Faith Enough to Raise the Dead

Today we’re back with Lutheran Pastor Nathan Nass who writes at Upside-Down Savior. Click the link in the title which follows to read this where it appeared first, or, in both versions there is a link to listen to this devotional in its original sermon context, as well as a video link at Nathan’s blog.

Pins and Needles

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. (Acts 9:36-42 NIV)

Do you know how many people were raised from the dead in the Bible? God wanted to prove to us that he has power over death. That there’s hope even in the face of death. So, do you know how many people were raised from the dead in the Bible? It depends a little on how you count it. For today, we’re going to say: Seven. In the Bible, there are seven powerful examples of God’s power over death. Can you list them? In the Old Testament, the two great prophets—Elijah and Elisha—each raised a boy from the dead. In the New Testament, Peter raised to life the woman in our lesson today, and Paul raised to life a man who fell asleep and died during one of his sermons. Jesus himself raised three people from the dead: The son of the widow at Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and his own friend Lazarus. That makes seven people raised from the dead.

I said it depends a little on how you count it. Another man was raised from the dead in the Old Testament when his dead body touched the dead bones of Elisha. He popped right back to life! On Good Friday, when Jesus died, tombs broke open and believers who had died were raised back to life. Of course, we haven’t mentioned the greatest resurrection of all: Jesus! But for us today, if we think of specific people whom God raised from the dead, there were seven.

What if you had gotten to pick out in advance who they would be? Of the billions of people who have lived on earth, what seven people would you have chosen to raise from the dead? We’d expect it to be the most important, most influential people, right? Kings. Inventors. Great leaders. Talented people. Whom would you have chosen? Well, of those seven people whom God chose to raise from the dead, how many were kings? Zero. How many were scientists? Zero. How many were prophets? Zero. Whom did God choose? 3 young boys. 1 young girl. Jesus’ friend. An old lady. And the guy who fell asleep and died during church. Those were the seven people God raised from the dead. Maybe God wants to teach us about who is important in his eyes. What do you think?

Today, we hear about a woman. “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.” Joppa was a port city on the Mediterranean Sea, about 38 miles from Jerusalem. It’s famous as the place that Jonah set sail from to not go to Nineveh. There was a Christian woman in Joppa with a name that unfortunately doesn’t translate well into English: Dorcas. Dorcas is a beautiful Greek name that means “gazelle.” It’s just Dorcas doesn’t sound so great to us. So, we’ll use her other name: Tabitha.

It’s surprising that we don’t hear anything about Tabitha’s family. We don’t hear about her parents. They were probably dead. We don’t hear about a husband. She wasn’t married or was a widow. We don’t hear about any children. Tabitha probably didn’t have any. It sounds like it was just her. Just Tabitha. I wonder if she felt like a nobody. Like she had nothing. Just Tabitha.

At least, that’s what we probably would have thought about her: Just a nobody. We’re always evaluating other people, aren’t we? In our minds, we’re always deciding how important other people are. “Are they worth my time? Are they worth a ‘hi’?” Often, we decide, “No!” Most people just aren’t that important to us, right? It sounds awful to say that, but isn’t it true? There’s a lot of people we just don’t care about. It’s very easy to neglect the people who aren’t important.

I bet I know whom you look down on the most. I bet I know whom you consider the biggest “nobody” you know. Who? You. Am I right? I bet the person you talk to the worst is yourself. I bet the person you call “worthless” or “nothing” or “not important” more than anyone else is yourself. Is that true? If we’re supposed to treat other people like we treat ourselves, that can be a big problem. We treat other people like nobodies because we feel like nobodies. We neglect the people we don’t consider important, starting with ourselves. Do you ever feel like a nobody?

Then you need to realize something: Jesus cares deeply for even the seemingly least important people. Of the billions of people in our world who have died, only seven were raised back to life on earth. Who was one of them? Tabitha. This single lady with no family. Why? Because she mattered so much to Jesus. We’re told that Tabitha “became sick and died.” When the Christians heard that Peter was nearby, “they sent two men to him and urged him, ‘Please come at once!’ Peter went with them.” In these simple details, there is something amazing. Tabitha mattered. Jesus cared deeply for her. When she died, Peter dropped everything and came at once. Do you see what the Bible is teaching us? Jesus cares deeply for even the seemingly unimportant people.

Like you and me. Jesus cares deeply for you. I know you don’t always feel important. Often you feel like a nobody. You feel guilty for your sins. But Jesus died to take your sins away. He rose to give you eternal life in heaven. You matter to Jesus! It’s true you’re not good at everything. In fact, you fail at lots of things. Me too! But God doesn’t love you because of what you’re good at. You know that, right? God doesn’t love you because of how you look. You know that too, right? God loves you by grace. It’s his undeserved love. God wants you to realize something today: You matter to God, just like Tabitha did. You are important to God. You are loved by Jesus.

So when Tabitha died, Peter showed up. “When he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.” It doesn’t sound like Peter knew Tabitha personally, but when he showed up, the people were quick to show Peter what Tabitha was like. What did she focus on? Sewing. Tabitha spent her time sewing robes and clothes for widows and poor people.

And there’s a part of us that thinks, “That’s it? All this hubbub for a lady who just sewed stuff? Does that really matter?” Our problem goes deeper than not caring about unimportant people. We don’t care about unimportant things. If someone wants to give glory to God, they should go out and do something glorious, right? Invent cool stuff. Save people’s lives. Win championships. Rule over people. Isn’t that what we think? Sewing stuff for widows? How did that make it into the Bible? If someone wants to give glory to God, they should do something glorious, right?

Yes! It’s just that in God’s eyes, simple acts of kindness like Tabitha was doing are the most glorious works in the world. The clothes she made for the poor she was really making for Jesus, because whoever helps anyone in Jesus’ name is serving Jesus himself. She had only one talent, but look at how much she used it! Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Tabitha saw an opportunity to show love, and she made the most of it. In God’s eyes, that’s the most beautiful thing. Just like Jesus cares for the seemingly least important people, Jesus loves even the smallest things that Christians do in his name. Like sewing. Or listening. Or changing diapers. Or giving rides.

When I hear this story, I can’t help but think of something here at our church. Can you guess what it is? Pins and Needles. Pins and Needles is our sewing group. Twice a month, a group of not quite young ladies get together and talk a lot and drink coffee—and sew quilts. Then they give their quilts away. To newborn babies. To patients at hospitals. To widows in nursing homes. Those ladies sew stuff. Does that matter? Yes! Do you know what Jesus thinks? There’s nothing more beautiful. Jesus loves even the smallest things that Christians do in his name.

What’s your Pins and Needles? I hope God opens your eyes. To not feel sorry for yourself. To see the opportunities God gives you to love other people with Christ’s love. What can you do? What seemingly unimportant thing could you do for seemingly unimportant people all to the glory of God? In the 300s, a Christian pastor named Chrysostom said, “If you want to be remembered, imitate Tabitha, not going to expense on lifeless matters like big buildings, but displaying great generosity in regard to your fellow human beings.” Catch what he’s saying? Don’t pour yourself into lifeless matters. Pour yourself out generously on your fellow human beings. Then you’ll be remembered. Like Tabitha. What’s your Pins and Needles?

