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LEARN & GROW
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Week of August 16, 2009
KEY VERSE
"...but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:32)
CENTRAL TRUTH
Even in our weakness and failure, Christ upholds us for He is not finished with us; He will use us yet again.
DEVOTION
Anyone familiar with basic biblical drama knows the story of Peter's denial of Jesus during the Lord's trial. We've heard other stories and know him as the boastful, the proud, the impulsive, the "certain-he-would-die-first-rather-than-deny-Jesus" Peter. We hold him up to a certain smug scrutiny because this rough, tough fisherman shows that pride certainly goes before a fall. Most of us, because of our own pride, take some comfort from the humbling of this first century disciple. Of course, we don't want to be in his shoes, discovering that we, too, are cowardly and faithless when hard-pressed by sneering, accusing modern-day secularists.
Peter feared for his own life; yet Jesus was the one on trial. How like the Lord to concern Himself with others when He was the One facing certain agony and death. What about His prayer that Peter's faith might not fail? We're told that following his third denial of Christ, he "went out and wept bitterly."(Luke 22:62) Even though our lives aren't in danger, we sometimes fail to speak of or for our Savior. What hope is there when our faith fails?
By a strange quirk of book binding, my 1960 edition of The New Testament in Modern English by J.B. Phillips jumbles up the Gospels and Acts so that rather than the order, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, my copy jumps from Mark to Luke 23, to Acts 4, and then to John 11. But guess what is happening in Acts 4, on the page directly across from Luke 23, where we have just read of the trial and crucifixion of Christ? The prayer of Jesus for Peter is being answered! Back in Luke's Gospel account, Peter's faith faltered, but in Acts 4, Peter's faith flourished. Listen to his testimony to his captors and detractors: "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Christ wasn't finished with Peter in Luke 22, even though this disciple stumbled. Peter clearly went on to grow in faith and to strengthen the brethren just as Christ had prayed he would. We can trust in that same prayer by our Lord for our faith to flourish just as Peter's did.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Why did Jesus warn Peter that he would deny Him?
- What did Peter's bitter tears signify?
- How can we pray for our families and fellow believers who are facing testing and trials?
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