Failure is not Fatal - Study 9/10/13
Failure is not Fatal
How many of us have failed God? Failure here being defined as outright sinful disobedience; and/or good intentions we promised to carry out but at the end did not. I live in this world and I have done both – the sinful and the good intention not being done. May be you will honestly agree with me that we are in the same boat. We are not alone and should be encouraged by the life of Apostle Peter in today’s study. Peter failed but he was not a failure; and it was not the end of his world because of Jesus.
Peter had the ultimate good intention failure. I say ultimate because Peter was warned ahead of time that this failure was going to happen. Listen to Jesus, “36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” 38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” John 13:36-38.
Jesus’ prediction surely came to pass. Before it did, Peter made some efforts to prove that he will defend Jesus as the authorities came to arrest him. “10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:10. How many times have you and I failed because we were operating in mere strength instead of the strength of the Holy Spirit? Let’s be careful, our money, clout and physical strength can stand in the way of what God wants to accomplish. Jesus wanted to go to the Cross and die for our sins; and Peter was not going to stand on the way to stop it. I thank God that Jesus picked up Malchus’ ear and put it back in place. That is grace at work.
Now, Peter finally denied Jesus. “25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. 26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? 27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew. John 18:25-27. How can you go from cutting off the ear in Jesus’ defense to denying that you even know Jesus? Peter was even cursing and swearing that he did not know Jesus. I believe that some failures are allowed in our lives so that we can see what is ruling us. At this point the spirit of fear was ruling Peter and faith in Christ had been minimized (not disappeared).
Peter was feeling woefully rotten by now. He cannot believe that he did what he had just done. He was ready to jump into a hole and disappear. Jesus turned and looked at him with an unconditional love-look. It was not a look of “I told you so”. Rather Jesus was helping Peter remember, “I have prayed for you and you will make it”. Peter still loved Jesus very much and that was why it says, “75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75. We can weep for our failings but not sit and waste.
Have you “fallen from grace” so to speak? Like Paul said, “shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid”. Jesus loves us too much that he restores us even in and after our failure. Failure is not fatal. It is not the end of life and end of what God is doing in you and me. It means God wants us to start afresh with his own Spirit-inspired ideas.
I don’t know about you but one of the areas I have often failed is to obey Jesus’ command to make disciples. I have great intentions and often it does not happen. Jesus dealt with Peter’s fear so I know he will deal with mine and give me courage to overcome. Peter was afraid of a young maid that asked him “you are a disciple of Jesus”; now the same Peter is preaching to a big crowd and addressing the Jewish authorities about 50 days later. “7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Acts 4:7-10.
What has happened to Peter? He was now “…filled with the Holy Spirit”. That is the difference. The Holy Spirit of God will deal with our every insecurity, fear, failure and sin. We must be empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish anything for God including making disciples. “7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. 2 Timothy 1: 7. The spirit of fear is not from God but from Satan therefore we must pray and ask God to remove it from us. What do you fear right now?
Are you feeling down like Peter when he denied Christ? Do not despair. Jesus is our great hope, deliverer, and restorer. Jesus is still looking at us as he looked at Peter and saying, “I have prayed for you and continue to pray for you”. We have also been assured that “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. I thank God that all our sins are forgiven forever.
Failure is not fatal. John Maxwell says it even better, “Failing doesn’t mean I’m a failure; it just means I have not yet succeeded…, It doesn’t mean God has abandoned me; it just means He has a better idea!” Jesus restored Peter after His resurrection. “ 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep”. John 21:17. Jesus loves you and me. Do you love Jesus and/or do you still love Jesus? Do you need to be restored (I am not saying saved again if you have already been saved by Jesus)? Then let’s cry out to Jesus. If you have not believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior please do so now.
May we learn from our failings and allow them to drive us to God alone for strength. May we use our past failings (even moral failures) to help encourage others in this journey of life. Failure is a waste if kept secret and not shared with others. The World wants to know that we do fail. Let’s point them to the One who restores us and guarantees our salvation irrespective of our failings.
Someone said that Peter’s faith did not fail but he lacked courage when he denied Jesus. May God grant us the courage to stand up for Him. Courage thrives in fear not in the absence of fear.
Let’s rise up from our fall in the power of the Holy Spirit and shine as lights in a dying dark world that needs Jesus Christ. Let’s rise to the calling of God for the purpose He created us for.
Who has God called you to disciple and tell about the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Please go in the power of the Holy spirit without hesitation and tell him/her. They may not be there tomorrow. Today, we lost a work colleague, Dr. Cooper, a young medical doctor. He died in a car crash. Please pray that God will comfort his family and my co-workers. Thank you.
