Question: are you passionate about God, or merely passive? Notice the steps that led to Peter\u2019s denial of Jesus. <\/p>\n
Step one: \u2018Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to Me again, strengthen your brothers.\u2019<\/i> (Luke 22:31\u201332\u00a0NLT) Jesus warned Peter he was a target, but Peter didn\u2019t take him seriously. <\/p>\n
Step two: \u2018They arrested Jesus and led Him to the high priest\u2019s home. And Peter followed at a distance.\u2019<\/i> (Luke\u00a022:54\u00a0NLT) Peter was one of Christ\u2019s closest disciples, but you\u2019ll notice, now he is following Him \u2018at a distance\u2019.<\/i> <\/p>\n
Step three: \u2018A servant girl\u2026 said, \u201cThis man was one of Jesus\u2019 followers!\u201d But Peter denied it. \u201cWoman,\u201d he said, \u201cI don\u2019t even know Him!\u201d\u2019<\/i> (Luke 22:56\u201357\u00a0NLT) <\/p>\n
Step four: \u2018That moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord\u2019s words flashed through Peter\u2019s mind: \u201cBefore the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know Me.\u201d And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.\u2019<\/i> (Luke 22:61\u201362\u00a0NLT) <\/p>\n
Here is how it works: first you assume you won\u2019t fall, so you\u2019re unprepared for Satan\u2019s attack when it comes. Next you allow the problems and pressures of life to make you forget that your first commitment must always be to the Lord. Finally, you end up spiritually defeated. You say, \u2018That will never happen to me.\u2019 That\u2019s what Peter said! The reason Satan has \u2018desired to have you\u2019<\/i> (Luke\u00a022:31\u00a0KJV) is because he knows when you become passionate about doing God\u2019s will, you will be unstoppable. So, never lose your passion for God. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: are you passionate about God, or merely passive? Notice the steps that led to Peter\u2019s denial of Jesus. Step one: \u2018Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to Me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}