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Hope Again

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“Peter, do you love me unconditionally, without pretension? Do you love me more than you love these?” Jesus asks, pointing to the fish they were feasting on (Jn 21:15). Peter responds, “Lord, you know I’m fond of you as a friend.”   

No More Than a Friend 

Wait, hold it. What?    

Where’s the “Call me out of the boat,” “You are the Christ,” “I’m the Rock (not Dwayne Johnson),” “You won’t go to the cross,” “Wash me head to toe,” “I would never deny. I would die for you,” over-promising, under-delivering Peter we’vecome to know? Somewhere between the courtyard denial and the seaside breakfast, Peter changed. The pain of not being first to speak, first to fight, first to lead, first at anything, gave way to the pain of not being able to follow through. Peter could have easily had his own morning radio show: “The Big Talker, Simon Peter, on radio station WWJD.” That Peter was gone.

He knew better than to exaggerate, over-promise, and over-brag in any given situation. Peter saw himself for the fraud he was or tended to be at times. He could talk a good game, but he couldn’t follow through. Peter was well aware of his glaring weakness. Jesus knew this, too. Jesus also knew Peter needed to know everything was okay. Peter needed to know Jesus still loved him. Peter needed to know there was still room for him at the table.   

Jesus and Peter

Jesus knew all that, and pushes into Peter’s plight ever so gently. All Jesus needs to know is “Peter, are you willing to trust? Are you willing to try this again?”  

“Good, Peter. I want you to keep a watchful eye on these guys.”   

Then Jesus leans in a little closer and asks a second time, “Peter, can I ask you another question? Do you love me unconditionally?” (Jn 21:16).  

  Peter responds, “Lord, I am fond of you as best a friend could be fond of his friend.”   

“Then I want to you step up and lead and guide my followers at large,” Jesus said.   

One final time, Jesus pushes as close as he could with Peter. “Peter, do you even like me? Are you truly fond of me as a friend?” (Jn 21:17).  

Peter’s Pain

 This final time, Peter realizes what Jesus is getting at. He feels the sting and pain of what unfolded over the last several weeks. This meeting with Jesus was the third time he’d appeared to the men. The first time was the day of the resurrection, the second was the following Sunday with Thomas. Now this day. It was at least more than a week since Peter denied his friend and leader, Jesus. Enough time had passed for Peter to work through all that had happened. As with any broken friendship, Peter wasn’t sure if Jesus would take him back.   

The Restoration of a Friendship 

Here they stood, eye to eye, making sense of how far they’d come. Peter had denied. Jesus had died. Peter hoped for a second chance, and Jesus was offering Peter a second chance. But Peter didn’t know if he could trust himself. He knew his weakness to look the part but not live out his commitment.   

He says as much to Jesus. “Lord, you know me. You knew I would deny you because you know everything. You know I’m fond of you. I can’t commit to loving you unconditionally, because when the conditions got tough, I bailed on you. I denied you. But you do know that I’m fond of you because I wouldn’t have come this far. I didn’t dive out of the boat just to have breakfast. I dove out of the boat to come to see you, to follow you.”  

Jesus’ Restoration of Peter

I don’t think the three questions of “Do you love me?” were lost on Peter. He denied Jesus three times. Then he verbally committed his love and loyalty to Jesus three times. I think Jesus purposely did this in front of the others, as well. Peter publicly denied Jesus. Jesus publicly restored Peter.   

That’s exactly what Jesus wanted to hear. “Peter, teach and guide my followers from this point on.” Jesus was affirming the one he had nicknamed the “Rock.” He told Peter who he was—a mentor, a leader, a teacher. All those roles Jesus had filled for the last three-years—Jesus passed the torch to Peter. Even with Peter’s massive failure of denial, Jesus was willing to work with him. His denial of Jesus was his setback. It wasn’t until Peter saw his setback that he stopped trying to compensate for what he thought he lacked.  

We overcompensate all the time. We masquerade through life, trying to prove our worth by our silence, exuberance, arrogance, achievement, or self-righteous idealism. All these labels are self-imposed. Jesus came to remove labels and show us love. You don’t need a label to hide behind when you know you are loved. Peter needed no more labels. He knew he was loved. Peter no longer tried to prove who he was; he now knew who he was—Jesus’ friend and follower. Jesus doesn’t invite us to positions and traditions. Jesus invites us into a relationship with Him.   

