Live Free with Josh Howerton - From Failure to Redemption | Ep. 295 | Friday, March 22, 2024

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Have you ever failed so badly that recovery seemed impossible? The apostle Peter experienced that, too. Instead of hiding in shame, Peter ran to Jesus. Jesus still bore the marks of suffering and death, but His resurrection brought grace and forgiveness to Peter. No matter what you have done, there is hope. Jesus is waiting for you to run to Him. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive. You know, Easter is just a week away, and we are walking through the final week of Jesus' life as written by his closest friend John. We were introduced in Chapter 13 to that time in the upstairs room where Peter begins to brag about his devotion to Jesus. He tells Jesus, I would die for you. To which Jesus responds, well, here's the truth. Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will have denied even knowing me, and you'll do it not just once, not just twice? You go do it three times. And that's the way it all went down. So we've been looking on how Peter resurfaced to become the leader he becomes. I mean, how do you recover from failure

like that? So we jumped over to Matthew's account of the story, and we saw one of the most important things that Peter does. The first thing he does right is he owned his stuff. He admitted his failure, he humbles himself, he cries over his sin and genuine brokenness. You might remember how some of the first words out of Jesus' mouth that the disciples would hear was blessed or the broken, that the realization of spiritual poverty is the beginning of a deeply fulfilling and blessed life. Then we read between the lines a little bit yesterday, and we talked about how Peter also stayed in the group. He stayed in the group and how it's crucial for all of us when we fall,

not to isolate ourselves out of embarrassment or shame, but to stay connected, to practice confession and vulnerability, knowing that we're all in the same boat. And there's one more thing that Peter does right. He dives in and swims to Jesus. So it's after the crucifixion of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus. Peter's in the fishing boat with his friends. He's in the group.

You can read all about it in John, Chapter 21. So Peter is floating in this boat with his buddies about like 100 yards off the shore. It's around sunrise, and they can see this dimly lit figure standing on the shore, building a breakfast fire. And the guy on the beach shouts out to them, Hey, you guys caught any fish? Not a great question, asked fishermen, especially when they haven't caught any fish.

And they say, uh, nope. He says, well, throw your net on the right side of the boat. Well, they do. And their nets get so full they begin to break. And John remembers the same thing happening three years prior, and he yells, it's the Lord. And before he can even get the word Lord out, Peter jumps overboard and starts swimming toward Jesus.

And in jumping out of that boat, I think he was saying, man, I have thought about this long enough. I'm tired of feeling like this. I'm cold. I'm hungry. I'm miserable to my self-perceived uselessness. I'm ready to let go of my failures. I want a second chance.

I'm ready to leave my past behind and swim to Jesus. I got the privilege a few years ago of standing in that very spot on the Sea of Galilee, where they say this all took place. And as I stood there, ankle deep in that water, I got to be honest, I was an absolute wreck. I could imagine Peter standing there, chest heaving from swimming so frantically, water dripping from his hair and his beard, standing there now by another charcoal fire, looking through the same kind of smoke. But this time, blocking eyes with forgiveness. Let me remind you just whose eyes Peter was looking into.

Peter was looking into the same eyes of the friend he had betrayed just a few days earlier. He was looking into the eyes of a man whose forehead still bore the puncture marks from a crown of thorns. Peter was looking into the eyes of a man whose hands and feet still bore reminders of the spikes that held him to a Roman cross. Peter was looking into the eyes of the one who had died as a substitute for his sins and his failure, and on this beach, on this new day, through this new fire, he was looking into the hope-filled eyes of the resurrected Jesus. And as they lock eyes, Jesus asked him, Peter, Do you love me?

Peter responds, you know, you know, I love you. Now, you know how many times Jesus ask him that question, right? Yep, three times. Same number of times he denied Jesus around that other fire. There's different Greek words for the word love. The first time Jesus says, do you love me, he uses the word agape, which is a godlike lay down your life sacrificial kind of love. Peter comes back with a response.

He says, yes, you know I love you, but he uses the word phileo, which is a brotherly kind of love. And I love the honesty of his response. In fact, I love the humility of this response. It's like he's saying, Lord, I'm not going to make that same boastful claim again. I'm not capable of that kind of love yet. but I will love you like a brother. I will love you with all I got,

imperfect as it might be, but yes, you know, I love you, Lord. And Jesus says, well, if you love me, I want to use you to change this world. Peter, you might have flamed out and failed, but I died and rose that those failures could be forgotten. And Peter, I still believe in you.

And you know what those words Peter resurfaced? And this colossal failure became one of the greatest success stories in history. With incredible courage and humility, he helped launch the Church of Jesus Christ and spread it around the world. This guy who thought that God was through with him went on to become one of the biggest difference makers, whoever walked this planet. Before we end today, I want you to check out this scripture. 1 Peter 1.3 and 4 says, praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you. Did you catch you wrote that? Yeah, an old fisherman named Peter, who dove in and swam to Jesus, who looked into the eyes of forgiveness, looked into the eyes of mercy, into the eyes of the God of second chances. And like me, and like so many of you, he looked into the eyes of hope. Gang, there really is hope for everyone. So when you fail, own your stuff, be broken over your sin.

Stay in the group, never let shame isolate you, and dive in and swim to Jesus. You'll find him on the shore, ready to restore you too. Man, I hope you have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services. on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit lakepoint.com. Church slash daily drive.