Rockie

Friday September 22nd, Mark 8: 29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ. 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Good old Peter, “The Rock”, some rock he turned out to be. Out of the same mouth came the personal confession on which the church is to built, that Jesus was the Christ. A moment later, the temptation of Adam and Eve (eat of the tree of all knowledge and you can be your own god), the devil in the wilderness (worship me and all this can be yours) and the garden (Lord, if possible, take this cup from me) all wrapped up in the suggestion that there is a way around the cross. The temptation for us to avoid the cross is real also. It is the temptation to think we can storm heaven by our good works. What we find is the only thing we accomplish is to trample on others. The temptation is constant and we all fail from time to time. When we do, it is good to remember that we are in good company with Peter. So pick yourself up, shake it off, and live for the kingdom.