What's the Big Deal about Marriage Anyway?

You would have to have been somewhere on a remote island to not have heard about the legalization of same sex marriage this week.  While many are rejoicing, many are grieved.  Christians are grieving and I am not sure they truly understand the reason why.  What is the big deal about marriage anyway?  

I have prayed fervently for a Word about this, and what follows is what God has lead me to write.  Let me warn you, if you do not believe in God nor find the Bible an important guide for life, you might not want to read any further…it will make no sense.  BUT if you are called by the name is Christ and believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, my points will be beneficial to you in knowing why you are so grieved.  This will also be a long post.  I cannot do justice to this in sound bites! Print it out and read it little by little.  Finally, this is NOT my opinion.  This is biblical research on marriage. 

This battle for marriage started long before the Garden of Eden.  It began before the world was even created and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Ezekiel gives us that beginning.

Ezekiel 28:12-17

This is what the Lord GOD says: [about satan]

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone covered you:

carnelian, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold; they were prepared on the day you were created.

You were an anointed guardian cherub, for I had appointed you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones.

From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways until wickedness was found in you.

Through the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned.

So I expelled you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and banished you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.

Your heart became proud because of your beauty; For the sake of your splendor

you corrupted your wisdom. So I threw you down to the earth;

And in Isaiah 14: 12-14

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!   You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!

“But you said in your heart,   ‘I will ascend to heaven;  I will raise my throne above the stars of God,  And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.

‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;  I will make myself like the Most High.’ (empahsis mine.)

 

So, there is the beginning of the war between good and evil.  An angel of light became proud…decided he could be LIKE God and was thrown from God’s presence.  Where had he been?  In the Garden and was suppose to be the guardian to take care of God’s creation there.  But  after his fall his main objective was to destroy the very thing that God loved most…humans.  Blaise Pascal once said:  God is intolerant.  He is intolerant of anything that will hurt what He loves most.  God’s enemy was now on a mission to destroy that very thing.

You might ask what all that has to do with marriage?  Our very creation was symbolic of what we call marriage.  We were created and life was breathed into us by the very person of God.

Gen. 1: 27  So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

We continue reading in chapter two that God had created mates for all the animals in the Garden except for Adam.  God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and removed a rib from his side and created a woman from it.  Woman means “from man.” When God presented Adam with Eve, Adam said, 

“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man.”  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.  The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.  Gen. 2:25

This began a relationship between Adam and Eve BUT it was much more.  It was symbolic of God’s relationship with man! Stay with me! From God man was created. From Adam, Eve was created.  God built within this first creation the exact relationship we would have with God.

This is further evidenced throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. This union symbolized the relationship God has with us. His children are called His bride and He is our Husband (for we come from Him).  God and humans are not the same.  We were made to be united with Him and only then are we fulfilled in this world.  Before Genesis chapter three, the relationship was perfect.  God walked with His creation and they walked with each other with no shame.

But remember who else was in Eden?  God’s enemy, the fallen angel, Lucifer.  Genesis 3 records his mission of destruction by his causing Eve first, and then Adam to doubt God and to believe something other than what He said. The enemy has not changed his tactics for it is still through the voice of doubt that he causes mankind to turn away from God’s perfect way.

Because they acted on this doubt, sin entered the world and paradise was lost.  satan thought he had won but God loved us even in our sin and prepared a way for the relationship to be restored.  First it was by animal sacrifices and the law.  The symbolism continued for throughout this time those who followed God were called His Bride! When they disobeyed, they were called, harlots, adulteress, prostitutes, and other names.  Unfaithful.  These are terms we use today for those unfaithful in a marriage.  The symbolism of marriage between God and Man is clearly stated throughout. 

God wanted to finally and forever repair this relationship and so He came down to live with us through His Son, Jesus Christ.   John’s Gospel records the word of John the Baptizer when he first saw Jesus:

"You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.' "He who has the bride [those who belong to him] is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. "He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:28-30

John the Baptist, clearly saw Jesus as the bridegroom coming to save His Bride.  We later see that believers, the true church of God, are called the Bride.

