Do You Love Me?

 Do You Love Me?

               Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer Ministry. The title of the message today is Do You Love me? The Lord is asking this question of all of His children. But, before I get into the meat of this message, I want to read out of John. John 21:1-19 says, 21 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. 6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest  that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

                              I find it interesting that the chapter starts out about fishing. In Matthew 4:18-19 18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. If you notice in John 21:1-6, Once again, what is Jesus doing? Instructing them on how to become true fishermen. He loves to take the natural, and use it to teach spiritual lessons. When they obeyed His voice, they had to call for help. We need each other. PERIOD! We Need to learn to lean on one another. Each of us is unique. Each of us has gifts and talents He has given us. These gifts and talents are as unique as we are. That is the message the Lord was teaching His disciples in this chapter. When you draw nigh unto Him, He will draw all men unto you. He will teach all of us to be fishers of men. He is all about souls. We are His creation. He wants to get back to what He had in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Where He walks and talks with us in the cool of the day. No veil. No separation. No sin. And, if He is all about souls, we should be all about souls.

                  I’ve learned this in my personal walk. In the beginning of my salvation, He showed me that the world is filled with hurting people. Broken people. And, when you realize that, you become sensitive to when He opens the door for you to be a beacon for Him in someone’s life. Walmart is my favorite place to go. I see it as God’s mission field. Especially for the workers of the store. Walmart is known for the abuse of its employees. Also, the abuse from the customer’s that shop there. They shop with the entitlement attitude. No conscience that the employees are human also. So, I go with the, “ I'm gonna rescue a soul for Jesus today,” attitude. Hahahahaha. The cashier’s can’t wait for me to come to their registers, now. Which excites me even more.

          Next, let’s look at verses 9-13 of John 21. What is waiting for the Disciples on the fire. A fish and a loaf of bread. Remember the 5 loaves and 2 fishes that fed 5,000 men + women and children? Remember Jesus said John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Praise God. Exodus 25:21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. Where did Jesus take his blood? To the throne of grace and the mercy seat. That is how we are able to come boldly to make our requests known to God. That is how we obtain God’s wonderful mercy in our lives. What did He tell Moses He wanted there? To Commune with Him. The last supper was called what? Communion. If you go to a mountain top, you will find no food or water there. So, how did Moses survive on the mountain top for 40 days and nights? He ate of the heavenly bread. The bread of Life. He drank the heavenly water. The water of Life. Hallelujah!!!!! So, when they met with Jesus on the shore, He had communion with them! Hallelujah! They had a grand total of 1-5-3 fishes. 100 speaks of completeness. 5 speaks of grace. 3 speaks of the trinity. The complete grace in the triune Godhead.

                        Nothing in the word is per chance. The word of God is by divine inspiration of God. It is the one thing that can connect us to Him. It is our spiritual life stream. It is the tool that helps us become restored in Him. It can bring healing. It can restore us, if we let it.

                     In verses 15-17 of John 21,  I believe Jesus was not just addressing the times Peter rejected His relationship with Jesus. The 3 times He lied. He wanted to restore and heal Peter. He knew the grief that still had Peter's heart in chains. But, He also was giving Peter a message. A great commission so to speak. If you will. He knew Peter loved Him. He knew the third time Peter denied knowing Him, that Peter ran away bitterly crying. You see, Peter went before God to repent. There is no account of Peter going to man to repent of his wrong doing. The grief of it was breaking Peter. The relationship between Peter and Jesus became separated because of the lie. Lying is a sin. Unrepented sin, eternally separates you from God. Peter could not forgive himself. Therefore grief was allowed to stay and fester. Grief became the center in Peter’s heart. Not the Lord. That’s why it says, He could not recognize the Lord. At least until Jesus did something familiar in their relationship. Jesus wanted His relationship with Peter back. So, 3 times He asked Peter if he loved Him. Each time Peter responded with Yes.

                    In John 21: 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest  that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. This is the first time he questions Peter. What did He tell Peter? Feed my lambs. Feed the little ones that I am having to leave behind right now. Take care of those I am leaving behind. Do you notice the choice word right here was lambs? The first time Peter denied the Lord, he lied to a maid. A child. A young girl. Peter I saw how you repented before me. So, I am trusting my little ones in your care now, while I am away. He was forgiving Peter.  This is also our great commission. To extend Christ’ forgiveness to His little ones till He comes to take us home.

