The Secret of Spiritual Power

by Chip Brogden

"Then Peter took Jesus, and began to scold Him, saying, 'Not so! May this never happen to You, Lord!' But Jesus turned, and spoke sharply to Peter, saying, 'Get out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, because you do not have God's interests in mind, but your own interests'" (Matthew 16:22,23).

See how many times the disciples tried to correct the Lord. See how many times they argued with the Lord. See how many time their thoughts contradicted the Master. See how many times they urged Him to take action. And the Lord, ever patient, would correct them.

In every case we see that He is the Lord, and they are the disciples. The roles must never be confused. He is the Master, and we are His servants. We do not command Him, but He commands us. We do not direct Him, but He directs us. We do not lead Him, but He leads us. He was not created for us, but we were created for Him. He does not serve us according to our pleasure, but we serve Him according to His pleasure. So we must be adjusted to Him, and not the other way around. The Lord will never apologize to us and say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. We'll do it your way." How laughable! How absurd! But we often live as if we expect Him to do that very thing. We have not humbled ourselves.

Taken from The School of Christ.