When Good Friends Come To Visit – Pt. 4 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. All this week we’re talking about what to do when dear friends come to visit that you haven’t seen for a while. It’s a practical topic, isn’t it? It happens in our lives, and how do we do that well? Number 1, we need to celebrate that reunion. Number 2, we need to share with one another the spiritual lessons we’ve been learning. Number 3, we need to share our pain and struggles. Don’t just keep your reunion talking on the surface level. Open up, share what’s going on in your life. Share your pain and your struggles, cry together and be there for one another. Here’s the next lesson. Clear up anything that is obstructing your good relationship with one another. Yeah, this is one of the most poignant.

Stories in the New Testament – a story like this. Jesus has died. The disciples miss him terribly. Just before he died, Jesus spent time with them, and he said, I don’t call you guys servants anymore. I just call you my dear friends, and no one has greater love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends.

Well, that meant so much to the disciples, no doubt. But Jesus went on after that to let Peter know that Peter would deny Him 3 times before he died. Peter, of course, strongly denied that and said, ‘There’s no way I would ever deny you. I’m willing to even die for you.’

And Jesus said, it’s going to happen before the rooster crows, and that night for sure. Jesus was arrested. Peter followed into the place where Jesus was being interrogated, where he was beaten and whipped, and Peter was really paranoid that it would happen to him. People started to recognize him, and 3 times he denied Jesus.

Well, Jesus went on to be crucified, he died. He rose again, and over the next days, he appeared to his disciples a few times. Let me read to you one of those. Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberius. John chapter 21. Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, Children, do you have any fish? They answered him, No.

Oh, he said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you’ll find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish, and that disciple whom Jesus loved, that’s talking about John, that disciple, therefore said to Peter, It’s the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, threw himself into the sea.

And the other disciples came in the boat dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about 100m off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it and bread, and Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you’ve just caught.”

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So they held the net ashore full of large fish. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus went for a walk with Peter and said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Well, yes, Lord, you know that I love you, he said to him, Oh, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend to my sheep. He said to him, the 3rd time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And Peter was grieved because he said to him, the 3rd time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. This, he said, to show by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, he said to Peter, Follow me.

But what was Jesus doing in this reunion with Peter? Why did he ask him 3 times, do you love me? He was giving Peter the chance to walk backwards through his 3 rejections, his three denials of Jesus, by saying to Jesus 3 times, I really love you.

And Jesus affirmed that the relationship was restored at the end when he said to him, OK, then, follow me. When you get together with a friend that you haven’t seen for a long time, if anything has come up that is obstructing your relationship, get it out in the open and clear it up.

I’m John North.

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