Matthew 16:23
“But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me…’ ”
In this pilgrim journey, there are only friends and foes; no middle ground. There is only one fixed and precise point of reference, and that is God. He who walks with me in line with the mind of God is a friend. He who seeks to draw me away from the mind of God is a foe. The decision as to who is a friend and who is a foe must be entirely spiritual and not emotional. We don’t hate our adversaries; we don’t follow their advice or example. If they venture to insist that we do, then we must put them behind us. Life must be clearly divided between friends and foes, and if we can demarcate our lives in this way, we will most likely get to our glorious destination, having achieved everything that God expected us to accomplish on this side of eternity.
Remember also that positions change. A friend today can be a foe tomorrow and vice versa. Peter had always been a friend, but when he chose to mind the things of this world over the purpose of God, he immediately became a foe, albeit for a short season. Don’t make spiritual judgments by emotional affiliations. It must be either black or white. This is the only pathway for the pilgrim. As I’ve said before, don’t fight the foes. We merely need to identify them and choose not to walk in their ways and advice.
“Father, I need to see clearly according to this simple classification of friend and foe. Free me from the veil of emotional persuasions and help me live and make choices according to this rule. In Jesus name. Amen.”
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