~Thursday Thought~

"It's a slow fade

When you give yourself away

It's a slow fade

When black and white have turned to grey

And thoughts invade, choices made

A price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day"

-Slow Fade by Casting Crowns

Throughout the New Testament we see Peter, called as one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, one who gets to witness Jesus in his earthly ministry, even being apart of miracles such as walking on water. There was a very crucial point in Peter's life where he had to make a hard decision, but we will get to that in a minute.

Before Jesus was crucified, Jesus addressed his disciples saying in Matthew 26:31,"Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee."

Peters response called for the first offense of the night. Matthew 26:33-34 states, "Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." We see here that when Peter had responded, he had quite a bit of confidence in what he said. Imagine how much it would hurt to have your King, your God, your Father look at you after such a declaration and say you will deny Me. We can tell that it made Peter take a step back, probably raise his head in defense, because his next statement says, "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples."

If we take a look at Matthew 26:69-75, we see the three stages that Peter goes through after the offenses of the night.

• Stage One

  • Matthew 26:69-70, "Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest."

  • Peter's first denial was ever being with Jesus. That didn't just include knowing Him, but also the witnessing of the miracles, watching Lazarus being raised from the dead, walking on water, being fed by five loaves and two fish, denying everything that he saw come to pass.

• Stage Two

  • Matthew 26:71-72, "And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man."

  • Peter's second denial was the knowledge of Jesus. He denied in knowing he is God manifested in flesh. He denied that he knew the man that would save them from their sins being the ultimate sacrifice.

  • When you forget you ever walked with Jesus. When you forget the miracles he's done in your life. When you forget the promises you made to Him, then you forget who he is in your life. you forget who was the reason you got out of your addictions. You forget who God is.

• Stage Three

  • Matthew 26:73-74, "And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

  • No matter how much Peter denied, he still looked the part, he still spoke the part, but Peter gave the last thing that made him stand out away. He began to speak like everyone else to completely deny Jesus. It is in that moment that when he gave up how he presented himself to everyone else, the time was up. He convinced the people that questioned him.

Though he made mistakes his story does not end there. Peter made a choice that changed

Matthew 26:75

^" And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly."

He came to a place of brokenness for what he did, and where he found himself at. Because of this, we can see that it does not matter how deep in sin or how far away from God we go. If we repent, turn from our sins, and turn back towards God, He has the power to not only forgive, but to restore us. It was to Peter that Jesus would give the keys to the kingdom. Peter was the one who preached the soul saving message in Acts 2:38.

You are never too far to where God cannot reach you!

-Kharah Wells