But, before we praise Tabitha a little too much, there’s one more thing we need to see. Do you know what was the greatest thing that Tabitha did? It wasn’t sewing. Do you know what it was? She died. Of all the things that Tabitha did, the thing that brought the greatest good for others was her death. It sounds upside-down. But God used her death to bring more people to Jesus than anything she had done in life. God has a habit of using our moments of greatest weakness to showcase his power and grace. So that all glory goes to him. God is the real hero in this story.

Because the greatest part of Tabitha’s story wasn’t the good things she did. It was the amazing things God did for her. “Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.” God’s greatest good came through death. Does that sound familiar? When you finally feel like you’re living life to the fullest, you get hurt. You get cancer. Why? Maybe God’s using you to do showcase his grace.

When it was all said and done, “this become known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.” God’s greatest plan for Tabitha was to allow her to suffer and die, so that in his raising her from death, people would be drawn to Jesus and believe in him. Just like God’s greatest plan for the world was to allow Jesus to suffer and die, so that through his resurrection he could bring us salvation. Just like God in his good plans for you is allowing you to go through hardships right now. So that you trust in Jesus. So that you put your hope in our God who raises the dead. So that through your faith in the midst of trial, other people might believe in the Lord.

If you want to make a list of “Important People Whom God Should Raise from the Dead,” the Bible says, “A single lady with no family.” We say, “Really?” Jesus says, “Absolutely. There is no one more important than her.” If you want to make a list of “Super Important Good Works that Give Glory to God,” the Bible says, “Sewing clothes for widows.” We say, “Really?” Jesus says, “Absolutely. There is nothing better that can be done in my name.” If you want to make a list of “Ways God Carries Out His Will in Our Lives,” the Bible says, “Letting us die.” We say, “Really?” Jesus says, “Absolutely, so that you can rise.” You matter to Jesus. Just look at Tabitha! Your life matters to Jesus. Just look at Tabitha! So, what’s your Pins and Needles?

(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch to watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the video at the blog.)

False Prophets in Peter’s Day and in Ours

Today we’re going to randomly dive into the middle of a long series of blog posts from 1 Peter. How long? Here’s what the author says:

…I love to spend time digging deep into God’s Word. I have learned more in these last years than I have ever learned before. I spent a year writing about Paul’s letter to Ephesus, and now a year on 1 Peter. I plan on doing 2 Peter, then 1 and 2 Timothy…

Did you catch that? One year on each!

Today we’re introducing you to a new blog, Abundant Joy written by Kimberly Minick. Click the title which follows to read today’s devotional at source. Then you’ll be in a good place to click the home page, which, if you’re reading this when it’s published, immediately shows you the start of the series on 1 Peter.

2 Peter 1:19-21

“We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Peter continues here with the thought he started in verse 16. “For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…” He told them about being an eyewitness (along with James and John) of Jesus’s majesty at the Transfiguration. He has had a glimpse of Jesus as the glorious King he is. It has given him confidence of Jesus’s future return.

He continues here with hope for all his readers. “We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The prophetic word is the Scriptures, as we read in the next verse. He will go on to explain how the prophetic word is strongly confirmed in the next verse and I will cover that when I get there.

Peter says that his readers would do well to pay attention to it as to “a lamp shining in a dark place.” This could be a reference to Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”

We live in a world darkened by sin. Douglas Moo writes, “In the darkness of this present world, God’s word casts light on his purposes and plans and so enables believers to live as those who are ‘in the day’ (see Rom. 13:11-12).” Let’s look at those verses in Romans. “Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” 

Both Peter and Paul write about the day being near. Peter writes “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The day of the Lord refers to Christ’s second coming. The morning star is a reference to Jesus. We read in Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Peter is saying that we need to pay attention to the Word of God. Read it! Study it! It is the light that will illuminate our way in this dark world. And we are to do it until Christ returns.

Peter continues. “Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Peter is reassuring his readers that Scripture is inspired by God. Paul puts it this way. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Kenneth Gangel writes, “The Scriptures’ human authors were controlled by the divine Author, the Holy Spirit. Yet they were consciously involved in the process; they were neither taking dictation nor writing in a state of ecstasy. No wonder believers have a word of prophecy which is certain. And no wonder a Christian’s nurture must depend on the Scriptures. They are the very words of God Himself!”

Peter began this section with his experience- the Transfiguration. But he concludes with the Word of God, which he says we would do well to pay attention to. On David Guzik’s Enduring Word website, he writes, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed: Peter’s experience at the transfiguration was amazing. But the testimony of God’s Word about Jesus was even more sure than Peter’s personal experience. The fulfillment of the prophetic word confirmed is a certain, reliable testimony of the truth of the scriptures.”

There are at least 332 Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah that Jesus fulfills. Peter Stoner was the Chairman of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College. He figured out the mathematical probability of one person in the first century fulfilling just eight of these. This is how he put it. “We take 100,000,000 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly… Blindfold a man and tell him… he must pick up one silver dollar… What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have of writing… eight prophecies and having them come true in one man.”

My purpose here is to show you that the Bible is divinely inspired. There are so many other ways to go about that (archaeological finds, cohesiveness, etc.) but, Peter is writing about prophecy, so I will stick with that.

I am going to end with what we will start with next time–false prophets. Notice that Peter writes “no prophecy ever came by the will of man.” He is referring to the scriptures here, but the prophets wrote the scriptures. There were examples in the Old Testament of false prophets.

Ezekiel warns, “This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing…They saw false visions and their divinations were a lie. They claimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration,” when the Lord did not send them, yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. Didn’t you see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration,” even though I had not spoken?” (Ezekiel 13:3,6-7). and Jeremiah said this. “This is what the Lord of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth” (23:16).

We have false prophets today just as Peter did in his day. We even have a group that teaches that there is an office of “Prophet” as well as “Apostle.” I have two blog posts on this if you would like to read about it. Prophets – Abundant Joy; Apostles – Abundant Joy. These groups teach that prophecy is something that can be taught, that doesn’t have to be accurate, and should always be positive. Does this sound like what we have been reading about? If prophecy is indeed by God, which I believe it is, it will be 100% accurate. We will get more into this as we move into 2 Peter 2.

My encouragement for you… is to stay in the Word. Read through Psalm 119. Notice how every verse is another way of referring to the Word of God! “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction!” (vs. 1)

Grace be with you!

 

Reeds Blowing in the Wind

Today we have a new author to introduce to C201 readers. The author is, I think, Alex Oram; the site is James1Seventeen. (I had to see what that verse was! It’s, “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” NLT). Click the title below to read this at source.

Reeds into Rocks

I heard it on the radio one morning. I wish I could have gotten the name of the host giving the sermon / encouragement. He said, “Jesus can turn a reed into a rock.” I don’t think the point was that Jesus called Peter a rock, etc., or any of the implications that come with that line of thinking or teaching. Side note, on that particular story, this is the best explanation I’ve read, coming from the book, “A God Named Josh” by Jared Brock:

“Yehoshua (Jesus) uses this Petros-Petra combo for
a tidy wordplay pun in Matthew 16:18, saying, “And I
tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it.”

