John 21:7-9 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Master!”
When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren't far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it. The Message
Peter stands as the perfect example of a person who desperately wanted to have a deep relationship with Jesus but just seemed to constantly get in his own way of success. Peter walked and talked daily with Jesus hearing every teaching that flowed from the lips of The Great Teacher, but yet still stumbled and fell rather consistently. Some would even say that when Peter messed up; HE REALLY MESSED UP, but yet his love for the Savior caused Him to jump out of his fishing boat and swim to the shore to see whom he THOUGHT was Jesus. Peter's heart was in the right place; it was his head that was the problem!
Peter also had some of the most awesome moments any Christian could hope for with Jesus! He walked on a stormy sea with Jesus and when Peter took his eyes of the Savior and went down, he was immediately lifted up out of the sea and stood beside Jesus on that same turbulent sea he just nearly drowned in. HE WALKED ON WATER WITH JESUS!! Can you imagine that?!?! But yet, he still continued to make very poor choices.
Even with all of the stupid things Peter did, no matter that he denied Christ three times; regardless of the fact that he was ambitious, erratic, often careless and spoke before he thought; Jesus NEVER gave up on Him and NEVER stopped drawing Him closer to Him. Read the remainder of John 21 to see how Jesus asked Peter about his love for Him and you will see that Jesus saw Peter's heart and loved it and had a plan to use Peter in taking the Gospel to the world!
How about you? Are you your own worst enemy in your relationship with Jesus? If so, you are in good company with many, many people. The key that shows you still are in a relationship with Jesus is the mere fact you hear the Holy Spirit telling you that you messed up! One Christian writer once said that the closer we come to the glory of our Savior, the worse we will look to ourselves in the light of His love.
When we review ourselves in the light of glory there is no doubt every little blemish will stand out and we will reflect on how poorly we are doing in our relationship with Jesus. That recognition is the Holy Spirit letting you know that there is still work to be done. It also means that God has not given up on you! Just a little more polishing and then we too will shine one day in a glory like that of Jesus as we stand literally beside Him as He shares with us how He reached down many times and pulled us up out of the sea of sinfulness and self that we almost drowned in.
Don't spend your time reflecting on how poorly you are doing in your ongoing relationship with Jesus. Reflect on the areas that are shown to you by the Holy Spirit and then release them to Jesus asking for His power to stop your trend of doing whatever has been revealed. Also, ask Him to have the Holy Spirit prod you BEFORE you do it so you become aware of the situations that lead to the issue. Soon, you will find as you open your heart to the prompting of God, that you are walking a little more upright and making even more progress in your Christian journey.
When you start to feel like you are just constantly failing and majorly messing up or letting God down; remember you brother Peter. God never gave up on Him and He will never give up on you! He will continue to show you areas in which you are needing to grow; don't fixate on how bad you are doing, fixate on the fact that Jesus can solve this and He loved you enough to bring it to your awareness!! God loves you even though you are messed up and generally do stupid things! I am grateful for that and that He does not leave me there; without that, I would be lost!!
Remember: God's Got This!!!!!!
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