Tag-Archive for ◊ natural strength ◊

31 Jul 2023 Exodus (Program #4)

Exodus (Program #4) – The Life Useful to God

We all know that Moses was a great man used mightily by God for the accomplishment of His purpose.  Have you ever noticed though that God did not use him until he was well beyond the peak of his natural strength and ability.  In the New Testament, the apostle Peter was also greatly used by the Lord, but not until after the Lord had subdue his natural strength and severely dealt with him and restricted him.  What can we learn from the experience of these spiritual men as it relates to our life before Christ.

We are going to have another surprising message for our listeners today.  We are going to look at the characteristic or trait that most equips or qualifies a person to be useful to God in the accomplishment of His purpose.

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08 Feb 2023 Mark (Program #39)

Mark (Program #39) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (1)

The record in Mark chapters 14 and 15 give a striking account of how the Lord Jesus prepared Himself for His crucifixion. Even manipulating those who would ultimately kill Him to do so according to God’s time table and not man’s.

Often overlook in this portion, however, is that the same chapters also record the experiences of Peter. In a very real sense Peter also was being prepared by the Lord to pass through the process of death and resurrection.

It’s somewhat easy to realize that Peter in these chapters is representative of all the disciples. What’s not so easy to see, but just as significant is that Peter’s experiences of failure upon failure eventually resulting in his been striped of any confidence in his natural strength and ability, represents all of us, the Lord’s believers as well.

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07 Feb 2023 Mark (Program #38)

Mark (Program #38) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (12)

Ephesians chapter 1:7-9 tells us that Christ’s all redeeming death was part of God’s eternal plan and purpose. Yet on occasion after occasion when the Lord Jesus spoke concerning His coming death to His disciples especially Peter, they continually express their natural thought that such a thing should never happen to Him.

Furthermore, on the night before His death they one by one declare to the Lord, that they would never deny Him even at the cost of their own lives. Of course we all know the story, Peter representing all the disciples within a few short hours was repeatedly denying the Lord.

On one hand it seems hard to believe that after the Lord had revealed so much to His disciples, that they can still behave in such a way. In fact Peter and his failure is representative of all our natural strength and fleshly concepts.  Yet by the Lord’s mercy, Peter and eventually even all of us His weak and frail seekers are led through a process of Christ’s death has become much more than just an objective fact. We must become those who like Peter enter into His death so that we can ultimately be ushered into the reality of His resurrection.

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