The joke isn’t any good in English, but it works in
Greek. “You are Petros and on this petra I will build
my church.” Sadly, billions of Christians have not only
missed the joke but also the meaning of the
sentence. In fact, it might be the most widely
misunderstood verse in the entire Bible. Read the text
and context in Matthew 16:13-17. Nearly all the
ancient greats from Augustine to Ambrose to
Chrysostom to Jerome agree: Yehoshua is not
building his eternal church on a hothead fisherman or
the hard ground of Caesarea Philippi, but on the
bedrock foundational truth that Peter has just
expressed: Yehoshua is indeed the Christ, the Son of
the living God.”
-Jared Brock

As far as turning reeds into rocks, I do like the analogy. The language of reeds is not something Jesus is unfamiliar with using. He used it in telling who John the Baptist was and was not:

“And the messengers of John having departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out into the desert to gaze on? A reed shaken and swayed by the wind?”
‭‭—Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

And now in a more obscure passage, pointing back to a prophecy out of the Book of Isaiah:

“A battered reed He will not break, And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, Until He leads justice to victory.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭20‬ ‭AMP‬‬

What’s wild is the fact that Jesus does not deny the reality of reeds being broken. In this day and age of “You Do You,” “Upgrading,” and the worship of Self, as if we are naturally “good” and simply need to become “better,” Jesus comes to us as a Realist, showing us we are not simply reeds, swaying in whatever direction the wind blows, but also battered, bent, and broken to the core. But not without hope. Made for more.

Battered by the prince of the power of the air (Satan), bent by sin, sin’s effects, and sin’s stain, and broken… often by the world’s demands.

What’s comforting is that Jesus encountered many a battered reeds. I like the rendering of this passage that the Amp Classic translation uses. “A battered reed He will not break.” Jesus didn’t come to kick a man down. But when he “saw a man down, he put a hand down,” as someone recently told me, and encouraged me to always do.

We see it in the Samaritan story Jesus tells. “See a man down, put a hand down.” And the part about the smoldering wick? This is fire. I’m a millennial, that’s what we sometimes say when referring to an amazing thing. He will not quench a smoldering wick. He will not come to douse our barely burning fire with water but to stir it up again, igniting it all over. So is the Spirit of God trying to get your attention today? I have never known Him to overstep His bounds.

He pursues.

Those circumstances are not “coincidences.”

Jesus is the Name above every other Name.

Come to Him. He will not reject you!

 

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Even the Angels are Amazed at God’s Plan of Salvation

…Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man…
-Hymn, At Calvary

Once again, our writer today is Pastor Paul Steele from the blog Paul’s Ponderings. As to the name of his site, he writes,

I am a ponderer. For good or bad the way I make sense of the world is through time spent thinking about what goes into my mind. Pondering is what this blog is about. It is a product of my thoughts, the things that get my mind moving.

Do you take time during the day to ponder? To meditate on scripture? To try to see the world through a Jesus lens?

Click the title which follows to read this devotional where it appeared first. From there hit the ‘home’ tab and check out his other recent writings.

Prophetic Revelation and the Gospel

1 Peter 1:10-12 (CSB)

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

The main purpose that Peter had in writing this letter, that we call 1 Peter, was to encourage Christians who were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Not only were they scattered, but they also faced opposition. The opposition they experienced caused them to doubt and which led to them to consider giving up. This back ground is important to remember as we read this text, because it would shape the way the original recipients of this letter would have hear it. 

1 Peter was written to people who wondered if following Jesus was worth it.

In order to encourage these exiles, Peter reminded them that the Old Testament contained God’s promise to rescue to His people from the sin that corrupted God’s good creation. This promise, taught by the law and the prophets, caused God’s people to believe that one day the Messiah, the Anointed One, would come to carry out God’s promise . The faith of the Old Testament saints was anchored in the hope of redemption (even though they did not fully understand all the details of God’s plan) this Messiah would bring. 

Their anticipation of God’s salvation was secured by their faith and their hearts longed to experience all that God had promised.

According to Peter, the Old Testament prophets diligently studied God’s promises and looked forward to the events their prophecies promised. Their prophecies, which were inspired by the Holy Spirit, pointed toward the coming of Jesus and the redemption he would bring to God’s people. However, they also understood that it was not yet time for God’s promises to be fulfilled, and that is why they longed to see what would happen.

This passage should remind us that salvation in Jesus is far more beautiful and  encompassing than we can imagine.  It is so marvelous that even the angels, who are in heaven with God, are amazed by God’s plan of salvation. 

The Gospel, the Good News that God’s Kingdom comes into this world through Jesus, captivates the attention of the angels to such an extent that they continue to study intently all of God’s promises and actions.  Their dedication highlights their desire to understand the depth of God’s love and mercy that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

We are heirs of this Gospel, and if the angels continue to be amazed at God’s love and grace, we too should marvel at the beauty of the prophetic revelation fulfilled through Jesus. Let us join with the angels in heaven, praising God for the indescribable gift of salvation.

My prayer is that the mysteries of God’s grace continue to inspire and transform us so we can reflect the heart of our Savior into the world.

When Shame is Necessary

Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

“You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.”  – John 18:15-17 NIV

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Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. – John 18:25-27 NIV

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Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly. – Matthew 26:75 – NLT

Sometimes we return to a website from which we borrowed material long ago, only to find it has become inactive. At the same time, we often find an abundance of un-mined treasure. This piece was written in 2018. At the time Byron Myers was a Christian high school principal. You’ll find this and other great articles still available at Weekly Devotional Thoughts, or you can click the link in the title below.

Does shame have a place…?

In our current Bible class at Church, the teacher has been covering the theme “Encounters with Jesus”. Recently, the teacher led us to the story in John chapters 18 and 21 where Peter denied Jesus and then Peter’s reinstatement after the resurrection.

During the discussion, the teacher spent some time defining the difference between guilt and shame. I believe it is a safe assumption that Peter experienced both. Here are the working definitions of each:

Guilt – This is something I have done. The message I hear is, “I’ve done something bad.”

Shame – This is something about me. The message I hear is, “I am bad.”

Guilt is important to help us to grow and move toward re-establishing integrity and righteous living. This re-establishment is based on what we have done. Shame on the other hand, many times, drives us to re-live our sin. We begin to take on a negative message about ourselves instead of living in our God-given giftedness. When I stay in a place of shame, I do not believe I have value. I do not believe I am redeemed. It affects my relationship with God and others. For the most part, shame can be damaging.

I was having a recent conversation with a friend I was mentoring. The subject of “Does shame have a place?” came up. It must have some place in our restoration…I could sense that in my soul. However, I could not get past the damage that shame has caused in my life and in the lives of some many others I have coached, mentored, and ministered. Yet, I know it has a place. Where is this place? How does shame produce goodness?

During this Bible class, my eyes were opened to Peter and his guilt and shame. Should Peter have felt guilt for his choice to deny Jesus three times? Yes. Should Peter have felt shame for whom he was in that moment? Yes. Guilt pointed to what Peter had chosen to do in that moment. Shame exposed a part of Peter’s character that needed an adjustment and healing from Jesus. The mistake many of us make is not bringing our shame to Jesus so that we can recognize possible “problems” in our character that need addressing. Furthermore, when we do not bring our shame to Jesus, then we cannot receive healing for our heart, soul, and character.