Jesus also used this symbolism several times throughout His ministry but none more evident than in John 14.  We must understand that a Jewish wedding was different than our weddings of today.  The groom took care of all the details.  The bride only had to get herself ready.  The groom went back to his father’s house to begin building onto his father’s house so he and his wife would have a place to live.  When the father saw that it was a suitable place to live, he sent his son to get his bride and the marriage took place.  

In John 14 Jesus said,

“Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.”

“Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way? ”

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Clearly, Jesus was using the Bridegroom reference to His followers.  This is yet another clear indication of the Bride/Bridegroom symbolism.

Paul in his letter to the Ephesians said this:

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.  Eph. 5:31-32

Yes, because of sin, we have destroyed God’s perfect plan for marriage...divorce, infidelity and now same sex marriages. But it has never been about us.  It has always been spiritual… about God’s relationship with us…a union…becoming one with Him.  He used us as man and woman to symbolize this. 

We are different, God and Us.  Men and women are different and through the amazing construct of the body, we are able to become one with each other…to create new life.  Our spirits can also become one with God the Father.  (read John 17: 20-23)

There is a bigger thing here than just two people saying some words in front of an official.  It is more than getting benefits by our union and it is much more than sex.  It is a loving symbol of God’s love for His creation and the restoration of relationship. 

We cannot be the same as God but like Lucifer, we have said that we can be like God. We think we can control the earth, science, reshape bodies, make life and destroy life.  We think we can recreate in our own image, what God already created.  This is the lie of the enemy.   When two people who are alike marry, it is saying that we are also like God.  That is the very reason this sin is mentioned throughout the Bible as being an abomination…because it says, “we are just like God!”

  

When God created us, He created a boundary of protection around us because of His love.  When we go beyond His boundaries, we are no longer protected.  If we continue to stay out of those boundaries, He will give us over to our desires. (Romans 1)  It grieves Him to do this.  He never wants to lose anyone of us but if it is our own desires that keeps us there, He will not force us to come to Him.

Jesus is our boundary of protection.  Come to Him. It is being reunited in righteousness to our Bridegroom. We destroyed His perfect plan but He through His death and the formation of the church, His Bride, we can again be united with Him.  

  

These are the final words of our Bridegroom in the Revelation:  

In the Revelation 19:6-9 we read this: 

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean,was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Revelation 22:12-17

  “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

      Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

      “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

      The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

He is coming back for His Bride, the church.  Today, hear the truth and quit believing in the lie of the enemy of God.  He has again struck us with his lies about what marriage is so we will go further from the God who loves us.  No court in the world can undo what God set in the beginning.  

Jesus warned us in John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

This marriage thing is a big deal to God.  It is as much spiritual as physical.  It is more than just a ceremony…it is the very restoration of God to His people.

He who has ears, let him hear!

My Two Thoughts (cents) on Fifty Shades of Grey

It is out there.  The movie “everyone” has been waiting for.  Christian women as well as none Christian women have read the trilogy and are now waiting for the visual of this mommy porn!  (Heaven help our husbands or boyfriends if they want to watch porn but somehow it is ok for us!)Yay!! This week, women get to be “equal!”  I see confusion about what the conclusions this movie might bring about.  I am sad.  But I am not going to rehash the arguments already written against this movie (and books)  I do, however, want to point out a couple of my own observations I haven't seen this passed week:

1.  The female star of the movie sitting in front of 2,000 women waiting to see the premiere was asked, “Who do you want to see this movie?”  She looked at the interviewer with frightened eyes and said, “NOT my parents!”  She didn’t laugh.  She was serious.  She didn’t answer who she WANTED to see but who she DIDN’T want to see.  Those were her first words. She almost appeared afraid and ashamed that her parents might see it.  They were the ones who probably were most proud of her abilities while she was growing up. I believe she might have been having second thoughts. While filming she wasn't thinking of her parents but now that it is done, she is afraid they will see her do the things she has to do in order for this movie to be accurate.  So the first observation:  The star has some shame about what she has done.  What does this say to us?  There is shame involved with this movie. Satan will encourage many believers to go and see this, yet afterwards will load us down with shame that will be very hard to get rid of.  We can never un-see what will be seen.  Shame is his greatest tool and in my counseling of women the hardest thing to recover from.  My suggestion:  Don’t see it!

