Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But 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.Matthew 16:22-23Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come... Matthew 26:48-50By the time you read this, we would most likely have known who the President of Nigeria for the next four years will be. I hope you took the time to vote according to the dictates of your conscience and dreams for a greater Nigeria and not by the whims and influence of a bandwagon effect. We pray that the next four years will move us forward and give us the desired peace and joy as a people. Do not be left out this Saturday as we elect governors and state legislators.Back to our discourse. As Jesus drew closer to the denouement of His life mission, He felt it was time to share with His disciples some deep things regarding the process He would have to go through to accomplish it. But first He asked them two questions. The first had to do with who people thought he was (as He was certain that they would have discussed such to the hearing of His followers). After they had given various perspectives, He pointedly asked who THEY (His disciples) thought He was. Peter was the first to blurt out what Jesus affirmed was a divinely inspired answer. Peter was not only promptly commended but also had a christening ceremony as a memento of the inspired revelation which was going to be the bedrock of the enduring nature of Jesus life mission. Convinced that His disciples were on the same plane with Him, Jesus began to share details of what He would have to endure for the mission to become a reality. Riled by the horrific details, Peter promptly rebuked Jesus and forbade Him from saying such things as no such affliction would be allowed to befall his Master. Jesus response was prompt and sharp; Get behind me SATAN! Because you are only speaking from your limited human understanding, not from Gods perspective (my paraphrase). These two incidents happened only a few verses apart!In the second passage quoted above, Judas Iscariot had come at the head of a group of soldiers and Jewish elders to betray and ultimately arrest Jesus. As soon as Jesus saw Judas, He said FRIEND, why have you come The one who was trying to prevent His death He likened to Satan and the one who was going to hasten it He called Friend! What did He know that you must know if you are to live victoriously and fulfil destiny Your real friend is the one whose actions, positively or negatively propel you in the direction of your life purpose! Conversely, your enemy may be the one who even with the best of intentions, is trying to prevent you from taking the tough road and decisions that hasten your journey!You probably would not be as successful as you are today if a boss had not been bad enough to sack you! When you first got the letter, you threw tantrums and it hurt you for days. But that experience woke your brain up from sleep and made you go after that business idea you had neglected for so long. Here you are today, an employer of labour. If I were you, the moment I finish reading this, I will simply go and find out where that boss is, then go to a store, buy a very expensive gift with a Thank You card and take it to him in appreciation of his liberating gesture without which my life would still have been wound around a take-home pay that would probably not be taking me home.You do not have to be manacled to the floor in a German cell before you experience prison. The most horrific dungeon is the one you create in your own heart. When you keep anyone in the prison of your heart, you have also given yourself an obligation; that of supervising the prison to ensure that your prisoner does not escape. Implication You yourself are compelled to stay there together with him!Forgiveness therefore is about opening the prison door only to discover that all along, you were the real prisoner! You cannot be bitter and expect your life to be better at the same time.I once told a lady in her thirties that the only reason she was still single was because she was NOT single! She was dazed but she got the point after further discourse...continuedRemember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
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