Follow Me!

Jesus Reinstates Peter (John 21:15-23)

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him,“Follow me!”

²⁰ Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) ²¹ When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

²² Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” ²³ Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

I remember a sermon where a pastor once mentioned how he gets the most attacked the moments after he preaches the word of God. So for him that entailed whatever days he was speaking from the pulpit. Being a bible study teacher I'm seeing the cost that comes with being entrusted with God's flock, teaching them the ways of the Lord, how to live in the righteousness of God and to turn away from the wicked things of the world, and to proclaim the victory the cross has set out for us. The Lord has been so gracious in overwhelming my heart with Love for Him that I just want to burst sometimes! I am loving the ministry He has graciously entrusted to me and proclaiming the gospel truth on to the lives of these younger sisters who are completely blinded to the things of God and walking straightly by sight, not faith.

Every Sunday before I start leading any bible study or start spitting out any words of truth I always open up with a word of prayer and ask the Lord to lead the study. Whatever it is He wants to teach us and speak to us, I invite the Holy Spirit to lead He speaks to the hearts of His beloveds. Well today we had a special time of bible study as the Lord led us to have an opportunity for these girls to really experience the fullness of the gospel being preached through their lives. I asked some of the girls if they knew what it meant to "be saved"? To live with the holy spirit in their hearts and having Jesus be Lord of their lives? We had the opportunity to lead them into a time of ushering in God's presence in their lives, a good handful of them raised their hands and the gospel was made alive. GOD IS MOVING and I'm just in for the ride!

During worship time for our EM service, since it flows right after bible study teaching and into the worship setting I had a good amount of time just PRAISING THE LORD for His faithfulness and goodness! I started thinking ahead of what I should prepare for these girls who have a new relationship with the Lord, how I should get a hold of them, what i should do, yadda yadda yadda. But gently the Lord stopped me in my tracks and said,

"You say what I want you to say, when I want you to say it and how I want it to be said, just FOLLOW ME" (note: the Lord gave me this verse prior to coming into teaching by asking me the same thing He asked Peter. This time around he speaks this same thing but emphasizes to remind me that this bible study class is HIS not mine, HIS words not mine, HIS time not mine)

and from that moment forward I repented quickly of my own efforts of trying to move ahead of God, took a step back and focused my eyes on Him. This moment reminded me of when Jesus appeared to his disciples AFTER He rose from the dead and appeared to Peter AFTER Peter had betrayed Jesus before He died on the cross, man, talk about LOVE! Jesus asked Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" (vs15, 16, 17) He asked Peter 3x's and 3x's Peter answers, "Yes, Lord you know that I love you." (vs15, 16, 17) Jesus immediately responds back to Peter in 3 different ways:

1. Feed my lambs (vs 15)
2. Take care of my sheep (vs16)
3. Feed my sheep (vs17)

I believe that Jesus was showing Peter that he already foreknew Peter's denial and forgave Him long before and came to clarify the way Peter will truly follow Jesus now. As the Lord told Peter, the Lord told me,

"Then he said to [me], Follow me!" (vs19)

-Live Productively