2.  The second observation as I watched those 2,000 women screaming with excitement to see the premiere of this movie was, what about the perverted guy who is watching the joy of these women? What might he be thinking? I think his thoughts were, “WOMEN LIKE PAIN!”   I am hoping that the numbers of rapes and violent crimes done to women do not increase because of this, but I will not be surprised if they do. I am hoping there won’t be more kidnapping of women and children for sex trafficking, but I won’t be surprised if there aren’t. We cannot say one thing and then become excited about another.  It doesn’t work.  This could very well be the worst message to those who want to harm women ever!

The bottom line:  This movie is sending a mixed message about how to treat women and how women really respond to things that are not wholesome.  Most of us long to be treasured and loved.  Most of us want to have relationships that go beyond sex.  Most of us like to be treated well. This movie doesn't teach any of that and its success might very well destroy those very things and bring about a “new normal” of relationships.  If this movie is successful, we will deserve what we get. 

Are We the Walking Dead?

        There is a strange cultural phenomenon right now.  It is a multi-billion dollar industry and is seen it in movies, TV shows, books and even in our county’s CDC’s information.  It is the Zombie Apocalypse.  Zombies, also called the Walking Dead, are un-dead people walking around seeking someone’s brains to eat so they can “survive.”  Even though Zombies aren’t real, could it be that our churches are full of them? 

^{In speaking to women, I have sensed a deadness WITHIN our congregations.  Yes, we are still going to church but seem to only be going through the motions.  There is very little passion and the result is a lifestyle of fear and negative living.  Many have become like the walking dead…devouring the brains of any new thing coming along just to make life better while ignoring the one thing that can truly give them fulfillment.  We jump from one conference to the next…from one new book to the next, the newest Bible study to the next and for brief moments are “alive” but soon are walking again in search of another “brain” to devour.}  

^{The prophet Ezekiel saw something similar among the Children of Israel.   The children of Israel knew they were God’s chosen but some had become complacent about God while others became involved in pagan worship, living far outside the boundaries God had set.  Their lives were spiritually dead. When things went wrong these same people cried out, “Where is our God?”  Sound familiar?} 

^{In response to their cries, God spoke in Ezekiel 37:1->.  God took Ezekiel to a valley of very dry bones and asked Ezekiel a simple question:  Can these bones live?  This was a mass grave and so these were the bones of lots of people who had died many years before.  As Ezekiel looks at this mass of very dry bones, God asks: Can these bones live?  If I had been Ezekiel I would have laughed or spouted something like, “of course not!” But the prophet spoke with the wisdom that comes only from knowing God, “ O Lord God, you know!”}

^{Ezekiel was then told to speak to the bones and as he spoke there was a rattling and the bones came together and there was muscle and sinew and skin.  They looked alive.} 

^{But there is one thing missing (verse 8b.)  There was no breath in them.  The breath the scripture is talking about isn’t what comes from the lungs but what comes from the Holy Spirit.} 

^{The reason this passage means so much is that for years it described me.  I grew up in the church and went every time the doors were opened.  I was a good Christian girl who did very little “bad” in the church’s eyes.  As an adult, I continued going to church every time the doors were open so much that I was put on staff as a worship leader!  I believed that as long as I did all the right things, that my life would be fine.} 

^{Somewhere along the way I entered a Christian coma-like state…just going through the motions…feeling neither excited about the Kingdom nor sad about the lack of people coming to the kingdom.  I guess you could say I was among the Walking Dead…eating the brains of complacency.  But God wasn’t going to leave me that way.} 

^{My perfect life slowly began ebbing away…my family started falling apart, and I didn’t know what to do.  People I loved very much were dying and I was left alone…my own health was failing and instead of fighting to become stronger I found myself just wanting to die.  My bones felt as dead as those Ezekiel looked at.}

