January 27, 2025 • 36 mins
Ever wondered how a fisherman named Simon became one of the most influential figures in the early Christian church? By exploring the remarkable journey of Peter, we uncover profound lessons on faith, failures, and the role of the Holy Spirit in personal transformation. This episode shares insights from Peter's life, from his moments of denial to his ultimate redemption, offering a powerful narrative on embracing one's shortcomings as stepping stones toward growth. Listeners are invited to reflect on how their environment and the people around them can shape their paths, urging a pursuit of divine purpose over societal expectations.
We then navigate the delicate terrain of accountability and forgiveness within a faith-based context. Through Peter’s story of denial and the parallel tale of King David, we address the universal nature of human error and the potential for redemption that accountability offers. These narratives remind us that failure is not a dead end but an opportunity for spiritual and personal development. Our conversation highlights how embracing one’s flaws and extending compassion to oneself and others can foster growth, encouraging a mindset that views setbacks as pivotal moments for learning and renewal.
Finally, we witness the transformative power of grace in the restoration of Peter. When Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, it wasn’t just a moment of confrontation but an invitation to reclaim purpose. This episode emphasizes that forgiveness is not passive; it requires action and a commitment to living out one's restored purpose. We share personal stories of unexpected blessings, balancing family, business, and leadership, illustrating how our weaknesses can become strengths when aligned with divine calling. With faith guiding our paths, listeners are encouraged to trust in their God-given potential, embracing both strengths and weaknesses in their journey.
🛑Support the channel: https://bit.ly/2yUE9Fy
🤳🏻LIVE STREAM LIKE A PRO! https://bit.ly/452wNdl
🔥STREAM GEAR! https://kit.co/stephentilmon/live-stream-like-a-pro
🪭Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/faithandfailures/
💪🏼Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/faithandfailures/
💡Lights: collabs.shop/yxtlvd
🎙️Mics: https: https://amzn.to/3mTgFK2
🍔 Save with #doordash https://drd.sh/MwpyyrMtJ29uegdM
🎇Booms:https://amzn.to/3HsubM3
⏺️Audio Recorder: https://amzn.to/3oxO1yD
My Entire Kit: https://kit.co/stephentilmon
🎧Headphones: https://amzn.to/43XGXLR
My Podcast
1. Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faith-and-failures/id1505863531
2. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4RnYGZRe9c515NhQhuhQ5K?si=A0SMJcdcQFWTxXs5J6S_Cw
*All links are affiliate links. Although it won't cost you extra to use, they are just another way to show support when shopping online. Thank you!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is up?
Faith and Failures?
We got a little bit of ascenery change.
I'm out on the road working andI had all my gear.
I'm like you know what?
Let's do a podcast episode.
Today's episode is going to besomething that somebody asked me
the other day when did I getthe name for the podcast and the
(00:21):
YouTube channel Faith andFailures?
Get the name for the podcastand the YouTube channel Faith
and Failures?
Well, I think that when we cometo faith in Jesus, it's very
easy that we overlook ordisregard or leave completely
behind our failures, which isimportant and necessary to move
(00:43):
on and to heal.
But what I don't want us to dois forget the lessons that we
learned from what, I think,sometimes we label as failures,
but actually they are extremelyimportant pieces of our story.
So we're going to talk a littlebit today about the story of
(01:07):
Peter, so you don't want to missthis.
Before we get into today'svideo, I just wanted to say
thank you to all of the newsubscribers.
If you haven't yet considersubscribing, hit that bell
notification so that you can seeevery time I put out a new
video.
A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
subscribed yet, so why not?
It's free.
You can also find a PayPal linkbelow if you want to give a
(01:30):
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
So let's set up the story alittle bit and talk about Peter.
So if you don't know Peter was,his original name was actually
Simon.
He was a fisherman, but whenJesus called him, from being a
(01:56):
fisherman he also changed hisname.
Now the fisherman of that dayand the fisherman of today, I
think, have a lot ofsimilarities.
It is a rougher job.
I worked in a machine shop fora while and you had to adjust
your sensitivity to people'sopinions because things were
(02:23):
done a certain way way and ifyou didn't like that, then you
can go cry about it in thecorner and come back when you're
growing up and a man, andthat's kind of the atmosphere
that fishermen have, becauseit's a rough cut, sometimes a
lot.
If you ever watch the um, uh,is it dangerous catch or
something like that, and maybeon the discovery channel I don't
know if it's still a show ornot but deadliest catch, I think
(02:44):
, is what it's called and it'slife-threatening if you play
around or you joke around andI'm a I'm a joke around kind of
guy, but in certain situations,uh, you, you got to stop the
playing and you got to beserious and act like a grown-up.
Or you can get somebody killedor cost, cost the the owner of
(03:12):
the business money and then youwill not have a job.
So let's look a little, alittle bit of, let's look a
little bit into Peter'spersonality traits because of
his job, because of hisupbringing.
Usually, if you're in that typeof field or that type of genre
(03:33):
of job, like I, ended up being apastor.
I didn't set out to be a pastor, but it ended up that I am
actually replicating what my daddid and is doing, still
preaching to this day.
And so we end up becoming,whether we want to or not, being
shaped by the people thatsurround us.
(03:56):
I tell my teenager this all thetime when you surround yourself
with bad, toxic people, youallow them to speak into your
life, you allow them tomanipulate who you really are,
who God created you to be, andall of us have the capabilities
of allowing people who shouldn'tbe in our lives to stay in our
(04:17):
lives because we don't want tohurt feelings or because we
enjoy it.
And I tell my people I'm apastor of a church.
I tell my people all the timethat just because something is
good, it does not mean it's goodfor you.
So sometimes you got to lovepeople from a distance and let
that relationship die so thatyour mind, your life, your soul
and your spirit can liveproperly, according to how God
(04:43):
desires for you to live and howhe has designed you to live out
your life and to live out yourcalling.
Because every person is calledto do something.
But a lot of us and me included, I went down this path.
A lot of us will getsidetracked because we will
follow other people's path.
We will come alongside theirpurpose and think, because it's
(05:07):
working for them, that it willapply to us, and that's not
necessarily true.
So let's go back to Peter.
We know from just reading theNew Testament that Peter, before
Acts Peter, was full of passion, he was impulsive and most of
the time 99.99999% of the timehe spoke before his brain caught
(05:37):
up, before he thought.
Now, despite his flaws, jesusloved Peter deeply and entrusted
him with extreme, significantresponsibility.
We'll talk about this in aminute.
But if you think about, if yougo to Acts.
In Acts, chapter 2, when theHoly Spirit fell, you have the
(06:01):
loudmouth, impulsive guy is thefirst one that is recorded to
come out and explain what haswent on.
And so let's talk about this.
So let's set up before Acts,chapter 2.
Let's go to the four Gospels,matthew, mark, luke and John,
and let's look over in Luke,chapter 22, because of the
situation, I don't have theverses on the screen today, but
(06:23):
I want you to think about this.
