John 21:14-19.

'Do you Love Me?'

The scene after the Resurrection,by the lake shore. A question out of place perhaps? Why did Jesus single out Peter? Perhaps, Peter's mind was heavy after recent events-the betrayal. Three times he betrayed his Lord. Jesus asked him three times, 'Do you Love Me?'. How would you feel, if you were Peter? How many times have we denied the Lord in our own hearts? Peter felt uncomfortable, perhaps embarassed. He does not remind us of our failures, nor does He embarrass us, but He knows that we love Him. He knew of Peter's love for Him, in spite of his denial. I believe the Lord wanted to focus Peter's mind, from a stark denial and guilt, to a love with a proper focus.

Remember how Peter wanted not only his feet washed but also his body. The Lord wanted Peter's mind focused again properly. He does the same to us.

'Feed My sheep'. If you love Me, love My people also, care for them, 1John 4:10-11. To feed sheep

involves time,energy,care,sacrifice. God's workers and servants are not excluded, they are His sheep too. Sheep are valuable. We look after them so that they do not perish. Care for the sheep matters a lot to the Great Shepherd. Sheep know their shepherd, hear his voice and respond.

John 20:19-29.

Events after the Resurrection. They bring into the open three human states. Fear, Peace, Unbelief.

The followers of Jesus, in spite of their brave words before the Cross, they find themselves hiding in 

Jerusalem and Bethany for-'the fear of the Jews'. When the Master was with them they were bold and couragous. After He had gone, fear gripped their hearts. Fear makes people disloyal. In Pro.29:25 we read that, 'The fear of man brings a snare, but in John 4:18 we read ' Perfect love casts out fear'.

It was the presence of Jesus that drove fear out of their hearts and gave them confidence.

They were troubled and shaken by recent events and they needed Peace in their hearts. In Is.57 we read, ' There is no peace says the Lord to the wicked'.

As believers we cannot function properly when our hearts are full of turmoil and insecurity. The ungodly world is marked by a lack of Peace but Jesus is our Peace.

We wonder why unbelief, especially Thomas, filled their hearts. In spite of many wonders and signs we witness unbelief grips our hearts.

However, Notice the way Jesus dealt with Thomas. No harsh words but a gentle loving rebuke. The result. a surrender at His feet. We have a choice at present. A voluntary surrender at His feet and acknowledge Him as Lord and God or face Him one day as Judge.

The ROAD TO EMMAUS Luk.24:13-35.

One of the most delightful,puzzling stories of that first Easter.

Emmaus, About 12 km from Jerusalem, speaks of our earthly walk with all its problems and confusion.

Two disciples-Cleopas and another whose identidy is not disclosed, on their way to Emmaus on Resurrection afternoon. Nine other disciples are hiding in Jerusalem and Bethany. They are typical of Jesu's followers through the ages, preoccupied with events and dejected. Their eyes were held, i.e. could not recognize Jesus-sleepy Christians. Nothing different in Jesus's appearance, though in a resurrected body.

Jesus drew near and spent time with them. God is very busy but finds time to spent with us. Jesus explained the Scriptures to them about himself. The problem with the two disciples was their vision

not Jesus, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We may follow Christ and His teaching but lack that intimate relationship. Remember the five foolish virgins?

They were preoccupied with the events of the days, which obscured their vision. Even a clean cloth can do that.

Abide with us. An invitation that brought deliverance from their blindness. He is the Bread of Life. As I open His Word Christ becomes manifest to us. A Resurrection     story that those disciples never forgot, and for us too.

The Veil Matt.27:50-53

One of the least noticed incidents at that first Easter but of most importance.

Made of fine linen-representing the Holiness and righteousness of Christ-Ex.26:31-35.

It represented protection to the inner room where God's Throne was. As such, represents Christ in His sinless, perfect humanity. It points to the body of Christ. It was both a way and a barrier to the Holy of Holies-the Ark and the Mercy Seat.Once a year the High Priest entered with the blood of the sacrifice,but nobody else. For a person to meet God, had to keep God's unbroken standards, but the Mercy Seat spoke that God would extend mercy if one came by the Blood. Christ's life reveals the standard one must reach if he is to meet God. The Cherubim on the Veil spoke that man should stay away from God's holiness-Gen.3:24.

The man and the woman were denied access to the Tree of life. Christ on earth revealed the impossibility of any approach to God unless sin was dealt with and became holy-like Christ.

It was not the beauty of the Veil or Christ's life that makes Salvation possible.

The tearing was God's work, torn in two, not punctured. Once a barrier, now a gateway. Christ completely satisfied God's standards and man was reconciled. By giving His body on the Cross He made access into the presence of God available for all, Heb.10:19-20.