^{Then one night, I had had enough, and began to tell God how disappointed I was in Him.  I reminded Him about all the things I had done for the church and how good I had been and this was my reward?  This rant went on for awhile and when I finally ran out of steam, I picked up the Bible I had thrown upon my bed only to discover it had opened to a very familiar passage in Psalms with the heading: To the Choir director.  (You think God wasn’t answering me specifically?)  I read Psalm 42 with new eyes…it said, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for You Oh, God.”  It was then I heard in my spirit as loudly as if God spoke aloud, “Cyndi, when have you ever longed for me? You say you have worked for Me, but wasn’t that really just for you so you could get praise for yourself?”  It was then I realized that even though I had been saved, my life was only deadness and routine.  There was no real longing for Him. That night however, I fell on my face and truly began to understand what having the breathe of God within me was and I was free!} 

^{So, I understand this deadness. Deadness causes us to do things by rote not having to even think about Jesus and often do not!  We are walking dead!  I believe today God is asking each one of us the same question He asked Ezekiel, “Can These Bones Live?”}

^{The answer to this situation is in the next verses.  Look at what happens though when the Holy Spirit comes: “And they lived and stood on their feet an exceedingly great army.”  What we need today is not another book or program, but a fresh breathe of God.  We need to learn to LONG for only HIM. What the world needs to see is a vast army of Christian soldiers doing what the commander tells them to do.}

^{What about you?  What have you been feeding on for your life?  Has it been the brains of others opinions or every new wave of spirituality? Perhaps you feed on, “your way or the highway,” not willing to bend to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Or have you refused to move forward after a tragedy and are stuck in the past?  Have you refused to offer forgiveness? If so, you are living in a “walking dead existence”.} 

^{The bones Ezekiel saw had been dead for a long time!  The things that had happened to these lives were long gone.  Life changes for all of us.  The way we respond is important.} 

^{Ezekiel wasn’t called to grave-tend, he was called to preach that God can give a fresh new spirit in even in our deadness.}   

^{Has your relationship with God become routine?  Do you recognize yourself in this description of the walking dead?  God wants to give you a fresh new Spirit.  He is here waiting to fill you with His Spirit, which brings life and an excitement about what God is doing.  His Spirit brings us power.  His Spirit will convict and guide us into holy living. Ephesians 5: 14 says:  “Awake, O sleeper and arise form the dead and Christ will shine on you.”   II Peter 1:3 says “His divine power (the Holy Spirit) has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”   We have been given the Spirit’s power to become a vast army!} 

^{Today, choose life!} 

Why I Love Football (repeat)

People often ask me why I like football so much.  It is a valid question for I am female and involved in Women’s Ministry…shouldn’t I love shoe shopping instead??  At first I didn’t think it strange that I had this love but I must admit my conversations concerning the last SEC or NFL playoff game with other women tend to be very short.  When I try to talk to men, they just look at me like I am sporting one eye in the middle of my forehead!  It could be a very lonely existence but God has been gracious to give me one girlfriend who loves football as much as I do, so I don’t feel completely alone.  This season, however, I began to ask myself the same question, “Why do I like football so much?”  I often say because my daddy did…and he liked it but his favorite sport was World Federation Wrestling and  (to the relief of all my family) I don’t follow that at all.  So, why do I?  It is not to support my husband because he really could care less…he will watch it with me but would rather watch Pawn Stars or Duck Dynasty! (a blog for another time!)  I would like to think it is because I am supporting “my” team…but it really doesn’t matter who is playing…I get involved. Now, I LOVE the Saints which brings another dynamic into the mix…  So, I went to my little quiet place where I contemplate the big things in life and asked myself, “Why?”  Here is what I came up with!!

·      I love that at the beginning of each game there is hope!!  The scoreboard is even…the field is freshly painted and the crowds are cheering and hoping for a victory!!  It is like the life God gives us through His Son!  We start out each day with a clean slate and the hope that today we are going to win the race!! 

·      I love that like life, there is going to be opposition to getting to the goal line.  It excites me to see the players pushing on to the goal without giving up.  I used to love to watch Deuce McAllister carry an entire defensive line on top of him as he moved closer to the line that would bring a first down or a touchdown.  I want to be that person…one who will push on…one who won’t give up when it gets hard.

·      I love that even after a mistake (interception, fumble, or missed tackle) that the players come back out on the field and play like it never happened.  This is where I really wish I could would learn the lesson because often in my life when I mess up (happens a lot!!)  I just want to go to the sidelines and have a pity party…I want to just quit the game rather than go onto the next play.  People like Drew Brees, who comes back every time, inspire me! 

