ESOCS Devotional 5 December 2022
TEXT: JOHN 18:19-27
MEMORY VERSE: “Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him? Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.” John 18:25-27
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
Many Christians behave like Peter daily. When temptation to sin comes they deny Jesus at the point where they need to declare that they are for Him and refuse to sin. They fall headlong, only to realise what they have done after sin had conquered them. When that happens, they become a source of disappointment to God; and give the devil the opportunity to mock Him. Are you like that? Titus 1:16 says, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work”. Are you sure that you are not one of them?
We have to be on our guard always. Unless we deliberately develop the attitude to remain at alert and keep our hearts and minds on the right path to meditating on only things that edify, which are things that keep us on the path of righteousness, we may always fail God. The contest between God and Satan over Job takes place concerning us all the time (Job 1:6-12). Job did not fail God. He did not sin with his mouth neither did he offend God in any other way. In the end, he proved that he was faithful to God and that God could trust him. He was “careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8); and like the psalmist, “he kept away from the paths of the destroyer” (Ps. 17:4).
Peter denied Jesus twice. How many times have you denied Him in your life time? Each time we disobey Him, it means we are saying that He is not our Lord. Therefore, we deny His Lordship over us by the sinful things we do. He made it clear in Luke 6:46: “But why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” We are His disciples. Unlike Peter, let us continually be with Him in that garden, no matter what we are going to experience in life. As His children, we should be ready to suffer with Him always and deny ourselves the pleasures of this world because we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, [and] if indeed we suffer with Him … we [shall] also be glorified together”(Rom. 8:17).
We make ourselves very cheap when we live a life of ungodliness. We should always remember that we were made princes and princesses by God through that precious Blood of Jesus Christ that is worth more than everything in the world. Our spiritual rebirth and sanctification are worth more than gold! That is the reason we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14).
CHALLENGES
- What does it mean to suffer with Jesus?
- In what ways have you obeyed Him?
PRAYERS
- Pray for a heart that does not allow sin to enter into it.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit will be with you and live in your heart all through life.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
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ESOCS Devotional 5 December 2022
