Hey, Can I share something with you that God showed me a few days ago? I was in my car driving and I have an audio Bible randomly mixed into my music play list so that every so often I'll get a different chapter come on. After jamming to some solid tunes John 21 came on through the speakers. Not sure if you'll know what I mean when I say this but there's times when the Bible comes on and of course it's always awesome and I learn stacks from it - then theres these 'other' times... It will come on and it's like my whole world slows down, everything else around fades and my focus becomes pinpoint and I'm hanging off every word said. I know it's God saying to me "I've got something really important for you so listen up". It doesn't happen all the time but when it does I value it so much. So here's the deal, John 21 came on and its the story of the disciples out fishing after Jesus had died. To give you a little bit of a back story, Jesus had been crucified and died and the disciples were all pretty sad and discouraged by it all.
They started to question whether any of this was worth it anymore now that Jesus wasn't here. They had feelings of grief, sadness, loneliness, loss, anger, regret and shame piled on them by their enemy the Devil. So the disciples decided it's probably best we go back to doing what we were good at before Jesus came along - fishing. At least they knew that fishing worked and they could make a humble living from doing it and just slide off into the shadows and live a quiet life. Sadly for them, the fish weren't on their side that night and were all having a big party on the other side of the lake. So the disciples of Jesus spent the whole night slaving away with heavy nets in the cold and the dark and caught absolutely nothing at all. Imagine for a second how these guys would have felt. Complete failures I'd say. Their Savior and friend was dead, they felt alone and abandoned and they couldn't even get the one thing they thought they were good at to work. OK, now here's the good bit. As they're nearing the shore they hear a voice call out "Friends, have you caught any fish?" The disciples answer despondently "No....". The voice calls out again "Throw your nets on the other side of the boat and you'll catch some!" The disciples grumble and think to themselves.. "who does this guy think He is? Were seasoned fishermen and we know what were doing..." But their curiosity and that still small voice saying "go on... give it a try... one more time on the other side..." gets the better of them.
They throw in the nets and little do they know the guy on the beach is the One who made every single fish this planet contains and they listen to His every command. Party relocation. Now the fish party is right there, on that side of the boat. The disciples first feel a few tugs in their net, then a surge and then it feels like they've caught Leviathan himself! They put every single ounce of strength into pulling up the nets into the boat but its simply impossible. The sheer number of fish just can't be brought up above the surface, the only answer is to tow the boat and the nets back to shore. Immediately they knew the signature of this handiwork, it could only be the Master. It could ONLY be Jesus. They were so discouraged and exhausted from working hard all night long and getting nothing yet now their boats lay on the sand with nets full of thousands of wriggling fish flapping in the gentle waves. Now here's the bit that brought tears to my eyes. They land on the beach, amazed and dumbfounded at how their morning had now worked out thanks to Jesus and this is what He greets them with. A warm glowing fire, some bread and fish already being cooked. Just stop for a second and think about that. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and every single living thing has just cooked you breakfast. Breakfast made by Jesus, the King of all Kings - the Lord of all Lords.
He knew exactly how the disciples would feel - tired, hungry, lonely, afraid and worried for their future. Jesus tells them to sit and eat and just relax. Enjoy His and each others company and rest. Seriously, How good is Jesus? What I wanna say is this. That same Jesus that was there for the disciples is there for you too. He cares about every single little detail of your life. Your struggles, your worries, your fears, your sickness, your pain and your loss. There's not a single thing about you and your life that Jesus doesn't have immense value and care for. He wants you to trust in Him despite not being able to see ahead because He holds your future in His strong nail pierced hands. You see faith is just that - trusting in what you don't know and can't see as Proverbs 3:5-6 says. If you had it all mapped out then it just isn't faith. Lastly I wanna share a verse written by a guy who really knew what he was talking about. He was one of the guys that night who felt lonely, sad, worried and discouraged yet the very next morning he shared what I'd say was the best breakfast he'd ever had in his life with the King of all Kings.