The torn Veil speaks, that every human being can have access to the inner court and God's presence who comes by the blood of Christ- Redemption through the Blood of the Cross.

Reflections

What is Revival?

Throughout time there have always been those who have cried to God for a spiritual awakening. In the midst of appalling moral darkness and spiritual declension they have, like the Prophet Isaiah, cried 'Oh that thou woulddest rend the Heavens and come down' (Is.64:1).

In coming to grips with the great need of Revival it is time to define clearly what we mean by the term. Revival means to wake up and live. In the Old Testament the word comes from a root meaning to live. The basic idea is the return of something to its true nature and purpose. Charles Finney defines Revival as '...nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God'. G.J. Morgan puts it this way, it is the reanimation of the life of the believer (not the unregenerate, as they are dead in sin). There can only be Revival where there can only be life to revive. Another describes it as the inrush of divine life into a body threatening to become a corpse.

The definition I like most is from the famous Welsh preacher Christmas Evans 'Revival is God bending down to the dying embers of a fire just about to go out, and breathing into it, until it bursts again into flame'. Whichever way we look at it Revival is life at its best, life in its fullness, life overflowing with the love and power of God. Revival in a definition like this is like David in Saul's armour,- it just doesn't fit. But one thing is clear. In Revival men and women come alive to the life of God.

Reflections

We must begin Right

The deeper we go into the subject of discipleship the more we can see that no school was ever so strictly guarded, and yet there is no one so easy of access. No bar of race, colour, caste, or age stands across the entrance-all may come providing they submit to the entrance conditions.

This raises the point:Why does Christ insist on such complete and utter  self-surrender when first approaches our hearts? Would it not be better if He approached the more gently, then having got us in tempered  His challenge to our rate of progress? The answer is simple. If He is to keep us free from evil, then He must have the whole territory of our lives fully surrendered into His hands. Temptation seeks to find a foothold in our lives on which it can fasten, then when this accomplished, it goes on to establish a bridgehead over which it sends its sappers to fortify the position and take over control. Christ makes it clear from the beginning that He cannot consent to be excluded from territory from which the enemy would use to undermine His authority and weaken His control. Many of the troubles which some Christians have stem simply from the fact that they came into the Kingdom of God too easily. They never learned how important it is in those early stages to deal a death blow to self- centredness and they limp along the Christian life, with no real understanding of what it is all about. The stern words of Christ in Matt. 16:24 which He utters to all those about to submit to Him, are not to frighten us but to fortify us.

Reflections

Unconscious Guidance

No serious study on Divine guidance can ignore the fact that God guides our lives even though we are unaware of it. We often call this unconscious guidance. A great deal of our guidance in life takes place when we are not conscious of it, for God knowing the end from the beginning arranges circumstances and events in our lives for our highest good.

The story of Ruth in the Old Testament illustrates most beautifully this important truth. After committing her life to the God of Israel, Ruth, together with her mother-in law, Naomi, came to Bethlehem to eke out their existence in the direst poverty. Things were so bad that Ruth had to try to make ends meet by taking on the job of a gleaner, and whist doing this task, she happened to light on a part of the field which belonged to Boaz. From there the story takes on an entirely different turn, bringing Ruth from poverty and penury to become the wife of one of the richest men of her day. Was this just luck? No-it was the providence of God moving through her life and bringing her in line with His perfect purposes.

How many times do we just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Some years ago I met an evangelist In Tokyo airport who told me he had just missed his plane. As we talked, the announcement came over the public address system that the plane he missed had crashed into a mountain-with no survivors. We knelt together in the midst of that crowded airport to give God thanks for His unconscious guidance, How thankful we ought to be that God is working for our highest good-even when we are not conscious of it.

Reflections
He guides-not overrides
Apart from the three prerequisites to guidance (prayer meditation listening) there are other aspects to this fascinating subject. We ask ourselves: Just how does God go about the task of guiding His children into the best paths?
There can be no doubt that if God had a plan for every single detail of our lives, such as what shoe we should put on first thing in the morning, then our personalities would be dwarfed and our moral nature cramped. If all that was necessary was just to obey His dictated orders through the day, then there would be no development of our personalities or growth in the areas of our inner being. Exercise in freedom is essential to growth and development, and so God is concerned, when guiding us, that at the same time He does not override us, This does not mean of course, that God does not at times condescend to guide us concerning certain details, but generally His main concern is to develop within us mature attitudes so that we can handle those details in a mature way.
Every father concerned about the true development of his child gives that child a wide scope for the exercise of judgement and decision. But he is also swift to break in at times with words of guidance and instruction which his love and longer experience qualify him to give. Guidance is therefore guidance into the highest development of our characters so that we respond to  life with deep insight, clear judgement and rich understanding.