"Consumed by Dread"

"Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off." (Psalms 88:16)
Then again, we are only human, we cannot change who we are; the Lord knows how many times that I have tried, and He sees every failure I have had trying to be strong. Don't you think it is interesting how Jesus did not tell Peter, 'Peter, you better not deny me, as I know that you will.' No, the Lord did not worn Peter what he was going to do for the sake of him not doing it, He warned him that the enemy of his soul was going to use his denial against him; but that He was praying, that when he wound be restored, he would be able to use his experience to comfort his brothers and sisters. We needn't be, nor shouldn't be consumed by dread. We are called and instructed by God to rejoice in our salvation, not to walk around conflicted over the things that we cannot change; instead we need to rejoice in the change that has taken place: we are alive in Christ! Maybe we might forget what that actually means; because He lives, I live, and I will never ever die! That's a pretty big deal; bigger than anything that can happen in this life, no matter what others might think of you: "If God is for you, who can be against you!" I can only imagine what that look looked like, when Jesus looked at Peter when that rooster crowed; one thing for certain, it was not a lot of hate! I would be willing to bet that it was a look of compassion or concern for Peter's dread over the next few days; knowing that he would most likely be unable to sleep or eat; and that he might even think of following in the way of Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Jesus knew that he would not go through with it, because he knew that he would be restored. But what he might become after; how he would respond to the grace he had been given; those were the prayers that Jesus prayed for Peter about, that his life would be a testimony of God's grace; enough of a testimony to strengthen his brothers and sisters! I heard a small part of a message yesterday by Pastor Matt. He was talking about how God instructs His people to come before Him with gladness, and to rejoice in all that He has done for them. He gave several references from the Old Testaments, where God gives the children of Israel instructions on how they are to celebrate the festivals and certain days of remembering what He had done for them; and how God had tried to instill in them, that they were to come before Him with a thankful heart filled with joy. Pastor Matt then mentioned a small little blurb, saying, "Oh how different our families would be, if the fathers would lead their households to rejoice in the Lord;" or something to that effect. It's true! We men and fathers are called to be the priest of our homes, which means that we are to lead the celebration. It's not a time to mourn, but to celebrate New Life...
"He was despised and rejected -a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all." (Isaiah 53:3-6) NLT