So let's look at Peter's denialand think about this.
Peter's name was changed fromSimon became Simon Peter, and
then Jesus says upon this rock Iwill build my church.
This is, if you don't know,this is where the Catholics
(06:48):
cherry picked and decided thatPeter was the one that they're
going to have their lineas downto the Pope.
That's where they get that from.
But Luke chapter 22 says this.
So this is where Peter denies.
He denies Jesus.
Luke, chapter 22, verse 61 and62, it says At that moment the
Lord turned and looked at Peter.
(07:10):
Suddenly, the Lord's wordsflashed through Peter's mind.
He just denied Jesus for thethird time because Jesus
previously had told him heprophesied to him.
He said you will deny me threetimes before the rooster crows
tonight him.
He said you will deny me threetimes before the rooster crows
tonight.
So it happened, he denied againand he says at that moment the
Lord turned and looked at Peter.
So Peter is following Jesus asthey're going through this whole
(07:34):
process.
He's been arrested, he's beingbrought in and Peter's staying
close so he can hear and he cansee and people are recognizing
him because he has spent threeyears with Jesus.
So they're recognizing him andhe's like no, no, that's not me.
He keeps making up excuses andhe even at one time he curses
whether that's a modern dayswear word, I doubt it but a
(07:54):
blessing and a curse wasdifferent back then.
So him cursing may not be thewords we use as cursing today,
but it was the same calibercursing today, but it was the
same caliber.
He wanted to distance himselfand he wanted to stop the
assumption that he was withJesus and he was one of the
(08:15):
disciples.
And then this is when we comein on the story.
At that moment the Lord looked,turned to Peter.
Suddenly the Lord's wordsflashed through Peter's mind
before the rooster crowstomorrow morning, you will deny
three times that you even knowme and Peter left the courtyard
weeping bitterly.
So the context of his denialPeter swore he would never.
(08:40):
This is one part where hismouth shot off and it got him in
trouble because Jesus was likewell, you say that, but I'm
telling you right now you aregoing to deny me.
In Luke 22, 33, that's whereJesus tells him, where Peter
says I will never and Jesus saysyes, you will.
Fear and pressure fromonlookers caused Peter to deny
(09:02):
and do the very thing that hesaid that he would never do.
So let's talk about theemotional impact.
Imagine the intensity of Jesusturning the to make eye contact
with Peter as he just denied himfor the third time.
(09:23):
I don't know about you, but Ihave had a lot of failures in my
life.
I've had a lot of mishaps,missteps, stumbling.
It's being a pastor of a churchor being a Christian and going
to church and service every weekdoes not exclude us from
(09:45):
messing up and I think sometimesso.
This is the teeter-totterbetween overly stating and
pushing mercy and grace, whichis God's character, but God's
character is also just so youhave these churches that only
(10:06):
talk about mercy and grace andonly talk about the forgiveness
of God, and they never talkabout the sanctification and the
purification that we must gothrough every single day, pick
up our cross daily to followJesus, and there should be a
healthy balance between givingyourself grace and mercy and
(10:32):
then also to holding yourselfaccountable and allowing room
for accountability from otherpeople that are close to you.
This is important because it'svery easy when you start living
for Christ to back up, becausewhen you first feel like you get
(10:56):
it and you've accepted Jesus,when you first feel like you get
it and you've accepted Jesus,it is so easy to later down the
road, feel like you don't needcorrection or need conviction
anymore because you do so goodfor a while.
So then, when something happensand a situation occurs or is
(11:18):
about to occur and I've been soguilty of this myself you don't
reach out to anybody because,well, I've been a Christian for
five years, I should know better, I should be better, and so
what ends up happening is whenyou hold onto that and you don't
allow there to be someoneinside of your space that can
(11:39):
hold you accountable, that cankeep you accountable, help you
through convictions and hold youwhile you heal.
These are very importantaccountability partners, and
this makes it so scary sometimes, especially to new believers.
And then you have the olderbelievers, so we're all kind of
the same basket where we're soworried about.
(12:00):
Well, I should be past this, Ishould be better than this, but
the truth is, the enemy has beendoing this a while and knows
exactly where your hangups are,and so, because of that, you
have to tread very carefully andvery lightly, because, um, and
have someone with you, havepeople with you, surrounding you
(12:20):
, praying for you, loving youthrough and holding you
accountable.
And keeping accountability isnot just about pointing out your
faults, but it's also abouthealing you through your walk of
faith.
I mean, it's not just about thehammer coming down, it's also
about the uplifting of eachother.
So that's what accountabilityshould be.
That's what accountabilityshould be.
(12:42):
So Jesus looks at him and I'mso.
Put yourself in Peter'sposition for a minute.
Like, I'm sure all of us havemessed up more than three times.
You know what I mean.
Think about like the Biblepredicts prophesies, however you
want to look at it, that allare sinners.
It's just making a statement,it's not a what if it's a fact?
(13:04):
So Peter denies Jesus.
We've all denied Jesus.
We've all lived a life, evenbeing close to Jesus.
We've all at some point donesomething so stupid, that was so
obvious that we shouldn't havedone it, but yet we did it
anyways.
And we don't have the in ourface encounter relationship with
(13:30):
Jesus like Peter did.
As soon as he did it, he lockedeyes with Jesus.
That, right there.
I mean I would have ran too,because this is what happened.
I would have done the exactsame thing, looking at him in
the face and realizing what Ijust did, that what he said I
actually did and something Ithought I would never do.
(13:53):
I did it again.
I don't know if you've beenthere, but I have, if you've
been there, but I have.
And Peter realizes the betrayaland the broken promise that
overwhelmed him and he ran awayweeping bitterly.
Now I know you probably havetoo, but I've made very
(14:16):
confident claims of things like,okay, I got this, I would feel
like I was doing perfect, likemy thoughts will be right, my
phone search will be right, youknow what I mean.
But then you get into a placeof vulnerability and it's like
it overwhelms you and like Peterwhen he was around the fire and
(14:38):
he denied, just like it cameout of his mouth without even
having to think about it.
Sin is something we don'treally have to think about
because we are sinful, so itcomes naturally, it comes easy,
it's something that we gravitatetowards, and our relationship
with God we have to fight forthat.
Our sanctification, oursacrifice of being saved is
(15:05):
something we have to work forevery single day, because it is
so easy to slide in old habits,to slide back into what we used
to do, and it's something wereally have to fight for.
And it's something we reallyhave to fight for.
Now.
Failure feels personal,especially when we let someone
(15:28):
down that we love, and so what Iwant you to do is think about
this.
Yes, when we sin, we arestaining ourselves again, we are
becoming, we are beingunrighteous before God.
But when the veil was torn,when Jesus died, when he said it
(15:53):
is finished, the veil was torn,and what that meant was now
there's no more partitionbetween us and God.
