The Leaf in my Bible, part 3

Read Part 1 here. and part 2 here.
Jesus is dead.
Peter's world has stopped spinning, and he has no idea what to do. He and the other disciples hide in dark rooms, not sure how to proceed. Should they scatter? Pretend it never happened?
And Peter's mind is full of his betrayal. Could it have made a difference? Did Jesus die not knowing how much Peter really loved Him?
On the day after Sabbath, some of the female followers of Jesus go to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body for burial. But when they arrive, the stone has been rolled away! An ANGEL appears to them and says, "He is not here for HE IS RISEN, as He said. Go tell the disciples AND PETER that He is going before you into Galilee." (Mark 16:6-7)
The women run back and tell Peter and John, who in turn run to the tomb. They see the stone rolled away, the tomb empty, except for a folded head cloth.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? They still don't fully understand what has happened! They remain in hiding in upper rooms, not sure of what the authorites will do when they find out the report.
Then Jesus appears to them, through the locked door and says, "Peace be to you!" Then He tells them that as the Father sent Him, so He was going to send them out as well.
In John 21, there is a very interesting account. You would expect, after seeing Jesus alive and risen from the dead, the disciples would be ready to do anything, go anywhere...that they would have no more doubts. But in John 21 we read the Peter says to the other disciples, "I'm going fishing." And they go with him.
What is that all about? THEY HAVE SEEN THE RISEN LORD!
Why go fishing now? And why fishing?


Try to imagine being Peter right now. It was bad enough denying your Master three times when He was dead. But now, He's alive again. He knows that Peter denied Him, He had looked at him right after the fact. Big, loud-mouth Peter - only he and Jesus know that he totally blew it. But Jesus is the One that matters! So much for a top job in the kingdom! So much for being one of the closest three to the Master. So much for being the Peter, the Rock!
Peter looks at himself and sees his failure, and sees his usefulness to the Master as over.
And so he goes fishing. He's a fisherman. Fishing is something he's good at. He knows that even though he's a failure at being a disciple, he is not a failure at fishing.
But there's a problem. They weren't catching anything. Not a minnow. Now a bluegill. Not a sea monster. Nothing.
Peter is now at his absolute low-point. He can't do anything right. He's a failure. He's useless. He can't even FISH!
Then the disciples see a man on the shore of the lake, who calls to them and says, "Children, do you have any fish?"
They reply, "No."
"Cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some."
They obey, and instantly their nets are full of fish. Then John says to Peter, "It is the Lord!"
Simon Peter puts on his outer garment and dives into the sea, headed for Jesus.
The Master had prepared a fire, and offered to them to eat a breakfast of fish and bread. They counted the fish and there were 153 large fish! I love that the Bible tells us that!
The Bible also tells us in John 21:12 that none of them asked Who He was, because they knew it was the Lord. Well,  I would hope so, after following Him for three years!
After they have finished eating, Jesus turns to Simon Peter and says,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
Peter answers, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."  You know that, don't You, Lord?
"Feed my lambs."
Then He said to him again, "Simon, do you love me?"
"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Can't you see my heart, Lord? You know that I love you, though in a moment of weakness I denied you. You know me, Lord! I love you!
"Tend my sheep."
Then He asked Peter a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
And Peter was grieved that He had asked Him a third time. Can't you feel his grief? Three times he had denied that he even knew Jesus, but didn't he love Him? Did he love Him enough? I can picture him fighting the tears, and looking up into Jesus' face and seeing His kind, loving eyes. Or looking at his nail-pierced hands and seeing His love there.
"Lord, You know everything. You know that I love you." Despite what I said, despite my cowardice and fear, I love you! You know me better than I know myself--YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU!
"Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young,you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) 
And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."
Peter's worst nightmare was over. He had "passed." 


"Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,strengthen your brothers." 

It would seem that Jesus' prayer didn't work, right? 

Actually, the word fail implies "fail utterly" or "fail permanently," so Jesus prayed that when Peter failed (since He knew that he would) that it wouldn't be permanent. Jesus showed confidence that Peter would turn, "WHEN you have turned, strengthen your brothers." 

Sounds alot like "tend my sheep," doesn't it?

Isn't it incredible that God used proud, foot-in-mouth Peter to boister the church all over, especially in Rome, to write two inspired epistles and to give his life as a martyr for his Lord? 

The apostle Peter is my hero:) He failed, but turned/repented and ended up doing great things despite, or, perhaps, because of his failure. Sometimes realizing how much of a failure we are helps us become better servants of the Lord because we know that WE aren't that great or wonderful, but our GOD is! 

The message of the leaf in my Bible is that we all have times of wandering from the Lord. It's part of our spiritual growth. Sometimes it's only a short time of wandering, i.e. a week or so where you are spiritually blind, but other times there are years of wandering, when we refuse to let go of our sin. 

Negin, the name of the girl on my leaf, was the example of this. She was walking away from the Lord. She had been active in church and made a profession of faith, then all of a sudden gave up. Just left and was gone. She cut off contact and would not explain why. 

I don't know her situation now. But whenever I see the leaf in my Bible, I pray for her. I pray that, if she is still wandering, she would turn back to God.  I also pray for myself, that the Lord would "let His goodness, like a fetter, bind my wand'ring heart to Thee." I also pray that when I wander, that He would do WHATEVER IT TAKES to draw my heart back to Him. "Whatever it takes" is a serious stake. But I know that if I am wandering, I will not be happy, or fulfilled, or at peace, until I am back in communion with God. 

