In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus told Peter about how the devil wanted to sift all the disciples like wheat. In my own words, Jesus told Peter how the devil sought to waste the lives of all the disciples because that the devil’s mission, to kill, steal and destroy.
But Jesus said He had prayed for them all especially for Peter and the bible goes on to tell us why Jesus had prayed especially for Peter.
I have prayed for you that your faith won’t fail. When you are restored, strengthen your brothers and sisters.
Luke 22:33
As short a verse this is, there are many lessons to be learned here: The devil is no respecter of hierarchy, position, name, fame, influence and so on. He keeps at finding ways to frustrate the lives of believers and even so unbelievers. That is why the bible tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence-Proverbs 24:3 as well as work out our salvation with fear and trembling.- Philippians 2:12.so as not to fall prey of the vices of the devil.
I pray the good Lord helps us to finish our christian race strong and well in Jesus name.
Although the enemy may endeavour or sometimes succeed in attacking us, Jesus Christ is ever mediating and interceding on our behalf provided we maintain our walk and relationship with Him.
And when we conquer these attacks, there is always restoration,elevation and blessings as pointed out in Luke 22:33. It may not all the time be material blessings, it could be spiritual blessings and the likes,if we are sensitive enough, we would be able to deduce this.
I believe that everything God has blessed us with, He would love us to be blessings with them. It is our responsibility to know how He wants us to go about being the blessing and also obey His instructions.
For example, Jesus wanted Peter to strengthen the faith of his brethren once he was restored after the attack of the devil. Shortly, after Peter and the other disciples were tested of their faith. They stumbled but thank God for His mercies, Peter repented and was able to strengthen his brethren. Afterwards, they fellowshipped together, shared what they had together and went about preaching the gospel as well as healing the sick.
Thank God for them, the gospel has been able to reach, inspire and motivate millions of Christians worldwide.
Do you see the ripple effects of being a blessing to one or a group of people?
I seek to briefly discuss the steps we could take to really help each other in this sense could be a friend, a stranger God is leading you to, a neighbour, parents, and so on.
Ultimately the bible and a relationship with God has all the steps to how to help people in the world.
Spend time with God
One of my favorite verses in the bible tells us that it is impossible to love or show genuine love without knowing God.I John 4:8.
Over the years, I have noticed that when I spend time with someone I like or care about, there is the tendency for me to want to speak in the same mannerism as the person. The same applies to people who spend time with me too. There is just this subtle influence of friends over each other, right?.
The same thing applies to us when we spend time with God, the nature of God rubs off on us every single time we spend in His presence. And the scripture tells us that God is love amongst other attributes of God that there is.
Therefore, when we spend time with God, we can genuinely love one another and genuinely seek to serve and be blessings to people around us. Moreso, loving our neighbours will come freely and not be forced or just out of the head knowledge that we need to be kind.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love
I John 4:8
Learn to Ask God Questions
The story of the good samaritan who helped a priest who was robbed, beaten and left by the road side stemmed from a question asked by the religious lawyer in Luke 10:25-37. He asked Jesus who his neighbors were so that he will be able to know who to help and Jesus responded to his question with the story. And I believe the lawyer was able to draw insight from the response of Jesus.
In the same light, I believe we can ask God questions about who and when we should help our brothers and sisters. May the good Lord direct and guide us in Jesus name.
Learn to Forgive Easily:
Yet again, this brings us back to point number one because I understand it could be so difficult to forgive some people sometimes. As we spend more time in the presence of God we are transformed every single moment both in spirit, soul and mind. The more time we spend with God, the more christ-like we become; who forgave easily and even asked God to forgive those who persecuted Him.
When we forgive easily, we do not miss out on opportunities to help our brothers and sisters. More often, when we are angry at people or refuse to forgive, our minds may be stiffened and may not pay attention to when we actually need to help out.
I have read and heard of different stories where men and women missed out to help and live with the regret forever just because they did not forgive and forget. May the good lord help us to be christ-like and forgive easily in Jesus name.
Encourage and strengthen with your testimonies or experience with God .
I cannot imagine how my life would be if I had not heard relatable, challenging, inspiring stories, experiences and testimonies of children of God. God saves us,so we can also pass on the baton. For example in Deuteronomy 3:28 God asked Moses to strengthen and encourage Joshua who was going to be the next leader of Israel. In that moment, that was how Moses could be a blessing to Joshua and even the Israelites.
Moses was a man who had encountered God severally, had conversations with God but then he was destined to die at an appointed time. God did not expect him or want him to go to the grave with all the blessings he had enjoyed in the presence of God.
Overall, I am learning not to rush or jump into actions because we want to be blessings to people. I believe we should allow the Lord to lead us all the way. From spending time with God, I know we would be able to deduce the words of God and what He is saying to us at specific times
Ultimately when we bless others, we do it for the glory of God. Like the bible tells us when we give with our right hand, our left hand does not need to know- Matthew 6:3. When we give privately, God will reward us publicly in Jesus name