Jesus shows up

What happens when we let our emotions run unchecked and away from our faith?

In John 18:15-27, Peter will betray Jesus, but he also had opportunities to not and stand for the faith. Yet, as he stood warming himself, to stand up for Jesus but instead, he denied Him again! Are you not one of His followers? Even a relative of the man Peter stabbed confronted him, and yet, Peter protested I am not! At that point, just as Jesus had prophesied, the rooster crowed!

We all—at some point, more often than not, sooner than later—will stumble, make bad choices, and/or fail. The question is where are we going with our faith and due diligence of His teachings? We must seek to please God and submit our will to Him; by so doing, we will become humble, trusting, and obedient toward God and others (Ex. 32:19-20; 30-34; Num 12:1-3; Psalm 37:11; Matt. 5: 3-12; 11:29).

The great, principle comfort in our distress is that Jesus shows up; He is with us and for us because of His love.

The principle of love, which is the essence of the Gospel, must be our mark so it is our impact; because we are influenced by His love, we will contemplate (think deeply) upon it and become empowered and stimulated by it, so it flows even when we are not thinking of it or are as Peter was when the rooster crowed—stressed, hurt, or confused. The point of this passage is the point of the Gospel. If we live out our Christian lives with the great commitment of love and faith with diligence, then we can succeed in life, ministry, and service to our Lord. If love and faith are not our marks, then we will be worthless and of no value. Nothing we want to do or attempt to do could amount to anything of value without love. What we think is important and purposeful is not, unless it is joined to our growing faith empowered by His love. All we do must be in the cart that is pulled by the horse of our faith, with the reins of hope, and most of all love as the wheels, all because of Christ's love. Keep in mind that most people, including Christians, have a skewed idea of love. We get our ideas from TV and movies; we believe these flawed ideas based on our feelings and how people have treated us. As a result, we do not see the unmerited love called grace that we have already received from our Lord.

What do you need to do to reach out to Christ and let Him grasp you so you do not see just the sea of problems and the ocean of deluge overtaking the ship of your faith and composure in Him?

How can you be better at focusing on Christ? What do you need to do to be better with humility and keeping your focus on God’s plan?