Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved
saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when
Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he girt his fisher's coat unto him,
(for he was naked,)
and did cast himself into the sea.
John 21:7
The person who was speaking to Peter was the apostle John, (John 13:23; 21:20), and Peter is said to be "naked." The Hebrews wore undergarments, as we do underwear and to be only clad in undergarments, or poorly clad is seen as being "naked" and Peter did what a person of respect and a holder to the Hebrews position on nakedness put on his outer garment, in this case a fisherman's coat. Then Peter jumped into the sea. Was Peter far from shore, no, but he was in water but did not walk on water. Fishing was by net and this was done, not as done today in deep water with equipment, but along the shallow waters where tilapia, and a fish called St.Peter's fish are caught. I give this historical account so that there will not be a misunderstanding as to this account where Peter when he came to know that it was Jesus, the resurrected Jesus on the shoreline he was so moved, an emotional response towards Jesus that nothing was going to keep him from being with Jesus. Do you have the same emotional response about Jesus?
We must remember that it is not wrong to have emotions, religious emotions. Emotions can be wrong if that which is producing the emotion(s) is not according to Scripture, that which would arouse a person to do that which is not pleasing to God. We must ask ourselves: what is the source of motivation to put our faith into practice. To often emotions are that which have become subjective and produces a bad response and this can be measured, measured by Scripture.
Personal character determines how we exercise our life. Personal character does have a very and solemn affect on a person, yet, personal character can be changed and this must come about by elevating a habit or personal character. What does this mean? The source is that which might, and it usually is, the elevating source for a habit. An example: in your life you live up to the highest that you know and when you reach the highest you find that you must go higher and this is a temptation and leads to more temptations and forms characteristics. Yes, Satan uses this strategy to get you to go higher and higher, and yes, God does the same thing, only there is a different effect from both temptations and the forming of character. Satan will use your desire to be godly, to do godly things, but this is to cause you to form a false idea of holiness, a holiness that is beyond what flesh and blood can ever bear, it is a spiritual acrobatic performance. God does just the opposite for he elevates you by His grace into the heavenly places. What are the heavenly places? They are the places where Authentic Christian Faith can find peace, freedom, and a place where you grow into a character that is in the image of Jesus Christ. Satan brings us to a lower place, he causes a person, a church, a denomination, to lower the bar of excellence. God raises the bar so that we grow, grow in sanctification, not so that we are godly, this is an after effect, but so that we are clinging to the source which is and from God, a Holy and Just God.
God is leading His children to become more than they ever thought they could be, a change in personal character and is calling: "come up hither," and when you hear this call you must not sit back, rather you are to grow. God is not hiding anything from you and this includes your growth in personal character a character that is not overwhelmed by false emotions from a false source. God is bringing us to a place where He can reveal that character, a change in character leading to a change in the exercise of Authentic Christian Faith.
This is true love, not simply an emotional response, it is a response that manifests in your exercise of faith, a faith produced in love to your benefit, a benefit from the source of love, Jesus Christ. Jesus said: "Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves me" (John 14:21).
Emotions play a large role in a person's faith, but, and this is most important: they must be controlled so that we do not allow emotions to lead us in actions that are contrary to the will of God, and to our harm. Cultural Christians allow themselves to be lead by emotions even though they might do philanthropic acts. Furthermore, cultural Christians have emotions much like the world around them a place where those emotions find its source.
Do you seek Jesus Christ? If you find yourselves to have desires or actions, or emotions contrary to God that He has set for us to have a higher interest, then we should keep from factors that cause us to act in ways that make emotions to take center stage in our hearts. Will You?
But if ye turn into me, and keep My
commandments, and do them;
though there were of you cast out
unto the uttermost part of the
heaven, yet I will gather them from
thence, and will bring them unto
the place that I have chosen to set
My name there.
Nehemiah 1:9
Self-check: Use Scripture
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment