Devotions

When Peter was sifted, he failed miserably in one sense, but not in his faith. You may be thinking, “How can that be? This man denied knowing Jesus three different times.”

If Peter had failed completely, Jesus’ praying would have been to no avail. I know Peter’s faith did not fail. Just as he swore and it looked as if the Lord had lost a friend and anointed disciple, Peter looked into the eyes of Christ and melted. “Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61-62, NKJV). Wept bitterly in the Greek actually means he gave “a piercing, violent cry.”

I picture Peter walking toward the Judean hills, falling on his face with hands outstretched, crying, “O Father, he was right. I didn’t listen. He warned me that Satan would try to destroy my faith. I couldn’t even stand up to a maid. Forgive me, O Lord. I love him. To whom else shall I go?”

I can see Peter getting to his feet then with the Spirit of God flowing through him, shouting, “Satan, be gone! I failed him, but I still love him. He prophesied that I would come back and be a strength to others, a rock.” Indeed, Peter was the second disciple to reach the tomb when they were told Jesus had risen. He was worshipping when Jesus was translated to glory. It was Peter who stood as God’s spokesman on the day of Pentecost.

A flood of people are coming to the Lord today. Where will they find strength in the troubled times ahead? They will find it from the sifted saints like Peter who can say with authority, “Don’t trust yourself. Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall” (see 1 Corinthians 10:12-13).

Do you sense a seductive pull of temptation in your life? Is a deep trouble brewing in your heart? Hear the words of Jesus and realize that Satan may have been given permission to sift you. Don’t take that lightly. We are to read Peter’s story and be warned by it. Even if you have already failed, though, you can look into Jesus’ face and remember he is praying for you. Repent, return and then share your experience with others who are being sifted.

I believe if a Christian has an intensity for a holy life — if he desires to give his all to the Lord — there can be only one reason why he fails to enjoy the freedom promised by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. That reason is unbelief. Jesus could not perform his works when there was unbelief, and his Spirit cannot do anything in our lives when we harbor unbelief.

It is vital for every follower of Jesus not to judge God’s promises according to past experiences. If we cast ourselves fully on his promises and hold the Spirit to his own word, we can know the results are all God’s responsibility. We simply cannot give up our desire to obtain his promised blessings. If we continue to press on, we’ll be able to stand on judgment day and be called faithful.

There was a point in my life when I had to cast my eternal future on God’s promises. I had to trust his Word at the risk of my very soul. I put out a challenge to God. “Lord, I’m going to believe you’ve given me your Holy Ghost. I believe he alone can deliver me from every chain that binds me. I believe he will convict me, lead me and empower me to overcome. I believe he will never depart from me, nor will he let me depart from you. I won’t limit your Spirit in me. I’ll wait on him, call on him and trust in him.”

We’re to do what the Lord told Ezekiel to do: pray the Word of God. “Again he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!”’” (Ezekiel 37:4).

We are to remind the Holy Spirit of God’s promises to us. We’re to tell him, “Holy Ghost, the heavenly Father promised me that he would put you in my heart, and I’ve committed myself to that promise. I will yield, and I will cooperate because I want to be holy. You said you will cause me to walk in your ways and obey your every word. I don’t know how you plan to do that, but you made an oath, and you cannot lie. This is all written in the Word, Holy Spirit. So, come. Do your work in me. I’ve entrusted my very soul to this promise.”

Matthew tells us Christ wanted to give his disciples a profound illustrated sermon. He called a little child to him and took the youngster in his arms. He then told them, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:3-5, NKJV).

In these verses, Jesus lays out the kind of relationship he desires with his people. Christ was telling these men, “Look at this child. Here is my future church. This young one represents every new believer who’s going to come to me in childlike faith. You must quickly turn away from your thoughts about how to become special in my kingdom through your own works.”

Next, Jesus called for his disciples to humble themselves. He was telling them, “I’m building my church on you. If you want any part of it, you must become as humble as this little child I’m holding in my arms.” I believe he’s asking us for two things: repudiation of all self-dependency and an uncomplicated devotion. These traits will characterize us as true kingdom servants.

Christ also told his disciples very directly, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matthew 18:6-7).

Jesus was expressing his wrath toward those who teach that the cross is not sufficient to save. He was warning his own disciples not to be offended by the cross.

Likewise, Jesus is telling the church today, “Woe to any teacher or witness who puts a stumbling block before any of these baby converts. They come to me in simple faith and repentance. You will incur my wrath if you offend them by saying, ‘Jesus is not enough. If you really want to be saved, you must do more. Here are the specific doctrines and guidelines of our church...’” We must all accept the fact that Christ alone is full payment for our sins.

What is the most important gift that we can really give to anyone else? I’d say time. Time and attention. This is especially true in a culture where a cell phone is always out in front of us or on the table while we’re eating.

What would happen if we all made a commitment to never put our phones on the table while we’re having lunch or dinner with somebody? What if we kept it in our pocket or purse? What if we weren’t on our phones when we’re with a group of people?  Let’s pay attention to other people and be intentional about giving our time and consideration to others.

You’re giving them your time, and then you are giving them your trust. You’re giving them the three T’s: time, trust and talk. The Bible says, “The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body” (Proverbs 16:23-24, ESV). We can be an incredible blessing to people with our words, but we often lose sight of that gift we can give others.

We live in a society today that’s really awful at asking questions. Usually when two people are sitting together over a meal, one person says, “I did this. I’m doing this. I’m going here.” The other person responds, “Oh yeah, I’m also doing that. I’m traveling there...” It’s like you could’ve looked in the mirror and talked to yourself because you were just reporting your own stuff. So often, people aren’t really listening; they’re just waiting to talk about themselves and their thoughts and plans.  We all want to be heard, but very few of us want to listen.

You can’t truly listen to someone else without being curious. You can’t give someone your time unless you’re curious. You can’t be curious about people’s lives unless you love them. What’s more, scripture says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).

A lot of people today are desperate for even one true relationship. The mark of God’s love in our lives is when we start developing real relationships with others. Let’s start loving people by giving them our time and full attention.

I was between semesters at Baylor University, when Gary and David Wilkerson said to me, "Hey, you want to go to Detroit to be part of a church that Gary is starting?" It was the start of a two-month commitment to go to Detroit that literally changed my life.

Every week, a van would drop us off in the worst part of Detroit and leave us, so we would be there ministering. Then Gary came to me and said, "Every Thursday night, you're going to lead a Bible study in a prostitution hotel called Medtown Motel.”

Now you have to understand that I was born and raised in the church. My mother almost had me while singing soprano in the Christmas cantata at church. I was born a few days later on December 22^nd, and I was raised in a Pentecostal church. I've been to every church camp. I've been in every youth group. I’ve never smoked in my life. I've never drank in my life. I've never been high in my life. I was a virgin until the day I got married. So I'm sitting there in this prostitution hotel, and I just felt, “I’ve got nothing.”

Well, what I thought was only going to be two months ended up being the next 30 years of my life. We bought a 900-seat XXX movie theater in another part of Detroit and started a church there. That first night sitting in the Medtown Motel, though, I had no idea how God was going to use me.

Maybe you’ve felt like God said, "Go," and now you're thinking to yourself, "What in the world is going on? God, did you come with me? Or are you still back at the burning bush?”

I love what Rick Warren said about moments like these: "The teacher is always silent when the test is given." When God is silent, there's a test that's happening. There are certain things we can only see about the nature and character of God when our situation is a mystery. There's something powerful that we begin to understand about God when he almost seems to be even absent. In the silence and the mystery, you can be at the very center of God's will.

^{After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.}