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We all come to God with different, but considerable amounts which need to be done within us. Everyone has to learn to submit one's inner being to the Spirit so that he can train us and turn us into people who are useful for doing his work, whatever that might be. Peter, the first of Jesus' disciples was no different. We can learn much by considering him as a an example of someone Jesus had to train for his service. There are six major points attached to this. Three will be considered here and three Part II. It would be useful to have a Bible to hand. 1. LITTLE BY LITTLE the first stage was that Peter's own natural strength had to be broken. Many would agree that he was born a leader, but like many such people he had to learn through his own failures. In Matthew 16. 21 - 25, Peter takes Jesus aside to protest that he must go to the cross. It is difficult to think of a stronger worded rebuke that Jesus could give to Peter. The latter must have been shocked, especially since he though he was looking after Jesus' best interests. But this is a problem for most of us: we insist on deciding what is best for God and for ourselves instead of being obedient to what God is asking of us. Peter had to begin learning not to place any confidence in himself. This was a process through which Peter had to go -- and a real turning point came in Luke 22. 54 - 64 when peter denied Jesus -- not once, but three times, and each more vehemently than the proceeding one. This was the making of Peter. At this point he was totally devastated, his own sense of self worth annihilated. There is a rather silly series of tv ads running currently in Britain for women's cosmetics which end in saying '...because you're worth it'. At this point Peter knew he was totally unworthy of anything God might give him. This self knowledge is the point of no return for everyone of us -- and if we never come to it, we shall never reach the turning point in our lives. Peter was made through his brokenness. He had done exactly what he said he would not do! What Peter had to learn, and what we have to learn is that WHAT WE CONSIDER TO BE OUR STRONGEST POINTS ARE, IN FACT, OUR WEAKEST POINTS where god is concerned. We need to learn and to know that our own strength is nothing, and that without God's grace we can do nothing of lasting worth. This is THE lesson in humility. Anyone who fails to learn it will never be of much use in building God's kingdom on earth. In fact, that person will actually be a liability, especially to other disciples working in the field. 2. BUILDING UP PETER'S FAITH Jesus was only too well aware of what needed to be done in Peter and the other disciples -- and that task is no different today. But how many of us are actually moving forward as disciples? However, for those of us who WILL learn, God works in us at several different levels at once. Unlike us, he does not necessarily have to complete one stage before working on the next. He can work at different levels or at different stages at the same time, knowing that he can bring all the threads together at the right time. If we love him then, as John says at 15. 9 - 13, that means obedience, and if God has that from us, he has something to build on. Now Peter's faith had to be built up, even while Jesus was still on earth, and before God had broken him. The building up of his faith took place over a period. Throughout that period of discipleship, Peter was looking at Jesus, and slowly but surely his faith was being built up, even though there were still impediments to it. Jesus even took advantage of Peter's impetuosity, which led Peter, albeit only briefly, to walk on the water -- until his own intellect took over and he began to sink. He could not really understand HOW he could walk on water. But how many Christians have rejected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in times of refreshing because they could not understand what God was doing? Yet Peter's experience in getting out of the boat was something which no other disciple could later look back on and learn from! Peter was able to learn from it and subsequently to progress as a consequence. 3. LISTENING TO GOD We have written a whole book on this ('The Keys To Hearing God Speak' available from our web site) so this can only be a comment. Peter, like most of us, had to learn to listen. He usually heard, but hearing is not the same as listening! But he did learn. Recall the cloth lowered down to him in Acts 10, especially 10. 9f. Though Peter initially considered all those creatures unclean, he learned a very difficult lesson for any Jew -- and it had a great payoff when he went to the house of Cornelius (see Acts 10. 27 through to Acts 11.18). Not only was all food equal for God, but so were all people. A mighty lesson for a Jew. But there are also other factors to be considered before we can fully appreciate the training of Peter as a disciple. These will be considered in Part II 880 words
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