Today we are going to talk about Peter, and his relationship to Jesus. Peter seems, to me, to be a very passionate man. He seems to always want to be on the right side, and sometimes he ends up on the wrong side. Peter is known as the disciple that denied Jesus three times. But Peter didn’t think that He would be the one to deny Jesus, he couldn’t see himself doing something like that. We as humans can relate to this so much because, we are unpredictable. We don’t know exactly what will happen or what we will do. Sometimes we shock ourselves with the things we say and do, and this could be either good or bad.
John 13: 36-38
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
Before being told this, Peter said, “I will lay down my life for you” He was speaking to Jesus when he said this. Jesus foresaw what Peter could not, which is why He’s God and we’re not.
John 18:17
17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”
That’s the first denial
John 18:25-27
Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.
Peter has just done the thing that he probably never thought He’d do. He denied Jesus. Earlier Peter said that he would lay down his life, but when faced with the fear that He might actually die, he denied Jesus. Peter knew the risk of being a Christ follower, or even a disciple of Christ. Peter was one of the twelve.
Sometimes we do things not realizing what they are. Sometimes we do things wanting to do the opposite. I’m sure Peter did not want to deny Jesus but He did. I’m sure he felt terrible. Many times it is our actions that deceive us. We do the things we say we’d never do and the thing we thought we’d never do. I think Paul says it best in Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
We all make mistakes, we’ve all screwed up in our lives, I know I have pretty bad in my 24 years of living. There is conviction which is from God, that leads us to repentance, and there is self-condemnation or condemnation from others that leads us to regret. One is the right way the other is not so great. God can change a repentant heart, because we are giving our sin up to follow Him. We are confessing it and receiving His forgiveness, When we spend or waste time regretting the past or the things we’ve done we're not proud of, we tend to pull away from God. We are harboring things that we cannot change, if we have repented and asked God to remove the sin and change our hearts, there is no use in holding on to it. A lot of times we have to forgive ourselves for the things we have done. We talk a lot about forgiveness, sometimes the person we need to forgive is, us. If we spend all the time regretting the past we we will miss the present, we will not be able to move on and grow in Christ.
John 21:7
That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Peter could not wait to see Jesus. The scripture say that Peter threw himself into the sea to go see Jesus. THere was a Savior on shore and Peter wasted no time in going to see Him.
What stand out to me in this scripture is Peter’s excitement to see Jesus. Now if Peter was still regretting what he had done, there is a possibly that he would not have been able to approach Him.
Now none of this is to say that it is okay to sin because we serve a gracious God. But if we really decide to live for and like Christ, we will get to a point where we don’t want to sin. We have all done things that we are not proud of, but even in that we have the opportunity to repent and not miss a chance to connect with your heavenly father.
John 21:15-17
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, 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 a second time, “Simon, son of John, 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 John, 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 everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep
God still wants to use you, it doesn’t matter what your past look like. When we make the decision to truly serve Him, meaning, living, loving, and look like Him we become a vessel for His work. When we repent God throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness. Our past plays a role in who we are, but our past mistakes do not dictate the person we become, God makes that choice. He’s already made it actually, He knows who we are and what we will become. . We are not our mistakes, we are children of the one true living God. Peter goes on to become one of the key apostles, and builder of the church.
Matthew 16:18-19
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Peter tells the testimony of Jesus Christ, and pays for it. He is thrown into prison for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter goes out and does exactly what He has been called and chosen to do. There was a time when Peter denied Jesus in order to save His own life. This same man who died a martyr.
It matters not what we did but what we are doing now. There is time to repent and get it right. There is no time to regret our mistakes.
Reflection
- Do you live your life in regret?
- Are you able to forgive yourself for your mistake?
- Have you confessed and repented?
Prayer Time
Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer. If you feel God is speaking to you right now lay your heart out to Him. If there are things you need to repent for , confess those thing to God and turn your heart to Him.
I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. MAke sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 109!
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