Greetings, dear ones.
I guess I failed to follow through with completing a message yesterday. Phooey! It was indeed a full day here. We were blessed to meet with old friends we worked with in the Marshall Islands yesterday. It was genuine fun to talk over some of those old times—along with a lot of new times. Then, before we left that meeting place, a couple of our classmates walked unannounced into that buffet restaurant in Branson—and we had even more blessed fellowship. Today was more of the same—meeting and fellowshipping with another couple who served many years in the Pacific.
I just finished painting a banner to be hung on the wall tomorrow at the venue for little Thomas’ first birthday celebration. We will also be dedicating him to the Lord during that event. Should be fun.
Good night. Be blessed. Ray.
I admit that I shed a tear of my own this morning as I read these lines—“a shattered heart.” I think it’s hard to not identify with the emotion that exploded within Peter at that moment when he suddenly came to grips with his own foolishness and failure, recognizing his arrogant self-confidence for what it was. Not only was it a big fat lie each time he denied knowing Jesus, but it was a shameful show of weakness and disloyalty.
Peter did the wrong thing by denying Jesus, but he did the right thing when he came to himself. He went out “sobbing with bitter tears.” I take that response to include personal acknowledgment, confession, and repentance.
I won’t put you on the spot and ask how many times you have denied knowing Jesus—but I bet you have—if even by being silent when verbal identification was more appropriate. I’ve been there—done that—without any chicken squawking to announce my failure. Indeed, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25, NIV).
As Peter’s experience unfolds, he will soon be overwhelmed with Jesus’ love and forgiveness—and so should we. I wrote the words to this song in the margin of my Bible this morning: