do you love me?

The pastor at my church has been preaching on the third encounter that Christ had with His disciples, found in John 21, and this past Sunday, he talked about the section of scripture where Jesus asks Peter three times "Do you love me?" I was relating to Peter a lot in this quick conversation, because I so often want to say, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." What I'm slowly realizing, though, is that He is not asking this for His own sake. He is asking for mine. I was also thinking about Jesus' responses when Peter answered. There was trust in the answers. Feed my sheep, feed my lambs...Jesus knew that Peter would play a huge part in the start of the church, and it seems like, this was a bit of a passing of the baton to Peter. Take care of my people, Peter, I know that you can do it, and you can do it BECAUSE you love me.

I can only love others because I love Christ, and I can only love Christ, because He loves me. And, then...feeding can happen. Such simple, gospel truth, and it's amazing how many times a day that we can miss it.

I know that there is more to this passage...let me know what you think.

The Power of Indecision

It's amazing to me how powerful indecision can be. It can monopolize my thoughts and force me to think of nothing else. I get stuck in such a rut that I can not crawl out of it on my own. Wisdom does have a greater power, but how do I get it? Ask for it, right? Ok, I'm asking. Please LORD give me wisdom. I can't even buy a plane ticket without feeling like the minute I purchase the ticket is the minute the prices will go down or the minute a friend calls to say that they'll be in town and the ticket I just bought is returning the day after that. What on earth is keeping me from making rational, even good decisions. I need some Bible time...off I go!

heartache

why does sin cause so much heartache? Jesus come soon!!

new

is it spring where you are? Florida is weird, our seasons aren't normal, and that means that we've kinda skipped spring...our winter does feel a lot like spring, but its not the same when you don't get the deadness of winter that brings the amazing spectacle of spring.  nonetheless...it is spring.  and, spring means "new". and really, God is bringing me to new. God is bringing hope in places where i hadn't seen it before. He is showing me that He is alive and near. He is evident in heat of the day and the coolness of the night. i'm glad for spring...its bringing me nearer to Truth!

gifts

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"

repentance, rest, quietness and trust...gifts from above that i way too often don't think of that way.  God help me to receive these today!