·      I love it when my team wins!!  But I also realize for that to happen another team must lose and believe me, I find myself feeling sorry for particular players on the other team who played their best and still lost!  When I have victories in my life I want to shout it from the rooftops but I want to be aware that there are those who have fought hard and still their victory hasn’t come. I don’t want to be so consumed with my life that I forget those who are struggling to find some small victory…I want to urge them on to try again.

·      Finally, I have learned that sometimes my team doesn’t win!   I often say, “Next year!”  and I mean it.  It is also like life…sometimes things don’t turn out like we thought it was going to at the start but God in His graciousness, gives us more games to play.  I want to learn from my losses---not wallow in them.  I want to become better because I learned what to do and what NOT to do next time!  Most of all, I don’t want to just stop playing the game.  Many of us do that when our losses become more than our victories…I feel like doing that but then I look at my Saints…who lost more games than they won even to the point of being called “the “aints!”  The fans returned every year with hopes of a winning season time after time only to go home empty handed.  But then came that year!!!  We didn’t know what to do with win after win…then the playoffs…then the Super Bowl. Finally, we had a victory after years of defeat. 

And after that big win life hit hard again and it starts all over because victories in this life are short-lived…and for many teams it is back to “next year!” 

I guess that is why I love football…the hope that it can be better next time…if we listen to our Coach….work hard to prepare and don’t give up!!   Paul said it best in Philippians 4:13  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  It is not about giving up….it is about pressing on toward the goal!!!  I guess I just took that goal literally. 

So this new season, learn the lessons of football and Geaux Saints!!!!

Are You in Prison?

My oldest Texas grand boys were with me this summer and while they were here, we spent some time in Narnia.  Now for those of you who don’t know, it is a place that C.S. Lewis created in his great children’s series, The Chronicles of Narnia.  After they left, I wasn’t ready to leave Narnia and spent time in the final book, appropriately called, The Last Battle.  It is filled with theological thought and I believe that one of the things C. S. Lewis dealt with in this final installment of his Narnia collection was atheists.

Because God is so real to me, I truly cannot understand that some people cannot see Him.  I associate everything with God and His love for me.  It gives me peace that passes all understanding and gives me purpose for living.  The hardest thing in my ministry is to try and explain to someone pre-disposed to not believe that God actually IS.

Currently there is a group who call themselves the “new Atheists.”  They describe themselves in their book, The New Atheists, (authored by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens) as a progressive thought and different in belief from prominent historical atheists such as Nietzsche and Sartre. They don’t claim, “God doesn’t exist.”  They claim they just don’t believe He does. Read this review:

A popular tendency among some atheists these days is to define atheism, not as the positive thesis that God does not exist, but as the neutral claim that an atheist is one who simply lacks belief in God. If we could scan the mind of the atheist and catalogue all the beliefs the atheist holds, we would not find a belief of the form, “God exists.” Those who insist on defining atheism in this manner want to avoid the implications of having to defend the claim that God does not exist. They demand justification for faith in God while insisting that they bear no rational burdens in the debate since they are not making any positive claims on the question of God’s existence.

It is the easy way out!  No defense, it is just what I think.  No truth, no lies, nothing other than what I have in my own mind.  It is all about “me!”  I am the final judge…all for me and only me.

It was the same in Narnia! There were a group of Dwarfs who were disillusioned with the idea that there was a “great lion” called Aslan. (A character that symbolized Christ)  They had not seen Him and therefore, he must not exist.  At one point in the book, there was a scam of a fake Aslan and they had been duped.  Never more would they believe in such a silly thing.  They claimed, “We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs!”

I see this same thought in the US today.  False Christianity over-shadows real faith and “the world is not going to be taken in again.”  But in the book Aslan actually came to the dwarfs yet they refused to see.  Aslan showered them with great foods and they refused to admit the food was good.  He gave them light, yet they preferred darkness. Their pride kept them from the best thing they could ever experience!

I understand that. Pride, kept me from seeing and experiencing all God wanted in my life for many years.  I knew all the answers…I just didn’t know any of the questions!  When I finally allowed myself to see God as He really was, “High and lifted up!” (IS. 6:1) my eyes were opened to the light and life He really gives.

