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Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Brokenness of Sin and Shame
They arrested Jesus and took him away. They brought Jesus
into the house of the high priest. Peter followed them, but
he did not come near Jesus. The soldiers started a fire in
the middle of the yard and sat together. Peter sat with them.
A servant girl saw Peter sitting there. She could see because
of the light from the fire. The girl looked closely at
Peter's face. Then she said, "This man was also with him
(Jesus)!" But Peter said this was not true. He said, "Lady, I
don't know him." A short time later, another person saw Peter
and said, "You are also one of those people that follow him
(Jesus)." But Peter said, "Man, I am not one of his
followers!" About an hour later, another man said, "It is
true! This man was with him (Jesus). He is from Galilee!" The
man said he was sure about this. But Peter said, "Man, I
don't know what you are talking about!" Immediately, while
Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord
(Jesus) turned and looked into Peter's eyes. And Peter
remembered what the Lord had said: "Before the rooster crows
in the morning, you will say three times that you don't know
me." Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.
-- Luke 22:54-62 (ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Peter suffered the brokenness of sin and shame. The Lord had warned
him, yet he failed anyway. Despite his rash promises, Peter denied the
Lord ... three times. The crowing of the rooster roused Peter from his
confused stupor and ushered him into the bitter and undeniable reality
of his sinful desertion of his friend and Lord. I have had a moment or
two like that. Maybe you have, too. It's that moment when you realize
that you've dishonored the Lord and let him down, even though you
promised yourself, and the Savior, that you wouldn't let him down ...
again. Peter is our great reminder that our failures don't determine
our future with the Lord. God can take those failures and make
something good of them. While our messy failures are not his plan for
us, he can take our messes and restore us back into his plan. So
please, don't give up when you think you have failed the Lord. Instead,
let your sin break you and then come back and openly confess that sin
to the Lord and be restored. He will bless you and use you to bless
others if you will come back to him.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Precious and holy God, my Abba Father, forgive me for my weakness and
sin. Forgive me for the arrogance of trying to battle my weakness and
Satan's power on my own strength. I trust in your powerful and
transforming forgiveness. Help me believe that you can take my failures
and my past and use them to encourage and bless others. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
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>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:
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>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Luke+22:54-62&sr=1&t=erv
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