What would it take to live beyond failure?  If Jesus walked beside me 24/7, would that give me the strength to not fail?

After walking with Jesus for over three years and becoming one of his closest friends, imagine how unfathomable it must have been for Peter when he was told that he would deny Jesus.

Peter was there when Jesus turned the water into wine.

Peter watched fish and bread multiply in the basket in his very hands, not once, but twice, feeding first 5,000 fellow Jews and then 4,000 Gentiles.

Peter, fearing death in a raging storm that threatened to capsize his own boat, heard Jesus command the wind and the waves to cease and marveled as the weather obeyed Him.

Peter, again on the boat, saw Jesus coming toward him, walking on the water.  Excited, he got out of the boat, walking on the water with Jesus.

Peter had Jesus step into his boat and tell him to give fishing another try.  After catching nothing all night, his catch now was so large his boat couldn’t contain the fish.

Peter was there when Jesus was visited by Moses and Elijah, and he heard the voice of the Father telling him to listen to His Son.

Peter heard Jesus say, “Lazarus, come out!”  He watched a man who had been dead and buried for four days walk out of the tomb, still wrapped in burial cloths, alive!

Peter watched miracle after miracle…  Jesus healing the lame, the blind, the deaf, the demon possessed.

Peter was even sent out by Jesus with authority to heal and cast out demons, experiencing the heart-pumping thrill of being used by God in supernatural ways.

Of all the disciples, how could Peter fall?  How could he be the one to deny the Savior?  Of the twelve, it was Peter who was called “the rock.”  He was supposed to be unmovable, unshakeable.

Peter didn’t think this would happen.  “Never Lord.  I’ll never deny you.  I would die for you.”

None of us ever see it coming.  What made Peter vulnerable?  What makes any of us vulnerable?  Maybe it’s when we believe it could never happen to us.  In pride, much like Peter, we think we’re beyond the reach of the enemy.  It’s when we live each day recognizing that we CAN fall prey to sin that we remain humble, Holy Spirit dependent, and aware.

The first step toward living beyond failure is recognizing that I can and will fail…  apart from Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing!”  John 15:5

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:13

To learn more about Walking As Jesus Walked and Discipling As Jesus Discipled, visit:  SONLIFE.COM