Now we can boldly come beforeGod and we can say Lord, I have
messed up, please forgive me.
I gave this example Sunday tomy church and I told them that
(16:18):
there's a fine line betweenmercy and grace and
justification, but I don't thinkthey're mutually exclusive.
I think they go hand in hand.
Where, if we look at the storyof King David, the young man
that he killed Goliath with thestone, brought victory for God's
(16:38):
people.
Same guy later became king.
There's a whole story inbetween that Goliath story and
this story, but I suggest youread up on it.
There's a lot going on.
But he sees a woman downbathing on top of her home and
lusted after her, brought her in, got her pregnant, sent her
(17:00):
back home.
Her husband came home.
He knew he got her pregnant itwas him, because the husband
wasn't there Sent the husbandthat was a faithful soldier down
to their house, gave them giftsand wine, was trying to let
natural things happen so that itwould be his child, not King
(17:21):
David's.
But the guy was so faithful hewould not leave the king.
He slept at his doorway.
So there's literally no waythat they could have thought
that he got them pregnantbecause he would not leave.
And so he ended up killing him,sending that guy to the front
line so that he would pull backand he would be left there by
(17:45):
himself to die.
So he was not only an adulterer, fornicator, whatever you want
to say, he was a murderer.
He was a liar, tried to coverit up.
Cover it up Now.
That's kind of like any dramayou see on TV these days.
But that's also the same guythat Jesus not Jesus that was
(18:12):
called a man after God's ownheart.
Now why is that?
Some church people will excludepeople who mess up and be so
self-righteous like thePharisees and write people off.
Or because you did this, well,now I can't support you or I
can't be around you and this andthat.
(18:32):
But if we did that, then wewould not have much of a Bible
to read and learn, becausewrapped up in failures is also
the faith and forgiveness of ourLord, of our Savior, and
failure hurts.
But if you are watching this,or maybe you know somebody
(18:55):
that's really down on themselvesright now, they're having
issues and they are definingthemselves by their failures.
Failure is not final, and sowhat's the universal nature of
failure?
We've all experienced momentswhere our resolve crumbled.
Maybe a relationship, a career,moral decisions, spiritual,
(19:19):
spiritual practices, things thatyou claimed you were going to
do, especially in the first partof this year.
So many things we're going todo, but how many times do they
sway and change according to thedistance we get from that
initial commitment, because thepressure's not on so much
anymore.
Broken promises versus brokenhearts, peter's tears it showed
(19:44):
that he was not just breakingthe rule, but his heart was
broken because he actuallyfailed and let down Christ.
And let that be a lesson to usall that in God's eyes he is
just, he is righteous, he is thebar of righteousness.
(20:07):
There is not above him, there'sno righteousness above him.
There is no righteousness wecan have that matches what he is
.
But he looks at us in ourbroken state and he doesn't
throw the clay away.
He helps, remold and shapes uswhen we have hearts of
(20:28):
repentance Now, hearts ofrepentance.
That is the key.
And how do we get there?
We have to come boldly and withhumility, because the pain that
we feel for the mess-ups isoftentimes the launching pad
that will bring us into the nextseason of forgiveness, of
(20:48):
faithfulness, and also be atestimony of how good and
gracious and amazing andpowerful and forgiving our God
is, in spite of what we've done.
So let's look at Peter'srestoration.
He says John 21,.
John, chapter 21, 15 through 17, says After breakfast, jesus
(21:10):
asked Simon Peter, simon, son ofJohn, do you love me more than
these?
Yes, lord.
Peter replied you know I loveyou.
Then feed my lambs.
Or some versions say feed mysheep.
Jesus told him.
Verse 16,.
Jesus repeated the questionSimon, son of John, do you know?
Do you love me?
Yes, lord.
Peter said you know I love you.
(21:32):
Then take my sheep.
Then take care of my sheep.
Jesus said a third time, verse17,.
Jesus asked Simon, son of John,do you love me?
Peter was hurt.
Jesus asked the question athird time.
He said, lord, you knoweverything.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said then, feed my sheep.
So Jesus is having a secondchance moment with Peter.
(22:01):
Jesus asked him three times ifhe loves, mirroring Peter's
three denials.
Each repetition offers Peter anew opportunity to affirm his
devotion.
So what you have is a placewhere Jesus gave the same
(22:24):
opportunity, same equalopportunity that Peter denied is
also now the same opportunityfor him to be restored and to
affirm his devotion to Jesus.
Notice Jesus doesn't condemn orshame Peter.
Instead, he calls Peter toaction Feed my lambs, take care
of my sheep, feed my sheep, feedmy sheep.
(22:54):
This is a commissioning, notjust a consolation.
He's saying okay, if you aresaying that you do love me, now
do something about it.
So once we ask for forgiveness,god will begin to restore
things, but it takes action onour part to live out that
restoration in our lives.
It's not just a thing whereGod's going to be like okay,
great, now everything's justback to normal.
Now you have to show that youare changing.
(23:19):
You have to show that you wantto reconcile.
You have to show that youunderstand that you messed up
and now grow from it.
Even in our worst failures,these can become the backdrop
against which God's grace shinesthe greatest, the greatest and
(23:44):
the brightest.
I mix those two words together.
Peter's greatest fall becamethe turning point that prepared
him for leadership in the earlychurch, as you read about in the
book of Acts.
I highly recommend going andreading the book of Acts.
You'll see Peter in a new light.
He's a different man.
He's changed, and that'sbecause the spirit fell and it
changed everybody that day.
(24:06):
So what's our key takeaways?
Grace overcomes shame.
Like Peter, we often feelunworthy when we fail, but
Christ's response is genuineremorse.
Christ's response to genuineremorse is always an invitation
to return and restore and to goout and reap the harvest.
(24:30):
Our identity in God's eyesisn't defined by our worst
moments.
Jesus knew all these thingsPeter was going to do.
He knew the mess-ups, thehang-ups, the loudmouth, but he
still called him Simon Peter.
Upon this rock I will build mychurch, still called him Simon
Peter.
Upon this rock I will build mychurch.
(24:50):
Because he knew he saw past themouth and saw the momentum this
guy could have and what he wasgoing to be able to do for the
kingdom.
God sees past our mouth, seespast our issues, hang-ups and
mess-ups, and he sees thepotential that we have, the
(25:11):
capabilities we have, the giftsthat we have.
I'm a talker.
I come from a long line oftalkers, my whole family, a
bunch of talkers, like when mywife first came around and she
met my family on my dad's sidein Southeast Missouri.
We're loud people, we talk, welaugh first came around and she
(25:32):
met my family on my dad's sidein Southeast Missouri.
We're loud people, we talk, welaugh.
You can barely hear each otherbecause there's so many
conversations going on and she'slike she comes from a house
where there's barely noise.
There's her dad's the loudestone and that's not very loud.
