Redemption

Luke 23:54-62
Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the  house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance.

After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him said, "This man was with Him too."

But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."

A little later, another saw him and said, "You are one of them too!" But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"

After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, "Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too."

But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.

The Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the world of the Lord, knowing He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." 


And he went out and wept bitterly.


John 21:15-17 [Jesus has been resurrected]


So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend my lambs."

He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend my Sheep."

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I don't know how to say anything worthy of commemorating the Lord's resurrection. I pray for humility to understand how desperately I need Him, His death, and His conquering of our sins.

So instead I share with you this beautiful redemption. For each time Peter denied Him, Jesus gave Peter the chance to speak his love. And He didn't do it to get an apology, He did it for Peter. He loved Peter and wanted to heal him and forgive him. This perfect example of forgiveness and love melts me.

Jesus does that. He takes our broken selves, forgives each and every one of our messy sins, and calls us to join His kingdom. Despite our denials, mistakes, and brokenness, He wants us to join Him. He came that all might be saved.

This, then, is love.

John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

-bRob

Step 2

Happy Blogging Step 2: Blog when you are happy. Actually take the time to sit down and blog when you're feeling good. I generally sad blog because I want someone (the internet counts as a friend, right?) to listen to meeeee. Well now my friend, InterWebs, is going to listen to me talk about the good things going on right now.

First of all, new rule: I have to say something for which I'm thankful EVERY TIME I BLOG.







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Get it??? Oatmeal + peanut butter! YUM. I'm so impressed that I was I able to load these pics. I'm really not very technologically inclined.

Also - I'm thankful for instant forgiveness (I could have made a cheesy segue from instant oatmeal to instant forgiveness, but I DID NOT. )
I'm one of those people that never forgives myself. God, however, is not like that. When you pray sincerely for forgiveness, the Lord doesn't "need a little time to think about it". He forgives you. Right then and there. Is that not weird? WEIRD IN A GOOD WAY. When I pray for forgiveness, I tend to pray about 7 times for the same sin. But guess what? God forgave me after the first prayer. I tend to limit God by my own perceptions of myself and humanity. Because I take so long to forgive myself, God must too. I must FEEL forgiven before I actually am, right? In the words of Jim Carry as the Grinch, WRONG-O. No. If you don't "feel" forgiven, that's on you. Get past it. Get over it. You've repented, and God's forgiven you - messy, broken, stubborn you.

Holla - lujah!

Anyways -

I talked to the South Africa study abroad people (I will just call them "the people" because they're through a third party and I don't really know what else to call them). I get an automatic grant because I go to a public university! It's not huge, but it definitely helps alleviate some costs. And classes DO transfer credit towards my major. I have hope!!!! Onward and upwards: tomorrow I will be calling the study abroad office and sweet-talking my adviser. Let us hope that this will go somewhere (like....South Africa!!!).

Also - I will be mentoring a little girl during my time here at the Dubya. Well, I'll be meeting her tomorrow to see if she's a good match. Shout a prayer out (all one of you readers...) for me - apparently she is a bit of a "mess." I don't know what that means...does she not shower? Will she set my apartment on fire? I don't know. All I know is I'm super excited to have a little friend :) Elementary schoolers are in love with absolutely everything. Everything's fun when you're 8! I hope it works out.

So. Other than that - today was normal. I got yelled at again at work. I didn't really do anything that merited being chewed out. People just like to yell at me because they need someone to yell at. I've been thinking about putting a coin jar out - every time you yell at the co-op, put in a dollar.

Imma be rollin in mad moneyzzzzz.

I should go running now.... 3 miles? (And by 3 I mean 1.5).

tschau,
bRob