The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – John 16:5-16 (day three)

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

The Lord tenderly cares for you. He doesn’t overwhelm you, but remembers you are dust, as the Bible says. That’s not patronizing or disdainful. Rather, God’s care for you points to how deeply he treasures those whom he has made, as an artist would treat his or her works with great caution and alertness. When the Lord says the time is not yet right for you to experience this or that, he’s cherishing your existence, lest what comes harm you. When the time does come that the Lord allows you to see and know what’s next, that’s the time that he knows you can live fully in that moment with great strength. He knows how he made you, and he stands by his work with confidence.

Re:Verse passage – John 16:5-16 (day two) 

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. v. 7

How often have you come to a place of transition and been afraid of what comes next? You may have been very prepared, educated, and trained, and, yet, there is trepidation about what comes next. Graduation season is a great reminder of this feeling. Many students are eager to jump into the next phase, but with each milestone there comes a level of comfort in known, and uncertainty about what’s next. With each transition we may have more that we are giving up, and more things and people counting on us to succeed and provide. It is in the preparation that we find the courage to move forward. Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry was preparing the disciples. He taught them, he demonstrated his authority, he challenged them, and he cautioned them about what happened next. This transition was inevitable, and Jesus made sure they were prepared. It would take some time, but they slowly began to understand what all that preparation was for. Transition is coming. It may be for a new season of life, a job, a family, or a transition from this life to the next. All of these require preparation. How are you preparing? Are you in the Word? Are you in fellowship with other believers? Are you serving the Body? Are you preparing?

Re:Verse passage – John 21:1-19 (day seven)

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.” John 21:17b

Today we honor over two dozen graduating seniors. You, church family, have loved them and poured into them to get them to this point. That is a part of why we honor them. We want you to celebrate with them in all that they have accomplished in their time with us.

Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

The other part of this day, and maybe most important, is we are commissioning and sending these students out into their next stage of life to spread the Gospel to all the world. We have trained them so that they don’t depart from Him, but we also have trained them so they know the expanse of who Jesus is and will hear His calling to “Tend My Sheep!” Pray with me that they answer that call. Pray that they stay close to Jesus in the days ahead. Pray that they will be a part of revival!

Re:Verse passage – John 21:1-19 (day six)

Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. — John 21:13

What a moment. By now, it was clear that Jesus wasn’t spending every day with his disciples. His appearances were fewer—but every moment carried more weight.

This was the third time they had seen him since the resurrection, and the wonder had not worn off. How could it? He had walked out of the tomb. They could only stare at him in awe.

Things were starting to make sense—especially after the last encounter when he opened the Scriptures to them. But here, on the shoreline, came something unexpected. The risen Christ was making breakfast. And then he served them.

Even after conquering death, Jesus served his friends.

What a needed reminder: the greatest power in the cosmos is still found in humble love. The risen King didn’t demand to be served—he cooked and passed the bread. That’s the kind of power the world can trust. That’s the kind of Savior worth following.

Re:Verse passage – John 21:1-19 (day five)

What could have been an overwhelmingly impossible circumstance, becomes a moment of restoration and redirection. For Peter there was the potential for every morning for the rest of his life to be a reminder of failure and sin. Crowing roosters (which never left the region) were most likely a daily alarm of his past. Probably crowing on this morning as well. Jesus had a “charcoal fire” going on shore. Only other time those Greek words were used, were to describe the fire burning when Peter denies Jesus (John 18).

What Jesus teaches Peter (and us) is, that a failed believer isn’t a finished believer. When Jesus has our hearts (our love and desire for Him more than anything else we want or need), He then assigns mission and ministry. He will use our past to remind and direct us to the path (through confession and repentance) where we can live at peace with Him, in joyful obedience, and with the strength and courage of His daily presence.

Re:Verse passage – John 21:1-19 (day four)

Scripture holds a lot of beautiful symmetry. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he called fishermen to follow him (Matt. 4:19). He took the small world that they knew and expanded it to reveal the vastness of the Kingdom of God. Now, after the resurrection, he’s calling those same fishermen into increasingly expanding possibilities.

Now that Jesus has appeared to all those closest to him, he takes the time to remind them that there is more to come. All that they had experienced with him – his ministry, death, and resurrection – were just the beginning. They are now being sent out as fishers of men to build his church. He sums up their calling with the phrase “tend my sheep.” The entirety of the apostolic calling is boiled down here to discipleship.

We share this same calling. Who has tended to you in the way Jesus describes here? Who are you tending to?

Re:Verse passage – John 21:1-19 (day three)

“None of the disciples ventured to question him, “Who are you?” knowing that it was the Lord.”

One might capture the disciples’ experience with this question: how is this even happening right now? They were grappling with the dawning of this long-promised age of history. Once, dead people stayed dead. Now, they no longer do. What was once impossible is now possible. If Jesus — publicly condemned, sentenced, and executed — now lives and breathes, what else that was hopeless now has hope? Indeed, what good thing is ever beyond reach again? It has taken 2000 years to take it all in, and even now it seems unreal sometimes. But 2000 years has also shown that this gospel will not fade. You really can count on this good news.

Re:Verse passage – John 21:1-19 (day two) 

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing. v. 3

This post-resurrection encounter with Jesus has so many facets that are so instructive. This is one of those weeks that it is difficult to pick where to focus. One element that struck me upon re-reading the text was this line in verse 3. I’m not a fisherman, I don’t get the appeal. Please don’t judge too harshly. I do know that part of fishing is expecting to come home empty-handed. This time feels different to me. When you think that Jesus called most of these men from careers as fishermen, they knew their craft. What strikes me is that what used to be a source of fulfillment to these men no longer worked. They used to make money in this manner, they were able to feed their families in this way, but because of Jesus the things that used to fill our nets no longer will do. I don’t think they lost the ability to fish, but the empty nets certainly signify a void when we try to fill our lives with the things from our past. Once Jesus fills you, nothing else will do. This object lesson would have a profound impact on these men after Jesus ascended. Even the things that used to satisfy must be surrendered to Jesus.