Sunday, March 31, 2013

And Peter




I know many of you are preparing to celebrate the gift that is Resurrection Sunday this morning...

But there are some of you who have no desire to celebrate Easter today.

Or maybe you would like to celebrate this glorious day, but you feel too far gone. The space between you and Jesus is as vast as the sea. Too much sorrow. Too much heartache. Too much sin.

Or maybe there are some of you who just feel that there is no way that a Holy God could love a girl like me.....

This post is for you beautiful friend.

Read this...

"But He said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples- and Peter- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you." - Mark 16:6-7

There are two words here for you this morning.

And Peter.

After everything. The betrayal. The denials. Three times Peter denied Jesus. After all the wrong doing and after all of the falling short and all of the everything that just wasn't right at all...

Jesus knew that Peter would be feeling less than. And that He would be feeling really worthless.

I mean. Here the stone has rolled away. The resurrection has happened. Jesus is alive.

And Peter is going to miss the miracle because of the shame of his past mistakes.

But God wanted to make sure He didn't miss it.

He made sure by actually calling for Peter by name....

The scriptures tell us in Mark 16:7 these words...

But go, tell His disciples- and Peter.

This is one of the many miracles that happened on Easter Sunday so many years ago.

The stone was rolled away.

He is risen.

The guards never heard a thing. 

The angels appeared. 

The women arrived first.

The angel spoke and gave directions.

A request was made for Peter, whom they specifically called by name, to hear the news about the miracles.

The one who had denied Jesus. The one who had betrayed Him.

Jesus wanted Him to know about all of this right away.

Why?

Because He loved Peter. Because He was forgiven. Because He wanted Him to know these things. Because He wanted to reassure him and reach out to Him and let Peter know that despite all of it....

Jesus still loved Peter.

And He still loves you.

He walked through that first Easter Sunday for all of us. Not just for the ones who claim to be perfect.
Or the ones who have been raised up in the church all of their life or whatever it may be...

Sweet friend, the work of the cross, the suffering and the glory of it all- is for every, single one of us.

Today, while you are trying to decide if this post may be the Father gently wooing you unto Himself, I want to ask you if you would just repeat these two little words over and over again to yourself today.

And Peter.

And Peter.

And Peter.

He didn't leave Peter out of the miracle.

He doesn't want to leave you out either. There are miracles He wants to do in your life.

And sometimes we know this truth but we just need to be reminded...

I want to encourage you to change Peter's name to your own and repeat this to yourself today over and over again. Anytime any negative thoughts try to fill your heart, just crush those thoughts by saying these two little words...

And Jane.

And Charity.

And Angela.

And Robin.

And Paige.

And Jill.

And Edie.

And Kim.

And Macey.

And Starr.

And Betty.

And Sheral.

And Di'Anna.

And Misty.

And Jenny.

And Sarah.

And Ashley.

And Bridgette.

And Carole.

And Katie.

And Cherish.

And Rachel.

And KK.

And Bevy.

And Nancy.

And Claritza.

And Mel.

And Lizzy.

And Jennine.

And Maria.

And Donna.

And Andrea.

And Jaimeson.

And Jacki.

And Lissa.

And Hastings.

And Jennifer.

And Jenny Beth.

And Michelle

And Sherri.

And Cara.

And JuJu.

And Maggie.

And Vickie.

And Karen.

And Lara.

And Emily.

And Julie.

And Rebecca.

And Ann.

And Amy.

And Danielle.

And Elayne.

And then call on His name....

Because the same God who rolled the stone away over 2,000 years ago is here with us now and has rolled away every sin so that we could walk in forgiveness and love and hope and joy and grace and peace and the freedom to live life and life more abundantly.

Happy Easter to you beautiful friends. 

Whether you are worshiping Him from the pew of a beautiful church or worshiping Him alone in your own home or wondering how to worship Him at all.

Please know this....

He loves you so.

"They shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares His own son who serves him." Malachi 3:17


8 comments:

Maria said...

And Sibi.

Happy Easter, beautiful! May the amazing grace of our Lord and Savior wash over you today as you celebrate with your sweet family. Happy Easter. He is risen indeed.

Love, Maria

KK said...

Dearest Sibi, After all the wonderful "craziness" of Easter morning was over I decided to spend sometime with the Lord and the first place I went was your blog. So imagine how excited I was to see MY NAME in today's post. Wow, my sweet friend, just WOW. You definitely reach me each and every time I hear or see or read your inspiring words. He speaks through you. And you are such a sweet, sweet blessing and encouragement. I love you, dear friend! Happy Easter! He is risen, indeed!!! XO, KK PS--When I saw the lovely picture of your mother at the top of that post, my heart jumped inside my chest. I couldn't even read the whole post at first. I just had to scroll down to the bottom to see how things "ended." I was scrolling with bated breath, just hoping that it ended in a hug between two dear ladies! I am soooo very thrilled that you two have connected. I just know Jesus is smiling down on you both and weeping real tears of love and joy. Enjoy his blessings, each and every one of them!

Cheryl said...

...and Cheryl. Your post today was important. I am having a bit of a stand off with God. It doesn't feel good, but it has been a long time coming. I am sure He is patiently waiting for me. I will get there. I know I will.

Nancy said...

And Nancy
And Sibi
So reached again by you today. He is Risen.
Love you always
Nancy

{A*very} Blessed Life said...

So beautifully written, Sibi! Happy Easter friend! I felt this post out loud today all say long. I struggled through this day, this glorious day because of distractions that kept me saying breath prayers to God to bring me his peace despite my annoyance at the things that took me away from my enjoyment of this most holy of days. In spite of it all, the distractions of the day actually ironically brought me closer than I have ever felt to the Risen Christ as I sought him moment by moment to give me strength and peace as I died to sin time after time and was resurrected by his love and grace. It was a glorious Easter day and he called me by name and told me he loved me time after time.

Susan R said...

This is absolutely beautiful. It brought to mind a scripture in Acts (10:34, I think) that God is no respector of persons. We are all equally important in His sight. I have that printed out and pasted on my mirror and my kiddos bathroom mirror to remind myself that I am every bit as important as ANYONE else in this world.
I LOVE that cross in the photo. It is stunning.

shannon p said...

And Sibi. Reaching thru words, and pearls and blogs....You reach so well that I have to wonder "how did she know"? I have been sitting in all of the rows back , middle, front needing someone to reach for me..not just tell me to pray..reach. And then, I decided I would reach for others; and as only God can orchestrate, alot of hands began to reach for me...Love your beautiful, "full of GOD Big heart" Sibi. Thank you.

Between You and Me said...

my middle son wrote a paper on Peter this year, and he liked him because he is proof that God uses everything..even our mistakes, our fears, etc....

loved this post.