And she has four siblings andthere's four of them and she she
might be the loudest, maybe nowbecause I converted her, but
(25:57):
different ecosystem ofpersonalities and so for me, my
greatest, like simon peter, inthe on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
He was up there.
He saw I think it was Elijahand Moses, and he didn't know
what to say.
So he's like, hey, let's builda temple and praise this moment
and all this.
And he's like shut.
(26:18):
And Jesus says, shut up, that'snot what you're supposed to do.
Do you hear that, catholics?
So so God doesn't judge us byour mistakes.
He doesn't see us by ourmistakes.
We will be judged, we'll haveto answer for everything one day
.
But he does not see us or nameus by our mistakes.
(26:38):
He called him Simon Peterbecause he knew even the very
thing that got him in so muchtrouble when he gave it to God
was actually going to be used tobuild the kingdom like never
before.
And so me, one of the greatestlessons I learned from the Holy
Spirit and from the Lord is thatsometimes I just need to shut
up and that, even though I maybe able to talk or I have
something to say, if I close mymouth long enough, the Holy
(27:03):
Spirit can say it through me orsomebody else, better than I
ever could have tried toarticulate and say it right.
And you know it's not about me,but when I make it about the
Lord, when I make it aboutChrist, when I make it about the
Holy Spirit and I stop.
Like Peter, always felt like hehad to say something and it
always ended up him putting hisfoot in his mouth.
(27:24):
But when he finally understoodthat it wasn't about him or
about what he thought or aboutwhat he wanted to do, god was
able to use him in a way.
He took what his greatesthang-up was and turned it into
something that was powerful forthe kingdom.
(27:45):
And, like Peter, we often canfeel unworthy, especially with a
major failure.
But Christ's response togenuine remorse is always an
invitation to restore Now.
Failure if you look at somepeople use the term turn your
message or turn your mess-upsinto a message, your failures
(28:07):
into faith, your trials intotriumph.
Whatever label you want to puton it.
That is phonetically pleasing.
Failure, when we surrender toGod, can lead to deeper humility
and empathy for others.
This is one thing I think thePharisees didn't have figured
out.
This is what drove Jesus crazyand frustrated him was that they
(28:30):
acted like they did somethingto earn God's love, mercy and
grace and salvation.
And it wasn't anything they did, even though they kept the law
perfectly, and Jesus pointedthis out.
He said hey, do what they do,but don't be who they are Like
they're doing, they're keepingthe law, they're acting right,
they keep things holy, theyactually care about the things
(28:50):
God cares about from thescriptures, but inside they are
dead.
They are whitewashed tombs,pretty on the outside but have
the stench of death on theinside.
Because God looks at the heart.
And so don't let your failuresdefine you, but let them fuel
you to where you don't staybroken but you allow that
(29:16):
brokenness to be fertile ground,like when you have seed and you
plant it on the ground.
First there's a toiling thathappens.
You have to tear up that groundand you have to break it up so
that it can receive the seed.
There was a time in my ministry,at the very beginning, when we
came to Longview, texas, andbecame the lead pastors of this
(29:38):
church our first church andthere's a lot of things we've
had to learn.
There's a lot of things thatGod has just gifted me in the
wisdom that I have not had theexperience or the knowledge
given to me to actually knowthis, and I prayed God for
spiritual wisdom and he'sblessed me with it.
But all glory to him.
(29:58):
Nothing about me.
It's 100% God, because I've nothad the life to get the answers
that for some reason, god hasgiven me, or the vision or the
understanding of Like.
Sometimes people will ask me.
Older people will ask me.
They're older than me, theyshould know better, they should
have more wisdom than me, butthe wisdom that comes out of me
(30:22):
Is from God.
There's also wisdom and graceand mercy Because of what I
needed from God to be restored,because I used to live a life
that was 100% flesh and demonicthe drugs and the alcohol and
the women and the stealing andthe lying and everything that I
(30:43):
did that was a part of thatlifestyle.
It took a long time for me toforgive me.
Other people forgave me a lotfaster than I forgave myself,
and so I can only imagine howPeter felt.
You know he needed that fromChrist to say do you love me?
Do you love me, do you love me?
He gave him a chance.
He said okay, if you do, thisis what it's going to take.
(31:05):
And so for you to show that youlove Christ, it's going to take
something from you, and onething that you need to allow God
to do is to use your problemsthat you had, the issues that
you had, the struggles that youhad or have, and be vocal about
them.
In Revelations it talks aboutyou will become overcomers by
(31:27):
the word of the Lamb and theblood of your testimony.
The blood of the Lamb and theword of your testimony it takes
that two combination whereChrist's blood covers it all.
But you have to vocalize, youhave to do something.
There's something Christ did.
Now we are called to dosomething, something.
(31:50):
And so the failures or thehangups, the trips, the falls,
all the things that you'veexperienced and went through and
you're on the other side ofright now, or maybe you're in
the middle of it, when you beginto quiet down that story, it
gives the devil ammunition touse against you, to shame you,
and it will keep you secludedand pulling back from really
what you should be running to,and that is to let other people
inside of that world, thatprivate, vulnerable place,
(32:14):
because people need to know thatchurch people are not like
Pharisees.
We're not perfect, but we aresaved.
We're not, we're not, we're notsomething special, but we are
sanctified.
We, every single day, have togo through that process, and how
else will they know about thatprocess?
How else will they understandwhat that looks like, until the
(32:36):
church people begin to show whatthat process looks like?
It takes effort, it takesintentionality and it takes work
on our part.
So that will bring us to aplace of humility.
I was at an interview.
My son got into this school.
Was it this last year?
(32:58):
Yeah, so, almost I guess thislast summer we had an interview
and the principal asked himwhat's one word that would
define your dad?
Just use one word to describeyour dad.
And without even a secondthought he'd say humility.
And it broke me.
It took everything right therethen and there to not cry
(33:19):
because it touched me so deeply.
But my humility has not comefrom a lifetime of ease.
It has come from some dirtyplaces.
But that always keeps me humblebefore God, because I know who
I am, I know who I was and sofor me it's a very.
(33:42):
Humility is not something that Ihave to work for, because that
work has already been done, thatgroundwork has already been
laid, because I went throughsome deep, dark times and I
understand that I am nobody andI don't know why Christ forgave
(34:03):
me.
I don't know why God sent hisonly son.
I don't know why forgiveness iseven a thing I have no clue but
I do know that it is realbecause I myself have
experienced and watched God timeand time again.
Forgive, he says.
When we ask for forgiveness, hethrows into the sea of
(34:23):
forgetfulness.
We're the ones that alwaysbring it up and remember.
Somebody else brings it up orour mind goes crazy and we go
through this.
Sometimes we can go through avicious cycle, a spiral where we
never seemingly let it go.