His name was Peter and later he wrote 1 Peter 5:7 "Throw all your cares on Jesus because He cares for you". Peter knew first hand how much Jesus cared for Him and Jesus cares in exactly that same way for you too. He wants to help you in everything you do. You are never a failure in His eyes. You are never too dirty. You are never too lost. You are never too far gone. You are never forgotten. You are only a perfect target for His amazing love, grace, mercy, restoration and redemption. Call out to Him and He will be with you and save you. He loves you deeply.
They started to question whether any of this was worth it anymore now that Jesus wasn't here. They had feelings of grief, sadness, loneliness, loss, anger, regret and shame piled on them by their enemy the Devil. So the disciples decided it's probably best we go back to doing what we were good at before Jesus came along - fishing. At least they knew that fishing worked and they could make a humble living from doing it and just slide off into the shadows and live a quiet life. Sadly for them, the fish weren't on their side that night and were all having a big party on the other side of the lake. So the disciples of Jesus spent the whole night slaving away with heavy nets in the cold and the dark and caught absolutely nothing at all. Imagine for a second how these guys would have felt. Complete failures I'd say. Their Savior and friend was dead, they felt alone and abandoned and they couldn't even get the one thing they thought they were good at to work. OK, now here's the good bit. As they're nearing the shore they hear a voice call out "Friends, have you caught any fish?" The disciples answer despondently "No....". The voice calls out again "Throw your nets on the other side of the boat and you'll catch some!" The disciples grumble and think to themselves.. "who does this guy think He is? Were seasoned fishermen and we know what were doing..." But their curiosity and that still small voice saying "go on... give it a try... one more time on the other side..." gets the better of them.
They throw in the nets and little do they know the guy on the beach is the One who made every single fish this planet contains and they listen to His every command. Party relocation. Now the fish party is right there, on that side of the boat. The disciples first feel a few tugs in their net, then a surge and then it feels like they've caught Leviathan himself! They put every single ounce of strength into pulling up the nets into the boat but its simply impossible. The sheer number of fish just can't be brought up above the surface, the only answer is to tow the boat and the nets back to shore. Immediately they knew the signature of this handiwork, it could only be the Master. It could ONLY be Jesus. They were so discouraged and exhausted from working hard all night long and getting nothing yet now their boats lay on the sand with nets full of thousands of wriggling fish flapping in the gentle waves. Now here's the bit that brought tears to my eyes. They land on the beach, amazed and dumbfounded at how their morning had now worked out thanks to Jesus and this is what He greets them with. A warm glowing fire, some bread and fish already being cooked. Just stop for a second and think about that. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and every single living thing has just cooked you breakfast. Breakfast made by Jesus, the King of all Kings - the Lord of all Lords.
He knew exactly how the disciples would feel - tired, hungry, lonely, afraid and worried for their future. Jesus tells them to sit and eat and just relax. Enjoy His and each others company and rest. Seriously, How good is Jesus? What I wanna say is this. That same Jesus that was there for the disciples is there for you too. He cares about every single little detail of your life. Your struggles, your worries, your fears, your sickness, your pain and your loss. There's not a single thing about you and your life that Jesus doesn't have immense value and care for. He wants you to trust in Him despite not being able to see ahead because He holds your future in His strong nail pierced hands. You see faith is just that - trusting in what you don't know and can't see as Proverbs 3:5-6 says. If you had it all mapped out then it just isn't faith. Lastly I wanna share a verse written by a guy who really knew what he was talking about. He was one of the guys that night who felt lonely, sad, worried and discouraged yet the very next morning he shared what I'd say was the best breakfast he'd ever had in his life with the King of all Kings.
His name was Peter and later he wrote 1 Peter 5:7 "Throw all your cares on Jesus because He cares for you". Peter knew first hand how much Jesus cared for Him and Jesus cares in exactly that same way for you too. He wants to help you in everything you do. You are never a failure in His eyes. You are never too dirty. You are never too lost. You are never too far gone. You are never forgotten. You are only a perfect target for His amazing love, grace, mercy, restoration and redemption. Call out to Him and He will be with you and save you. He loves you deeply.
