Jesus’ Restoration Love
- Grace Full Valley Ministries
- Dec 18, 2024
- 2 min read
So I won this Bible last Saturday at the vendor fair in Caddo…a last minute entry as I was walking out to leave.
I opened it up tonight and this section about “The Ministry of Pancakes” stopped me. As I read it, it ends with the Word God gave me while sitting at the tent service at the women’s prison a year ago.
As I re-read the scriptures another time, it spoke to me so differently tonight and has moved me nearly to tears.
As I re-read this passage I have read so many times, I saw for the first time that Jesus was speaking to Simon (Peter’s given name before Jesus changed it to Peter, which meant The Rock”. This passage is also titled Jesus’ Threefold Restoration of Peter. This is because a few chapters back, Peter denied knowing Christ three times, just as Jesus had predicted. And falling into this prediction rocked Peter to his core…he was so grieved by what he did. So this passage when Jesus calls him Simon, he is speaking to the person that denied him. This also shows that even in Peter’s sin, Jesus sought him out, and gave him the opportunity for restoration. And each time he asked Simon if he loved him & Simon answered yes, Jesus called him to “feed his lambs or sheep”, which means minister to His people.
So if you are reading this and find yourself feeling like I have been or maybe like Simon was…discouraged, shameful, guilty, wrecked by the decisions you’ve made that may reflect a denial of Christ…let this reminder from God heal your heart and remove the powerful hold the devil has over your mind.
God wants us living a life free from all of those things that cause us to live in shame, guilt, bitterness, & the dark. He is giving you the opportunity for restoration…
Restoration means making something better than it was before. Jesus wants to make you better than you were before.
He loves you and will use mistakes or hurt for good. He will turn your mess into a message. He will work through you to meet others in your same situation to help break them free.
Hear Him asking you if you love Him… let him restore and redeem you.
❤️🙌🐑✝️
“When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? ”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”
“Feed my lambs,” he told him. A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me? ”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”
“Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me? ”
Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me? ” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.”
John 21:15-17 CSB
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