Reconditioning Your Spiritual Reflexes.
Luke 22:54-62.
“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of his grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God‘s grace. -Every day should be a day of relating to God, on the basis of His grace alone.” Jerry Bridges-
Around the turn of the 20th century, a Russian psychiatrist and physician named Ivan Pavlov performed some groundbreaking experiments that won him a Nobel prize. It was called the Pavlov Dog Study.
Dogs naturally salivate for food, but Pavlov wanted to see if salivation could be caused by another stimulus.
As you may remember from high school science class, Pavlov conditioned the dogs by ringing a bell before feeding them. Eventually, ringing the bell, without the food, was enough in itself to cause salivation.
Pavlov referred to this learned relationship as, a conditioned reflex.
To one degree or another, all of us are- Pavlovian. We have been consciously and subconsciously conditioned our entire lives. And much of our behavior is dictated by those conditioned reflexes.
Example- When my dad was dying, he continually thought that he was in Hartwell, and our fences were down...the horses were getting out. It was always a feeling of desperation. We have to fix it!
Personally, “I’ve had many dreams where I had not fed my horses in days. Terrifying.” PH
Galatians 3:1-4MSG You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough. 2 Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!”
I have a friend who pumped his gas at a local station where he lives, after filling his tank, he left off with the gas nozzle and hose attached to his car.
Needless to say, every time he gets gas he looks in his right mirror just to make sure he removed the handle and nozzle.
That’s called a conditioned reflex. In-fact, over the course of our lifetime, we acquire an elaborate repertoire of condition reflexes.
Hear Peter’s conditioned reflex- Luke 22:54-62TPT The religious leaders seized Jesus and led him away, but Peter followed from a safe distance. They brought him to the home of the high priest, where people were already gathered out in the courtyard. Someone had built a fire, so Peter inched closer and sat down among them to stay warm. A girl noticed Peter sitting in the firelight. Staring at him, she pointed him out and said, “This man is one of Jesus’ disciples!” Peter flatly denied it, saying, “What are you talking about, girl? I don’t know him!” A little while later, someone else spotted Peter and said, “I recognize you. You’re one of his, I know it!” Peter again said, “I’m not one of his disciples.” About an hour later, someone else identified Peter and insisted he was a disciple of Jesus, saying, “Look at him! He’s from Galilee, just like Jesus. I know he’s one of them.” But Peter was adamant. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t you understand? I don’t even know him.” While the words were still in his mouth, the rooster crowed. At that moment, the Lord, who was being led through the courtyard by his captors, turned around and gazed at Peter. All at once Peter remembered the words Jesus had prophesied over him, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” Peter burst into tears, ran off from the crowd, and wept bitterly.
I've read the story of Peter’s denial countless times, but I wonder if Peter knew of Pavlov Dog study, A conditioned reflex. Lol!
After that event, Maybe Peter felt a twinge of guilt every time he heard a rooster crow?
When we moved into our house, we were concerned about the road noise from I -75 however, now, we never hear it.
With that said, “In my opinion, “I’m not sure if there is a more annoying sound, that of a rooster!”
For your information roosters don’t crow at dawn, they begin crowing around 3-5
AM! At that time most folks are entering REM sleep.
Testimony, Back 45 years ago, I bought 5 roosters and hens to keep around my barn. However, after about 6 weeks I couldn’t take it anymore! I climbed the tree where they roosted put each one in a burlap sack. I release them next to a farm. PH
Imagine what it must have been like for Peter to wake up to a roosters crow every morning?
What a way to start the day! A daily reminder of his greatest failure.
Paul warned the church of Galatians trust Jesus and only Jesus! Peter trusted himself, self preservation will do anything.
Before Peters martyrdom, he wrote, 1 Peter 5:8NLT Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Satan crows like a rooster. Satan is the accuser of the brethren, his tactics have not changed since the Garden of Eden.
He wants to remind you of your greatest failures over and over again.
Why? Because if you focus all your energy on your past failures, you’ll not have enough stamina left over to dream kingdom dreams, or pursue kingdom purposes.
Again, “I wonder if a roosters crow had the same kind of effect on Peter as it did on Ivan Pavlov dogs? Peter, let Jesus down when Jesus needed him most.” -Mark Batterson.
Revelation 12:10NKJV Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
Presently, satan has limited authority. He can go but so far...
Many times we skip over the most important part of that scripture- Revelation 12:10a. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, ...
Satan wants to turn you into a reactionary. Satan loves for you to react. Sudden outburst come.
Here’s a powerful word, “Guilt has a shrinking effect. It shrinks our dreams. It shrinks our relationships. It's shrinks our hearts. It shrinks our lives to the size of our greatest failures.”
Listen, Peter got unstuck! He got free. He found his liberty. Peter wasn’t scared anymore! Did you hear that, “Peter wasn’t scared. He didn’t die scared either. History records, “Peter was crucified upside down for his faith in Jesus!”
Grace has the opposite effect of guilt. It expands our dreams. It expands our relationships. It expands our hearts. And it gives us courage to chase Jesus.
Hear the prayer of Jabez, Q&A: Was his prayer guilt or grace?
1 Chronicles 4:10NKJV And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
Notice Jabez prays- “Grace, Expansion, Bless me indeed, that God’s hand be with me, that God would keep me from evil, and that I may not cause pain!”
Jesus came to recondition your spiritual reflexes with His grace. And when you’ve been recondition by His grace, you will become a revolutionary for His cause!
A revolutionary turns the over cheek, the revolutionary goes the extra mile.
John 1:17KJV “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” ?
This I know, “You can’t think overcoming thoughts and entertain powerful revelation, if you’re stuck in the past!” PH
In the words of CS Lewis, “When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness, less and less.”
What happened to Peter? After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, After Jesus walked through a few doors... At Peter’s house...After Jesus saw Peter fishing and told him where to throw the nets...
Mark 16:5-7NKJV And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
In my experience it is much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Most of us are good actors, we can play the part. But our reactions reveal who we really are. PH
And maybe that’s why Jesus focused so much of his teaching on reconditioning reflexes.
You are called to be a revolutionary!
Let look at, Matthew 5:39, 41, 44; Luke 6:27-28:
Matthew 5:39NKJV But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Matthew 5:41NKJV And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
Matthew 5:44NKJV But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
Luke 6:27-28NKJV But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
I call this, “Reconditioning reflexes. Being saved and knowing it. Experiencing salvation. Delivered and filled with the Holy Ghost.” PH.
-At anytime, you live ready to spill-out on others! Jesus had Peter’s attention, Nothing all night, suddenly 153 large fish! And now, Peter is invited to eat breakfast with Jesus, the Savior of the World!
Now, I want you to hear some resurrection words from our Jesus:
John 21:15-17NKJV So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
I don't think it's coincidence that Jesus asked Peter the same question three times. Peter was insulted by the repetition.
Is it possible that Jesus knew a little something about conditioned reflexes long before, Doctor Ivan Pavlov came along?
* Peter failed three times; Jesus recommissioned him three times.
But that's not all. Have you ever noticed when the recommissioning took place? -Early in the morning.
Why does that matter? -Jesus reconditioned Peter, while the roosters were growing!
* From that moment forward, the roosters crow was no longer a reminder of Peter’s failure that produce feelings of guilt! It was a reminder of his recommissioning that produce feelings of gratitude.
Do you need recommissioning? He’s here.
Think of it this way:
Sin - Grace= Guilt.
Sin + Grace= Gratitude.
Benediction. Jesus comes to recondition you. Allow Him to place you on the Potters wheel.
