Advent Devotions

Today’s author is Prince of Peace member and Music Coordinator, Milt Warkentien.

On Wednesday, I ended my devotion with the hymn “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me.” This got me thinking about the poem that is a rock of my faith, “Footprints.”  

For me, “Footprints” shows us that Jesus is always with us, sometimes as a friend just walking along side of us and sometimes as a friend carrying us through our darkest days. 

At the end of Peter’s life, I’m sure the footprints in the sand would be similar to the footprints of our life’s journey: Jesus walking with us and enjoying the good times in our life but carrying us through the tough times in our life, like denial. 

Do you feel Jesus with you in the good times and the hard times?  I know it can be easy for me to forget about Jesus when things are going well, unlike when I’m struggling and realize I need Jesus to help me get through what’s going on. Why is this? I feel like I have a strong faith, but if that’s so, why do I let Jesus disappear sometimes in the good times? How are you doing in keeping Jesus in your life? 
   

What do you think Peter was thinking about after he had denied Jesus? Do you think he felt Jesus’s presence, or do you think that the feeling that he’d abandoned Jesus consumed him? 
   

We have an advantage over Peter, in that we know the outcome of the story. We know that Jesus rose from the grave and is alive in us all. Peter just knew he denied Jesus and then had to watch him be crucified. I can’t imagine what was going through Peter’s mind during all of this. 

I think of my friends and family as Jesus walking with me in the good times and carrying me through the tough times. I give thanks for all of you that have prayed for me in my times of grief and health concerns and for making my life full of love and support when things are going well. I hope you have a strong network of friends and family being Jesus through the good times and the hard times of your life. I hope Peter had a strong network, too. 

Dear God: thank you for being with me through my friends and family, in all my life’s joys and sorrows. Help me remember that there is nothing I can do that will separate me from your love. Amen.