"Since This is So"

 "Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake." (John 13:37 KJV)

  ""And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."" (Acts 20:22-24 NLT)

 There was no doubt that Peter was absolutely sure of himself, believing he could be bold enough and strong enough to lay down his life, if need be, for Jesus' sake. That is pretty much evident in his manor of speaking, having questioned why he cannot follow now, as if now, in this particular moment, he was ready to lay down his life. 

 I can't pretend that I know how he must have felt, but I do feel as though I understand where he was going with this, and why he felt so confident to express himself as he did. You see, we have an enemy that may not be able to read our minds, but he studies our habits and our personalities. He pretty much has us figured out. 

 That might be surprising to some, but to those who have been sifted, so to speak, it is something that is a strong reminder of how weak and vulnerable we really are! He will not attack in the moment of our security and strength, but in the moment of our weakness and when we are feeling unsecure. For those who don't know what that is, it is usually right after you have done something you feel proud over, and you think you have all sorts of courage or power. 

 Case in point, a really good example of that is Elijah, and his Contest on Mount Carmel. This was the time he took on the 450 prophets of Baal. If you know that story, he mocked them, amazed them, and then slaughtered them all. After which, he ran and hide from Jezebel; hiding in a cave, where God asked him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9) 

 Another point to this, is that of feeling insure; which is the other side of the coin, having something in your life that makes you feel ashamed, something that the enemy uses to his advantage, to make you feel unworthy of God's love; or worse, feeling as though you cannot or do not love God! 

 That my friend is the biggest threat to our security in Christ, because it has some merit! We cannot love God as we should, without the Holy Spirit helping us to die to ourselves! We realize that is so, and it causes us to have doubts; doubts about ourselves, and doubts about our security in Christ! This does not have to control us, if we can just remember that we are not judged upon what we can do, but upon what Christ has done for us! 

 He made a way, when there was no way! In other words, Adam proved he could not love God as he should, when he disobeyed what God warned him not to do; that was pretty much an act of betrayal. There was a very special relationship established between Adam and God, and he betrayed that very special relationship when he sinned against a Very Important Friend! 

 It somewhat puts a little different meaning to God question: "Adam, where are you?" Said the Friend to His friend...

"You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but favors the humble."" (James 4:4-6 NLT)