Let us look at what happened with Peter:

• Peter denies Jesus three times. Guilt exposes what he has done. We assume shame exposes something in Peter’s character. Peter weeps bitterly (Matthew 26:75). Peter is at a crossroads, he could allow shame to deceive him into believing he cannot be redeemed.
• Peter returns to what he knows. Peter met Jesus while fishing. He goes back to fishing. He goes back to something familiar. Moreover, possibly, like Jacob, returns to a place where he encountered God through Jesus (Jacob set up altars and pillars to represent his encounters with God and revisited them. Other Old Testament characters have similar experiences).
• Jesus meets Peter in that place. Jesus speaks truth into Peter about his true character. Jesus re-instates Peter.
• Peter goes on to be a great leader. Filled with the Holy Spirit and armed with his gift of passion, Peter establishes the Church.

I would love to say that is how I handle shame in my life. Unfortunately, I typically allow my shame to get the best of me. I begin to believe that my character is flawed rather than believe the truth about how God has gifted me. However, Peter gives me a great example of how to handle shame. His story gives me hope in the midst of my failings. Using Peter’s example, here is a great way for me to approach my shame:

First – Shame can be useful to expose areas of my character that may need work. It can show me where I am moving away from who I truly am. I can choose to believe I am flawed, or use it to begin deeper growth work toward moving to be God’s man.

Second – I can do something about what shame has exposed. The other choice is to stay stuck. It is time to take action that is different from how I have handled shame in the past. It is time to choose truth.

Third – I need to go back to what I know. I need to go back to where I encountered Jesus. Going back to something I am familiar with and capable of accomplishing will put me in a place to invite Jesus in to help.

Fourth – I pay attention and listen for Jesus. I allow him to show me the truth about my character. I begin to allow his healing touch to help me move forward with what He has planned for me.

Shame and the messages associated with it is very powerful. However, with practice and intentionality, shame is useful to expose and motivate. The key, like Peter’s story is the pointing to Jesus. Peter was so excited to see Jesus that he jumped out of the boat and swam ashore to be with him. When I am burdened by the messages of shame that I am “bad”, it is an indicator that I need to go to Jesus and hear truth.

How have you let shame burden you? Where do you need to go to encounter Jesus? Make a commitment to spend time with him in a familiar place. When you do, listen for His truth and healing voice.

The Law Provides For Forgiveness

One year ago we introduced you to the blog titled Being a Pilgrim. The writer simply goes by KorgRocker, a reference to classic synthesizers! He’s currently working his way through 1 Peter, and this is in fact the second post that uses 1 Peter 2:23 as a springboard. If you have time, to read the first, click here. Then, read the second one here or at the link in the title below.

God Judges

“He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”
1 Peter 2:23 NLT

Our judicial systems in the West are very much based on the principle that if someone commits a crime then they will be punished. Of course, not everyone is found out by the authorities and many escape justice, but those who are caught will find out that there are consequences. The principle of justice in the here and now started in the Garden when Adam and Eve were found out because of their sin. In Genesis 3 we read about the consequences of sin, and God pronounced judgement, starting with the snake, then Eve and finishing with Adam. And there was that poignant moment when we read that Adam and Eve had to be clothed in skins probably from animals they knew and loved. Sin is followed by consequences and it impacts others than just the miscreant. We know the story of Cain and Abel, which we can read in Genesis 4, where Cain killed Abel because of jealousy and had to face into consequences for his sin.

The essence of the Jewish Law, given by God through Moses, was, amongst other things, to provide forgiveness for sins committed. But as we now know, this was only until Jesus came to take on the punishment we deserve for our sin.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian” (Galatians 3:24-25). And as we know, there is no purpose in keeping the Mosaic Law to achieve righteousness, because there is a better way.

Referring to the Law’s adherents, Paul wrote in Romans 10:3-4, “For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God“.

I have marked in my Bible the verses highlighting the Good News about Jesus, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord“. There will come a day when sin will have to be accounted for. Jesus suffered greatly here on earth, but He knew He could leave “his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly“. But in this life, in the here and now, there are many who seem totally ignorant of the fact that sooner or later they will have to face into the consequences of all the bad things they have done here on Planet Earth.

We live in a moral universe and the scales of justice will be balanced, either in this life or the next. All those people who abused Jesus will find out the consequences of their sin. And that is why He knew that He didn’t have to retaliate, even though He could. He had the power at His fingertips because He was and is God.

We have to turn to Revelation 20 to find out when justice will finally be administered. And the sad thing is that many people, facing justice and punishment for their crimes in this life, will face it again because God will have the final word. And all those who think they have got away with their wrongdoings, will have a nasty shock. We have an opportunity in this life, through Jesus, to put right all the bad things we have done. But when we leave this life, the opportunity will leave with us. A sobering thought, particularly when we don’t know when we will draw our last breath.

But note what Peter wrote. He said God “always judges fairly”. We will only be judged for what we know. So, for example, those people who have never heard the Gospel won’t be judged as though they had.

We pilgrims know all of this, of course. We have embraced the Son and His redemption. We keep short accounts with God. We love Him and walk each day in gratitude for all He has done for us. And we reach out to those around us with the same redemptive message.

Dear God. Thank You for all You have done for us through Jesus. Amen.

Bible Interpretation Misfire

Something a little lighter today. In fact, it began as an idle comment in a restaurant yesterday, but it got me thinking about what happens when Bible interpretation goes awry. I know some of you would rather I went deeper into this topic, but I have one more simple point I want to make which overshadows other considerations.

First, some text from Acts 10:9-16. (Each of the verse numbers is also link to see that verse in other versions. Text use throughout today is NIV.)

Peter’s Vision

9  About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10  He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11  He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12  It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13  Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14  “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15  The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

16  This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

I think it’s interesting that Peter views the vision and hears the voice three times, that his denial of Jesus on the night Jesus is arrested involved a rooster crowing three times, that his reinstatement – “Do you love me?’ – is repeated three times, but that’s not the focus of this, either. I’ll leave it up to you to ponder that one and give you my wife’s idea at the end.

In yesterday’s discussion someone had heard it as a “net” but in all the translations in BibleHub.com it is described as a “sheet.”

And now for the punchline.

It was suggested that a perfectly botched interpretation of this would be to say that ‘God told Peter he could eat any food which descends on a sheet.’

Do you see the problem? A person given to what’s called a plain reading of the text might take that as the literal meaning. After all, “That’s what it says.” This is often paired with “Don’t you believe the Bible?”

It’s reminiscent of why we sometimes need more than just the text. Jesus could have simply read text to the disciples on the road to Emmaus — and perhaps the lights might have turned on —  but instead, we’re told he explained things to them.

Jesus isn’t saying that formerly unclean animals served on a sheet are now clean, but he is declaring them clean unilaterally.

A parallel passage is Matthew 15.

1  Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2  “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3  Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4  For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6  they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7  You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8  “‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

9  They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’ ”

10  Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11  What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

12  Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13  He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14  Leave them; they are blind guides.   If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15  Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16  “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17  “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18  But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19  For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20  These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

This is a new teaching. This is an upending of previously held food laws. This is an element of an upside down kingdom Jesus is bringing where law-keeping is replaced by heart-keeping. (The parallel passage is found in Luke.)

