{"id":878,"date":"2018-03-03T08:18:49","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T16:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=878"},"modified":"2018-03-04T08:19:18","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T16:19:18","slug":"devotion-john-2115-19-push-deeper-and-further","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=878","title":{"rendered":"Devotion John 21:15-19 Push Deeper and Further"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 21:15-19<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a05\u00a0When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,\u00a0\u201cSimon son of John, do you love me more than these?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYes, Lord,\u201d he said, \u201cyou know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cFeed my lambs.\u201d\u00a0 16\u00a0Again Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cSimon son of John, do you love me?\u201dHe answered, \u201cYes, Lord, you know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cTake care of my sheep.\u201d\u00a0\u00a017\u00a0The third time he said to him,\u00a0\u201cSimon son of John, do you love me?\u201d Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time,\u00a0\u201cDo you love me?\u201d\u00a0He said, \u201cLord, you know all things;\u00a0you know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cFeed my sheep.\u00a018\u00a0Very 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.\u201d\u00a019\u00a0Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death\u00a0by which Peter would glorify God.\u00a0Then he said to him,\u00a0\u201cFollow me!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After Peter had denied the Lord three times, the Lord appeared to Peter to assure him that Jesus still loved him.\u00a0 We can see that Jesus not only gave him assurance of their relationship and of His love for Peter, but Jesus also had him focus on what he need to do. As in\u00a0Ephesians 2:8-10\u00a0<\/b>which states that we are saved only by grace, and then immediately tells us that we were \u201ccreated in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus has said of us (John 14:12<\/b>) that we will do the works He has been doing.\u00a0 He died for us, yet His mission to minister to all mankind of all ages needed to be completed.\u00a0\u00a0 He gave that mission to us.\u00a0 We are to continue His work and in doing so glorify Jesus and when we lift up the name of Jesus to the world (Romans 10:14<\/b>), then the Holy Spirit will draw people to Jesus and they will be saved. We all have purpose, God-given purpose.\u00a0 It keeps us rooted in the Lord.\u00a0 He saves us, He gives us life and He gives us purpose. \u00a0Just like Adam and Eve were created and given purpose, we, when born-again, are given purpose.\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

In the above verse Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved Him.\u00a0 There is great importance in the words that Jesus used when asking Peter about his love for Jesus.\u00a0 The first time Jesus asked he used the word \u201cagapao\u201d (Transliteration).\u00a0 As we know this word, or Agape, is the word used to express the love of God.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact it is the same word used in\u00a0John 17:26\u00a0<\/b>to express the love the Father has for the Son.\u00a0 Jesus is asking Peter, do you love me greatly, as my Father in Heaven loves me.\u00a0 Wow, that\u2019s a big question!<\/p>\n

Peter did respond that He loves Jesus, but Peter used the word \u201cPhileo\u201d (Transliteration) which is the word we refer to as a brotherly love.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a strong word of love but it is not what Jesus asked Him.\u00a0 Jesus asked him if Peter loved Him with a Godly love.\u00a0 Still Jesus responded to this by giving Peter the task to take care of the children of God, the \u201csheep\u201d of Jesus who follow Him.<\/p>\n

The second time the question was asked the words that Jesus used and the response that Peter gave were the same.\u00a0 Again Jesus did not chastise for Peter\u2019s inability to say that he loved Jesus with the God-like love.\u00a0 Jesus again gave Peter purpose.<\/p>\n

We know by reading the verse that Peter was offended after Jesus asked him a third time if He loved Jesus. But thinking that Peter was offended merely because Jesus asked him a third time is to no recognize the full meaning.\u00a0 The Lord is subtle, yet direct, with His words piercing into our heart and souls!\u00a0 This time He asks Peter if Peter loved him with the \u201cPhileo\u201d love.\u00a0 The brotherly love.\u00a0 He did not asked Peter again Peter loved Him with a Godly love, but with the human brotherly love.\u00a0 In fact, can\u2019t you just hear Jesus saying, without Him actually saying it \u201cPeter, I asked you two times if you love my with the pure love that Father loves me and you could not say that you did.\u00a0 You expressed love, but not a pure Godly love for me.\u00a0 So now I ask you \u201cDo you\u00a0even<\/i>\u00a0love me with a human love?\u201d\u00a0 This is what pierced Peter\u2019s heart, yet still he responded that he loved Jesus not with a Godly love, but with the Phileo brotherly love.\u00a0 Ouch!\u00a0 Peter was grieved that Jesus asked him three times, but it was how Jesus asked him the third time.\u00a0 It is sure that the word variance was significant to Peter and He understood the message.\u00a0 Also, let us remember that Peter had denied Jesus three times.\u00a0 Now Jesus asked him three times, how great is your love for me.<\/p>\n

Before the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter had boldly proclaimed that He loved Jesus so much that if all the other disciples abandoned Jesus that he alone would stand with Jesus (Matthew 26:33<\/b>).\u00a0 The love of Peter had failed, three times.\u00a0 So Jesus is saying to Him that he needs to love more than he did.\u00a0 That Peter needs to learn to love with a Godly love and to love Jesus in that way.\u00a0 From that kind of love for Jesus, then Peter will also love the sheep of Jesus (Matthew 22:37-40<\/b>).<\/p>\n

Family, how about us?\u00a0 Can we say we love God with an \u201cagapao\u201d kind of love?\u00a0 How about even a phileo kind of love?\u00a0 Do we love Him, truly love God in a way that He is more important than everything else to us.\u00a0 Do we love Him more than we love all family (Matthew 10:37<\/b>)?\u00a0 That is the love that God builds within us, increasing over our life on earth.\u00a0 It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us, giving us the new kind of love that knows no boundaries and that has no sacrifice too big to give.\u00a0 It is a life laid at the feet of Christ in which we say, \u201cHere is the life You have given me Lord, it belongs to You, use it as You desire.\u00a0 Please use this life that You have given me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family, let us not let the fires of our love for God wane, but stir up the flames and let our love for God grow ever more so that we are consumed by it.\u00a0 After all, He first loved us first (1 John 4:19<\/b>) and He promises that He always will.\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 21:15-19\u00a0–\u00a05\u00a0When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,\u00a0\u201cSimon son of John, do you love me more than these?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYes, Lord,\u201d he said, \u201cyou know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cFeed my lambs.\u201d\u00a0 16\u00a0Again Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cSimon son of John, do you love me?\u201dHe answered, \u201cYes, Lord, you know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cTake…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[1841,100,101,94,17,10],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-ephesians","tag-john","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}