July 16: John 18:25-27

Key Verse: John 18:25
Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

Devotion:
What is your reaction when people ask you if you are a Christian? Or maybe they have asked if you are ‘one of those bible punchers’ or a ‘Jesus freak’ or some other derogatory slogan. Well, its only derogatory if you choose it to be so; you can make it a positive and praise God instead of bowing down to people who don’t believe in Him...

Jesus knew what people would be like and He faced up to them. He also told the disciples they would have to face people who would seek to harm them and even think they were doing this in God’s name. God does not choose to have us beaten, flogged or mocked. We open ourselves up to this because we dare to stand up for Christ and dare to sing praises to God. We do this because people do not get us, they do not believe in God and they don’t know what else to do!

The people had all been almost beaten into submission by the scribes and Pharisees. These were supposed to be the leaders of the church and yet they were the ones who were leading people away from God because they refused to believe Jesus was and is the Messiah. They did not want to accept the simple truth and continued to look for the difficult ways of living to show their devotion to God!

God does not want us to live a difficult life just to prove we believe in Him! Believe in Him first of all and many things in your life will fall in to place as you follow the will of God. Don’t be shy about saying you are a Christian and you believe in God. Don’t be worried about what others can do to you because what we have in Heaven is so much more and eternal!

Points to Ponder:
How many times have you rejected God in your words or actions?

Will you admit to believing in God?