All of Aslan’s followers saw the Dwarfs sitting in a circle looking down, refusing to see and begged Aslan to help them.  His comment was:

They will not let us help them.  They have chosen cunning instead of belief.  Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.   

It is sad that there are those who refuse to see.  My prayer is that I will keep my eyes looking for Him and to pray for eyes of the blind to be opened.  If you are in a prison of your own making allow God to release you. He will!

In the Depths of Failure

            I am a self appointed perfectionist.  I have a tendency to curl up in a ball and go into seclusion if I make a mistake.  God has dealt with me on this in great ways but occasionally I slip back into that way of thinking.  Anyone else? Failing at something can put me into a state of desperation faster than anything else.  Satan whispers that I will never ever be able to serve God if … (fill in the blank!)  Although I have learned to combat his lies, there are still times I fall prey to this.  It is then God shows me in His Word how he has used others in the midst of their failures.  I can think of David!  (the Ark and Adultery. )  Jacob, Abraham, Sarah, Paul…as a matter of fact, most of those who served God mightily had failure in their lives.

            When I think about the apostles, I have always wanted to be like John.  The beloved…the one who followed faithfully…the one who was entrusted with the care of Mary…the good one!  It was not to be. I took one of those face book tests about “which apostle would you be,” hoping it would come up John, but it came up Peter.  I knew it would.  Peter and I have so much in common…well except for the fishing…I cannot stand to go fishing with the icky things you have to touch…but I digress.  I feel for Peter because I understand Peter and so what can we learn about desperation from Peter?

            His desperation came at his own hand.  Peter was a person who knew what he wanted, was a great leader and was very outspoken.  It was Peter who stated that Jesus was The Christ, but a few verses later scolds Jesus.  Peter was a smart guy…the problem was he didn’t know when to stop with his mouth.  He so desired Jesus to use him and to love him.  I believe he wanted to be the teacher’s pet!  Over-achiever extraordinaire!

            We see him in the upper room telling Jesus that he would never, ever leave him

Jesus knew Peter.  Jesus knew Peter was going to fail.  But Jesus also knew that this failure would shape Peter into the person he needed to become.  Peter needed to fall flat on his face so Jesus could come again to him and lift him up.

            I want us to focus on the words Jesus said:  And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.  Turned back?  Those are important words for people like me.  It took Peter awhile to turn back because he wanted to run from the situation.  He wanted to sulk and go back to fishing because he was not worthy anymore to serve. 

            Often we hear what we are doing wrong but do not hear what Jesus says will happen.  When you turn back.  In our failure desperation we have a choice.  We can remain in our pity pit or we can turn back.  When we turn back we will be equipped to “strengthen the brothers!”  Our failures prepare us to help others.

            Many have spoken on the walk that Jesus and Peter took before Jesus ascended…do you love me.  But let’s fast forward to Acts 2 where Peter stands and preaches and 3,000 turn toward God.  Read Acts 4:13…when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained me, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. Failure brought Peter closer to who Jesus could be in his life.  It brought boldness because for the first time it wasn’t about him.  You see, when we are self-focused we are afraid of failure…when we are God focused we are bold because He is all that matters.  Before Peter was all about Peter and what Peter could do and be for God.  Now He was all about God and what God could do and be in Peter.

            One more thing: strengthen the brothers.  Peter remembered those words at some point because he penned I and II Peter to his fellow Christians.  I Peter 1:3-7.  What better way to encourage and strengthen his fellow workers…and what an encouragement to us.  He leaves us with no excuses for not living strongly for the Lord for he says in II Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.   When and where did Peter learn these powerful principles?  In his turning back from his failure. 

            Perhaps today you are struggling with some failure.  Perhaps you are listening to the whispered lies of the enemy who is saying you will never be used…you are a failure.  Jesus knew you would fail before you did!  He still loves you just as He loved loud-mouthed Peter.  You must answer that one question Jesus has for you, “Do you love me?”  If the answer to that is yes, then you too can turn back.  Your desperation in failure can be turned back and your failure can be used to strengthen those around you. 

Today, turn back.