SPRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/13/2017
8:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1
“Committed Christians Love Christ More Than Anything Else”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John
21:15-17
Message of the
verses: “15 So 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, "Tend My lambs." 16 He said to him
again 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,
"Shepherd My sheep." 17 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 all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend
My sheep.”
As I was looking at verse 15 I was wondering what kind of
table service the disciples were using to eat with. I don’t suppose that they brought any with
them, and so that leads me to believe that not only did Jesus create the fish
that they were eating, but that He also brought the table service which would
allow them to eat, after all how would they get the fish off of the fire when
they were done.
Let us begin by looking at what is called the “Shema”
which comes from the OT, Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Now we will also look at Deuteronomy 10:12-13
and 11:1 “12 “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to
fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the
LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your
good? 1 “You shall therefore love the LORD your God, and always keep His
charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.”
It is obvious that in this section of John 21 that we are
talking about love, love for God as I am sure that Peter had, but probably
thought that he was no inadequate to do anything for God since he had denied
the Lord three times in His hour of need.
As believers in Jesus Christ we are to love the Lord with all of our
heart soul and mind. Notice I said
believers for nonbelievers cannot love God.
Believers can love God because He first loved us. Peter’s denial of Jesus was a test which
Jesus had spoken to him about in the gospel of Luke “"Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat (Luke 22:31).” As we look at this test we can also look at 1
Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to
man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it.” Temptations
definition: “1) an experiment, attempt,
trial, proving.” Satan wants to tempt us
to do wrong, while God tests us so we can grow.
Peter is learning that lesson as the Lord restores him for useful
service for the cause of Christ as seen in this section.
John MacArthur writes about Peter’s failure “Peter
learned the hard way what it means to love Jesus Christ. He had vociferously declared his unfailing
devotion to Him more than once. At the
Last Supper, ‘Simon Peter said to [Jesus] ‘Lord where are You going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I go, you cannot
follow Me now; but you will follow later.’
Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You’’ (John
12:36-37). A short while later he boldly
proclaimed, ‘Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall
away’ (Matt. 26:33). Yet when the chips
were down Peter’s self-confessed love failed and he openly denied three times
that he even knew Jesus. His vaunted
courage proved to be noting but empty talk when facing a threatening situation.
“Peter’s failure highlights the biblical truth that
obedience is the essential evidence of genuine love. In John 14:15 Jesus put it plainly: ‘If you
love Me, you will keep My commandments.’
In verse 21 He added, ‘He who has My commandments and keeps them is the
one who loves Me’ (cf. 15:10). In 1 John
5:3 John echoed the Lord’s teaching: ‘For this is the love of God, that we keep
His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome,’ while in his second
epistle he added, ‘And this is love, that we walk according to His
commandments. This is the commandment,
just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it’ (2 John
6).”
Jesus knew what kind of role that Peter was to play,
which was a crucial role to be sure that he would play in the early church, and
before that could happen Jesus had to restore Him, to re-commission him. Three times Peter denied Jesus and so three
times Jesus will ask Him if he loved Him.
We will get into the different words used for love later on in this
section as they are interesting to look at.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I know that I
need restoration in my walk with the Lord on many occasions. I try to ask the Lord each morning to search
my heart to see if I have failed Him in any way so that I can confess it to
Him. To keep a short list with the Lord
is a good thing to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord for the results of my grandson’s
tests on a problem that he has. I am
concerned, but know that it is the Lord who is in total control and therefore I
must trust Him.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Judge not that you be not
judged (Matthew 7:1).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said, ‘Lord, now lettest
thou they servant depart in peace, according to thy word?’”
Answer in our next SD.
6/13/2017 9:04 AM
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