But I want to encourage youtoday that if you're inside of
that spiral, if you're inside ofthat cycle, peter went through
(34:43):
the same thing and Jesus broughthim restoration.
I went through the same thingand Jesus brought me through
restoration, daily restoration,daily sanctification.
And I know this by faith,through grace, so that no man
can boast because I have notdone anything special.
(35:05):
God has done it all and Jesuspaid it all, and the Holy Spirit
is giving power to continuethat work in my life.
So I hope this encourages youto not feel defeated when you
walk through failure, but toknow that it is possible.
(35:26):
It is biblical that God canrestore.
It may not look like how it ispossible.
It is biblical, that God canrestore.
It may not look like how itonce did.
My life is really weird rightnow.
I have a business.
Never thought I'd be thissuccessful at it.
I have a church that I'm over.
Never thought that was going tohappen, was never even in my on
(35:49):
my path of life.
It never crossed my mind.
Have a wife that is loving andcaring and so forgiving thank
the Lord, have my teenage boyfrom my first marriage that
lives at our house full time.
We have a 15 month old daughter.
God has just been so good andit was because everything that
(36:14):
he puts in my hands I bless.
I give it to him to bless itbecause I firmly believe that
everything that I have is his.
That includes my failures.
So I love you, I'm praying foryou and I hope you have an
amazing week.
What is up?
Faith and Failures?
We got a little bit of ascenery change.
I'm out on the road working andI had all my gear.
I'm like you know what?
Let's do a podcast episode.
Today's episode is going to besomething that somebody asked me
the other day when did I getthe name for the podcast and the
(00:21):
YouTube channel Faith andFailures?
Get the name for the podcastand the YouTube channel Faith
and Failures?
Well, I think that when we cometo faith in Jesus, it's very
easy that we overlook ordisregard or leave completely
behind our failures, which isimportant and necessary to move
(00:43):
on and to heal.
But what I don't want us to dois forget the lessons that we
learned from what, I think,sometimes we label as failures,
but actually they are extremelyimportant pieces of our story.
So we're going to talk a littlebit today about the story of
(01:07):
Peter, so you don't want to missthis.
Before we get into today'svideo, I just wanted to say
thank you to all of the newsubscribers.
If you haven't yet considersubscribing, hit that bell
notification so that you can seeevery time I put out a new
video.
A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
subscribed yet, so why not?
It's free.
You can also find a PayPal linkbelow if you want to give a
(01:30):
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
So let's set up the story alittle bit and talk about Peter.
So if you don't know Peter was,his original name was actually
Simon.
He was a fisherman, but whenJesus called him, from being a
(01:56):
fisherman he also changed hisname.
Now the fisherman of that dayand the fisherman of today, I
think, have a lot ofsimilarities.
It is a rougher job.
I worked in a machine shop fora while and you had to adjust
your sensitivity to people'sopinions because things were
(02:23):
done a certain way way and ifyou didn't like that, then you
can go cry about it in thecorner and come back when you're
growing up and a man, andthat's kind of the atmosphere
that fishermen have, becauseit's a rough cut, sometimes a
lot.
If you ever watch the um, uh,is it dangerous catch or
something like that, and maybeon the discovery channel I don't
know if it's still a show ornot but deadliest catch, I think
(02:44):
, is what it's called and it'slife-threatening if you play
around or you joke around andI'm a I'm a joke around kind of
guy, but in certain situations,uh, you, you got to stop the
playing and you got to beserious and act like a grown-up.
Or you can get somebody killedor cost, cost the the owner of
(03:12):
the business money and then youwill not have a job.
So let's look a little, alittle bit of, let's look a
little bit into Peter'spersonality traits because of
his job, because of hisupbringing.
Usually, if you're in that typeof field or that type of genre
(03:33):
of job, like I, ended up being apastor.
I didn't set out to be a pastor, but it ended up that I am
actually replicating what my daddid and is doing, still
preaching to this day.
And so we end up becoming,whether we want to or not, being
shaped by the people thatsurround us.
(03:56):
I tell my teenager this all thetime when you surround yourself
with bad, toxic people, youallow them to speak into your
life, you allow them tomanipulate who you really are,
who God created you to be, andall of us have the capabilities
of allowing people who shouldn'tbe in our lives to stay in our
(04:17):
lives because we don't want tohurt feelings or because we
enjoy it.
And I tell my people I'm apastor of a church.
I tell my people all the timethat just because something is
good, it does not mean it's goodfor you.
So sometimes you got to lovepeople from a distance and let
that relationship die so thatyour mind, your life, your soul
and your spirit can liveproperly, according to how God
(04:43):
desires for you to live and howhe has designed you to live out
your life and to live out yourcalling.
Because every person is calledto do something.
But a lot of us and me included, I went down this path.
A lot of us will getsidetracked because we will
follow other people's path.
We will come alongside theirpurpose and think, because it's
(05:07):
working for them, that it willapply to us, and that's not
necessarily true.
So let's go back to Peter.
We know from just reading theNew Testament that Peter, before
Acts Peter, was full of passion, he was impulsive and most of
the time 99.99999% of the timehe spoke before his brain caught
(05:37):
up, before he thought.
Now, despite his flaws, jesusloved Peter deeply and entrusted
him with extreme, significantresponsibility.
We'll talk about this in aminute.
But if you think about, if yougo to Acts.
In Acts, chapter 2, when theHoly Spirit fell, you have the
(06:01):
loudmouth, impulsive guy is thefirst one that is recorded to
come out and explain what haswent on.
And so let's talk about this.
So let's set up before Acts,chapter 2.
Let's go to the four Gospels,matthew, mark, luke and John,
and let's look over in Luke,chapter 22, because of the
situation, I don't have theverses on the screen today, but
(06:23):
I want you to think about this.
So let's look at Peter's denialand think about this.
Peter's name was changed fromSimon became Simon Peter, and
then Jesus says upon this rock Iwill build my church.
This is, if you don't know,this is where the Catholics
(06:48):
cherry picked and decided thatPeter was the one that they're
going to have their lineas downto the Pope.
That's where they get that from.
But Luke chapter 22 says this.
So this is where Peter denies.
He denies Jesus.
Luke, chapter 22, verse 61 and62, it says At that moment the
Lord turned and looked at Peter.
(07:10):
Suddenly, the Lord's wordsflashed through Peter's mind.
He just denied Jesus for thethird time because Jesus
previously had told him heprophesied to him.
He said you will deny me threetimes before the rooster crows
tonight him.
He said you will deny me threetimes before the rooster crows
tonight.
So it happened, he denied againand he says at that moment the
Lord turned and looked at Peter.
So Peter is following Jesus asthey're going through this whole
(07:34):
process.
He's been arrested, he's beingbrought in and Peter's staying
close so he can hear and he cansee and people are recognizing
him because he has spent threeyears with Jesus.
So they're recognizing him andhe's like no, no, that's not me.
