Devotional:

“After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”” — John 21:1-19

I know you weren’t expecting another devotional in your inbox this morning, but surprise! I didn’t want to leave this series unfinished. Jesus’s last miracle He performed on earth took place when He appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee after His resurrection and it should look very familiar to us. Remember when Jesus called His first disciples to follow Him in day seven’s devotional? After a long night of fishing and catching nothing, He filled their nets with fish. So here He is again, back on the shores of Galilee, where seven of His disciples are in the same spot after fishing all night and catching nothing.

Two of the disciples are unnamed in this passage and we can speculate who they might have been, but there are no details about who they were. We don’t even know if Nathaniel and Thomas were even fishermen or if they had former trades before meeting Jesus. But Peter, Nathaniel, Thomas, James and John and two others were there that morning. And remember, Peter, James and John were also there three years before when Jesus first approached them and filled their nets.

I titled today’s devotional “Now What?” because, coming off of 40 days of Lent with intentional fasting and prayer, sometimes, when it is all said and done, we feel exactly that: “Now what?” The days leading up to Easter are filled with anticipation and excitement, but when we all go home from church that Sunday afternoon, finish our Easter dinners and Easter egg hunts with our families and wake up the next morning, it’s Monday. It’s just another Monday. Soon we forget the excitement of the resurrection; we get lost in our routines and run circles around town, grinding out our daily schedules.

Remember that feeling when you were 13 and summer camp ended…and it felt like the whole world might end with it? Multiply that feeling by about a trillion. That is how the disciples felt when Jesus left them. He had constantly been there for three years, by their sides, teaching and mentoring them. Being in His presence was indescribable. They had no idea how to process what happened or how to keep going and continue the ministry without Him. They felt defeated and abandoned because although Jesus said it a thousand times, they still did not understand what happened and why. They were filled with sadness and confusion. Some even went into hiding, fearing for their safety. They believed Jesus was the Messiah and they followed Him for three years. Now, they didn’t know what to believe.

So many times, Jesus repeatedly said He would be put to death by His enemies and then raised back to life in three days to fulfill God’s promise to His children. And He promised He would send them something even better than Him, a Helper, the Holy Spirit. But they were so paralyzed with fear that they had forgotten everything He told them. They were lost and completely hopeless without the visible and tangible Savior by their side. But just like He said He would, Jesus did come back. He had to because they still didn’t get it! And for 40 days after His death and resurrection, He continued to teach and mentor them, so that they could get up out of their fear and sadness and continue what they were called to do.

That morning, after Jesus filled their nets with fish again, He invited them to sit and have breakfast on the shore. He had built a charcoal fire and laid out bread and fish for them. Don’t miss the importance of the charcoal fire. This is symbolic and on purpose. The only other account of a charcoal fire in the New Testament was the night of Jesus’s arrest and trial. Jesus intentionally made a fire with charcoal on the beach that morning because He had unfinished business with Peter.

Peter looked at the charcoal fire and everything came rushing back. The arrest, the trial and all three of Peter’s denials. How could Jesus even look at him, much less invite him to sit and eat breakfast as His table? How could Jesus forgive Peter for denying knowing Him three times?

They all sat and ate. And when they finished, Jesus turned His attention to Peter. He asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter knew what Jesus was doing and immediately felt the weight of the number three. But as Jesus continued, that weight became lighter because he realized Jesus had forgiven him. Not only that, but Jesus was commissioning him to go out and continue where He left off. Jesus said feed my sheep and then Jesus told Peter that the day would come when he too would be arrested, tried and stretched out on a cross, just like Jesus.

Although the Bible doesn’t give an account of Peter’s death, history tells us that Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to be put to death like his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fear can cause us to do and say really crazy things. Things we swore we would never do or say. Things we never thought imaginable. Peter knew that feeling and carried that weight, but Jesus did not condemn, reprimand or make an example of him. Instead, He commissioned him. We can all relate to Peter in some way. And just like Jesus forgave Peter and sent him out to continue preaching the gospel, He wants to forgive us, erase all of our fears and failures and use us for His kingdom and glory.

Fear can also paralyze us. After Jesus was crucified, the disciples were scared. They were afraid of the unknown and that fear paralyzed them into sliding right back into their safe, comfortable, routine lives, abandoning all that Jesus had prepared them for over the last three years. Their love for Jesus was big, but their faith in the invisible was small, but Jesus didn’t give up on them. He knew they had what it took to continue the ministry. That’s why He chose them. He loved them so much that He came back and gave them the visible proof they needed to continue. 

So how do we guard against those times when our fear takes control and our faith dwindles because of the scary and unknown things going on in our lives?

Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Faith and fear cannot coexist. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The disciples had a hard time believing the promises of Jesus because they could no longer see Him and that made their faith weak. That is when fear took hold, drawing them back into a world of routine, isolation and sadness. How many times have you let fear of the unknown draw you into isolation, depression, busyness or anger? 

Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
As Christians, we must diligently and continuously seek to grow our faith, so that fear does not take control of our lives. We do that through studying God’s Word, praying and listening to God and worshiping and growing our faith with other believers.

Joining a disciple group is an essential part of our faith journey for so many reasons; spiritual growth, personal growth, emotional support, accountability…we weren’t made to walk out our faith alone! Jesus could have spent those three years alone and accomplished all the same things because He was all-perfect, all-powerful and all-knowing. There was nothing too big for Him and honestly, the disciples probably slowed Him down, but He loved them. He longed for community and fellowship and He knew the value of having the support of His people and that is how God created us to be. Not to do any of this alone, but to be in a community of believers. Do not isolate yourself from your brothers and sisters in Christ. That is what the Enemy wants. Isolation leads to darkness and gross things grow in the dark.

We must also make it a point to spend time alone with Jesus. A time that is more valuable than anything else on our calendars and time we refuse to remove from our schedules. Remember when Jesus went to remote places to spend time with His Heavenly Father? He needed it. He craved it. He couldn’t go on without it. If Jesus needed that in all His perfection and power, what makes us think we can go without it for even a day? I don’t know about you, but my day goes way better when I make time for Jesus. Make it your priority every day. Do not allow Satan to get a foothold because you got too busy or ran out of time. Because before you know it, weeks and even months will go by and the Enemy uses our distance from God to grow fear and weaken faith.

Just as it says in Philippians 4:19, we believe God will supply every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. We stand firm in the knowledge of Psalm 32:8 that God will instruct us and teach us the way we should go and He will counsel us with His eye upon us. And we will suffer pain, loss and persecution along the way, but instead of sitting in our suffering, allowing it to take over our lives, Romans 5:3-5 says, “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

God understands your weaknesses, struggles, sorrows and fears, but His desire is not for you to continue to let those things paralyze you. He wants to pick you up, dust you off and point you in the right direction. His direction. When you start to trust in the promise that He is always with you and will never fail you, you will begin to feel and see Him in a new and powerful way.

The Church of Eleven22, may you have the courage to stand up and be ruled by faith, not fear. May you sit in the knowledge of God’s promises instead of sitting in the weight of your worries and your sufferings. And may you bear fruit in all seasons of life, allowing God’s light to shine throughout every word you say and everything you do. Amen.