relationships (Matthew 26:69-75) Staying Near

(Matthew 26:69-75)

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a slave woman came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he had gone out to the gateway, another slave woman saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it, with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them as well, since even the way you talk gives you away.” 74 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the Man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the statement that Jesus had made: “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

Peter's bitter weeping was more than just about denying the Lord three times, lying and making false oaths.  Remember, he had promised Jesus that he would NEVER deny Him, even if it meant that he had to die with Jesus!   And probably because he thought he might be able to do something to help Jesus, he followed after.  

One problem with striking out on our own, in our own thinking and strength, is that as believers we will still stick out as being different.  This is when the temptation will arise to "blend in more", which will lead towards compromising the very things we should be holding dear.  And with this, we will see the biblical truth play out...

(Proverbs 16:18)  Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

That is the problem.  So what is the solution?  How do we prevent this from happening?  I mean, quite simply, never promise that we will never disobey God.  And never promise that we will never hurt a loved one.  We will.  The closer we are to someone, the more likely we will hurt them in some way.  But we can certainly minimalize the collateral damages, and that involves far more than just saying, "I will TRY to obey God", and "I will TRY to never hurt a loved one."

Let's keep in mind that there is a spiritual battle that wages war in our world, as well as in our flesh.  So we need to always bring out "the big guns":

• stay close to the Lord, and always continue drawing closer and closer to Him in our personal relationship
• in this case, even though Peter had followed after Jesus to stay near Him physically, we have to know that our walk with the Lord is spiritual.  
• it is not about do's and don'ts or physically appearances, but about the condition of our heart and our relationship with Jesus
• study and know God's word
• just like Peter, hearing the truths of the Lord is not enough
• it is about us allowing the Lord and His word to change us from the inside out, so that we are able to apply His truths appropriately
• talk to the Lord constantly, for everything, asking Him for His wisdom, strength and guidance
• remember, even though Jesus had been telling the disciples that He would be crucified soon, Peter had neglected to ask the Lord what they should do when all of that would happen
• instead of telling the Lord what we will do for Him and asking Him to bless our efforts, we should be asking Him what He wants us to do, and in this we know that He will equip, help and bless us
• be in the world, not of the world
• Peter went to hang out with the unbelievers, most likely, truly thinking that he had everything under control.  Remember, leading up to this, instead of being in prayer with Jesus, he went to sleep
• anytime and especially when we go out into the world, we can be and should be asking the Lord for His help and guidance, to know which locations and which people to avoid, and to know where we should be and to whom we should be speaking to
• then, wherever we find ourselves, we can should be asking the Lord for His help and guidance, so that we can remain steadfastly Christ-like, ready to share the gospel as He gives us opportunities