never say never

Happy Valentine's Day,



Never say Never....no this isn't going to be a discussion on how cute and lovable Justin Beiber is (although i admit he is pretty good). Let's chit chat a bit on why we make some defining statements like I'll never buy a minivan, or I'll never eat 5000 reese's pieces again, or man I'll never stay up that late again, whew I'll never drink that many beers again and we see ourselves go out and buy the aforementioned minivan to drive to the store to pick up another kazillion beers to wash down the reese's pieces that too all night to eat and drink..



WHY WHY WHY?

Heck Let's ask Peter, he did it too. Isn't that just like us, to bring someone into our mess in order to feel better about ourselves hahaha....we are a fun messy bunch aren't we? Well we really can learn from our friend Simon Peter. Surely we remember this guy, he was one of the original 12 that heard Jesus say a couple of words "Follow Me" and they did. He is one that was pretty quick to talk and desire to be out front when Jesus was teaching or asking questions for their reply. Let's look at a couple of the conversations.



Matthew 16.....(i'm whistling here........why?.....uh to go get your Bible!) Ok Jesus is in the midst of feeding folks spiritually and physically. I mean on the physical side when a crowd gathers, they get hungry, the disciples look around at each other, shrug their shoulders, find a few loaves, hand over to Jesus, Jesus blesses and feeds everyone until they are full as tics (southern term for eating too much) and they would have leftovers. After one such meal, the boys (disciples) are gathered around he asks a question in the last half of Matthew 16:13...."who do people say the Son of Man is"?

The replies come in and then Jesus asked them point blank, "who do you say that I am" Look at our boy Peter in verse 16 You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus responds with the affirmative and in verse 18 tells Peter....Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

So Peter jumps in and declared..no he just didn't make a statement, Peter declared v33 "Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will."

H Oh there's that word, let's see how this unfolds. Jesus says uh.... yes Peter you will, and as a matter of fact ,tonight before the rooster crows three times, you will deny me. Matthew 26:35 No!" Peter insisted. "Not even if I have to die with you! I will never deny you!" And all the other disciples vowed the same.

jeeeezzzz there's that word again, dang Peter! Well we know what happened don't we? Yep Peter bought the minivan....no that's us...he denied Christ. We can stop here and come up with a bazillion reasons why he denied our Lord, and we can say or make those statements, "man if that would've been me i woulda done __________ " and fill in the blank. But we weren't and before we even go down the path of placing ourselves in a similar scene to apply this event. Let's take a look at John 21.

The scene is amazing. Jesus on the beach with the disciples, he just helped them catch 153 fish,

they come ashore, sharing another meal and Jesus asks Peter 3 times (the number 3 pops up a bunch around Jesus doesn't it?) do you love me? and each time Peter answers yes. I understand the various words used for love in this scene are different, but the focus for me is on what Jesus didn't ask...Jesus didn't ask "Peter why did you run"? He didn't say "I told you so man" Jesus doesn't make him wholler in it by saying "are you sure you love me, you sure was running pretty fast from that servant girl" nope....

Jesus gives him everything we desire each day from each other. GRACE, GRACE, GRACE....Peter learned a ton that day about himself and about who this man named Jesus really is...how about us?

Well i know that there is someone that when He says never it sticks....here are a few.

Hebrews 13:5...For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never forsake you."

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me,

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you.

1 Peter 2:6 As the Scriptures express it, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed."