Timothy Keller... has had much to say... on my treadmill of late...
When Peter hears that Jesus is going to Jerusalem, which will entail suffering --- almost certainly not just for Jesus but also for him --- he's furious. Why? Because he had an agenda, and his agenda led from strength to strength and it didn't include suffering. When he sees that Jesus is not working from his agenda, he rebukes him. If your agenda is the end, then Jesus is just the means; you're using him. But if Jesus is the King, you cannot make him a means to your end.Peter... serving Christ... had his own vision of what... and how... the Kingdom would come about... Jesus's truth... clashed with his view... in response...
---Timothy Keller, King's Cross
... Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Matthew 16:23
Peter's desire... created a stumbling block to Jesus...
...my own desire... your own desire... put ahead of Jesus... even while serving Jesus... becomes a stumbling block to His work... in your life... and the life of loved ones...
After years... His chipping away... still... enough of me... to make others stumble... to be a stumbling block to Jesus... and His work...
He must become greater; I must become less.
John 3:30
Taking up your cross means for you to die to self-determination, die to control of your own life, die to using him for your agenda.
Time for self-examination... time for a heart-check... if my desire is anything but more of Him... than I am a deterrant... a stumble waiting to happen...--- more of Timothy Keller
What desire are you still clinging to... looking to Him to fulfill?
What makes you a stumbling block?
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