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Matthew 16:21 – 28

Highlighting – “22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (NIV)

When it comes to doing the will of God in our lives, we must pray for discernment to know what is of God and what is of the enemy. In this passage, we can all empathize with Peter’s reaction. He sounds like he’s defending Jesus Christ and doesn’t want Him to be killed, but in reality, he was acting as a hindrance to God’s plan being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Many times, we seek advice from people but they don’t know God’s will for us, and while they could mean well, they are actually not steering us in the right direction. We must ask God for discernment to know who to speak to regarding what God has revealed to us, also we must ask God for discernment when we’re providing others with advice. Seek spiritual eyes and understanding to see and understand things as God does. 

Jesus was sharing with the disciples what He was going to endure, and Peter being the zealous friend that he was, determined this wouldn’t happen on his watch. Many of us with our limited human understanding would consider a man like Peter to be a real friend, but in the spiritual sense he wasn’t. Pray for wisdom and discernment in every area of your life. Please understand, it is a blessing to have people in your life who will defend you, but we need discernment to recognize when that defense or advice is within God’s will, of the flesh or of the enemy. 

Dear Father, help me to grow in godly wisdom and discernment. Give me spiritual eyes and understanding to see things as You see them. Please Father, do not let me surrender to the flesh, but Your will always. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!