âBut go, tell His disciples and Peter, âHe is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.â âMark 16:7
âWhen You Messed Up (Praying Through Failure)â By Elevation Church:
âWhen we first see Peter in the gospels, he is overzealous and filled with fire. Always quick to speak and tell Jesus what he would never do. But after his denial and betrayal on Good Friday, Peterâs fire was replaced with fear and his charisma was replaced with shame.
When faced with his failure, Peter abandoned his calling and went back to what was familiar â fishing. But Peter couldnât even catch a break there. He fished all night and caught nothing.
That is, until Jesus showed up on the shore. In one of the most beautiful full-circle moments in the Bible, Jesus meets Peter in his frustration and tells him to cast his nets again â just like He had told him to do three years before (Luke 5:1-11). It wasnât until Peter caught a load of fish too big to carry that he realized the man on the shore was Jesus.
Once Peter recognized Him, he immediately swam to shore, where he found Jesus standing by a charcoal fire. The four gospels mention a charcoal fire like this only one other time â when Peter denied knowing the Lord on the night of His arrest. As the smoke from the fire filled Peterâs nose, shame and guilt must have filled him as the memories came rushing back to him.
But Jesus didnât build that fire to punish Peter. He wanted to set Peter free â to give him a new memory. No longer would the smell of smoke remind Peter of the time he blew it, but instead that memory would be replaced with how Jesusâ grace covered it all. Jesus brought him back to the point of his greatest failure so he could experience the deepest grace.
On the other side of Peterâs failure was an assignment, which is why God singled him out by name to the women at the tomb â He wanted Peter to know in spite of his denial, He had not deserted him.
God never changed His mind about Peter, and He wonât change His mind about you either.
Your story doesnât end in failure. God has grace for you today and an assignment for you tomorrow. Jesus didnât conquer sin just so you could go to heaven one day â He wants you to experience freedom, hope, and grace today. Your shame has been buried. New life begins now. Resurrection power is here.
Father, I praise You because of the new beginning You continually offer me. May the failures Iâve experienced be the starting point of Your grace. Today, I trade my frustration for surrender and I ask You to open my eyes to the assignment Youâve prepared for me. When lies whisper to me, remind me of Your truth â because You conquered death and sin, I donât have to live in shame! What a gift. In Jesusâ name, amen.â
[Welcome Resurrection Devotional Day 6 of 7: https://bible.com/reading-plans/30678/day/6?segment=0]
âBut go, tell His disciples and Peter, âHe is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.â âMark 16:7
âWhen You Messed Up (Praying Through Failure)â By Elevation Church:
âWhen we first see Peter in the gospels, he is overzealous and filled with fire. Always quick to speak and tell Jesus what he would never do. But after his denial and betrayal on Good Friday, Peterâs fire was replaced with fear and his charisma was replaced with shame.
When faced with his failure, Peter abandoned his calling and went back to what was familiar â fishing. But Peter couldnât even catch a break there. He fished all night and caught nothing.
That is, until Jesus showed up on the shore. In one of the most beautiful full-circle moments in the Bible, Jesus meets Peter in his frustration and tells him to cast his nets again â just like He had told him to do three years before (Luke 5:1-11). It wasnât until Peter caught a load of fish too big to carry that he realized the man on the shore was Jesus.
Once Peter recognized Him, he immediately swam to shore, where he found Jesus standing by a charcoal fire. The four gospels mention a charcoal fire like this only one other time â when Peter denied knowing the Lord on the night of His arrest. As the smoke from the fire filled Peterâs nose, shame and guilt must have filled him as the memories came rushing back to him.
But Jesus didnât build that fire to punish Peter. He wanted to set Peter free â to give him a new memory. No longer would the smell of smoke remind Peter of the time he blew it, but instead that memory would be replaced with how Jesusâ grace covered it all. Jesus brought him back to the point of his greatest failure so he could experience the deepest grace.
On the other side of Peterâs failure was an assignment, which is why God singled him out by name to the women at the tomb â He wanted Peter to know in spite of his denial, He had not deserted him.
God never changed His mind about Peter, and He wonât change His mind about you either.
Your story doesnât end in failure. God has grace for you today and an assignment for you tomorrow. Jesus didnât conquer sin just so you could go to heaven one day â He wants you to experience freedom, hope, and grace today. Your shame has been buried. New life begins now. Resurrection power is here.
Father, I praise You because of the new beginning You continually offer me. May the failures Iâve experienced be the starting point of Your grace. Today, I trade my frustration for surrender and I ask You to open my eyes to the assignment Youâve prepared for me. When lies whisper to me, remind me of Your truth â because You conquered death and sin, I donât have to live in shame! What a gift. In Jesusâ name, amen.â
[Welcome Resurrection Devotional Day 6 of 7]
âAfterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. âIâm going out to fish,â Simon Peter told them, and they said, âWeâll go with you.â 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, âFriends, havenât you any fish?â âNo,â they answered. He said, âThrow your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.â 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, âIt is the Lord!â As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, âIt is the Lord,â 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, âBring some of the fish you have just caught.â 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. Jesus said to them, âCome and have breakfast.â None of the disciples dared ask him, âWho are you?â They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, âSimon son of John, do you love me more than these?â âYes, Lord,â he said, âyou know that I love you.â Jesus said, âFeed my lambs.â Again Jesus said, âSimon son of John, do you love me?â He answered, âYes, Lord, you know that I love you.â Jesus said, âTake care of my sheep.â The third time he said to him, âSimon son of John, do you love me?â Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, âDo you love me?â He said, âLord, you know all things; you know that I love you.â Jesus said, âFeed 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.â Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, âFollow me!â âJohn 21:1â-âŹ19 (NIV)