Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start. A new day to rise and try again.

A new day to brush off the dust of yesterday’s poor decisions and move like a redeemed child of the risen king.

A new day to move ahead with destiny and purpose leaving every poor decision behind you.

In my last post, I wrote about Peter’s Betrayal.

Peter messed up bad. He denied his Lord not once, not twice, but three times. He flat out denied his relationship with Jesus. And then the rooster crowed and he snapped back into reality. He is filled with regret.

I wonder if in the hours or days following Jesus’s crucifixion , he remembered that Jesus had told him that He was praying for his restoration. In his grief, did he remember the promise? The promise that even though satan tried to sift him, Jesus’s prayers had him covered. The comeback story was already in the works.

At the  last supper when Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times, he also told him that he was praying for his restoration too.

Jesus told him that he prayed for his faith. He also told him that when he turned back, he should go and encourage his brothers. Jesus was telling Peter that He has been praying for Peter to be strong and even when he messes up, he is still called to strengthen his brothers, to encourage them, to be the strong one.
You see even though all knowing Jesus knew His dear friend and faithful disciple would temporarily deny his identity, He was praying for Him. He was battling in the spiritual realm for Peter’s soul.

The way Jesus restores Peter is so personal and so intentional that it gives hope to all of us who have temporarily fallen.

On the day of Jesus’s resurrection, He is already summoning Peter. He wants to be sure that Peter knows he is still called and still chosen.

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and tells her to go tell the disciples and just in case there may be any doubt in Peter’s mind if the Lord meant him too, Jesus mentions him by name.

He called him by name. And not just any name, but the new name that Jesus gave to him. He is showing that Peter’s identity in Christ still stands. It has not been lost.

Peter hears that the Lord has risen and hope arises for the first time since Friday night. He races to the tomb with John. John beats him there, but Peter goes straight into the tomb searching for Jesus while John was more cautious and waited outside.
Jesus is not there.

Dismayed Peter returns to his old life of fishing along with several other disciples. And Jesus meets them right where they are!

They have all gone straight back to their old life. They think that their work for Jesus is over. Boy are they wrong.

Spreading the gospel has just begun, and these men will be the founders of the Church of Jesus Christ.

But here they are fishing…. but Jesus knows their language! Fish!

Jesus knows yours too. And He will knock on the door of your heart often in ways that are personal to you.

When Peter first met Jesus, he had fished all night with no luck. No fish were caught. He cleaned up his boat and it was morning. There simply were no fish. Jesus came and told him to cast his net on the other side, and Peter obeyed and caught so many fish that he needed help to haul them all in.

Jesus now in his resurrected form, performs the same miracle that brought Peter and Him together. He comes to the shore and they don’t recognize Him at first.

Then, Jesus tells Peter and the fishermen to cast their net on the other side. He speaks to them in a language they will understand. Repeats a personal miracle that has meaning. This is how he called them originally and He is about to remind them of the call on their life and make sure they know it still stands!


Immediately, based on the miracle that was a repeat of their initial meeting three years earlier, they recognize their Lord. And Simon Peter is soooo excited that he dives off the boat and swims to Jesus while the rest of the disciples bring the boat to shore.

Just as he had raced into the empty tomb, he now swam to his Lord.

He was getting a second chance and I believe he knew it. Even though Peter and Jesus haven’t talked yet, Jesus was drawing Peter to Himself using a love language special to Peter. He asked for him by his special name that Jesus gave him and His Lord appeared and repeated the miracle from the day they met.

Jesus is a wooer of hearts. He loves you immensely, and He desires to speak to you in a way that you will recognize His voice and dive straight into the waters to talk with Him.

My next post will be about the special conversation that Peter and Jesus have. Wow, do we serve an amazing Lord who intimately seeks each of us with a powerful love!

Dear Heavenly Father,
You continue to amaze me with Your ways. They are so beautiful. Your love is radical. You are quick to forgive and  slow to anger. You are patient and kind. You continually seek out Your people with language and miracles that we will just KNOW its You! Lord, continue to speak to us in ways that we will recognize. Let our ears be attuned to the sound of Your voice.

In Jesus’s name, Amen..

Blessings!
Vanessa Lynn