The Apostle Paul will repeat this message to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:

1  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3  They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5  because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

…Okay, so I promised you Ruth’s explanation of the “three times” thing. The reversal of Peter’s denial is that God tells Peter, “Feed my sheep.” By tying that in with this vision, it’s making clear that his sheep are going to include people who eat what Peter previously considered unclean foods and people who Peter previously would have considered unclean themselves.

This is consistent with what Jesus is quoted as saying in John 10:16 — “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.“

Peter’s Pentecost Preaching

Our title is similar to the author’s title, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration.

Today we’re flashing back a few days to Pentecost Sunday. Last year at this time we introduced you to Andy Brown, who lives in the  UK, and has been a lay preacher at a church there for over a decade. You may read this on his blog, at andy-brown.org by clicking the link in the title below. (Note WEB refers to the World English Bible, one of the many English translations at Bible Gateway.)

Peter Preaches

[Sunday] was Pentecost Sunday and I shared some thoughts on Acts 2 and the coming of the Holy Spirit. You can read that post here or even watch the video version on my Facebook page – Andy Brown on Facebook .

Acts 2 is a fairly lengthy chapter, so I won’t include the entire text in this post. Today I want to focus on Peter’s sermon which he gave to the crowd after they saw the results of the coming of the Holy Spirit. You can find the full text of Peter’s message here – Acts 2:14-41.

The Sermon

Seeing the Apostles so moved by the Holy Spirit, and hearing them speak in all manner of different languages, the crowd accuse them of drunkenness. It would be quite some drink that allowed them all to speak in various languages, but let’s not get distracted!

Peter stands up and begins to speak. It is a powerful word with conviction of the Holy Spirit behind it. What does he say?

Peter points out that what they are seeing is nothing to do with alcohol, especially given the time of the morning, but instead goes straight to the Old Testament Scriptures.

But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

Acts 2:16 (WEB)

This is interesting to me, as my expectation might have been to use the Hebrew Scriptures to a primarily Jewish audience. We know from the same passage though that there were many different nations and tongues present on the day of Pentecost. In our evangelism, we might choose not to be too Bible-heavy, quoting Scriptures and pointing our biblical texts, thinking those outside of the church may not respond to it. This is a mistake! People are saved by hearing the Word of truth!

having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.

1 Peter 1:23 (WEB)

So we see Peter is right to quote the Scripture, and we should too.

Peter shows them that what they are seeing is the fulfillment of prophecies given long ago in the Old Testament. Joel speaks of the “last days” that God would pour out His Spirit freely, and various spiritual gifts would be displayed. What this audience is seeing in the disciples behaviour, is the release of that promise. We will read later that those who came to Christ as a result were also in receipt of the Holy Spirit and too displayed these gifts.

May I also point out that if those were the “last days,” then we, two thousand years later, live in even later days. Christ is coming, sooner or later, He will return. Every one of us must be ready for that hour.

Peter then goes on and sets out the truth of the Gospel of Christ.

Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know,

Acts 2:22 (WEB)

He tells them that they know of Jesus, what wonders and miracles He did among them, and yet was delivered up to be crucified. Peter shows them that this was the plan from the beginning, yet those who did this wicked thing were lawless men. He tells them that death was not able to hold Him in the grave, and that He rose to newness of life.

Peter again draws on the Old Testament, and particularly cites Scriptures of King David. He explains to his hearers that David could not have been speaking of himself, because they knew precisely where David’s tomb was in that very day. Peter shows them that David was a prophet, and was pointing to the Christ who would come after him, and that was Jesus.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

Acts 2:36 (WEB)

The Response

How do they respond to this sermon preached at Pentecost?

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:37-38 (WEB)

Peter’s words are wonderful, but only the conviction of the Holy Spirit can bring about such a response.

They immediately know that what Peter has said is true. They knew of Jesus, and the miracles He worked among them, and yet they knew that He had been executed without cause. What can we do! They cry out in fear, knowing they hold some part of the guilt.

Peter tells them to repent, to change their ways and their minds and to be baptized in he Name of Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. They must submit to Jesus, giving their lives over to Him and receiving the forgiveness that His death brought about. If they do, then they too will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit just as the disciples have done.

In closing, we read:

With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 2:40-41 (WEB)

With many other words Peter convinced them, and I do wonder what those words might have been. What we do know though is that many turned to Christ that day. Verse 41 says that three thousand were added to their number! Amazing!

And this was just the beginning…

Jesus’ Posture Toward You is Eager Forgiveness

Last year at this time we introduced you to Matt Tracy who writes at Kingdom Ethos. To read today’s devotional, which is a sermon transcript, where it first appeared, click the title which follows.

Breakfast on the Beach: Peter’s Failure and Redemption

There’s an old Hindu teaching that says, “treat success and failure, profit and loss, happy occurrences and unhappy ones just the same.” In Islam, they teach that failure is a springboard to success. Truman Capote said that failure is the condiment that adds flavor to success.

Pretty much universally, across cultures and faith traditions, it is taught that failure is a chance to make something of yourself. Failure is absolutely inevitable; but it is solely up to us to rise above it and overcome. But, though there is some good wisdom to be found in the quotes I shared, our hope in failure as Christians is quite different. Our hope is not our own ability to “rise from the ashes,” so to speak, but in Jesus’ ability to call us out of failure through grace.

Peter’s story is one of the more famous examples of failure and redemption in Scripture. Peter’s story is going to remind us that we, too, believe that there is goodness to be found in failure. But not because it is a chance to pick ourselves up and make our own success, but because we worship a God who meets us in our failure with grace and calls us toward something greater.

The first part of Peter’s story occurs right after Jesus is arrested and brought before the high priest to be prosecuted:

So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest . . . asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it.

John 18:15-18, 25-27

Not wanting to be associated with Jesus for fear of suffering, Peter denied ever being a disciple in the first place.

We meet Peter again after Jesus is crucified and raised from the dead:

Peter is Recommissioned (John 21:1-17)

Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

John 21:1-17

I want to point out two takeaways from Peter’s story:

1. JESUS MET PETER IN FAILURE WITH FORGIVENESS

Did you notice that Jesus’ forgiveness of Peter in this story seems to be implied? As if the two mutually understood that reconciliation had occurred? You might have expected that Peter would fall at the feet of Jesus and beg him for forgiveness. Peter had turned his back on his friend and denied his own discipleship. But in this story, Peter, who, days prior, sinned against Jesus 3 times in a matter of hours; who was ready to go back to his old life as a fisherman and forsake his life as a disciple, jumped off the boat in absolute joy and swam to his friend. Jesus met him on the shore, not with condemnation or reproach or wrath; but with breakfast on the beach.

There was no punishment. There was no mourning. There was no holy wrath of God. Why? Because all of that had already been satisfied by Jesus himself on the cross. Peter’s debt was paid when Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished.” Like the father welcoming the prodigal son home, Jesus’ posture toward Peter was one of grace and eager forgiveness.