             

                        In John 21: 16 says, He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Go to Mark 14: 66-72. It says,  66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. 68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. 69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. 70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. 71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. 72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept. All the maid was doing was making an observation. She wasn’t accusing him. All the second maid said was, “yeah, I know this man. I’ve seen Him with Jesus. “ Yet Peter denied knowing Him still. How does Jesus respond? Feed my sheep. Take care of the one’s I am leaving behind. Extend my redemptive grace to those I am leaving behind. Show them what I am showing you. That My Love is inescapable. Nothing can separate us. Romans 8:35-39 says, 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So you see, He restored His relationship with Peter. And, told him to extend that same restoration message to His sheep He was leaving behind. He commands all of us to do the same thing. Extend that same restorative message to others.

           In John 21: 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. This third time Jesus addressed where Peter’s grief came in. Jesus didn’t just want to forgive. He didn’t just want to restore. He wanted to make Peter whole! The Spirit of Grief and self condemnation had to go if Peter was to go on with Jesus. So, Jesus addressed this. The only way we can be set free of something like addictions, abuse, etc…. Is to face it head on. We can’t get free if we are sweeping it under the rug of denial. SoJesus is helping Peter face the grief in his choice to deny his even knowing of Him. Much less, having a relationship with Him. How many times have we denied having a relationship with the living God. Have you done like Peter? Have you run away weeping before God. Or have you done like Judas, and wept before man. Remember, the Lord saves our tears in a bottle. At Judgment Day , He will take those same tears in His bottle and pass judgment over them. Why? Because our tears are what makes up the streams that make glad in the city of God. Psalm 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. Hallelujah! So, Jesus was telling Peter to let Him have those tears that were meant to accuse him. Let Him redeem them. Remove the pain of the memory of those bad choices. Let Him Restore the right relationship between Him and Peter. Peter Do You Love Me? Peter Do You Know How Much I Love You? Will you take care of my little lambs and sheep? Show them all the love, grace, mercy, and healing I have shown you?

              He is asking that of all of us. Do you love Me? Do you know how much I love you? Are you willing to feed my lambs and sheep? Those I’ve had to leave behind. Will you care for them. Will you look past the smoke screen they put out there to hide what is really going on in their brokenness. You see my sheep are scattered and hurting. Some are cast down. Some are wounded. Some have been isolated and are left to be wolf bait. Some have a hireling for a shepherd. They all need to be corralled in to My pasture. Where I can Heal and restore them. Where I can deliver them from all plague and pestilence. 

                       Isaiah 61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

                       If you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ right now, you are one of the little lambs Jesus is talking about. I want to extend His beautiful hand of mercy and grace towards you. I want to be the one to tell you how great His love is for you. That there is nothing you have done that is unforgivable for Him. That He is standing at the door of your heart and knocking. Waiting for you to open it and let Him come in to change your life around. To instruct you in His righteousness. To shine his love, light, and life in your deep, dark 

tunnel. Won’t you pray with me right now? Please repeat after me. 

                           Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

             Now, for those of you who have prayed for His salvation, let me welcome you to the family of God. Let me let you know that He is throwing the biggest party in heaven over your decision right now. Everyone in heaven and including me are jumping up and down with sheer joy over your decision right now. 

             For those of you who have tuned in that are already saved. But, have made some bad choices, and like Peter, grief has control over your heart and mind. That spirit of grief has told you that you can never return to that relationship you once had with the LORD. Let me tell you that this is a pure lie from hell!!! That when you truly repent before God, He buries your sin in the sea of forgetfulness. And, He NEVER REMEMBERS IT AGAIN!! So, I ask you to believe in God with me right now. To truly repent before the LORD your God. Then, be still and let him wash all of that away. Let Him redeem your heart and mind again. Let Him heal the wound of the memory of it. Let us pray together.

           Lord Jesus, I come before you. Still a sinner in desperate need of a Savior. I am desperate for you Lord Jesus. Desperate to find my way back to the relationship we once had. I thank you for forgiving me. Now, I forgive myself. Help me to forgive myself by receiving your healing power over my mind, heart, and emotions. Thank you for making me whole again. And Jesus, I do love you. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.