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So why would Jesus ask Peter if he loved him three times? Imaging the scene, Jesus says “Peter do you love me”. So peter says “Yes I love you.” Jesus says “Peter do you love me”. So Peter getting a little frustrated says “Yes I do love you.” Jesus says once more “Peter do you love me”. So Peter shouts “Yes, yes, yes , yes I do love you.” But then we must remember this is the same Peter that denied he knew Jesus three times at the Crucifixion. Do you think just maybe Jesus is showing Peter forgiveness three times? What do we take away from this? Have you been hurt by someone and found it hard to forgive them. Maybe a mate has said some horrible things about you and you have found it hard to forgive them. It’s interesting that Peter is the one in need of forgiveness here, because earlier in his life he asked Jesus questions about forgiveness. Mathew 18:21-22 says Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Seventy seven times doesn’t mean that you give up on seventy eight, it means that you may have to forgive someone many times. It doesn’t mean that you leave yourself in a situation where someone keeps hurting you either, Jesus wouldn’t want you to do that. But remember when you think about if you want to forgive someone, just like Peter you may be the one needing forgiveness next time.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

These guys were fisherman they knew how to fish, and they knew where to fish. Yet some complete stranger walks up to them and says, throw your net over the other side. If I was them I would have told him to mind his own business. I know how to surf and, I know where to surf. If some bloke paddled out to me and said you won’t catch any waves here try that break over there, I might get a bit fed up. I may even tell him to give his advice to someone else. I’m that way with Jesus to. Sometimes I am plodding along in my own life when I feel God the Holy Spirit, prompt me to do something. I might feel him say go and talk to that guy over there. I want to say, “look I know people, and I know the type of people I get on with, why would I speak to him?” Or I might feel God the Holy Spirit say to me ring up that woman at Church and tell her what a great job she is doing. I may want to shout, “look I know that area of church, and actually I don’t think she is doing a good job.” The problem is that it the stranger with the disciples wasn’t any stranger it was Jesus. And the promptings I get from God the Holy Spirit are not any thoughts they are God given thoughts. We can ignore them because we know best, but when it comes down to it do we really know better than the God who created the universe?

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

So the plan is unfolding and the disciples are begging to believe. All this time the disciples have walked around with Jesus they have seen the miracles he has performed, they have listened to him teach and finally they are beginning to believe. Remember Jesus told them that he would rise again, but they still seem in complete shock when the find that his body is missing. Isn’t that just like us? Often we are told by our parents or youth leaders about the stuff Jesus did. We are told that he was born, did all this amazing stuff, died and rose again, and is able to do amazing stuff. We are told that Jesus heals; we are told that Jesus can guide us; we are told that he will make a difference in our lives. But then we walk about college or school and somehow that just seems miles away and doubt creeps in. What we know in our head, what we know is written in the Bible, doesn’t seem to make a difference in our lives. We want to rush into the tomb and see the proof of an empty grave. We want to see the healings we hear about; but sometimes that is not God plan for our lives. If you have seen miracles, if you have physically seen God do stuff, then fantastic, thank him for that. But I know that often the way God shows me that he exists is through the little every day things that people miss. The change in a friend’s life when they begin to believe. The beauty of a sunset as I catch the last wave in; the small quiet voice in my head as I pray to God for wisdom.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

Rabboni, Professeur, Lehrer, Insegnante, Teacher. It doesn’t matter what language you say it in, we all choose people who we want to learn from. Mary looked upon Jesus as her Master and her Teacher. Up to this point Mary had spent much of her time with Jesus, because that is what we do when we want to learn from someone. You don’t choose a teacher so much as choose the people you want to hang around with. If you choose to hang around with people that play the guitar well, you will soon find that your guitar playing improves. Hang around blokes that spend their time on game consoles, and your hunger to play games will increase. Hang around people that smoke and swear and guess what, don’t be surprised if you find yourself swearing unexpectedly in other places. Mary chose to hang around Jesus and her hunger to be more like Jesus increased to the point that she felt despair when he appeared to have died. Who do we choose to hang with in our lives? Do we choose those guys who move us closer to becoming the person we want to be, or those guys who are so caught up in themselves they wouldn’t notice if we were not around. Do we choose those who move us closer to Jesus, or those who move us away from Jesus? Choosing a teacher is as easy as choosing the people you hang with, but don’t kid yourself that you are not affected by those you hang with.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »

Years before Jesus was born Gods people were saying things about the bloke who would be the Son of God. In fact there were so many things said about who the Son of God would be, that it made it impossible for the wrong person to prove they were Christ. Heir to the throne of David, born in Bethlehem, crucified, pierced through hands and feet, born from a virgin, soldiers gambled for His clothing, and the list goes on and on. Having a faith in Jesus is more about the God the Holy Spirit guiding our hearts, but God does not ask us to remove our brains. He is up for us having questions and looking for answers that are logical. If we attack these things people predicted about Christ then we might be able to raise doubt about the odd one or two. You might say that there were lots of decedents of David, and the Messiah could have been anyone one of them. You could suggest that there were loads of people crucified. I’m sure that soldiers gambled a lot, and you could say they were just being soldiers. But if we use our brains it’s very simple to work out the truth. Whilst there may have been many people that each one of these prophesies were true about; there was only one person that they were all true about. So what does this mean to us today? It means that as we go to school, college or work today we can walk tall, knowing that our Saviour Jesus Christ is as valid in our brains as he is in our hearts.

Author - Max Cross, John | No Comments »