This story can inspire in you and I that same confidence: that Jesus’ posture toward you is eager forgiveness.

What does it mean to have a “posture of forgiveness?”

I think the best illustration I can think of is my relationship with my 2-year-old. I didn’t need to teach her to be defiant and strong-willed, and – to use the parenting term – “naughty”. My wife and I are trying to teach her how to apologize when she does something wrong. We want her to understand how to ask forgiveness of others. But our forgiveness is not predicated on her apologizing. We don’t withhold forgiveness if she refuses to say “I’m sorry mommy.” She’s two; she doesn’t really know what it means to be sorry about anything. That understanding will come with time. The truth is that before she even knows how to express remorse, we have already forgiven her. We want her to say “I’m sorry” because we want so badly to say “It’s okay, we love you and we forgive you.” We aren’t perfect; we lose our patience with her too often. But our posture toward our daughter is one of forgiveness. We are eager to forgive her because we love her.

Peter’s story is a reminder to all of us that in our failure we can approach our risen Lord with confidence because he has already paid the price for our failure on the cross. His posture toward us; his stance as looks upon us, is grace. He is eager to forgive you because he loves you.

I’m not saying that repentance is not necessary. Repentance is necessary. What’s not necessary is any fear whatsoever that when you repent, Jesus will not meet you with anything less than grace.

2. JESUS’ FORGIVENESS CALLED PETER TO A HIGHER DEGREE OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE

From what I can tell, Peter was a guy who acted and spoke rashly. He had a zealous spirit about him that did not always manifest in the wisest behavior.

Case in point: before Jesus was crucified, men were arriving to arrest him:

“Then, Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear (the servant’s name was Malchus). So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

John 18:10-11

I find it remarkable that Peter was ready to go to war for Jesus. He had his sword at the ready. But when it became apparent that Christ came to die, not to fight, Peter was not nearly as enthusiastic about following him. When the rubber met the road, he was more than ready to dissociate from Jesus altogether. Peter’s loyalties changed when the stakes were raised.

On second thought, given human nature, maybe that’s not all that remarkable.

But just as Peter denied Jesus 3 times, he was also given 3 opportunities to reaffirm his love for Jesus, and 3 calls to renew his commitment – all the while sitting around a charcoal fire just like the one that warmed Peter as he denied Christ in the temple courts.

“Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.”

In John 10, Jesus said “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Herein lies the significance of Jesus’ command that Peter take care of his flock: Jesus, who called himself the Good Shepherd, entrusted his sheep – his redeemed people – to none other than Peter. Peter would soon become a key leader of the early Church movement after Jesus was taken up into heaven.

Then, Jesus tacks on this curious phrase: “When you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

I would argue that this is a fourth calling; a calling that Peter initially ran from, but Jesus obeyed: a call to die. “Stretching out” one’s hands was a euphemism: Jesus was talking about crucifixion. He was hinting that Peter would also take upon himself the role of the “good shepherd” and lay down his life for the church.

John, having probably written this gospel after Peter’s death, provides a helpful interpretive aside, just in case his readers might have missed what Jesus was saying: Jesus was telling Peter how his ministry was going to end. He would be stretched out on a cross, and wrapped in grave clothes.

Peter’s death is not recorded in the Bible, but according to church tradition, he was crucified in Rome around 64 A.D. under Nero. But before he helped the Jesus movement spread to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people throughout the ancient world.

Notice the pattern here:

Peter sins, Jesus forgives, Jesus calls, Peter obeys.

This pattern applies to us as well in our walk with Christ.

Jesus meets us in our failure, not only to eagerly forgive us, but to call us to an even higher standard. Forgiveness is not so that we have freedom to sin even more; it is so that we have the freedom to love Jesus and serve him in an even greater capacity. The forgiveness of Christ is a call to obedience.

Two takeaways from Peter’s failure and redemption story:

1. Jesus’ posture toward you is one of forgiveness. Sin has already been paid for, and there is no condemnation in him. That means you can approach him as you would a friend who invites you to breakfast on the beach.
2. The forgiveness of Jesus absolves you of your sin, but at the same time calls you to a higher standard of obedience. And though that isn’t always comfortable, Jesus doesn’t call you to anything that he himself did not experience – and that is comforting. Because Jesus overcame even death; and through faith in him, so will you.

He Asks Peter, He Asks Us, “Do You Love Me?”

Through a number of circumstances, I just finished binge-reading 30 short devotionals on the Book of Proverbs for February, 2023 which are appearing in Today, a publication of ReFrame Ministries, a division of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). All were written by an author which we’re introducing here for the first time, Jenna Fabiano, pastor of Willoughby Church, in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. (See the link at the end of the article for how you can read them, too.)

I was delighted to see that she had also posted some other devotions online at her church’s website, including this one which I selected to share here. Click the title below to read this where it first appeared.

Do You Love Me?

“Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’”
– John 21:16

Back in January of 2020, before the chaos of Covid-19 had sprung into existence, I was able to lead a few devotionals at our church leadership retreat on this very question that Jesus poses to Simon Peter—a question that he poses not just once, but three times.

“Simon son of John, do you love me?”   It’s the question that we must keep coming back to, in whatever season.  Because as a fellow pastor recently shared, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Pause for a moment and imagine Jesus calling you by name and asking you this same question.  What is your instinctive reaction?  Are you confident in what you would want to say?    If not, what’s holding you back?

If yes, what would it feel like for Jesus to ask you the question three times?  What kinds of doubts would run through your mind?  Would you be upset?  Angry?  Uncertain?

Peter was hurt—legitimately hurt—because Jesus questioned him three times.  And it can be discouraging to feel questioned.  To feel as if we still haven’t made it.  As if we’re not enough or we’re inferior.  To eat some humble pie and know that we still need growth and development.

And yet Jesus never asked Peter: “Do you have the skills?  Have you achieved enough?  Who do people say that you are?  Do they say you’re good enough?  Are you sure you’re right for this job?  For these responsibilities?”

He never asked any of that.  The only question He asked, the only one that mattered for the task that lay before Peter, was this: “Do you love me?”

That’s it.

Henri Nouwen wrote, “If there is any focus that the Christian of the future will need, it is the discipline of dwelling in the presence of the One who keeps asking us, ‘Do you love me?  Do you love me?  Do you love me?’”  

The tragedy, he explains, is that we are constantly being pulled in different directions, by different issues, by more ‘important’ things, and we end up becoming strangers to our own hearts and to God’s heart in the process.

But when we are safely anchored in the desire to love and be loved by the God who is love, then all of our other desires for favor, wealth, attention, relevance, etc. cease to be what drives us.

When our identity is deeply rooted in the love of God, and our heart’s greatest desire is to respond to that love by loving Him back, then we are at home, rooted and safe.  We can move around from place to place, go in and out of different seasons, endure both affliction and abundance, suffering and joy, and yet be at home.

Why?  Because we’ve already found a place to dwell.  We already know that we belong to God, says Nouwen, even though everything around us keeps suggesting the opposite.

‘Do you love me?’ is the key question that Jesus asks his disciples to ponder.  It’s the key question that provides the heart-beat for everything we do.  It’s the key question that defines how we follow Him at all.

So.  Do we love Him?

Prayer:

Living God,
You who love us more than we can know,
who loved us before we even knew that such love existed,
before we could ever conceive of such love,
I ask that you would allow Your love to sink deeply into my spirit,
that I might be filled with the Presence of a love
that is deeper than the ocean
and higher than the heavens.
May I love you in all things and before all things. 
In Christ,
Amen.

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To binge-read the series on Proverbs which I enjoyed, click this link. Or, if you’re a normal person (!) and would rather begin reading them one at a time, and you’re reading this on January 30th or 31st, click this link to sign up for daily emails.

Peter Wrote to an Ongoing, Continuing, Future Church

Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. – Matthew 16:18 NLT

Did the epistle-writers (Paul, Peter, John, James, Jude) know that their words were not just for the immediate recipients of their letters but also “… your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call;” including you and me? In today’s devotional we get a sense of that. His generation would pass, but God was building his church; his gathered ones; and Peter had been told personally that nothing would thwart that…

Last year at this time we introduced you to Pastor Will who lives on the U.S. west coast. If you have time, check out his testimony. His blog is titled, Today’s Scripture. We plucked today’s devotional from the middle of a series on 2 Peter, all of which makes great commentary on the passage.

When We Listen

Read with Me

2 Peter 3:1-2 (HCSB)
Dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you; in both letters, I want to develop a genuine understanding with a reminder, so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles.

Listen with Me

Peter knew two things very well. First, he knew that he was not going to live forever. This knowledge was underscored as he wrote this letter by the fact that he was now sitting on death row in a Roman prison. He knew that he would never deny Jesus to save his own life again, so he knew that he would make his transition the next world sooner rather than later.

But he also knew that the Church, the community of those belonging to God through faith in Jesus, would continue after he was gone. And he knew that, for that reason, he had a responsibility to ensure that the Christians of the future would be reminded of who they are and what they were charged with doing, even after he and the other apostles had passed on. That is the reason for his writing both of his letters, and it provides the context in which both are to be read.

Whereas neither Peter, nor Paul, nor any of the other writers of the New Testament epistles, ever sat down to write “Scriptures”, Peter also understood that what he was writing to pass down to future generations of Christians was not merely his own thoughts or opinions.

Instead, he knew that he was passing on the commands of Jesus that were being given to his people through the apostles. His words were not his own. He was just doing his best to pass on the words of the holy prophets of old, pure and untarnished, but made clear by the life and ministry of Jesus. And he was also working to make sure that he was passing on the words that Jesus Himself spoke, both while in the flesh and through the presence of the Holy Spirit, also pure and untarnished. And it was these words, not his own thoughts or opinions, that he knew would serve to stimulate his readers to genuine understanding, and would protect them from both false teachings, and compromises and corruptions of the truth.

Pray with Me

Father, reading these letters with Peter’s stated intentions in mind really does provide a content that makes them make a lot of sense. Peter was not only living focused on the present, but with an eye to the future; a future that includes me today. He was well aware that false doctrines were already arising, and that they would only multiply as time went on. So, he did his best to convey what Jesus revealed to him would help us to stay in the center of what is true and right, instead of allowing ourselves to be whipped about by the winds of changing worldviews and morphing doctrines. Thank you for Peter and his faithfulness. Amen.

 

I Am Peter

^{NIV.Luke.22.54b} Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵ And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”

⁵⁷ But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

⁵⁸ A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

⁵⁹ About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

^60a Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Katie Davis Majors is an American missionary and author who established a mission in Uganda in 2007, and tells her story in the books, Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption (2011) and Daring to Hope: Finding God’s Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful (2017).

Two days ago a Facebook friend took the time to copy what follows from Katie’s journal, though I was unable to source where that journal was located. This might be a transcription of one of the books.

You can read more about Katie’s work at Amazima Ministries, where you will also find her blog.

Peter is the rock on which God built his church. But first, Peter was probably the worst disciple ever.

I am Peter.

Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him 3 times; Peter says, “No! I love you, I could never deny you, Lord.” Yet we all know that Peter does in fact deny Jesus three times. I know in my heart and my soul and the core of my being that I love the Lord, that I would do anything for Him, go to the ends of the earth for him, but how often do I forget to give the glory to his name? How often do I take the compliments without giving him the credit?

Do I, like Peter, deny Jesus the glory that is his?

Jesus told his disciples that it was God’s will for him to be arrested. He went willingly when the soldiers came to take him, but enthusiastically, loving Peter raised his sword and cut off a soldiers ear. “Put your sword away,” Jesus commanded. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

I am Peter.

I have my own time frame. When I don’t see things happening, I try to make them happen. And Jesus says “Put away your sword, put away your plans. Shall we not do what the Father has asked of us?” So like Peter, I put away my plans, my defenses, and watch as everything happens perfectly, in God’s own timing.

After Jesus had risen, he appeared to his disciples while they were fishing. When Peter saw his beloved Saviour, he excitedly jumped out of the boat and began swimming to where Jesus stood. Needless to say, the boat probably reached the shore long before Peter.

I am Peter- excitedly jumping into things and then standing, sopping wet, at the feet of the Lord, smiling at my stupidity.

I am Peter who made many mistakes, but I am Peter for whom God had great plans, whom God established to do his work.

That very night when Peter jumped out of the boat, Jesus reinstated him in the presence of the other disciples.

“Do you truly love me?” He asked. “Then feed my lambs.”

“Do you really love me? Take care of my lambs.”

“Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep, and come follow me.”

For each time I deny God the glory that is his, for each time I follow my will instead of listening to his, for each time I jump ahead without first consulting my Lord, he asks, “Daughter, do you truly love me?”

And I do.

‘I am Peter. I mess up. I make mistakes, I am far from perfect, and God will use me. God will establish great things through me.

You are Peter. God already knows that you will make a mess, but his plan for you is great. Go feed his sheep.

Lessons from Peter

Another new source for you! The blog By Leaps and Bounds  is an outreach of Arise Ministries, which is based in West Virginia. The author of today’s thoughts is Dave Snyder, a retired Church of God pastor who now serves in prison ministry.

Faith, Failure, and Good Sense

And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased (Matthew 14:23-32).

The Christian life is a journey. It is like a marathon and is so different from a sprint. Always, it is a walk of faith.

Sometimes along this journey, we fail. Anything from failing to pray to struggling with sin hinders us and feels like it will defeat us.

During these times of failure, good sense has to kick in. We remember that we cannot and do not have to do this alone. Then we call out to the One who desires to help us.

Faith, failure, and good sense are all necessary components of the Christian walk. Let us briefly examine each one.

Faith is the key ingredient to the Christian life. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). We must have faith to do three important things.

Look at the call given to Peter and Andrew.

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he said unto them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And they straightway left their nets, and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20).

These men left their nets to follow Jesus — without knowing where that path would lead them. It takes faith to simply answer the call to follow Jesus.

Obviously, if we are going to follow Jesus, we must have faith to believe He is who He says he is. Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered with an emphatic statement of faith, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” There is so much power in declaring to our Savior, “You are the Son of God.”

