"Yes! You Have A Purpose!"

“Yes!!! You Have A Purpose!!!”

Luke 22:31-32

31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

JESUS is speaking here directly to Simon Peter in the presence of the other eleven apostles. Earlier in this same chapter, He had commanded Peter along with John to go and prepare the Passover meal so that they could all go and eat together. JESUS had given them a word of prophecy as to how everything would unfold in front of their eyes as soon as they were to enter into the city. After obeying His word and doing as He had commanded of them to do, JESUS and His twelve apostles went into this upper room to partake of the Feast of the Passover. While there, JESUS had also made some very interesting things known unto them. In verse 15, He lets them know that He had such an awesome yearning to eat this particular Passover with them! This did not mean that any other Passover that He had eaten with them was not important, but He greatly desired this particular one because it was going to be the Passover that preceded His suffering and tribulation for the benefit of all humanity past, present, and even to come after His death! He let them know that He was no longer going to be able to eat the Passover with them on this side until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of GOD (v. 16). In the next four verses (17-20), He outlines not only the way food and drink should be treated but also what the bread and the fruit of the vine symbolized. However, in the midst of letting them know what everything symbolized, especially the cup after supper, He then throws them all totally off-guard! He had told them in verse 20 that His blood was going to be shed for them but follows it up in verse 21 by saying that out of this same twelve men listening to Him at the table that the hand of Him that betrayed Him was now also in His presence at that same table! He also testifies that it truly was destined for Him to die the way that He had already told them He would, but that still had no bearing on who would be Satan’s victim in order to get the process accomplished! In verse 3, Luke lets it be known that Satan entered into the heart of Judas and was able to use him to do his dirty work! However, what is not seen there is what must be pondered upon! How many other Apostles did Satan try to enter into the hearts of but to no avail? Whom else did Satan try to get to accomplish this devastating feat but to no avail? I Corinthians 10:13 clearly shows us that no temptation even comes our way but what has been offered to others as well! Therefore, we need to stop and take an account of how many times daily we turn our backs on GOD, sell out on Him, and betray Him for what the Devil may tempt us with and come to the realization that the very same temptation that we have failed was the same temptation that someone else may have passed meaning that it was not impossible to overcome! However, this led to not only the twelve wondering who was guilty but also some kind of way spawned a debate as to who was going to be esteemed as the greatest within their company! This is where JESUS begins to teach them what it actually means to be great and what prices and sacrifices have to be paid in order to be great! He also tells them what He has in store for them for being with Him throughout His temptations! This is where we want to get to because in the midst of all of that, He speaks to Peter in the midst of all of the other Apostles. Let us analyze what He says unto him:

He calls him by his name twice:

“Simon, Simon”

He then tells him to pay close attention:

“behold”

He then lets him know of who He speaks:

“Satan”

He then tells him what Satan wants:

“hath desired to have you”

He tells him why Satan wants him:

“that he may sift you as wheat”

However this is where we need to stop and thank GOD for every “but” He has set up on our behalf! The word “but” expresses the relationship between two things or ideas and sets them at a neutral and offsetting balance with each other. When the word “but” is used, it is clearly understood that there is a choice that ultimately needs to be made or a situation that totally relies on one side eventually overcoming the other! Just for the sake of consideration and adoration, some of the “but” verses we should not cease to thank GOD constantly for are: