Reading your Bible for today January 9

January 9: John 18:15-27

KJV Key Verse: John 18:17
17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith , I am not.

Devotion:
How many times a day do you deny something just to stay out of trouble? I know that when I would get into trouble at school I would try and convince others that I had nothing to do with it... but somehow they were able to see right through me! Or how many times have you tried to get yourself out of trouble by telling a lie or two? How many times have you had to continue with that lie just to try and give yourself some credibility?

One thing is for sure, when you do start to lie you are going to try and bury the lies is with even more lies. But the more you lie, the worse a situation you will be in and when the dawn light comes, you will eventually be found out! When someone does see the light, all of those lies will come crashing down on you and flatten you!

Peter saw what Jesus was going through. He saw the trouble Jesus was in. He wanted to be with Him, but somehow could just not bring himself to take up his position by Christ's side. He could not bring himself to admit he was a Christian because he feared he would have to go through what Christ was going through. He had gone weak at the knees. By the time the cock crowed, he had denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had predicted. At that moment Peter knew exactly what he had done, he knew Christ knew what he had done and his whole world must have seemed like it came crashing down around his ears.

All this time as Peter was standing back and telling lies about his relationship with Christ, Christ was showing His love towards all the people who were with Him. Even though people were denying Him, falsely accusing Him, humiliating Him and even physically hitting Him, He continued to tell the truth, show His love, show His concern and admit to loving and serving God. We may change our love for God according to how we feel, according to our situation and according to the time of the week, but Christ's love for us has never and will never change!

Points to Ponder:
Do you ever hide your true feelings to others just to be cool?

Do you hide your love for Christ during the week?