Harvest Daily with Greg Laurie - May 25, 2006

Thursday, May 25, 2006

 

Stepping Down

 

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

—Psalm 1:1

 

We all know Peter denied the Lord. Is that really when he backslid? In a sense, yes. But there were steps that led to it.

 

Peter’s first step to spiritual failure and denial was self-confidence. He said to the Lord, “ ‘I will not deny You’ ” (Matthew 26:35). In speaking these words, Peter not only revealed an unfounded confidence in himself, he also directly contradicted his Lord’s prediction that he would deny Him that night with the other disciples. 

 

Peter’s second step down was the sin of prayerlessness. That was no doubt a direct result of his self-confidence. Jesus specifically instructed him to pray. But what did Peter do? He slept while Jesus prayed (see Luke 22:45). 

 

Peter’s third step down was that he followed the Lord at a distance (see Luke 22:54). Now what does that mean? It means you still want to be a Christian, but you don’t really want to live the Christian life as it ought to be lived. 

 

Peter’s next step down was warming himself at the enemy’s fire. He was in the wrong place, with the wrong people, about to do the wrong thing. The people you hang out with are going to have an influence in your life. 

 

Then came Peter’s denial of his Lord. Peter had lost all sense of reality and seemingly all awareness of God.

 

And in the same way, when you lose that closeness with the Lord in fellowship and walking with Him, it’s only a matter of time until you will look for something or someone else to take His place. 

 

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.

 

Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.