Reflections from Andrew Oh

Dear brothers and sisters,

Just wanna share with you all something that I've learned today from my readings. I believe all of us knows the story when Peter denied Jesus three times. From the book of Luke it reads,

31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you[a] as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
33But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
and we skip to verse 54
54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."
57But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them."
"Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
60Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.
I'm sure Peter did not mean to betray Jesus. We are talking about Peter, one of the closest disciples, the man whom Jesus hand the key of the Kingdom of heaven to, the very foundation God laid the foundation of the church. Yet God did not create man to be perfect and Jesus knows Peter's weaknesses like he knows ours.
Jesus knows that when given the right settings, even someone who always fought on Jesus' side would pretend not to know him. The night the situation was so "hostile" that Peter would immediately claimed to have nothing to do with Jesus when questioned. Do we have times in our lives that perhaps our speech, actions or our mind denies our Lord so easily that it became instinctive.
Perhaps it's when we are among pagans who practises the 'norm', the desire to stand up for Jesus becomes weaker and weaker. Or perhaps we feel that we are struggling alone, Satan told us lies about ourselves and about God that cast doubt in out beliefs.
Let us remember what Jesus told Peter before he sin and after he sin. Jesus prayed and pleaded for him to repent and turn to God, and when he is strengthened, he will build up the others. Jesus prayed this prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane for you and me. Let us be encouraged and turn back quickly to God when the rooster crows

Love
Andrew