{"id":600,"date":"2015-06-10T14:38:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T14:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=600"},"modified":"2015-06-10T19:20:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-10T19:20:27","slug":"are-you-king-of-the-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=600","title":{"rendered":"Are You King of the Mountain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"27\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Hi Prodigal, nice castle!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 Yes, I am ruler of this castle!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 Well, I hope you rule your kingdom well and let me give you some encouragment in that area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 What kind of suggestions do you have?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is describing Peter, in the book Hope Again by Charles Swindoll<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once Peter decided to follow Christ, there was no turning back.\u00a0 As time passed, he became all the more committed to the Master, a devoted and stubborn-minded disciple whose loyalty knew no bounds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Utimately, however, his commitment was put to the test.\u00a0 Jesus had warned him that Satan was hot on his heels, working overtime to trip him up.\u00a0 But Peter was unmoved.\u00a0 His response?\u00a0 “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”\u00a0 (Luke 22:34).\u00a0 Jesus didn’t buy it.\u00a0 He answered, “Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me” (Luke 22:34)\u00a0 Though that prediction must have stung, Peter pushed it aside….self-assured and overly confident that it would never happen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wrong.\u00a0 That very night, Jesus’ words turned to reality.\u00a0 The loyal, strong-hearted, courageous Peter failed his Lord.\u00a0 Deliberately and openly he denied that he was one of the Twelve.\u00a0 Not once or twice but three times, back to back, he turned on the One who had loved him enough to warn him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No longer loyal and strong, far from courageous and committed, the man was suddenly reduced to heaving sobs.\u00a0 What guilt he bore!\u00a0 How ashamed he felt!\u00a0 Words cannot adequately portray his brokenness.\u00a0 Emotionally,\u00a0he plunged to rock bottom, caught in the grip of hopelessness; the effect was shattering.\u00a0 Every time he closed his eyes he could see the face of Jesus staring at him, as if asking, “How could you Peter?\u00a0 Why would you?\u00a0 That look.\u00a0 Those words.\u00a0 The man was haunted for days.\u00a0 The Savior’s subsequent death by crucifixion must have been like a nail driven into Peter’s heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Upon hearing of his Savior’s resurrection and also his Savior’s concern that he especially be given the message, Peter had hope beyond his failure.\u00a0 Because of that, he could go on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And, not surprisingly, he would later be the one who would write the classic letter of hope to those who needed to hear it the most…those who were residing “as aliens, scattered” across the vast landscape of the Roman Empire (1 Peter 1:1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between his earlier failure and his writing this letter, Peter had been used of God as the catalyst in the formation of the early church.\u00a0 But having been broken and humiliated, his leadership was altogether different than it would have been without his failure.\u00a0 Now that he had been rescued by grace and restored by hope, he had no interest in playing “king of the mountain” by pushing people around.\u00a0 Rather, he became a servant-hearted shepherd of God’s flock.<\/strong><\/p>\n

See God’s plan now?\u00a0 He doesn’t need a leader of His people playing “king of the mountain”.<\/p>\n

Praise God for brokeness and that He uses failure to mold us!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1 Peter 6-7<\/p>\n

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Me:\u00a0 Hi Prodigal, nice castle!   Prodigal:\u00a0 Yes, I am ruler of this castle!   Me:\u00a0 Well, I hope you rule your kingdom well and let me give you some encouragment in that area.   Prodigal:\u00a0 What kind of suggestions do you have?   This is describing Peter, in the book Hope Again by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAre You King of the Mountain? - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=600\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are You King of the Mountain? 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