DO YOU LOVE.....ME?

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 everything; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17, ESV).

Can you feel the tension and heartache in Peter’s and Jesus’ last recorded interaction? And can you see the resolution that resulted? Jesus went hard after Peter’s undivided love.

In the background was the fact that Peter did deny Jesus, and it’s clear he was very defeated about that failure. Peter had thought Jesus was his first and only love, but he needed to recognize that other things were more important to him. The point in question was not about the quality or depth of the love; it’s about competing loves.

When Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (v.15), He was challenging everything that was comfortable and familiar—the fish, the nets, the boats, the water, and the people that came with that life.

But when Jesus reduced the question to “Do you love me?”, He was confronting Peter’s competing loves. It’s as if He was saying, “You said you would never deny Me, but as soon as it got unpopular, you went down like a rock. When it cost you something and you were afraid, you ran for the hills.” Jesus pressed Peter to the point of grief over his sin—the condition of heart that precedes repentance. The outcome He desired for Peter had been reached. God uses the same approach with each of us.

Loves compete when something—anything—becomes more important to us than Christ. It could be a wrong attraction; more often it’s an interest that is not wrong. It’s not wrong to love weight lifting and fitness. It’s not idolatrous to look forward to some time away with your family hiking this summer. But when something gets a higher priority in our lives than Jesus Christ, it’s a competing love. There can be no rival thrones that threaten Jesus’ place of supremacy.

Sometimes God ordains grief and suffering to pry from our kung fu grip anything that threatens His rightful rule. When something has to change, God allows a crisis to expose and eliminate our competing loves. Often He appoints pain to incinerate their influence. All competing loves must bow before the throne of Jesus Christ as Lord.

In Peter’s case, church history records he was eventually crucified—upside-down, because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. By the time of his death, Peter was the humble, courageous man that he wasn’t as a young fisherman. Distracting loves had been silenced. God’s sanctifying work had been accomplished.

What is competing with Christ for first place in your life? 

The enemy’s strategy is to divide and conquer by inciting your competing loves. And Jesus is persistent about eliminating rival affections. He will keep asking, “Do you love me more than these?” until you can answer with a surrendered heart.

What specific thing do you sense the Holy Spirit convicting you about regarding competing loves?

When was the last time God closed in on you to the point of grief over sin? What was the outcome of that encounter?

LET'S PRAY

Spirit of God, move upon me as I put myself in Peter’s place and hear You ask, “Do you love me more than these?” Lord, I give You permission to confront and eliminate any competing loves. I bow before Your absolute sovereignty. Help me reflect upon the suffering of Jesus for my forgiveness so that I can begin again and hear the words “Follow Me.” Give me eyes to see Your Son as glorious and worthy of all that I would lay before His throne. In Jesus’ name, amen.

This is a whole pot of coffee, becuase it will need to be re-visited throughout the week, month and well....your life. 

Robbs

WHAT TO DO ABOUT A SPIRITUAL DROUGHT??

And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail (Isaiah 58:11, ESV).

More than just the seat of emotions, your heart represents the immaterial part of you that can know God. It’s the part that will live forever. Here Scripture teaches that our hearts are like a garden. If you weed and water and tend your heart as this passage instructs, you’ll experience a bumper crop of God’s grace. Conversely, if you fail to care for your heart, it will be overrun with weeds. Continued neglect will leave it lifeless and barren of anything capable of bearing fruit.

The best way to grow a lush and healthy heart-garden is to keep it under the care of a master gardener. Isaiah tells us the Lord will fulfill that role in us. Jesus confronted any doubts about God’s interest when He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser” (John 15:1). When parts of your life feel empty and scorched, when you’re barely surviving spiritually, our Father, like a wise gardener, is working to guide, satisfy, and strengthen you.

Isaiah draws a beautiful parallel between what the Lord wants to give us and what an unfailing spring provides for a garden—life. Jesus echoed this promise to the woman in Samaria when He said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). 

Jesus offers a continual source of thirst-quenching, drought-ending, fruit-producing spiritual hydration for us.  

Maybe you’ve experienced some parched weeks or months in your relationship with God. Perhaps you’ve known the sorrow of watching through weary eyes as your heart for something or someone begins to shrivel. And maybe you’ve had seasons where time with the Lord was non-existent and weekend worship was Black Sunday—not because of the pastor or the people, but because of your internal drought.

As dry and desperate as those conditions are, they don’t have to be permanent. 

Hear this: “Repent and turn to God so times of refreshing can come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19-20). Our heavenly Father takes joy in turning gardens that look like lost causes into lush green places of growth!!

You can experience the fresh rain of God’s grace and mercy upon your life. 

He made that promise through Isaiah. 

You can feel a surge of energy as your eyes gaze in new wonder and awe upon the God who loves you.  (I recommend watering your heart with solitude and silence!). So the heart that beats within your chest can pulse with renewed joy given by the Lord. 

God is not reluctant; He is ready and willing, to be the master gardener of your heart (John 15:1).

Seriously, how is the garden of your heart? Are you trying to tend it yourself? Or have you just.....let it go? 

Let's Pray 

Lord, thank You for showing me You are not only the master gardener but also the patient gardener. Forgive me for the times when I’ve let my garden get overrun with weeds or become barren and scorched. Thank You for the firm and gracious way You pull what is unfruitful, break up the soil, water my soul, and bring me joy. Thank You for the truth that, under Your care, all things grow as they should, in Your time. Please do Your work in me, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Instant Coffee Today "VIA" the Holy Spirit, 

Robbs