Finally, it takes faith to leave our comfortable place. Peter was a man used to the sea- including times of turbulence. Surely, he had encountered stormy seas previously. It would seem to be more comfortable in the ship than out of the ship. When he stepped out onto the water, he left what comfort there was at the time. So it is with us. Faith requires stepping out of the ship to experience the greatness of God.

Down through the years, I have heard people criticize Peter for failing to complete his walk on the water. However, his failure is a reflection of the failure we all experience during our lives. Like Peter, we look at the storm around us and take our eyes off of Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” When we become distracted by all that surrounds us, failure is inevitable. This is when good sense has to come to the forefront.

When Peter began to sink, he did the most sensible thing he could have done. He cried out to Jesus — the One who had the power to save him. The Psalmist was so correct when he wrote, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” We should be so glad that our Lord hears us above all the noise that is around us. One other use of good sense is repentance.

When our actions deny that we know the Lord, repentance is in order. After denying Jesus three times, Peter remembered that Jesus warned him of this great failure. He had boasted that he would never fail in this way; now his heart was broken. Again, good sense was exercised. Peter went out and wept bitter tears of repentance. There are times when we must do likewise.

Matthew 14:23-32 definitely links faith, failure, and good sense together. It takes faith to step out in the first place. Once we step out, our human frailties get in the way and failure shows itself. This is when good sense tells us to cry out to the Lord who can help us. Good sense also tells us to make things right so our journey of faith can continue.

Peter Returns to the Family Business

Today we introduce you to a new source for devotional material: Noah’s Writer’s Block. The man we know today as the Apostle Peter didn’t just deny Jesus that fateful day, but effectively denied his calling to share the good news of the Kingdom that Jesus preached; going back to his old job as a fisherman.

Click the header which follows to read this at Noah’s blog.

“Got Any Fish?”

“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.”

So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.

John 21:3-11

All Christians have a “B.C. – Before Christ” phase, their lives before they were saved. Some do not change dramatically, but others leave lifestyles and decisions behind that they never want to relive.

Simon Peter’s “Before Christ” phase was fishing. Like most boys in his culture, he studied the Scriptures as a child, but at some point it was determined he was not going to be a disciple of a Rabbi, so he learned his family trade. It wasn’t necessarily a shame, because only the best got to follow Rabbis.

When Jesus found him, He called Simon to follow Him and become a fisher of men. He later changed Simon’s name to Peter and told him he would go on to lead the church. Peter was on track for things much greater than fishing. Then Jesus was arrested and executed. From Peter’s perspective, the worst part was when he denied knowing Jesus.
With Jesus seemingly gone, Peter decided to go back to the life he was used to: fishing. He assumed he couldn’t lead anyone, especially after claiming not to know the man he would have been trying to preach about. This time, it was a great shame to leave the life of a disciple for a simple trade.

The worst part is Peter could have tried to teach and share the good news, to be a fisher of men. He would not have gotten far without the giftings God would later grant him, but to return to fishing was the opposite of progress. It wasn’t a sinful lifestyle, but it was still disobedient.

Peter’s story may be painfully familiar to you. After a mistake, we can easily spiral back to the lives we thought we had left behind. Even if they are not sinful, they are not what God wants for us. God instructed us to put those things behind us and receive much better things, lives with eternal value.

That day, Peter didn’t even catch any fish. He must have felt like a failure at this job as well as the job Jesus called him to. Those of us who have found ourselves trapped in sin and greatly disappointed with ourselves have some idea of what it was like for him.

Jesus could have waited for Peter to get home and then appeared in his house, as He had with the other disciples. But instead, He came to Peter in the middle of his crisis and asked, “Got any fish?” as if to say, “So, you’re a fisherman again. How’s that working out for you?”

Jesus knew perfectly well that Peter didn’t have any fish; it almost seems like Jesus was rubbing it in. He could have let Peter row back to shore and then judged him for not only denying Him but then turning away from his mission. But instead, He did a quick miracle and filled Peter’s nets with fish. He gave Peter success in this trade he had given up following Jesus. But He did it to demonstrate that, honestly, Peter could be a failure at anything he tried without Jesus’ help.

When Peter eventually realized it was Jesus on the shore, he jumped off the boat to get to Him as quickly as possible. This was reminiscent of the time Peter had gotten out of a boat and walked on the water to Jesus. He’d stumbled with shaky faith then, too, but Jesus had helped him.

This time, as Peter threw himself at Jesus’ feet to apologize for what he’d done, Jesus just responded, “Go get those fish you caught.” Peter turned right around and got back on the boat to get the net of fish. He was getting back to following Jesus’ commands; Jesus was getting back to bringing blessings out of anything Peter put his hands to.

Peter’s mistakes are unfortunately easy to relate to, but Jesus spoke to him the same way He speaks to us, and Peter’s responses should be our model for faith, repentance, and obedience. Even when you stumble, God doesn’t abandon you, so you need not abandon His calling for your life.

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This is part of a series that Noah is writing called “Rhetorical Questions.” Here are links to a few more:

• Who Will I Send?
• Do You Want to Be Better?
• Why Were You Looking for Me?

Going to the home page will take you to more in the series.

Part of the Most World-Changing Story Caught in Procedural Matters

Earlier today I encountered the blog of Ben Wilder. His writing at Out of the Wilderness isn’t faith-focused every day, but this piece caught my attention. It’s a little shorter than what we run here, but it’s a holiday for our U.S. readers, so I didn’t want you wading through a 2000-word piece today. Ben has written two books for children, and worked in Nashville, where he still lives, in video production. I hope you’ll click through and read this at source. I loved the energy and emotion in this look at the final hours of Jesus before the crucifixion.

John 18:28 really annoys me

“Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.”

I think it would be easy to just take this verse and be annoyed or angry at the soldiers and temple police for putting Jesus through this charade. That, in itself, is worthy of anger as a reader. What really stood out to me, though, the last time I read this is about them not entering the headquarters because it would make them unclean.

Talk about following rules to their own detriment! Here they have the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, the One who calls things into existence that do not exist, He gives life to the dead… and their focus is on following rules.

Here is where I unleash harsh judgement on them, right? Well, no. I can’t. Because their “rule following” isn’t really what annoys me. It’s MY rule following that annoys me. If the Bible is a mirror, then when I read this verse I’m looking at a great reflection of myself.

Sometimes, maybe a lot of the time, I find myself focusing on rules. I should do this or that because that’s what a good person does. Not only that, though, I also deal out judgement on people that don’t do as I do. It’s disheartening to be able to so closely identify with those who miss the forest for the trees.

With that said, I’m thankful John 13:38 – 14:1. Jesus is talking to Peter…

“Jesus replied, ‘Will you lay down your life for Me? I assure you: A rooster will not crow until you have denied Me three times. Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.’”

The first two sentences are part of chapter 13, the last two are 14 but I see no separation in what Jesus is offering. Yes, you will deny me. Yes you will pretend you don’t know me. But when you realize your own faults and failures, don’t beat yourself up. After all, I am not beating you up and I’m the one you hurt.

I love that about Jesus. His anger is always directed at the right things– people and ideas that are intentionally against God. But the Bible still shows Jesus having compassion, even to those that don’t like him, up to his very last breath. His love is always overflowing towards the right things, too– people who love God and want to do the right things but still make mistakes.