Wednesday: Peter said, “Everyone else may stumble in their - TopicsExpress

Wednesday: Peter said, “Everyone else may stumble in their faith, but I will not… I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” Mark 14:29-31 (NCV) Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41 (NIV) Reflection: The second kind of conviction that we’re going to talk about this week are called private convictions. There are things that want to truly believe. We may even truly believe that we believe them but when push comes to shove we demonstrate that we don’t REALLY believe them. Not REALLY. Let me give you an example. At the Last Supper Jesus told His disciples that by the end of the night all of them would cut and run. Peter speaks up and says that he would never do that. He would rather die than dessert Jesus. If you’ve read “the rest of the story” then you know Peter was wrong. Turns out cutting and running was exactly what he did. Not only that… he also denied Jesus three times. His conviction that he would never leave Jesus was in the end, not true. I think he really thought it was true. I know he really wanted it to be true. But it wasn’t true. When the heat got turned up Peter’s convictions melted. How about you (I’ve been wrestling with this one all week and misery loves company so now I’ll share a little of that misery with you ;0)… do you have any memories where you said something was true, you even believed it was true but when the heat got turned up your conviction melted? Yeah… me too. It sucks, doesn’t it? Peter felt horrible when he saw how weak he really was. If you read the story of what happens after the resurrection you’ll find a very different Peter. A quiet, reflective, shamed Peter who doesn’t say a word until Jesus speaks directly to him. The great news is that when Jesus does speak to Peter he restores Peter and let’s Peter know that private convictions melting in the heat of the moment is not the end of the story. I know He’d say the same thing to you. Private convictions (things you truly believed about yourself/God/life but had a setback when things got tough) are not nearly as bad for the cause of Jesus as public convictions (lies that you never really believed… you just said them to get something you wanted). Nobody (especially Jesus) really expects you to be perfect… and if they do then stop worrying about them. But the question is… are you progressing? Are you moving forward? Are you growing and becoming more like Jesus? That’s the goal and that’s all Jesus expects from you. Tomorrow we’ll talk about what that would look like but for today spend some time thinking about your particular areas of weakness when it comes to your convictions. Where are you most liable to stumble when the heat is focused on what you claim to believe? Prayer: Father, help me to make decisions today that will make me more like Jesus rather than less like Jesus. Help me to make my private convictions stronger. In Jesus’ Name, amen.