Morning by Morning, April 16, 2025 - All Were “Made to Stumble”
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and seek to follow You on the journey through this Holy Week, remembering Your passion and Your sacrifice, while looking forward to celebrating Your resurrection. ...
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:
‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.’
“But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.’
“Peter said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.’
“Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.’
“But he spoke more vehemently, ‘If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’
“And they all said likewise” (Mark 14:27-31).
On that night, when You gathered with Your first disciples for that Passover Meal at the Last Supper to share the Lord’s Supper with them, You knew they would be “made to stumble.” And they did. “They all forsook (You) and fled” (Mark 15:40). They were all “made to stumble.”
That’s the phrase that stands out to me this morning, as I read these familiar words of the story of that evening again—“made to stumble.”
I think I’ve always thought of it as “they stumbled” or “they failed to be faithful” or “they were afraid and fled” in the hour You needed them most. But here in the account of the Gospel of Mark, Your Word makes it clear, more precise, what actually happened in the hearts of Your disciples. They were “made to stumble.”
Yes, they were responsible for their choices, just as we all are. But at the same time, something influenced their choices, something got to their heads, something moved in their hearts, taking advantage of the weakness of their flesh in whatever opportunity it had. Just as “Satan entered (Judas Iscariot)” to betray You (John 13:27), so that same type of spirit of betrayal, abandonment, fear, and intimidation must have entered the thoughts of Peter and the others so that they were each “made to stumble.”
Though Peter declared he never would, he did, three times, just as You said (Luke 22:54-62). He was subject to the same influence, subject to the same spiritual “thief” who comes “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).
And there but for the grace of God, go I, go each one of us. That same thief wants every one of us who are called by Your name, seeking to follow You, to be “made to stumble.” So even when we have You in our hearts, when we have Your Spirit moving in our lives, we are always desperately needing Your grace. “Grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Always taking us deeper and deeper, “from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17). Always growing us in our security in You, our trust in You, our faithfulness to You.
The power of Your grace is our only defense, our only hope, against the enemy of our souls forever seeking to make us stumble, make us fall, make us fail and retreat, rather than hold firm and move forward in our unfailing love and commitment to You. But now we have Your Holy Spirit abiding in us, empowering us, strengthening us to “stand” and “withstand in the evil day” when the enemy comes to make us stumble (Ephesians 6:13). Now, “He who is in (us) is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4.4). Now, instead of being “made to stumble,” Your Spirit make us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”—all by the power of the grace of God at work within us (Ephesians 6:10).
Thank You for making me strong in the power of Your might and empowering me by Your grace whenever the enemy of my soul tries to make me stumble. In humility I know I desperately need You, that apart from You I can do nothing, that apart from You I wouldn’t stand a chance to stand against my enemy coming to steal and kill and destroy in my life and in my relationship with You (John 15:5). And in faith I know I never have to be apart from You, that You are with me “always” (Matthew 28:20), abiding in me as I abide in You (John 15:4), overcoming my accuser, who would try to make me stumble by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony (Revelation 11:12). By the power of Your grace, may I always overcome in You! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you be empowered by the grace of God, by the One who is in you and greater than the one in the world, to overcome and not be made to stumble but to stand in the strength of the Lord and power of His might, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!
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Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries 502 North Milam Street Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
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