He keeps making up excuses andhe even at one time he curses
whether that's a modern dayswear word, I doubt it but a
(07:54):
blessing and a curse wasdifferent back then.
So him cursing may not be thewords we use as cursing today,
but it was the same calibercursing today, but it was the
same caliber.
He wanted to distance himselfand he wanted to stop the
assumption that he was withJesus and he was one of the
(08:15):
disciples.
And then this is when we comein on the story.
At that moment the Lord looked,turned to Peter.
Suddenly the Lord's wordsflashed through Peter's mind
before the rooster crowstomorrow morning, you will deny
three times that you even knowme and Peter left the courtyard
weeping bitterly.
So the context of his denialPeter swore he would never.
(08:40):
This is one part where hismouth shot off and it got him in
trouble because Jesus was likewell, you say that, but I'm
telling you right now you aregoing to deny me.
In Luke 22, 33, that's whereJesus tells him, where Peter
says I will never and Jesus saysyes, you will.
Fear and pressure fromonlookers caused Peter to deny
(09:02):
and do the very thing that hesaid that he would never do.
So let's talk about theemotional impact.
Imagine the intensity of Jesusturning the to make eye contact
with Peter as he just denied himfor the third time.
(09:23):
I don't know about you, but Ihave had a lot of failures in my
life.
I've had a lot of mishaps,missteps, stumbling.
It's being a pastor of a churchor being a Christian and going
to church and service every weekdoes not exclude us from
(09:45):
messing up and I think sometimesso.
This is the teeter-totterbetween overly stating and
pushing mercy and grace, whichis God's character, but God's
character is also just so youhave these churches that only
(10:06):
talk about mercy and grace andonly talk about the forgiveness
of God, and they never talkabout the sanctification and the
purification that we must gothrough every single day, pick
up our cross daily to followJesus, and there should be a
healthy balance between givingyourself grace and mercy and
(10:32):
then also to holding yourselfaccountable and allowing room
for accountability from otherpeople that are close to you.
This is important because it'svery easy when you start living
for Christ to back up, becausewhen you first feel like you get
(10:56):
it and you've accepted Jesus,when you first feel like you get
it and you've accepted Jesus,it is so easy to later down the
road, feel like you don't needcorrection or need conviction
anymore because you do so goodfor a while.
So then, when something happensand a situation occurs or is
(11:18):
about to occur and I've been soguilty of this myself you don't
reach out to anybody because,well, I've been a Christian for
five years, I should know better, I should be better, and so
what ends up happening is whenyou hold onto that and you don't
allow there to be someoneinside of your space that can
(11:39):
hold you accountable, that cankeep you accountable, help you
through convictions and hold youwhile you heal.
These are very importantaccountability partners, and
this makes it so scary sometimes, especially to new believers.
And then you have the olderbelievers, so we're all kind of
the same basket where we're soworried about.
(12:00):
Well, I should be past this, Ishould be better than this, but
the truth is, the enemy has beendoing this a while and knows
exactly where your hangups are,and so, because of that, you
have to tread very carefully andvery lightly, because, um, and
have someone with you, havepeople with you, surrounding you
(12:20):
, praying for you, loving youthrough and holding you
accountable.
And keeping accountability isnot just about pointing out your
faults, but it's also abouthealing you through your walk of
faith.
I mean, it's not just about thehammer coming down, it's also
about the uplifting of eachother.
So that's what accountabilityshould be.
That's what accountabilityshould be.
(12:42):
So Jesus looks at him and I'mso.
Put yourself in Peter'sposition for a minute.
Like, I'm sure all of us havemessed up more than three times.
You know what I mean.
Think about like the Biblepredicts prophesies, however you
want to look at it, that allare sinners.
It's just making a statement,it's not a what if it's a fact?
(13:04):
So Peter denies Jesus.
We've all denied Jesus.
We've all lived a life, evenbeing close to Jesus.
We've all at some point donesomething so stupid, that was so
obvious that we shouldn't havedone it, but yet we did it
anyways.
And we don't have the in ourface encounter relationship with
(13:30):
Jesus like Peter did.
As soon as he did it, he lockedeyes with Jesus.
That, right there.
I mean I would have ran too,because this is what happened.
I would have done the exactsame thing, looking at him in
the face and realizing what Ijust did, that what he said I
actually did and something Ithought I would never do.
(13:53):
I did it again.
I don't know if you've beenthere, but I have, if you've
been there, but I have.
And Peter realizes the betrayaland the broken promise that
overwhelmed him and he ran awayweeping bitterly.
Now I know you probably havetoo, but I've made very
(14:16):
confident claims of things like,okay, I got this, I would feel
like I was doing perfect, likemy thoughts will be right, my
phone search will be right, youknow what I mean.
But then you get into a placeof vulnerability and it's like
it overwhelms you and like Peterwhen he was around the fire and
(14:38):
he denied, just like it cameout of his mouth without even
having to think about it.
Sin is something we don'treally have to think about
because we are sinful, so itcomes naturally, it comes easy,
it's something that we gravitatetowards, and our relationship
with God we have to fight forthat.
Our sanctification, oursacrifice of being saved is
(15:05):
something we have to work forevery single day, because it is
so easy to slide in old habits,to slide back into what we used
to do, and it's something wereally have to fight for.
And it's something we reallyhave to fight for.
Now.
Failure feels personal,especially when we let someone
(15:28):
down that we love, and so what Iwant you to do is think about
this.
Yes, when we sin, we arestaining ourselves again, we are
becoming, we are beingunrighteous before God.
But when the veil was torn,when Jesus died, when he said it
(15:53):
is finished, the veil was torn,and what that meant was now
there's no more partitionbetween us and God.
Now we can boldly come beforeGod and we can say Lord, I have
messed up, please forgive me.
I gave this example Sunday tomy church and I told them that
(16:18):
there's a fine line betweenmercy and grace and
justification, but I don't thinkthey're mutually exclusive.
I think they go hand in hand.
Where, if we look at the storyof King David, the young man
that he killed Goliath with thestone, brought victory for God's
(16:38):
people.
Same guy later became king.
There's a whole story inbetween that Goliath story and
this story, but I suggest youread up on it.
There's a lot going on.
But he sees a woman downbathing on top of her home and
lusted after her, brought her in, got her pregnant, sent her
(17:00):
back home.
Her husband came home.
He knew he got her pregnant itwas him, because the husband
wasn't there Sent the husbandthat was a faithful soldier down
to their house, gave them giftsand wine, was trying to let
natural things happen so that itwould be his child, not King
(17:21):
David's.
But the guy was so faithful hewould not leave the king.
He slept at his doorway.
So there's literally no waythat they could have thought
that he got them pregnantbecause he would not leave.
And so he ended up killing him,sending that guy to the front
line so that he would pull backand he would be left there by
(17:45):
himself to die.
So he was not only an adulterer, fornicator, whatever you want
to say, he was a murderer.