When Miss Walker spoke on Simon Peter, she told us to each go out and get a leaf. This leaf should be placed in Luke 22.

When you look at a leaf, you see the main stem. Coming out from the stem, do you see the little shoots headed out to the side? 

These little off-shoots don't go far, and neither should we.

The reminder of the leaf in my Bible is "May your wanderings be short and may you always come back to the Main Stem! And when you return, strengthen your brothers! Encourage them to do the same!"

Jesus is the Only Source of True Joy, Peace, Happiness, Contentment, and every good thing! Don't wander from Him, but when you do...repent and see that the Lord is good!

The Leaf in my Bible, part 2

Read part 1 here

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said to him, "I tell you, Peter, that the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me." (Luke 22:31-34)

Peter did not know what he was saying. He thought that night was just like any night.

Jesus took the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane and told them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." Why didn't they listen? Why didn't they keep praying?

Have you ever tried to pray at night, in bed maybe? Do you ever fall asleep while praying?

I sure do. My humanity and need for rest seems to be stronger than my desire to pray. How sad!

And there was Jesus, pouring out sweat drops of blood as He begged the Father to let this cup pass from him, and Peter and the others are snoring.

Mark 14:38 says, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak."

And so, when the betrayer comes, the disciples are astonished, unprepared, half-awake. Judas plants a kiss on Jesus' cheek, giving the signal to his followers that this is the man. The disciples grab their swords, prepared to defend their Master. One of them strikes the high priest's servant's ear. John tells us that it was Peter.

When Jesus is led away, they all run, terrified for their lives. If the rulers arrested Jesus, what would they do with his followers?

Peter follows at a distance, watching. When the servants light a fire in the courtyard, Peter decides to go join them and warm himself. Then a servant girl, the lowest of the low, says to him, 'This man was also with him."

Panic courses through Peter's body. "Woman, I don't know Him."

And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them."

"Man, I am not!"

An hour later, a man insisted, "Certainly this man was with Him, for he is a Galilean."

But Peter swore and said, "Man, I do not know even know what you are talking about!"

AND WHILE HE WAS SPEAKING, a rooster crowed.

Then they brought out the Lord, and HE LOOKED AT PETER.

And PETER REMEMBERED WHAT THE LORD HAD SAID.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Have you ever blown it really bad? Like horribly, irrevocably blown it?
Have you ever said something that instantly you wanted to erase from memory forever?

To prison and death, Peter? Never forsake, Peter?Then Jesus is killed. And Peter is ready to curl up and die. He has failed. After all his big talking, he wouldn't even admit to knowing of the Master. And now He is dead. And Peter had no chance of redeeming himself. He was the one who had denied Christ three times.

But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:32)

Read Part 3 here

The Leaf in my Bible, part 1

I have a leaf in my Bible. I don't mean leaf as in paper, I mean an actual leaf from an oak tree. It is very dry, though not yet crumbly and has this word on it "Negin," and the day, "6/24/09." It has a permanent spot in my Bible: Luke 22.

In 2009, I was on staff at Iowa Regular Baptist Camp during Junior Girls week. The speaker was a missionary lady to Germany. She spoke on the life of Simon Peter.
He has always been one of my favorite Bible characters; I've always felt a connect with Him. Maybe it's the way He blurts things out, or jumps at the chance to do something big:)
The speaker, Miss Walker, asked us on the first night, "What do people remember you for?"  She challenged us to picture a box [__] and in it is who you are - what would other people put inside?

Can you imagine being remembered for the worst day in your life? That's what happened to Simon Peter. "Oh, he's the one who denied Christ three times." Yes, he was. What a horrible day for Peter! Can you imagine?

Here, he's been following Christ for three years, every hope and dream of his was bound up in the ONE whom he had been following. His ambitions were to be a great one in His Lord's kingdom. He was the one who had first said, in response to the question, "Who do you say that I am?" "YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD."
Right, Peter! Good job! But do you know what you said, Peter? Do you realize the implications?
Peter was the bold fisherman, who had left all to follow Christ. He was the one whose mother-in-law had been healed by Christ of a high fever. He was the one who saw Christ's Transfiguration, when He revealed some of His glory to the Peter, James and John. Peter was the one who had jumped up saying, "Let us build tabernacles on this spot!"
Oh, Peter! Ever the "foot-in-mouth" type of guy!  He was the one who took Jesus aside when He was speaking of His death, telling Him not to say such things.
"Get behind me, Satan!" was Jesus' response.
Peter was the one who, when Jesus was washing the disciples' feet, said, "Lord, don't just wash my feet, wash my head, my hands, my whole body!" Oh, Peter...

But that worst day of all, the day for which all the Sunday school children remember Peter...
Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus is trying to make it clear to them what He is about to do, and they are NOT getting it. In the midst of His declaration of His suffering, the disciples start arguing about who among them will be the greatest in the kingdom of God! Jesus turns and looks at them, especially at Peter, and says,
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said to him, "I tell you, Peter, that the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."    (Luke 22:31-34)

And so begins Peter's worst nightmare.

Part 2. Part 3.