Being used by God.

in #steemchurchyesterday


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There is a moment when we decide to let ourselves be used by the Lord, at that moment God will use all our lives, He will fulfill His purposes in us through our strengths and also our weaknesses.

14 Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them: Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 And it will come to pass in the last days, says God,
I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh,
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy;
Your young men will see visions,
And your old men will dream dreams;
18 And on My servants and on My maidservants in those days
I will pour out of My Spirit, and they will prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the sky above,
And signs on the earth beneath,
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke;
20 The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord;
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
22 Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know; 23 Him, being delivered by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you took and crucified by wicked hands, 24 and raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. 25 For David said of Him,
I saw the Lord always before me;
Because He is at My right hand, I shall not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices,
Yet my flesh shall rest in hope;
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You let Your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence.
29 Men and brothers, I may freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that He would raise up the Christ from his offspring according to the flesh to sit on His throne, 31 foresight, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you see and hear. 34 For David has not ascended into heaven, but he himself says:
The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Acts 2:14-36

In this picture we see that after Peter was called by the Lord Jesus, he completely left his job as a fisherman to begin his new life as a disciple focused on service. Although Peter was the furthest from perfection, he nevertheless gives us powerful lessons of transformation.
The Lord asked him who the disciples believed he was, and the first to answer was the apostle Peter, who said to him, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Matthew 16:16

In the same way, our words and actions must express our absolute trust in the Lord as the Master, as the Messiah, and that we belong to him absolutely. We must manifest our identity with Christ both in public and in private; we are his followers, we are the children of God.
Let us remember later when Christ was arrested and the faith of the apostle Peter faltered, weak, just as Jesus had anticipated. We remember that the Lord had told him that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed, and the apostle Peter wept for what he had done, he lamented deeply.

Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard; And a servant girl came to him, saying, You also were with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, I do not know what you are saying. 71 When he had gone out to the door, another woman saw him and said to those standing there, This man was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 But he denied it again, swearing, I do not know the man. 73 After a little while, those standing there came up and said to Peter, Surely you are one of them too, for your very speech betrays you. 74 Then he began to curse and swear, I do not know the man. And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word of Jesus, how he had said to him, Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:69-75

Later in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He forgave the apostle Peter then called him to love his sheep.

15 When they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He answered him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs. 16 He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter answered him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my sheep. 17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he answered him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

John 21:15-17

After this, the apostle Peter was completely filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and again began his ministry fervently announcing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here we see that through the power of God and Peter's willingness to be used by the Lord himself, many were saved, many came to the knowledge of the grace of God.

When this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and marveled, saying, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 How then do we hear them each speaking in our own language, in which we were born?" 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and those living in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 in Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Africa near Cyrene, and Romans living here, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.

Acts 2:6-11

The apostle Peter in this whole situation is a great example of that type of person that God wants to use, so the apostle Peter like us is full of strength as well as weaknesses, he learns from his mistakes, repents and reverses his path surrendering to the Lord so that he can fulfill his purpose. The apostle Peter in this whole situation is a great example of that type of person that God wants to use, so the apostle Peter like us is full of strength as well as weaknesses, he learns from his mistakes, repents and reverses his path surrendering to the Lord so that he can fulfill his purposes.