WHAT'S YOUR STORY...

And the Lord said,“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV)


Tears. The beauty of this verse moved me to tears.

But I have prayed for you.....

Christ prayed for Peter. Just let that sink in. Christ went to His Father on behalf of a man who would soon deny Him. He does the same for us.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
Romans 8:26

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Romans 8:34 


That your faith should not fail....

Knowing full well that the man was about to do that very thing, but believing that His faith would survive. Isn't amazing how He sees us? We look at Peter's story as an epic fail in the faith department. Y'all, I mean, EPIC! Yet Christ didn't.
Peter's faith might have been battered, but it made it through to the other side.
We can look at David and see an adulterer. A conspirator. A murder. A father who doesn't deal well with his kids. Even a coward at times.

And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—
Acts 13:22-23

God sees "a man after My own heart"?

How about Abraham? We see a man who had a child by another women in an attempt to gain the promise. God....He says,

And not being weak in faith, he [Abraham] did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.  He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,  and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.  And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Romans 4:19-22

Really? Dude who followed his own path to obtain the son God had promised him never wavered in His faith? A tough one for us to see, but not for God.


And when you have returned to Me....

The mere fact that Peter even could is enough to move you to tears. Christ, with open arms, is taking back into the fold a man who denied Him publicly, not once but three times. Christ is longing for Peter to come back. He has plans for Peter when he does.

^"I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
Isaiah 44:22

...who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Titus 2:14

Strengthen your brethern...

Peter had a story to tell. His story was encouragement. His story strengthened others. Hearing of his mistakes, God's grace, and Christ's redemption stiffened the spiritual backbone of those who were walking life out with him. It does the same for us and those we are walking with. It contributes to how we overcome.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 

Revelation 12:11

Y'all, Christ is so for us. Not that we get what we want and not that we are glorified, but that in our pursuit of Him, He is found. When we fall seeking Him, He picks us up. He is so for us being with Him each and every step of the way. He is for our story being one about Him...about victory... about our deliverance through Him.
He was and is deliberate about it.
Choosing then....choosing now.

You and I can have a story like Peter's.
Like David.
Like Abraham.
You and I just need to choose now.
We need to be deliberate in choosing what our story is going to be, and Who we are going to let write it.
So I ask you-
What's your story?

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:13 (NKJV)

Underneath I wrote -
Be ready - he comes again.

Again. The enemy comes again. At a time that works best for him, not me. He doesn't come when I am on my game. Nope, he comes when my game is compromised. Maybe after a victory. When that sense of pride and self-sufficiency comes in. When I forget Who was the source of that very victory. Maybe after a shocking blow. One that has knocked me to my knees. One that has shaken the very foundations of my faith. Maybe somewhere in the middle. Where I have just gotten lazy and comfortable. Where the battles seem easy. Where the road seems wide and level. The enemy doesn't care. I had better. I must be deliberate in keeping myself submitted Jesus, deliberate in keeping my armor on, and deliberate in fighting the good fight.
I don't fight, as Paul says, as "one who beats the air", but as one who has great hope because all though the enemy will come again, so will Jesus.

Revelation 19:11-16

(NKJV)

¹¹ Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. ¹³ He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. ¹⁵ Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶ And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

And our deliverance will be most definitely be deliberate.