Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - 3 Signs You're Drifting from Jesus | The Gospels | Luke 22:54–65

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

Why do people drift from Jesus even when they sincerely want to stay faithful? What are the warning signs that we’re slowly moving away from him? And what does Jesus think when you fail him? In today’s episode, Keith shares how Luke 22:54–65 reveals Peter’s denial and how Jesus meets his failure not with condemnation, but with a look of restoration and love. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Luke 22:54–65

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. One of the toughest things I experience as a pastor is that I often have a front-row seat watching people blow up their lives. The kind of blow-ups I'm talking about usually involves some sort of moral failure that leads to the loss of the people and the things most important to you. I had a friend who recognized he had a drinking problem. I got him in to see an older woman who was both a Christian and a licensed counselor. She'd been a counselor in some pretty tough places, including prisons, so she wasn't easily fooled. At the end of the hour they spent together,

she told my friend that unless he made some significant changes, he would lose his family, his career, and his life. That sounds really harsh, and I'm sure it was hard to say, but she was throwing him a lifeline. Unfortunately, he didn't take it. And what she said would happen, did happen. He lost all three. Sometimes people will be. blow up their life through an affair or gambling or giving into pride or anger. What all these have in common is that they are inside jobs. No one can blow up our life quite like we can. We are often our own worst enemy. In 2008, a man named Jerome Carveille walked into one of the largest banks in France and quietly destroyed it from the inside. He started by making small, unauthorized trades.

Nothing huge, nothing anyone would really even notice. But each one required another one to cover it up. By the time it all came crashing down, he had cost his bank nearly five billion euros, one of the largest trading frauds in history. When the investigators interviewed him, they asked the obvious question, how did this happen? And his answer was haunting. He said, I never meant to go this far. Each step felt small. I always thought I could fix it tomorrow.

That's the anatomy of almost every great failure. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to destroy their marriage, their ministry, their integrity, or their walk with God. We slide, one small compromise at a time. This morning we're going to look at one of the saddest failures in the New Testament. I'm not talking about Judas. He was a betrayer from the beginning. I'm talking about a man who genuinely loved Jesus,

who would have told you on Thursday afternoon that he'd die for Jesus, but by Friday morning was swearing he'd never met him. We're in Luke 22, and we're unpacking Peter's denial of Jesus and seeing what we can learn from it. It seems that Peter had grown self-confident, because after the Passover meal, he tells Jesus that he will never deny him. Peter says to Jesus, Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death. And Jesus answered, I tell you Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.

Jesus tells Peter that his alarm clock isn't going to go off again before he's denied him. And that's exactly what happens. Picking up in verse 54, it says then seizing Jesus, they led him away and took him into that house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, this man was with him. But he denied it. Woman, I don't know him, he said. A little later as someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them. Man, I am not, Peter replied. About an hour later, another asserted, certainly this fellow was

with him, for he is a Galilean. Peter replied, man, I don't know what you're talking about. Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The 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, and he went outside and wept bitterly. What can we learn from this story? Well, it turns out we can learn a lot from Peter's denial, because we aren't different than him. Here are three signs that we're in danger of falling away from Jesus. The first sign is self-confidence. Remember that Peter had said to Jesus, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death? Peter was very sure that no matter what the other

disciples did, he'd never abandon Jesus. The Proverbs warn us that pride comes before the fall. Self-confidence is so dangerous because it severs us from God, who is our true power source. The second sign that we're in danger of falling away from Jesus is prayerlessness. Between when Jesus and the disciples left the Passover meal, and Peter denied him, they visited the Garden of Gassimony. Jesus had gone there to pray and asked Peter, James, and John to join him. Jesus prayed about his struggle to submit to the Father and surrender to his will. His prayers were so intense that he couldn't stand up and sweated drops of blood. Meanwhile, Peter, who is supposed to be praying too, well, he kept falling asleep.

Jesus' time in prayer prepared him for the moment when he was arrested, tried. and crucified. Peter's lack of prayer left him vulnerable in his moment of temptation. Does your prayer life resemble Peter's or Jesus's? Will you be prepared for your moment of temptation? The third sign that you're in danger of falling away is that you're not following Jesus as closely as you used to. In verse 54 it says that Peter followed Jesus at a distance. He didn't abandon Jesus. He just kept his options open. Think about how affairs happen. There were signs but a lot of times those signs can only be seen in hindsight. But if you had known to be alert for them,

you would have seen that the flirtatious text or sharing personal details, well, those kinds of things were leading somewhere bad, you would have then had a chance to course correct. When you see self-confidence, prayerlessness, and a distance between you and Jesus, you know that you are vulnerable like Peter was. It's time to course correct. Right after Peter denies Jesus for the third time,

the rooster crows, Verse 61, the 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, and he went outside and wept bitterly. When Jesus looked at Peter, what look do you think he had on his face? How you answer that question tells you a lot about how you see God. It wasn't a look of surprise, like, wow, I didn't see this coming. I mean, after all, Jesus had told Peter that this was going to happen.

Was it a look of condemnation? Like, I can't believe you let me down. I can't believe you sold me out. I know it wasn't a look of condemnation, because Jesus was going to the cross to pay for Peter's sin. I think the look on Jesus's face communicated love and grace. I think his look said to Peter, I know that you are weak and sinful, but I love you. One day soon, you'll understand that I went to the cross to pay for your sin, even the sin of denying me. Well, fast forward to when the women went to the tomb to apply spices to Jesus' body. When they arrived at the tomb, they found that the stone had been rolled away, and an angel was awaiting them. In Mark 166, the angel says, don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus

Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him? But go, tell his disciples and Peter. He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. Did you hear that Peter has mentioned twice in that story? Once because he's one of the disciples, and the second time he's referred to by name. My wife and I have four kids, and our oldest is named Nathan. So imagine if my wife said to me, go call the kids and Nathan for dinner. It sounds kind of odd, but that's exactly what's happening in this story. When the angel says, go tell his disciples and Peter, he's obviously trying to make some point about Peter, but what's the point? Well, when Peter is at his lowest, Jesus reached out to him by name. He says, go tell the disciples,

especially the guy who thinks he's really blown it. Go tell the disciples, especially the one who committed the great sin, tell him, tell Peter that Jesus is alive and wants to restore his relationship with him. Do you feel like maybe you've blown it somewhere in your life? Do you feel like Jesus has turned and is looking at you and your sin? What look does he have on his face? I promise it's not a look of surprise because he knows you're weak. He knows you're vulnerable. I promise that if you're a Christian, it's not a look of condemnation. Jesus went to the cross to pay for your sin. It's a look of love. It's a look of grace. It's a look of invitation asking you to turn from your sin and put your hope and faith in Jesus. Let's pray. Father, when I read the story of Peter, I know that I am much like him.

I'm sure that we all feel that way. We're all so vulnerable. We're all so weak. We're all so tempted daily by sin. I pray, Jesus, that you would give us the grace to resist sin, that you would give us the grace to trust and depend on you. And when we fail, we are thankful. We are thankful that we do not stand in our own righteousness, but in the very righteousness of Christ. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.