He was a liar, tried to coverit up.
Cover it up Now.
That's kind of like any dramayou see on TV these days.
But that's also the same guythat Jesus not Jesus that was
(18:12):
called a man after God's ownheart.
Now why is that?
Some church people will excludepeople who mess up and be so
self-righteous like thePharisees and write people off.
Or because you did this, well,now I can't support you or I
can't be around you and this andthat.
(18:32):
But if we did that, then wewould not have much of a Bible
to read and learn, becausewrapped up in failures is also
the faith and forgiveness of ourLord, of our Savior, and
failure hurts.
But if you are watching this,or maybe you know somebody
(18:55):
that's really down on themselvesright now, they're having
issues and they are definingthemselves by their failures.
Failure is not final, and sowhat's the universal nature of
failure?
We've all experienced momentswhere our resolve crumbled.
Maybe a relationship, a career,moral decisions, spiritual,
(19:19):
spiritual practices, things thatyou claimed you were going to
do, especially in the first partof this year.
So many things we're going todo, but how many times do they
sway and change according to thedistance we get from that
initial commitment, because thepressure's not on so much
anymore.
Broken promises versus brokenhearts, peter's tears it showed
(19:44):
that he was not just breakingthe rule, but his heart was
broken because he actuallyfailed and let down Christ.
And let that be a lesson to usall that in God's eyes he is
just, he is righteous, he is thebar of righteousness.
(20:07):
There is not above him, there'sno righteousness above him.
There is no righteousness wecan have that matches what he is
.
But he looks at us in ourbroken state and he doesn't
throw the clay away.
He helps, remold and shapes uswhen we have hearts of
(20:28):
repentance Now, hearts ofrepentance.
That is the key.
And how do we get there?
We have to come boldly and withhumility, because the pain that
we feel for the mess-ups isoftentimes the launching pad
that will bring us into the nextseason of forgiveness, of
(20:48):
faithfulness, and also be atestimony of how good and
gracious and amazing andpowerful and forgiving our God
is, in spite of what we've done.
So let's look at Peter'srestoration.
He says John 21,.
John, chapter 21, 15 through 17, says After breakfast, jesus
(21:10):
asked Simon Peter, simon, son ofJohn, do you love me more than
these?
Yes, lord.
Peter replied you know I loveyou.
Then feed my lambs.
Or some versions say feed mysheep.
Jesus told him.
Verse 16,.
Jesus repeated the questionSimon, son of John, do you know?
Do you love me?
Yes, lord.
Peter said you know I love you.
(21:32):
Then take my sheep.
Then take care of my sheep.
Jesus said a third time, verse17,.
Jesus asked Simon, son of John,do you love me?
Peter was hurt.
Jesus asked the question athird time.
He said, lord, you knoweverything.
You know that I love you.
Jesus said then, feed my sheep.
So Jesus is having a secondchance moment with Peter.
(22:01):
Jesus asked him three times ifhe loves, mirroring Peter's
three denials.
Each repetition offers Peter anew opportunity to affirm his
devotion.
So what you have is a placewhere Jesus gave the same
(22:24):
opportunity, same equalopportunity that Peter denied is
also now the same opportunityfor him to be restored and to
affirm his devotion to Jesus.
Notice Jesus doesn't condemn orshame Peter.
Instead, he calls Peter toaction Feed my lambs, take care
of my sheep, feed my sheep, feedmy sheep.
(22:54):
This is a commissioning, notjust a consolation.
He's saying okay, if you aresaying that you do love me, now
do something about it.
So once we ask for forgiveness,god will begin to restore
things, but it takes action onour part to live out that
restoration in our lives.
It's not just a thing whereGod's going to be like okay,
great, now everything's justback to normal.
Now you have to show that youare changing.
(23:19):
You have to show that you wantto reconcile.
You have to show that youunderstand that you messed up
and now grow from it.
Even in our worst failures,these can become the backdrop
against which God's grace shinesthe greatest, the greatest and
(23:44):
the brightest.
I mix those two words together.
Peter's greatest fall becamethe turning point that prepared
him for leadership in the earlychurch, as you read about in the
book of Acts.
I highly recommend going andreading the book of Acts.
You'll see Peter in a new light.
He's a different man.
He's changed, and that'sbecause the spirit fell and it
changed everybody that day.
(24:06):
So what's our key takeaways?
Grace overcomes shame.
Like Peter, we often feelunworthy when we fail, but
Christ's response is genuineremorse.
Christ's response to genuineremorse is always an invitation
to return and restore and to goout and reap the harvest.
(24:30):
Our identity in God's eyesisn't defined by our worst
moments.
Jesus knew all these thingsPeter was going to do.
He knew the mess-ups, thehang-ups, the loudmouth, but he
still called him Simon Peter.
Upon this rock I will build mychurch, still called him Simon
Peter.
Upon this rock I will build mychurch.
(24:50):
Because he knew he saw past themouth and saw the momentum this
guy could have and what he wasgoing to be able to do for the
kingdom.
God sees past our mouth, seespast our issues, hang-ups and
mess-ups, and he sees thepotential that we have, the
(25:11):
capabilities we have, the giftsthat we have.
I'm a talker.
I come from a long line oftalkers, my whole family, a
bunch of talkers, like when mywife first came around and she
met my family on my dad's sidein Southeast Missouri.
We're loud people, we talk, welaugh first came around and she
(25:32):
met my family on my dad's sidein Southeast Missouri.
We're loud people, we talk, welaugh.
You can barely hear each otherbecause there's so many
conversations going on and she'slike she comes from a house
where there's barely noise.
There's her dad's the loudestone and that's not very loud.
And she has four siblings andthere's four of them and she she
might be the loudest, maybe nowbecause I converted her, but
(25:57):
different ecosystem ofpersonalities and so for me, my
greatest, like simon peter, inthe on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
He was up there.
He saw I think it was Elijahand Moses, and he didn't know
what to say.
So he's like, hey, let's builda temple and praise this moment
and all this.
And he's like shut.
(26:18):
And Jesus says, shut up, that'snot what you're supposed to do.
Do you hear that, catholics?
So so God doesn't judge us byour mistakes.
He doesn't see us by ourmistakes.
We will be judged, we'll haveto answer for everything one day
.
But he does not see us or nameus by our mistakes.
(26:38):
He called him Simon Peterbecause he knew even the very
thing that got him in so muchtrouble when he gave it to God
was actually going to be used tobuild the kingdom like never
before.
And so me, one of the greatestlessons I learned from the Holy
Spirit and from the Lord is thatsometimes I just need to shut
up and that, even though I maybe able to talk or I have
something to say, if I close mymouth long enough, the Holy
(27:03):
Spirit can say it through me orsomebody else, better than I
ever could have tried toarticulate and say it right.
