Peter: When Failure Isn't the End

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1506. Today's Devo is called Peter When Failure Isn't the End. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Happy Monday, everyone. Stephanie here, and I am very excited to jump into this week's divos. You probably didn't know I was a singer. I am a good one, too. Listen, we're gonna have a wonderful week this week. All the girls. We've had our own themes tying into Easter, and it's amazing. I hope that you are loving it. I'm loving it because Easter is probably my favorite time of the year. I know for some people it's Christmas and I get it. I love Christmas too. But I'm an Easter girl. I'm your girl at TJ Maxx, buying all of the Easter decor. That's me. I'm buying the tea sets, I'm buying the bunnies, I'm buying the eggs. I'm buying all the resurrection stuff. That is me. So I love this theme and I'm ready to dive into it. What I'm going to do is this week I want to take key characters from the story of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. So I'm looking at Peter, I'm looking at Pilate, I'm looking at Mary Magdalene, all five characters that played a very key role in his story. And I'm pretty much just gaining some. Some themes from them and inspiration from their story. And I'm also looking at their perspective of things in this story. So let's dive into it. Today. I am starting with my man Peter, Simon Peter. And the key theme we see in Peter's story is this. Jesus restores people who fail. Let's read Luke 22:54-62 in the NIV version, which says, then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Talking about Jesus. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, this man was with him. But he denied it. Woman, I don't know him, he said. A little later, someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them, man. I am not Peter, Peter said. About an hour later, another asserted, certainly this fellow was with him, meaning Jesus, for he is a Galilean. Peter replied, man, I don't know what you're talking about. Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him. Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. You know, Peter was the disciple who promised that he would never leave Jesus. And just hours later, he was the one who denied Jesus three times. Peter loved Jesus deeply, but he was just like the rest of us. He was overwhelmed by fear. And the sound of the rooster wasn't just a reminder of failure, but it was a moment of realization. Peter realized that the man he loved the most, Jesus Christ, he just betrayed. He didn't just betray. He pretended to not even know the man. What a friend that must be. So imagine Peter watching the crucifixion, knowing he had denied the one that he loved. You know, personal moment. I remember that there was a moment in my life, and I'm sure some of you have been in this place, too, where I wasn't living right. I wish I can go back and change those days, but they happened. And I remember this particular memory where I was laying in bed at night and I just realized, God, I'm not only living a life that doesn't please you, I am deliberately disobeying you. You have told me not to do these things, and I'm doing them. And I just remember feeling this. Not guilt, not this shame, but just this moment of, I gotta get out of this. This isn't right. This isn't what you want from me. And I don't have a relationship with you, to just run away from you and disobey you. Genuinely, I love you, God. And I gotta get out of this. And honestly, I didn't know how I was gonna get out of it. But I knew I didn't want to feel that way anymore. After the resurrection, Jesus does not shame Peter when he had every right to. Instead, Jesus restored Peter. And when you come to Jesus, no matter how far you've gone, he will meet you with his grace. Yes, he will heal you. He will redeem you. He will restore you. He will forgive you. He did it for me, and he can do it for you. God's grace will meet you in your worst moment. And many people, you know, we live with that regret. But Peter's story reminds us that failure is not final with Christ. Your lowest points in life are not the end. Instead, your furthest point from Jesus can actually just be one turn away from him. When you're at that low point, thinking, I've gone too far, I've. I've deli. Deliberately disobeyed Jesus. Sometimes one cry to God, one cry to Jesus of lord, forgive me can be the one moment that completely turns the whole situation around. And yeah, it'll take time to get out of that place, but at least God has met you there. And he's not afraid of the low moments. He's not afraid of the sin. He's not afraid of your guilt. He's not afraid of how far you've gone. Jesus will leave the 99 for 1 and he will leave the 99 for you. So rest in this. That if you feel the regret from a season of disobedience, if you are currently in a season of disobedience, and that could be grand disobedience, or it could be small, just know that one cry out to God can change the entire situation. Don't let regret stop you. Don't let shame stop you. Don't let the. You'll never be able to do this. Voices Stop you just cry out to him, ask him for his forgiveness and he will not shame you. He will not make you feel worse. He's going to embrace you and love you through it and build you back up just like he did to Peter. Let's pray. God, we thank you so much for your overwhelming grace in our time of need. You are not afraid of the darkness. You are not afraid of our sin. You are not afraid of our shame. Instead, you use it for our good. What the enemy meant for harm, God will use for good. And when you meet us in our lowest point, point, you have this miraculous way about you that changes it all. To redeem us, to restore us, to make us on the right track. So we thank you God for the power of your grace, for the supernatural, mighty working power of your mercy. And we thank you in Jesus name, amen. So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.