We need to watch over each other

in #bibleschool6 years ago

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren
(Luke 22:)


![image]() Father, I ask for the grace to remain humble regardless of becoming great in Jesus Name. I declare, I will not conform to the world's standards or conform to the dictates of the world but I will live my life according to YOUR Word in Jesus' Name. Father, I make a commitment to live in accordance to YOUR Word to the point that there shall be a noticeable difference between the world and me. I declare as I become great, I will continue to serve and I will not become big in my own eyes in Jesus' Name. In response to the argument that ensued amongst the disciples with regards who will be the greatest, Jesus in our text engages his disciples in a discussion stating how the kings of the gentiles lord it over their people. He obviously was indirectly trying to let HIS disciples know they were behaving like the gentiles. The word gentiles in the bible is used to describe unbelievers or the people of the world (i.e. being worldly), which invariably means that Jesus was telling his disciples that they had become worldly. Has the church today become worldly? Are we more concerned about who is the greatest amongst us just like the disciples, rather than making Jesus the centre of all we do? Have we become so worldly to the extent that there is no difference between the world and us? Jesus in our text commands his disciples NOT TO BE SO. It is important to highlight that at no point in our text did Jesus have an issue with greatness or becoming great. His issue was more around the motive behind becoming great, such that one begins to lord over others and that was what led to the argument. This is why Jesus had to teach on greatness, making a comparison between the way the world views greatness and the way God views greatness, which is all about service. He finally laid the matter to rest by stating that HE had come to us as one who serves, which is what we should emulate. We therefore need to ask God to grant us the grace to remain humble and remain within HIS perspective of greatness. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over the Before Jesus revealed to Peter that Satan had desired to sift him, HE had already prayed for him. I believe this was a deliberate attempt by Jesus to teach us how we need to stand by each other when any of us is going through challenges and temptations regardless of the form. We live in times where we prefer to gossip and condemn instead of getting down on our knees to pray when we see our brother or sister fall into temptation. Our text reveals the fact that Jesus had already prayed for Peter even before he informed him, so how did Jesus know about Satan's plan and yet Peter was totally oblivious to it? It is important to point out the fact that we cannot see ourselves, which is why we need a mirror in order to see ourselves. It means that, if we are deviating from our faith or backsliding to our old ways, it is possible that we would not know because we cannot see ourselves. It is therefore imperative that we have people around us who have the liberty to speak to us especially when we have attained levels of success in life. Is there anyone around you who has attained status of success and on the account of this success has started drifting away from the faith? Before you engage them, you need to get down on your knees and pray for them rather than gossip about them. We need to rise up to our responsibility by getting down on our knees to pray for such people rather than becoming envious of them, especially when your relationship with them has been strained as a result of their status. The fact that Jesus had prayed for Peter is indicative of the fact that prayer is the weapon God has given us to use to counter and destroy Satan's plans. We therefore need to maintain a stay in the place of prayer to neutralize and destroy every evil plan and conspiracy that Satan has conceived in a bid to pull us down, so that our faith does not fail. I declare that your faith will not fail in Jesus Name. ![image]()