Cock-a-doodle-doo..!

 “While he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.” Lk 22:60 NAS

 

The Bible says: “While he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, ‘Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (vv. 60-62 NAS).

Before God entrusts you with a great assignment, He will permit Satan to test you. Why? To reveal your weaknesses so that God can strengthen you in those areas. God will allow you to fail in a smaller sphere to keep you from messing up in a larger one, hurting not only yourself but others too. 

One of the wonders of the Christian life is that Jesus can take rubble and build something beautiful out of it. Peter promised never to deny Jesus, but by the time the rooster crowed, he had already done it three times.

Repeated failure! Can you relate? You said you wouldn’t lose your temper, but you did. Cock-a-doodle-doo! You said you wouldn’t give in to temptation, but you did. Cock-a-doodle-doo! 

When does a rooster crow? Early in the morning!

Good news!

That means the rooster announces the beginning of a brand new day. After his worst night of failure, the sun came up for Peter. And it will come up for you too. By God’s grace you can start your life over any day you choose to. Today you can repent of your sin and go on to do great things for the Lord. Peter ended up winning multitudes to Christ and leading the church. So no matter how badly you have failed, God will forgive you, restore you, and redirect your steps.

Happy Sunday 🥂😊

The Woman at The Well...

 

“The woman at the well in John 4. Who is she? A harlot who goes through men like water? A victim of cruel men who either die or get bored of her?

The underlying reasons for those questions are important. But what if we are simply coming to the story with 21st century concerns instead of looking for what the context and its symbols are telling us?

What symbols? John 4 comes right after John 3. And what is at the tail end of John 3? John the Baptist talking in symbols: he’s the best man introducing the Great Groom (Christ) who strides forth, coming for his Bride. 

And then what do we have at the start of John 4? That very Groom, walking toward another symbol: a well. A well he just “had” to come to (v.4). Why? What was so important about this particular well? 

This is when our Old Testament alarm bells should start ringing. It was Jacob’s well. He had to go to Jacob’s well. 

Why? Because Jacob is one of Israel’s patriarchs. And who, exactly, meets Israel’s patriarchs when they arrive at a well? A bride.  

Abraham, the father of nations, orchestrates the match between his son and a bride there: Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac’s son, too, meets his wife at a well: Jacob and Rachel. And don’t forget Moses and Zipporah meet at a well, too. 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses: meeting a bride at a well runs right through all their stories. 

So when we see John 3 bring up the symbol of a Groom and John 4 bring up the symbol of a well, our hand should hood our eyes as we scan the horizon. Who will the bride be? What kind of match is the Heavenly Father, the Father of nations, striking up for his Son at this well (in broad daylight, by the way)? The fair Rachel? The weak Leah? 

No. She’s even more surprising. It is fitting that the camera would pan to the Samaritan woman as the symbol of Christ’s Bride: a biblical symbol that represents the church. For as we know, as a Samaritan, she’s both Jew and Gentile in one. And so is the church.

Here is the Bride that Christ is interested in: the one who went through so many "grooms" that failed her, the one no one wants to talk to, the lowly and unexpected. Not the most impressive, rather the overlooked and misunderstood. Not the self-righteous and smug, rather the dejected and ostracized. This is exactly who comprises the church. She is exactly who the woman at the well represents. She’s us.

-Shared

God Doesn't Seek the Lovable.

     The love of God is not like our love. The love of God does not seek the lovable, the likable, or the one who will love him back. God loved us, as it were, even before he found us, even before he created us, from the very foundation of the world. Indeed, his love created us, formed us in our mother’s womb, recreated us in the womb of the church, and continues to love us even when we are mean, spiteful, and unmerciful.

Men in search of a wife look for an attractive woman who will love them back. Not God. He found an ugly, disease-infested prostitute whose life was littered with impurity, shame, and every manner of wickedness. This woman God joyfully made his bride. He washed her clean of every filth, forgave her past, clothed her in his righteousness, and pronounced her beautiful.

This woman for whom God did this—she is us.

Do not ask why. Simply say Amen. For what else can one say to the love of God except Amen? Yes, yes, it shall be so. The planks in our eyes and the specks in the eyes of our neighbor, he takes these all with him and attaches them to the bloody wood of his cross. They are forgiven, gone. Our failures, infidelities, greed, selfishness—they melt like ice in the heat of our Father's compassion. We are clean. We are pure. We are beloved of God. Nothing and no one means more to him than we do. And nothing and no one can change that.

This is a reminder of our Father's Love, of how small we are and how Massive His Love for us is.

Happy Sunday 🥂