So what happened to Peter that transformed his life in such a radical way that led to God using him so powerfully back in the early days of the church’s inception? I would submit to you that Peter had ’reached the end of himself, and found the beginning of God’. And it began with him standing face to face with Jesus who asked him three times in a row: “Do you love me, Peter?” (John 21:15-17)

Not many days after this exchange, Peter was filled with...and empowered by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:8; 2:4)...and his life was never the same. No longer do we read about impetuous Peter jumping out of boats or cutting off ears or trying to rebuke Jesus, not to mention falling away and denying Him before strangers.

I’ve never understood why so many sincere believers today always want to point to the past failures of notable Bible characters to somehow justify their own ongoing sins and imperfections..

I know...we like to toss around man-made quotes about how “God uses imperfect people”, pointing to the likes of Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, and even Paul (prior to his conversion). But friends...we seem to miss a major point here in that yes, while God did work through ‘imperfect’ people back then to accomplish His will, everything changed on the Day of Pentecost...which ushered in the new church age dispensation, and ‘business would no longer be the same as usual’...anymore. (2 Cor. 5:17; 2 Pet. 1:3-4; Tit. 2:11-14)

Let us not forget it was Peter, who yes, had a lengthy resumé of imperfections and sins, that would write much about being refined in the fires so that we might be ‘holy in all our conduct’ as...’obedient children’(1 Pet. 1:14-15). He explained that there would be some ‘suffering’ in this refining process which was all the more reason to “arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ” (1 Pet. 4:1); but look at his next statement: “For he who has suffered in the flesh ...has ceased from sin...that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God” (2) And the importance of this can be found in Matt. 7:21.

What did Peter finally learn, that so many of us today, especially those who struggle with and fumble through ministry trying to serve God...have failed to yet learn? To quote Zechariah...”It’s not by might nor by power (human effort), but by My Spirit, says the Lord”. (4:6).

May I remind you that it was Peter, who was freshly filled with the Holy Spirit, that saw 3000 converts after he preached his first message (Acts 2:36-41). Then, a short time after that, we read how multitudes of sick and possessed people were being healed in such a way that the mere passing of Peter’s shadow over them provided much faith and hope that they too would be set free (Acts 5:14-16). How often are we seeing that happen in our churches today?

Oh, God doesn’t work like that anymore today, you say? To borrow ‘question #2’ from our recent study...’Who told you that?’ (Gen. 3:11) Now I’m not contesting the fact that we see little, if any of that kind of manifestation around here today, but it certainly is not because God retired from that kind of work. Nor is it because there is no shortage of folks needing to be healed and delivered; on the contrary...there are plenty of people today all around us who are still being ‘oppressed by the devil’ (Acts 10:38), and many of them sit next to you every Sunday on the church pews.

Would you take a moment and read Matthew 9:35-38, and please note the condition of the multitudes that Jesus looked upon with compassion, many of them diseased and afflicted, whom He was willing to heal, and did. It grieved His heart to see His people suffering this way and described them as ‘weary and scattered sheep having no shepherd’ (36). But it’s the next verse that I need you to underline- Jesus “said to His disciples, ‘the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few’...”(37).

What do you suppose He meant by ‘the laborers are few’? We certainly have no shortage of churches today, or TV and ‘online’ preachers who might on the surface be busy doing ‘great things in the name of the Lord’. Why many might even be out there ‘prophesying and casting out demons’ like those folks we read about in Matt 7:22, yet we learn that they were not ‘known by God’ (23).

Is it possible that the shortage of laborers is due to the fact that more folks have placed their bets on this idea that God is looking for ‘imperfect people to work through’, instead of looking for and then using people whose hearts are ‘perfect towards Him’? (2 Chron. 16:9)

...yeah...that one gave me pause too when it was ‘dropped in my spirit’ just now to type out.

Which takes us back to that soul-stirring, heart-seeking question that Peter had to come to terms with: Do we love Him? Do we truly love God with ‘ALL’ our hearts, which is what the first and most important commandment requires of us? (Matt. 22:37-40). Because friends, that is what the law of God, which still stands today, is all about. Do you remember what the lawyer in Luke 10:25-28 and the rich young ruler in Matt. 19:17 were told they would need to do/keep if they too...wanted eternal life?

And if...we love Him, we’ll do what He says (John 14:15). This is the only way we will ever see transformation happen in the lives of others, not to mention our own (John 2:1-5). What’s He been saying to you?

What has He been asking you to ‘turn from’ or ‘lay aside’ and even ‘repent’ of? Does God have your whole heart, or are there things you have been unwilling or reluctant to let go of? Were you aware that Jesus Himself, the Son of God, who spent much time ‘healing all...who were oppressed by the devil’ (Acts 10:38) spent 30 years ‘learning obedience’ (Heb. 5:8) before His heart was tested in the wilderness. And after He ‘passed the test’ demonstrating that the Father had His whole heart, then...He was ‘empowered by the Spirit’ and began doing the will of the Father. (Luke 4:14)