A Relationship with Jesus

A relationship is more than information about Jesus; it’s a relationship is a connection with Jesus. What information do you know? You know you’ve messed up. Your hope was crushed; you quit too soon. You know you held on to hurt instead of hope. Put aside what you know about you. Step into who you know—the one who knows you, Jesus. You can be well known to a world that will give you ten minutes of fame, or you can be known well by the one who calls your name.   

Who You Are

When you know that who you are is not found in what you do, you can step into who Jesus says you are. Attempting to find our value in what we do always leaves us empty and asking for more. The respect, acceptance, approval, and attention Peter longed for was going to be the very thing he gave to those he mentored, led, and fed. I am living out who God created me to be and following Jesus the best when I give to others what I long to receive in my own life. The switch must flip from seeking people to fix and fulfill us; our calling is to fill others with what Jesus has filled us with—his love.   

Which Do You Choose? 

Some people are released. Some people are restored. Jesus released Judas, but he restored Peter. Restoration is offered to you and me. All Jesus wants to know is if we are willing to dive in and follow him. No matter what’s happened in our past, no matter the hurt of our pain, and no matter what the future holds, Jesus can restore our hope.   

*This post is an excerpt from Matt’s book, Six Days to Sunday: Turn Setbacks Into Comebacks.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post, Believe Again: Easter Hope for Everyday Faith.

Believe Again: Easter Hope for Everyday Faith

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Unbelief

Sometimes, we’re really hard on Thomas. I mean his nickname is “Doubting Thomas,” so it’s kind of warranted. But it’s interesting that it wasn’t just Thomas who doubted. The disciples also doubted.

After his resurrection, Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene.

After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened.  But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.

Mark 16:9-11 NLT

Mary Magdalene told the disciples that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, but they didn’t believe her. Next, Jesus appears to two of his followers as they travel. He walks with them and talks with them. They hurry to tell the others, but they don’t believe them.

 Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.

Mark 16:12,13 NLT

Stubborn Unbelief

Jesus told them exactly what would happen, and they had eye witness accounts of his resurrection. Yet, they chose not to believe. When Jesus finally shows himself to the disciples, he rebukes them for their unbelief. Not only does He call it unbelief, He calls it stubborn unbelief.

Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.

Mark 16:14 NLT

Failing to Believe

How did the people who got to actually see Jesus and hear his teaching and know Him personally doubt in the end? If their faith wasn’t strong enough; there’s no hope for my faith.

So much in the Gospels comes back to belief. Jesus healed or didn’t heal based on people’s belief. All of his healing and his teaching kept coming back to belief.

It’s not so different in our lives all these years later. God wants to work in our lives, but He still does that work according to our belief or unbelief. I wonder if far too often, God doesn’t do something in our lives simply because we fail in this area of believing.

Choose to Believe

As we celebrate Good Friday today and Easter on Sunday, it’s a good time to reflect on what Jesus did for us. But let’s take it further than that. Let’s choose not to be like the disciples who missed what was in front of them. Let’s not let the struggles and difficulties of life make us doubt God’s goodness and love. The same Jesus who died on the cross and rose for us is the same Jesus who is still walking beside us today. Let’s believe in his goodness and trust that the same God who rose from the dead is the same God who will take care of me today.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post, When Everything Changed for Mary, and She Could Hope Again or check out Matt’s book, Six Days to Sunday, an Easter devotional.

Kids’ Easter Basket Ideas

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Easter baskets

Our Tradition with Easter Baskets

Easter is only a few weeks away, and that means Easter baskets! We have a tradition in our home that we keep every Easter. It’s actually a tradition passed on from my childhood, and that is candy trails. Every Easter, Matt and I prepare four different candy trails, one for each of our kids. Each child lines up behind their starting point and follows their trail, picking up the candy along the way, until they reach the end of their trail. At the end of their trail, they find their Easter basket.

We’ve had lots of creative hiding places over the years—the trunk of the car, outside under the deck, inside a cabinet, in the dishwasher, in a closet, down in the basement, in the dryer, etc. It’s such a fun tradition and one the kids look forward to every year.

Kids’ Daily Journals

Each year, most of us feel the pressure of finding special things for our children’s Easter basket besides just candy. One of the things we recommend are our Kids’ Daily Journals.

