The Lord’s tenure on earth was almost complete. Peter had been with him from the very beginning, an avid follower, a part of the inner circle. The fact that an argument arose among the disciples of who should be the greatest in the coming glorious kingdom, indicated prideful impurities brewing in the group, issuing from their misconceptions of the kingdom and visions of grandeur. Jesus told Peter that satan was after him, to sift him as wheat, which meant, the devil was planning on turning Peter every which way but loose! But Jesus told Peter that he had prayed for him that his faith not fail, then he told him when he was “converted” to strengthen his brethren in the Lord (Luke 22:32). When the heat got turned up, when they were going about to kill Jesus, Peter denied the Lord three times. The rooster crowed in Peter’s hearing, just like Jesus said it would, bringing to Peter’s full realization just what he had done. His “conversion” had begun. He wept bitterly. After Jesus’ death, Peter was with the followers behind closed doors for fear of the Jews (John 20:19). Here, Jesus appeared to them and gave instructions to wait for the power, and he departed back to heaven. So, they waited and prayed. The day of Pentecost came and the power came, just like Jesus said it would. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter’s “conversion” was complete. He stood and spoke and thousands became believers, were strengthened, were helped, and were healed.
Sometimes the followers of Jesus need a “conversion.” It starts with repentance and continues by the reception of the workings of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we don’t “weep bitterly” over our sin. We insolently just do our thing and sin anyway. What do we do then? We repent anyway, and we receive and work with the Holy Spirit anyway. We walk by faith in the word, trusting him. That good work that he has begun in us, he will complete (Philippians 1:6). He is praying for us. Thank God, we have a Savior. We confess him as our Lord, and we love him, because without him we would be utterly lost with only the crowing of a rooster echoing in the chambers of our memory forever.
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