Everything that happens in life happens for a purpose and also, to teach someone a very important lesson in life.
The Bible is a book full of stories of the things that happened to men and women who lived before us. Their stories have several important lessons for us to learn from.
One of such important stories is the story of Peter’s denial of Christ. Peter, who was one of the inner cacus apostles of Christ, denied knowing or being a disciple of Christ.
You can read the account of Peter’s deny of Christ from Matthew 26:31-35,58,69-75.
Although Jesus told Peter directly that he was going to deny Him, he did not believe Him.
Maybe he thought Jesus Christ was joking but it eventually ended up exactly as Jesus had said.
What, then are the 10 salient points to learn from Peter’s denial of Christ?
- Do not disbelieve or doubt the Word of God.
The word of God must be fulfilled; it must come to pass. Bible prophecies, be they negative or positive, must come to pass at their appointed time.
Isa.55.11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
If Peter had believed what Jesus said, he would have pleaded for God to cancel it and give him grace to overcome but no way, he did not simply because he did not believe that such can happen to him.
Let us believe the word of God we read in the Bible, and that is preached unto us.
Believing it will make you take the right action to stop it from being fulfilled in your own life.
Not believing it will hinder you from doing nothing thereby bringing the negative to pass and stopping the positive from manifesting in your life.
2.Fear leads believers into sin.
Peter had fear in his heart. He was afraid of being arrested with Christ. He was afraid of death. He was afraid of being persecuted for Christ. Therefore, he denied Christ!
When we allow fear to occupy our hearts, sinning becomes inevitable.
Prov.29.25 “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” Fear distorts our vision of heaven, it makes us see man more powerful than God. It destroys courage and faith. And when all this happens, it becomes very easy to deny Christ.
Let’s rid our hearts of fear and know that, fear is a spirit from Satan as seen in 2Tim.1.7 – “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
- Keeping wrong company is not healthy for our spiritual life.
Before Peter denied Christ, he left the company of the disciples. He went and joined himself with the wrong company, the company of mockers and haters of his Master Jesus Christ.
What company do you keep? Is a company of men and women of like precious faith as yours? Is it a company of defenders of the faith? Is it a company of holy and righteousness people?
If you associate yourself with the wrong company, denying Christ becomes very easy. Backsliding becomes very cheap.
Mind the kind of company you keep. Always remember the scripture that says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”(1 Cor. 15:33).
- Failure to watch and pray makes it very easy to deny the Lord.
If Peter had watched, he would have seen; and if he had seen, he would have prayed. And, if he had prayed, he would have received sufficient grace to over the temptation to deny His Master Jesus Christ.
Be a watchful and a prayerful Christian. It will keep you from making the same mistake that Peter made.
- Not keeping close to the Lord can easily make a Christian to deny the Lord.
Peter walked far away from the Lord. Infact, that was the first time Peter walked far away from the Lord.
To be far from Christ means to be far from grace. It means to be far from life. It also means to be far from God’s keeping power.
No wonder, he lacked the grace, the strength, and the keeping power to accept being a follower of Christ.
Stay close to the Lord. Don’t be far away.
Praying regularly, fasting, reading and studying the Bible, obeying the word of God always and attending fellowship regularly will help you stay close to the Lord.
- A hidden identity can easily lead to compromise of one’s faith.
Peter hid his identity. He didn’t want people to know that he was one of Jesus’ disciples. He mixed with ordinary people and people who were none disciples of Christ, thinking he would be seen as an ordinary fellow, and a none disciple of Christ but he didn’t work out so for him.
If he knew that the people knew he was a disciple, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to deny his Master Jesus Christ.
Therefore, let everybody around you know that you are a Christian. Don’t hide your identity, else you would fall into the same ditch.
- Peter was alone. So, it was easy for him to deny Christ. James and John his close colleagues were not with him. None of the other apostles was with him.
So, when the temptation came, no brother in Christ could encourage him to resist or stand against it. He fell! What a pity!
Don’t be a lone ranger. Associate with people of like precious faith.
- God used the crowing of a cock to bring Peter back to his senses. God can use anything or anyone to remind you of the sins you have committed.
- Sin, if not repented off the first time it was committed, will lead to the committing of more sins.
Peter denied once, then twice and finally, thrice. If he had repented the first time, God would have forgiven him but he didn’t. He then went to step two. Then, step three. Let’s be careful to treat any sin in our lives with urgency before it plunges us deeper into sin. Thereby, making it more difficult to come out of it.
- The word of the Lord Jesus Christ finally came to pass. His word must definitely be fulfilled whether good or bad. He said Peter would deny Him thrice. That’s exactly what happened.
Never doubt God’s word which will come to pass in its season. Whatever God has promised will come to pass in your life will of necessity come to pass. Though it tarries, wait for it.
- There is room for repentance, forgiveness and restoration.
Peter repented and cried bitterfly to the Saviour, who in His infinite love and compassion forgave him and restored him into his apostleship. No matter how far Peter went in denying Christ, he was still forgiven. You, too, will be forgiven!
What sin have you committed? God is eagerly waiting to forgive you and place you where you ought to be. Do not delay; for delay is dangerous.
Thank you for reading. This devotional was shared through juliusbizblog.com.ng
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