The Kids’ Daily Journal is a tool to help your child learn to pray, read, and apply the Bible even at a young age. The Kids’ Daily Journal is perfect for ages 5 to 12 for both non-readers and readers. 

Journal Features:

  • Section for daily prayer: your child will have a chance to write down something they’re thankful for, something they’re confessing, and what they’re praying for
  • Record daily Bible reading: your child will record what they read in the Bible
  • Daily application: you child will draw a picture of what they learned and/or write a few sentences about what they learned.
  • 6 months of journal entry pages
  • Large spacing for young writers
  • Creative drawing space for non-writers
  • Designed for parent-guided journaling for the non-reader or self-guided journaling for the reader.

If you’re looking for a little something special to put in your kids’ baskets this year, be sure to check out our Kids’ Daily Journals!

What else to put in?

What else could go really well with a kids’ journal? You could add any of the products below and help your child build their own morning time basket.

  • Bright colored pens
  • A new Bible
  • Highlighters
  • A book
  • Stickers
  • Book marks
  • Notecards
  • Post-it notes
  • Note cards

For More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post, 12 Ways to Make Easter Special at Home. I wrote this post during Covid, but the ideas are still applicable.

You can also check out Matt’s book, Six Days to Sunday: Turn Setbacks into Comebacks.

When Everything Changed for Mary, and She Could Hope Again

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With Easter this weekend, I decided to pull an excerpt from my husband’s book, Six Days to Sunday. We drop into the scene where Mary has just been to the tomb and realized it’s empty.

Mary’s Sorrow

Mary stands outside and weeps (Jn 20:11). Peter and John go back to the room to report their findings to the others. Mary stays put at the tomb and looks for herself. But when she enters, she sees something Peter and John didn’t see—two angels. “Why are you crying?” they ask.   

“They’ve taken Jesus,” she says.   

She turns and sees a man standing in the entryway of the tomb. “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” he asks.   

She turns back to where the grave clothes are lying. “Friend, if you’ve taken his body, please tell me where you’ve put him, so I can care for his body myself,” she says, thinking the man is the caretaker of the garden cemetery.   

Jesus Calls Her Name

Mary is distraught, looking at the place where she thought she would find Jesus’ body. She’s lost in thought and then hears something so strange, yet so familiar… something she’s heard a hundred times and longed to hear once more, something she thought she would never hear again.   

“Mary,” Jesus says. In an instant, she recognizes his voice. She turns. “Teacher!” she exclaims.  

It’s that moment of shock when the hair stands up on the back of your neck. Your brain sends a rush of emotion and feeling from the back of your brain, down your spine and through your fingertips, and down to your toes.   

the resurrection

Mary has her Hope Restored

Hope was restored. It wasn’t over. It wasn’t a dream. He was alive. He spoke to her. “Don’t touch me just yet. I need to go to the Father. Go back and tell the disciples what I have told you.”   

Mary’s faith comes back. Her heart swells. Her confidence is restored. If she had any doubt about Jesus before, one word sent those doubts and fears fleeing, never to return.   

She runs to the disciples to tell them the news. “He’s alive. Jesus is alive!”  

“What are you talking about? Are you sure you saw him? This can’t be true.” The disciples were stunned in disbelief. How? How in the world is Jesus alive? And then they ask, “Are you sure? How do you know? What did He say to you?”   

“He said just one word. He called my name,” she said.   

Mary has her Faith Restored

The first step to restoring your faith happens when Jesus calls your name. How does he call your name? It’s him calling you in a sunrise. It’s Jesus calling you in the downpour of a rainstorm. Hearing his voice in the coo of a newborn. It’s the laughter of a child, the smile of a man standing with a sign asking for help from a dirty roadside, the touch of a hand, a hug from a friend, the kiss of a loved one. It’s Jesus calling you.

He says, “I know you. I haven’t forgotten you. Of all the people I could be reaching out to, I choose you. I know you lost hope in me, and I know you didn’t understand. You got hurt, and you lost faith. I saw the pain in your eyes and the hurt in your heart. But I’m here. I’m calling you. I’m calling your name because I know you. I know your name, and I am here for you.” 

Our faith is restored when we simply choose to hope once again.

For More Encouragement

If you enjoyed this post, check out When Your Pain Paves the Way for a Miracle, my blog post about Mary that I wrote last year at Easter.