Today’s Reading: Deut. 28-29, Mark 14:54-72
Today’s Reflection: Mark 14:72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
God instructed that rooster to crow two times, strategically in such a manner that the sound of the second crow would bring back Christ’s words to Peter’s mind and heart for the intended profound impact it would have upon him. And since the number 2 is the number of witness, isn’t it amazing how that while Peter had denied Christ three times, the rooster crowed twice as a witness to remind Peter of who he was and of who Christ was! In fact, 2 Tim. 2:13 states that “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” When Peter’s faith was too weak to stand, Christ abode faithful to him and ensured that His word (which is the seed of faith) should remain in him. Do you see the sequence? Peter denies Christ the first time; the rooster crows the first time; Peter denies Christ a second and a third time; the rooster crows the second time; the words sown in his heart by Christ were immediately brought back to surface in his mind as a way to ensure that his faith failed not. You know the story; Peter eventually came back around and served Christ with fervor and success until at last, historians tell us he was crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to be crucified in the same fashion as his Lord. I’d say Christ stood by him, wouldn’t you? Dear child of God, 1 John 5:10 says, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself…” And just as God would not allow Peter to follow through on his denials and run away from his calling for the rest of his life, even so ye who are saved by God’s grace have the witness in you, that will not allow you to deny Him with your life. You may fall, but Christ will not deny Himself, and He will help you get back up again! Your seed will remain in you, just as Peter’s did (see 1 John 3:9)! I may be that rooster God has sent your way, to sound the alarm that triggers that word deep down in your heart and memory bank to spring forth as the morning with the fresh dew of the Holy Spirit upon it to bring you back into the place you know you supposed to be with God. God has a way of doing that, you know! I imagine for the rest of his life, when the rooster preached, Peter said amen! Peter said, I KNOW HIM…I KNOW HIM, I KNOW HIM!!! What about you? Have you heard the rooster preaching in your life lately, reminding you not to deny Christ, but to claim Him as your own? Listen to "I Know Him!" below and make this your battle cry!
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Floodgates of Heaven, Volume 2, Entry 75 of 365
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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill
