PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Luke 22:31–34
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
CONSIDER THIS
Have you ever watched an action movie when the main character is in a car chase and then he finds himself head-to-head with the enemy? Racing toward each other at full throttle you know that someone is going to have to throw their car into reverse and turn back and it’s almost always the good guy that’s willing to reverse course. That’s the image in my mind as I read one of my favorite verses. Simon, also known as Peter, was a dedicated disciple, throwing himself into every situation and every conversation whether he should have or not. At the end of the Passover meal, an argument breaks out among the disciples over who is the greatest. Jesus breaks up the argument by telling them that in the kingdom of God, there is a reversal, and the least will be the greatest. Then without missing a beat, Jesus looks at Simon and tells him that the enemy is about to tempt him—to sift him as wheat. In other words, he’s about to go head-to-head with the enemy.
Here, in one of my favorite verses, Jesus tells Simon that He has already prayed for him and His prayer is that Simon won’t fail. Let that sink in for a moment. The enemy is a prowling lion who comes after Jesus’s followers, but Jesus intercedes through prayer. This does not mean that tempting doesn’t come and it doesn’t mean that Simon will overcome the temptation. In fact, he doesn’t. Peter fails. But that is not the end of his story. Again, without missing a beat, Jesus says “And when you have turned back,” or another way to read this is, “When you have reversed course, I have a plan for you.” Jesus knows Peter will fail, but He also knows Peter will use his experience to help others.
Have you ever made a mess of your life? Did you experience regret? Like our altar story, we can surrender our regret and let Jesus use it for His glory and His purpose. Regret doesn’t have to be altogether bad. When the Holy Spirit uses regret as a motivation to reverse our course, then Jesus will give us freedom. But when we wallow in regret and we beat ourselves up over our mistakes, our sins become our shackles.
Peter reverses course because Jesus does not abandon him, and Jesus does not abandon us. He is interceding for us with His prayers. And when we surrender regret to the Lord, we experience the freedom of second chances. I love that Jesus uses the word, “when” and not “if.” He tells Peter, in effect, “When you turn back, you will be equipped to use your experience to help others.” The sin of our past regret is not our future. Through the grace of Jesus, Peter finds redemption just like we do. As Paul wrote to the Philippians about his own struggles, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (3:13–14).
Today, in the intentional space you have created for the Lord, reflect on where you are headed. Do you need to reverse course in any area of your life? Are you holding on to any mistakes? Surrender your regret and head in the direction of Jesus’s love, knowing that the surrender of regret can be used as a witness to God’s grace.
THE PRAYER
Lord, Your grace is enough. Grant us the ability to recognize when we are face to face with the enemy and have the wisdom to turn away. We give You everything we have and pray that the Holy Spirit will use it as a witness to Your goodness. Amen.
THE QUESTIONS
What regret are you holding on to that you need to surrender? Where can you use your life experience to encourage and strengthen someone else?
For the Awakening,
Susan Kent
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4 Responses
When the rooster crowed defeat
And Peter saw his faith retreat
He wept bitterly,
Broken hearted by his denial
Of Jesus the Christ.
Peter’s failure is universal.
We all have denied Christ,
If not with words action.
Not it’s time for reversal.
Like Peter we can turn back
To Christ’s love and forgiveness
And follow Jesus with passion
And Spirit-led interaction.
Some times, the Gospel is preached and taught in such a way that it is possible to confuse mere assent with true faith. I know this to be true because it happened to me. When belief in orthodox doctrine is stressed without equal concern for living it out, probably out of fear that the hearers might revert back to works-righteousness, then the potential for believing that our faith rests on faith in “pure doctrine “ rather than trust in the finished work of Christ is the result. The “reverse course”for me came about by listening to a sermon based on 2 Corinthians 5:15, “And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.” I had heard many sermons about the three solas of the Reformation, salvation by Grace alone, through Faith alone, based on Scripture alone. What I don’t recall hearing was that Faith is never alone, but produces works. As a result of my “reverse course “, whenever I facilitate a small group Bible study, I stress the fact that we have to live out our faith.
Very well said, Bob. You’re our James, this morning.
Many cliche quotes refer to God’s redemptive prowess.
“He takes our mess and makes a message.”
“Trails are either stumbling blocks or steppingstones.”
“Our temptations become our testimony IN Christ.”
“God uses the past as a pathway to Jesus.”
“It’s difficult to move forward while looking in the rearview mirror.”
None of these sayings have merit until we experience their meaning.
This I know, Jesus is a now Savior.
Now, is for our tomorrow.
Tomorrow never comes.
Being In Christ is living in the now.
Now, if my mind will cooperate this truth.
Satan wants me focus on my past and fear the future as he operates in the review mirror and the bleakness of tomorrow.
What can I do when the evil one is a squatter in my mind?
2 Corinthians 10:5
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Staying 💪’n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, stay strong IN the Lord and IN His mighty power.