to the gentiles (Acts 10).
 
Conclusion: Where are you at in this process of becoming more USEABLE? Have you had a flashback? with carnal thinking and acting-responding? Are you ready to go forward in faith to the next level? May God grant it, in Jesus name!
 
Love y’all,
Dr. Randy Reese