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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-09-13 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Luke 22:60-62 (TLB) |
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Text: |
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And as he said the words, a rooster crowed. 61 At that moment Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered what he had said—“Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times.” 62 And Peter walked out of the courtyard, crying bitterly. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In earlier verses Peter swore that he would do anything and everything to show his loyalty to Jesus. But he was cautioned by Jesus, as He knew what would happen when Peter was really squeezed by the local people to claim his allegiance. Of course Jesus knew what He was saying, and unfortunately for Peter, Jesus was present when it happened the third time when Peter heard the rooster crow, just as Jesus had predicted to Peter. Let’s apply this to our own lives… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| As a child, I knew when mom’s eyes meant she was proud of me, or when she was upset at me, or when I was really in trouble. At school, I knew the same traits of my teacher. Now that I’m older, I can see how silly it was of me to try and hide certain things from either of these people, because they knew me so well, and they were certainly smart enough to see guilt in my eyes. Reading these verses, I was reminded that Jesus sees me as His loving child, and when I try very diligently to obey Him and do His perfect will. However. I was also reminded that He also sees when I willfully disobey His commands and His instructions, and when I make promises to Him but totally disregard them when I think that no one knows me or sees me. Am I alone in this? Am I the only one that didn’t learn from this embarrassing moment of Peter’s? Friends, each of us must face God for ourselves. It won’t matter how much of a godly mother we had or that our dad was a pastor, God will look into our eyes (individually) and judge us for who we were and for all the words we said or thoughts that may or may not have provoked our actions. If that was to happen today, how would that go for you? May I remind you that this could be the exact scene for you or I today? We all have lost friends this year that we never suspected that they would be called home so early in life. So may I encourage you today to know that you know Jesus personally, and to live as if today will be the day that Jesus looks fully into your eyes and makes a final decision on you, based on what He knows to be the case. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father God, we come humbly before You today and confess that way too often we are probably way too much like Peter. Lord, I believe that we all will confess that we would much prefer being the ‘perfect’ child and that we have been totally obedient to you in mind, action and daily walk. Please forgive us for trying to ‘pull the wool’ over our parent’s eyes, our teachers, our friends and for foolishly thinking that we could do the same with You. I believe that our greatest desire as Your child today is that we become more and more like You every day, and that friends we witness to will see us the same in the dark as they see in the daytime; the same in town as they might see out of town; the same in our workplaces as they see in church and that Your character will be evident in and through us at all times. Lord, may You rule and reign supremely in us at all times, is my humble prayer, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Tag: Guilt
When Doubts Arise
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-05-31 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 14:17-19 (TLB) |
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Text: |
17 In the evening Jesus arrived with the other disciples, 18 and as they were sitting around the table eating, Jesus said, “I solemnly declare that one of you will betray me, one of you who is here eating with me.”
19 A great sadness swept over them, and one by one they asked him, “Am I the one?” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| A room full of disciples and the Lord Jesus, when Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him. I would have expected them all to try and reassure Jesus that it definitely would not be them, but instead they all questioned Jesus if it was them. I found that very interesting. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Perhaps the disciples were very aware of their weaknesses and knew that they would possibly cave in to pressure from the authorities. Perhaps they had been privately chatting about some of the impossible things that occurred during the time they had been following Jesus, and they were having some doubt about the reality of it all. Just as we all sin today – from the preacher, to the faithful member in the pew or the guy who has chosen to never visit a church again in his lifetime, so it could be with us if told by Jesus that we could be the ones who would betray Him. In fact, we would probably start apologizing right away, because we know how possible it would be. Perhaps that’s how the disciples felt that night. What we do know is that one of Jesus’ closest disciples, Peter, swore up and down that he would never deny Jesus Christ, yet under the right conditions, he did exactly that. I believe for the Christian today, our doubts arise when we face the opposition, for how many of us truly stand up for our faith when hanging around a gang of friends who wants nothing to do with Jesus? Would we question, like the disciples did, about whether Jesus was referring to us, because of the guilt we felt very deep inside? So is there a way to improve on this, you might ask. I believe that Jesus knows everything about our nature, and He knows that we are prone to sin as long as we remain here on this earth among sinners. However, we know from His Word that Jesus loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine; we know that He gave of His very life as a substitution for our sin, so that we may appear before the Father spotless. So I am convinced that He also knows our heart and whether we are sincere in our relationship with Him. Friends, it’s not in saying certain words, attending a certain church, hanging around certain friends – although each of these certainly helps us to live a good life, but it’s really all about our heart, because our intent and our will is governed by what’s deep inside of our heart. A personal, sincere and dedicated relationship with Jesus helps you acquire the attributes that He teaches in His written Word. As we reach for perfection as a Christian, we should aim to live, speak and act just like Jesus did. From these qualities, Jesus will know what might come from our mouths and how we might act in the presence of worldly pressures. You could easily overcome doubt and guilt, friend, with the help of our Master and Lord! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, weak though we are when depending on inner strength, yet we serve an all powerful and Almighty God. Thank You for loving us enough to cluster us under Your wings and watch over us, and protect us from the evil of this world. Lord, we want to be just like You, and be Your witnesses here in this world. Please give us the strength, wisdom and boldness to be Your hands and Your feet even among those who oppose You. Help us to seek Your face, and develop such a relationship with You that we would constantly grow in the likeness of Jesus every day. AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
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