A lesson from Peter….
Peter was not the first person in the Bible to fail in his strongest point, which in his case was his courage.
Abraham – His greatest strength was his faith, but it was his faith that failed when twice he ran off and lied about Sarah being his wife to save his own skin. And he also ‘married’ Hagar in order to have a son. Moses – Was a man of great humility, but he lost his temper and hit the Rock and forfeited entering the Promised Land. David – David’s greatest strength was his integrity, but that’s exactly where he failed when he attempted to cover up his sins of adultery and murder.
In our weakest points, we often tempt ourselves.
Jam 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
But Satan knows how to attack our STRONGEST POINTS.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell us that when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered the Word, and went out and wept bitterly.
During that evening, Peter had if you remember, resisted the Word, almost argued with Jesus, and then had disobeyed the Word and gone to sleep. Peter had run ahead of the Word when he drew his sword out and attacked Malchus cutting off his ear.
But now Peter remembered the Word and left the place of danger and defeat for a place of repentance and restoration.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Jesus, after He rose from the dead met with Peter privately to assure him of forgiveness Mar 16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
This is what the angel told the women at the empty tomb.
Those two words, and Peter, can you imagine how Peter heard those words, tears filling his eyes, his head dropping a little…a little later on a beach eating breakfast that Jesus had cooked for them there again Peter would hear those precious words again, Follow Me!
When Satan tempts us to sin, he will whisper in your ears, “You can get away with this, no one else will know!”
But after you have sinned, Satan gets in our face and shouts at us over and over, “You will NEVER get away with it!” and tries to convince us that ALL HOPE IS GONE!
It seems that sometimes the despair of a disobedient saint is worse than the conviction of a lost sinner.
If that’s you today, instead of listening to the accusations of Satan, you must tune your ear to the invitations of our Lord and, like Peter, REMEMBER THE WORD.
Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. Micah 7:18
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The God of the Bible, the only true and living God is gracious…..and His grace He demonstrated to you in that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer and die in your place….so that you could have grace! God loves you!