How much do you love Jesus?

 12 Feb 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One

Readings:

Leviticus 14

Matthew 26:55-75

Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these? (John 21:15). 

How much do you love Jesus?

Peter tells Jesus, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” (Matthew 26:33). The implication from the proud fisherman’s statement is that he loves Jesus more than the other disciples do. What means did God use to humble self-confident Peter? To begin with, “a servant girl came to him, saying, ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee’” (Matthew 26:69). Peter strikes out after three swings by denying Jesus each time and then remembers His prediction when the rooster crows. Matthew records, “So he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). Perhaps Peter has this in mind, writing, “and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5). 

Employment Point: Dress for Christian success by adorning God’s recommended garment of humility.

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Reflections

“But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭56‬, ‭69‬-‭70‬, ‭72‬, ‭74‬-‭75‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• We all know how the whole story went. All of Jesus’s disciples deserted him and fled. And do you still remember what each and every one seated around the table said to Jesus? They all said that they will leave Him. Lo and Behold! Jesus already knew this is going to happen. He didn’t rebuke them for saying such things but He told them to keep watch and to pray. 
• Looking at Peter, each time he denied Jesus it became worse and He was the one who proclaimed the loudest that he will never leave him. He even implied that he loves Jesus more than the others!
• The first time he just denied it. The second time he deny Jesus with an oath and the third time, he even started cursing and deny Him yet again. And Jesus did foretell that he will deny him three times.
• I must say, Jesus has a lot of grace. Given to us, if knowing what would happen, we might probably be really sarcastic to the people who said that they wouldn’t leave. It boils down to the point that, we human are just weak in nature. We think in our own strength we can do this or that but come to the actual thing, maybe even the smallest thing we cannot even do it. Our flesh is weak and it is a fine reminder to all of us not to rely on our own flesh but to always lean on Him. 
• Men fail all the time, not even Jesus’s disciples are spared. The only men that will not fail is Jesus. The only man that will never leave us or forsake us is also Jesus. Only He is our strong tower and strength.

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Must I Listen?

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

February 12

They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” — Exodus 20:18-19

There are times when we’re not consciously disobeying God; we’re just not paying attention. God has given us his commandments: there they are, set down in Scripture, along with a clear directive that we should follow them. “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). And still, we look the other way. We don’t do this out of willful disobedience. We do it because we don’t love and respect God.

“Speak to us yourself,” the Israelites told Moses. “But do not have God speak to us.” We show God how little we love him when we prefer to listen only to his servants. We’ll listen to personal testimonies, but we won’t listen to God himself. Why are we so terrified of him speaking directly to us? Because we know that if he does, we’ll have a choice to make: obey or disobey. If it’s only a servant’s voice we hear, we feel free to disregard it. “Well, that’s just your own idea,” we say. “Even though I don’t deny it’s probably God’s truth.”

Am I putting God in the humiliating position of having treated me as his child, while I’ve been ignoring him? When I do finally listen, the humiliation I’ve been putting on him comes back on me, and my delight at hearing him is tempered by the shame of having shut him out for so long.

Leviticus 13; Matthew 26:26-50

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. 

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Reflections

“We don’t do this out of willful disobedience. We do it because we don’t love and respect God.”

• Oswald puts it rather harshly on us, that the things that we do is because we do not love or respect God. This set me thinking and in the end I do agree with what Oswald is saying. Let me share my thoughts.
• Think of a relationship between a husband and wife. If the husband tells the wife something or vice versa, the other party will remember. Why? Simply because they treasure the conversations and what was spoken between them. It may not be just between a couple. It can also be between parent and child, siblings, etc. the point I’m driving at, is that if you love a person enough, you will want to be fully present with them. You will not allow handphone, social media or other things get between you and the other party.
• Similarly, the Lord wished the same for us, to be able to speak to us personally and that He can freely converse with us as much as we can converse with Him. However, if we allow distractions, temptations, or anything else to fall in between, we make ourselves hard of hearing. 
• Like if you love someone deep enough, you remember every word that was said and shared. You remember their preferences, their dislikes, etc. If we do not, everything will just be a piece of sound that pass through one ear and comes out from the other. No information processing is done, simply because we do not take that to heart.

Are we in a position where we are humiliating our Lord, having Him keep talking to us but we are choosing to ignore Him? How would you feel if someone you care about does that to you? I’m sure it felt terrible. I experienced it myself for 8 years, putting myself in a relationship that was like this. Being ignored most of the time. Not sure what sustained me then but yup, it is terrible. Cannot imagine doing this to our Abba Father and make Him feel like this. It is a horrible thing to do.

Let’s pray:

Father, we come to You seeking Your forgiveness. For the times that we ignore You, the times that we become disobedient, the days when we don’t feel like talking… We are sorry Lord for treating You like dirt. We are sorry Lord and thank You for Your grace and mercy and the love for us that is never failing. Thank You for being the faithful Father even though we have none. Praise You Lord. In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen 🙏🏻