How many of us have failed God? Failure here being defined as outright sinful disobedience; and/or good intentions we promised to carry out but at the end did not. I live in this world and I have done both – the sinful and the good intention not being done. May be you will honestly agree with me that we are in the same boat. We are not alone and should be encouraged by the life of Apostle Peter in today’s study. Peter failed but he was not a failure; and it was not the end of his world because of Jesus.
Peter had the ultimate good intention failure. I say ultimate because Peter was warned ahead of time that this failure was going to happen. Listen to Jesus, “36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” 38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” John 13:36-38.
Jesus’ prediction surely came to pass. Before it did, Peter made some efforts to prove that he will defend Jesus as the authorities came to arrest him. “10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:10. How many times have you and I failed because we were operating in mere strength instead of the strength of the Holy Spirit? Let’s be careful, our money, clout and physical strength can stand in the way of what God wants to accomplish. Jesus wanted to go to the Cross and die for our sins; and Peter was not going to stand on the way to stop it. I thank God that Jesus picked up Malchus’ ear and put it back in place. That is grace at work.
Now, Peter finally denied Jesus. “25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. 26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? 27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew. John 18:25-27. How can you go from cutting off the ear in Jesus’ defense to denying that you even know Jesus? Peter was even cursing and swearing that he did not know Jesus. I believe that some failures are allowed in our lives so that we can see what is ruling us. At this point the spirit of fear was ruling Peter and faith in Christ had been minimized (not disappeared).
Peter was feeling woefully rotten by now. He cannot believe that he did what he had just done. He was ready to jump into a hole and disappear. Jesus turned and looked at him with an unconditional love-look. It was not a look of “I told you so”. Rather Jesus was helping Peter remember, “I have prayed for you and you will make it”. Peter still loved Jesus very much and that was why it says, “75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75. We can weep for our failings but not sit and waste.
Have you “fallen from grace” so to speak? Like Paul said, “shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid”. Jesus loves us too much that he restores us even in and after our failure. Failure is not fatal. It is not the end of life and end of what God is doing in you and me. It means God wants us to start afresh with his own Spirit-inspired ideas.
I don’t know about you but one of the areas I have often failed is to obey Jesus’ command to make disciples. I have great intentions and often it does not happen. Jesus dealt with Peter’s fear so I know he will deal with mine and give me courage to overcome. Peter was afraid of a young maid that asked him “you are a disciple of Jesus”; now the same Peter is preaching to a big crowd and addressing the Jewish authorities about 50 days later. “7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. Acts 4:7-10.
What has happened to Peter? He was now “…filled with the Holy Spirit”. That is the difference. The Holy Spirit of God will deal with our every insecurity, fear, failure and sin. We must be empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish anything for God including making disciples. “7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. 2 Timothy 1: 7. The spirit of fear is not from God but from Satan therefore we must pray and ask God to remove it from us. What do you fear right now?
Are you feeling down like Peter when he denied Christ? Do not despair. Jesus is our great hope, deliverer, and restorer. Jesus is still looking at us as he looked at Peter and saying, “I have prayed for you and continue to pray for you”. We have also been assured that “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. I thank God that all our sins are forgiven forever.
Failure is not fatal. John Maxwell says it even better, “Failing doesn’t mean I’m a failure; it just means I have not yet succeeded…, It doesn’t mean God has abandoned me; it just means He has a better idea!” Jesus restored Peter after His resurrection. “ 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep”. John 21:17. Jesus loves you and me. Do you love Jesus and/or do you still love Jesus? Do you need to be restored (I am not saying saved again if you have already been saved by Jesus)? Then let’s cry out to Jesus. If you have not believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior please do so now.
May we learn from our failings and allow them to drive us to God alone for strength. May we use our past failings (even moral failures) to help encourage others in this journey of life. Failure is a waste if kept secret and not shared with others. The World wants to know that we do fail. Let’s point them to the One who restores us and guarantees our salvation irrespective of our failings.
Someone said that Peter’s faith did not fail but he lacked courage when he denied Jesus. May God grant us the courage to stand up for Him. Courage thrives in fear not in the absence of fear.
Let’s rise up from our fall in the power of the Holy Spirit and shine as lights in a dying dark world that needs Jesus Christ. Let’s rise to the calling of God for the purpose He created us for.
Who has God called you to disciple and tell about the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Please go in the power of the Holy spirit without hesitation and tell him/her. They may not be there tomorrow. Today, we lost a work colleague, Dr. Cooper, a young medical doctor. He died in a car crash. Please pray that God will comfort his family and my co-workers. Thank you.
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