Believe.

One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chose by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went to the Temple of the Lord, while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was being burned. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. But the angel said to him, " Do not be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! John will be in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall i know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also."

"I am Gabriel," the angel answered. "I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true."

Road to Calvary (III)

Before Jesus was arrested, as the amazing man he was, continue to prove himself by prophesying. Earlier in John 13, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows, and in John 18, that is exactly what happens after Jesus is arrested.

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

...

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

John 18:15-18, 25-27

In the previous post, Judas represented us as followers of Christ that have fallen short of his glory because we are human and because we are sinners and need the love and help of Christ to reconcile with God. Similarly, here, Peter also can represent us. When we confess, repent and believe in our God, the sinner's prayer says that we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour. But many times, we forget why we say this, what this statement means and what commitment we're getting into exactly.

Saviour. We believe that Christ died on the cross for us, for all of mankind because we have fallen short of God's glory through sin. He is that connection between us and God, granting us the gift of salvation.

Lord. We often forget that when we say Lord, we are letting God take our lives by the reigns, and giving him full access and control. He reigns in our life as Lord. We should know and believe that he has a perfect and better plan for us, and having faith in him will only bring us blessing and happiness.

As a commitment, we are "married" to Christ. Peter, one of the disciples was completely committed to following Christ, but afterwards, he denied knowing him. If you were married, you wouldn't deny that your spouse was your spouse right? What kind of relationship is that? Yet as followers we may have the tendency to deny our God, due to pride, selfishness, and reputation.

Have you ever been a "Peter" in your life? Have you ever denied your faith because you would get ridiculed? judged? "Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself", at first, it seems like such an insignificant line, why is that necessary to be put in? (v. 18) After thinking about it, it shows how two-faced Peter (as well as us) can be. He simply decided to follow the world, "the servant and officers" (who were against Jesus), and join in their activities. This really demonstrates the difference between living IN this world and OF this world. Where do you stand? How far will you go before you decide to go against Christ?

"at once, a rooster crowed." A true demonstration of the power of God. That it IMMEDIATELY crowed, exactly as Jesus predicted. I've felt this before, after sinning, I sometimes feel like Adam and Eve, after biting into that apple after temptation, to have my eyes truly open to realize exactly how disgusting this act was, and how Satan lured us in.

But there's hope. God STILL continues to love us oh so unconditionally. And as long as we have genuine repentance and ask for forgiveness, he will give us another chance, a clean slate as his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 11:33