And you know it's not about me,but when I make it about the
Lord, when I make it aboutChrist, when I make it about the
Holy Spirit and I stop.
Like Peter, always felt like hehad to say something and it
always ended up him putting hisfoot in his mouth.
(27:24):
But when he finally understoodthat it wasn't about him or
about what he thought or aboutwhat he wanted to do, god was
able to use him in a way.
He took what his greatesthang-up was and turned it into
something that was powerful forthe kingdom.
(27:45):
And, like Peter, we often canfeel unworthy, especially with a
major failure.
But Christ's response togenuine remorse is always an
invitation to restore Now.
Failure if you look at somepeople use the term turn your
message or turn your mess-upsinto a message, your failures
(28:07):
into faith, your trials intotriumph.
Whatever label you want to puton it.
That is phonetically pleasing.
Failure, when we surrender toGod, can lead to deeper humility
and empathy for others.
This is one thing I think thePharisees didn't have figured
out.
This is what drove Jesus crazyand frustrated him was that they
(28:30):
acted like they did somethingto earn God's love, mercy and
grace and salvation.
And it wasn't anything they did, even though they kept the law
perfectly, and Jesus pointedthis out.
He said hey, do what they do,but don't be who they are Like
they're doing, they're keepingthe law, they're acting right,
they keep things holy, theyactually care about the things
(28:50):
God cares about from thescriptures, but inside they are
dead.
They are whitewashed tombs,pretty on the outside but have
the stench of death on theinside.
Because God looks at the heart.
And so don't let your failuresdefine you, but let them fuel
you to where you don't staybroken but you allow that
(29:16):
brokenness to be fertile ground,like when you have seed and you
plant it on the ground.
First there's a toiling thathappens.
You have to tear up that groundand you have to break it up so
that it can receive the seed.
There was a time in my ministry,at the very beginning, when we
came to Longview, texas, andbecame the lead pastors of this
(29:38):
church our first church andthere's a lot of things we've
had to learn.
There's a lot of things thatGod has just gifted me in the
wisdom that I have not had theexperience or the knowledge
given to me to actually knowthis, and I prayed God for
spiritual wisdom and he'sblessed me with it.
But all glory to him.
(29:58):
Nothing about me.
It's 100% God, because I've nothad the life to get the answers
that for some reason, god hasgiven me, or the vision or the
understanding of Like.
Sometimes people will ask me.
Older people will ask me.
They're older than me, theyshould know better, they should
have more wisdom than me, butthe wisdom that comes out of me
(30:22):
Is from God.
There's also wisdom and graceand mercy Because of what I
needed from God to be restored,because I used to live a life
that was 100% flesh and demonicthe drugs and the alcohol and
the women and the stealing andthe lying and everything that I
(30:43):
did that was a part of thatlifestyle.
It took a long time for me toforgive me.
Other people forgave me a lotfaster than I forgave myself,
and so I can only imagine howPeter felt.
You know he needed that fromChrist to say do you love me?
Do you love me, do you love me?
He gave him a chance.
He said okay, if you do, thisis what it's going to take.
(31:05):
And so for you to show that youlove Christ, it's going to take
something from you, and onething that you need to allow God
to do is to use your problemsthat you had, the issues that
you had, the struggles that youhad or have, and be vocal about
them.
In Revelations it talks aboutyou will become overcomers by
(31:27):
the word of the Lamb and theblood of your testimony.
The blood of the Lamb and theword of your testimony it takes
that two combination whereChrist's blood covers it all.
But you have to vocalize, youhave to do something.
There's something Christ did.
Now we are called to dosomething, something.
(31:50):
And so the failures or thehangups, the trips, the falls,
all the things that you'veexperienced and went through and
you're on the other side ofright now, or maybe you're in
the middle of it, when you beginto quiet down that story, it
gives the devil ammunition touse against you, to shame you,
and it will keep you secludedand pulling back from really
what you should be running to,and that is to let other people
inside of that world, thatprivate, vulnerable place,
(32:14):
because people need to know thatchurch people are not like
Pharisees.
We're not perfect, but we aresaved.
We're not, we're not, we're notsomething special, but we are
sanctified.
We, every single day, have togo through that process, and how
else will they know about thatprocess?
How else will they understandwhat that looks like, until the
(32:36):
church people begin to show whatthat process looks like?
It takes effort, it takesintentionality and it takes work
on our part.
So that will bring us to aplace of humility.
I was at an interview.
My son got into this school.
Was it this last year?
(32:58):
Yeah, so, almost I guess thislast summer we had an interview
and the principal asked himwhat's one word that would
define your dad?
Just use one word to describeyour dad.
And without even a secondthought he'd say humility.
And it broke me.
It took everything right therethen and there to not cry
(33:19):
because it touched me so deeply.
But my humility has not comefrom a lifetime of ease.
It has come from some dirtyplaces.
But that always keeps me humblebefore God, because I know who
I am, I know who I was and sofor me it's a very.
(33:42):
Humility is not something that Ihave to work for, because that
work has already been done, thatgroundwork has already been
laid, because I went throughsome deep, dark times and I
understand that I am nobody andI don't know why Christ forgave
(34:03):
me.
I don't know why God sent hisonly son.
I don't know why forgiveness iseven a thing I have no clue but
I do know that it is realbecause I myself have
experienced and watched God timeand time again.
Forgive, he says.
When we ask for forgiveness, hethrows into the sea of
(34:23):
forgetfulness.
We're the ones that alwaysbring it up and remember.
Somebody else brings it up orour mind goes crazy and we go
through this.
Sometimes we can go through avicious cycle, a spiral where we
never seemingly let it go.
But I want to encourage youtoday that if you're inside of
that spiral, if you're inside ofthat cycle, peter went through
(34:43):
the same thing and Jesus broughthim restoration.
I went through the same thingand Jesus brought me through
restoration, daily restoration,daily sanctification.
And I know this by faith,through grace, so that no man
can boast because I have notdone anything special.
(35:05):
God has done it all and Jesuspaid it all, and the Holy Spirit
is giving power to continuethat work in my life.
So I hope this encourages youto not feel defeated when you
walk through failure, but toknow that it is possible.
(35:26):
It is biblical that God canrestore.
It may not look like how it ispossible.
It is biblical, that God canrestore.
It may not look like how itonce did.
My life is really weird rightnow.
I have a business.
Never thought I'd be thissuccessful at it.
I have a church that I'm over.
Never thought that was going tohappen, was never even in my on
(35:49):
my path of life.
It never crossed my mind.
Have a wife that is loving andcaring and so forgiving thank
the Lord, have my teenage boyfrom my first marriage that
lives at our house full time.
We have a 15 month old daughter.
God has just been so good andit was because everything that
(36:14):
he puts in my hands I bless.
I give it to him to bless itbecause I firmly believe that
everything that I have is his.
That includes my failures.
So I love you, I'm praying foryou and I hope you have an
amazing week.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.