Alive - by Dave Smith

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‘own’ the problem. Outwardly, Peter seemed to be doing fine. The risen Jesus had already appeared to him, and Peter was the first in this encounter to jump out of the boat and run to him. So on the surface, at least, it seems Peter still felt ‘positive’ about his relationship with Jesus. But Jesus is the most skilled ‘heart surgeon’ that there is. He knew that Peter needed to face up to who he was and what he had done and to deal with any self-deception so that he could be fully healed and restored, rather than carrying the problem with him into his future. Jesus’ method was to ask searching questions – in fact the same basic question, framed slightly differently three times: ‘Do you love me’? The first time he said: ‘Do you love me more than these?’ The ‘more than these’ could have meant more than fishing, more than the other disciples or even ‘Do you love me more than they do?’ There is no way of knowing for certain. What we can be sure of is that Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter: ‘Peter, the reason you denied me was a love issue – you loved self, your reputation, what others thought of you – more than you loved me.’ 8 Jesus knew that for Peter to both experience full forgiveness and freedom from his past failure and be ready for future service, he had to deal with his heart issue. Like Peter, God has a plan for our lives. He made us, and sent Christ to restore us, from both the damage done to us, but also the damage we have done to ourselves. This process starts when we come to Christ. In his letter to first-century Christians, the now fully restored Peter wrote: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1 Peter 1:3). The transformation is so dramatic it’s described as a ‘new birth’. Then, as we allow the indwelling Christ to progressively restore us,
we experience increasing levels of freedom, even seeing God work ‘negative’ past experiences for our good and for his glory. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. The name means ‘golden joinery’ and the process involves mending a broken piece using lacquer mixed with gold, silver or platinum, making it arguably more valuable than the original was. This image of mending and restoring something broken so that it is more beautiful and valuable than before is a great reflection of what Jesus does in our lives. As author Andrew Ollerton has described it: ‘The risen Jesus is the master of Kintsugi. His sacrificial love is the golden resin. Jesus takes what’s broken and puts it back together again in such a way that it becomes more valuable than before. So let’s not hide our brokenness from him. Instead, let’s hand the pieces to the risen Jesus and see what he can do.’ 9 PAUSE AND PONDER Are you still living in the grip of past failure? Are there areas of brokenness in your life? Take some time to invite the risen Jesus to forgive you, free you and restore you. FREEDOM FROM FUTURE FUTILITY The freedom that Jesus offers us is fully comprehensive: covering freedom from present frustration, freedom from past failure and freedom from future futility! As you look to your future, what do you see? In the days following his denial, Peter’s future looked futile. Certainly, there seemed no likelihood of him fulfilling the destiny that Jesus had for him – to be a
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Dave Smith invites us on a journey
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and fulfilled. A life where it’s
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I want to say a huge thanks to a nu
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Instagram a while back: ‘You wake
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eyond our physical and psychologica
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4. A future life in heaven Widely a
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only £150?’ The wife replied,
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3. On the first Easter morning, the
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second question of how Jesus’ res
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At 2.20pm, 5 April 1982, I ‘fell
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used to refer to romantic or sexual
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and controversial biblical characte
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teach us about the seeming absence
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testimony of female witnesses would
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16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ S
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What’s clear is that this was not
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THE ETERNAL DIMENSION OF LOVE One o
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know how much, in Christ, we are
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FURTHER REFLECTION 1. In the light
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It was a day not to be forgotten in
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group that didn’t survive: ‘The
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an all-loving, all-powerful God who
Page 46 and 47: 25 He said to them, ‘How foolish
Page 48 and 49: By the end of the journey, their
Page 50 and 51: deliverer had just suffered the mos
Page 52 and 53: of Paul’s conversion on the road
Page 54 and 55: HE’S WELCOMED Despite Jesus being
Page 56 and 57: Presumably there was something abou
Page 58 and 59: FURTHER REFLECTION 1. Take a moment
Page 60 and 61: The longing for inner peace is univ
Page 62 and 63: For example, it may be that as you
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Page 80 and 81: CHAPTER FOUR LIVING IN FREEDOM
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Page 86 and 87: completely implausible to think tha
Page 88 and 89: FISH Afterward Jesus appeared again
Page 90 and 91: PAUSE AND PONDER If you are current
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Page 102 and 103: FURTHER REFLECTION 1. Are you strug
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Page 110 and 111: 1. A TRANSFORMED MOTIVATION Saul’
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Page 122 and 123: PATHWAY So far we’ve established
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Page 128 and 129: CONCLUSION FULLY ALIVE, FOR THE RES
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Page 134 and 135: his death under Pilate and his gath
Page 136 and 137: APPENDIX B: HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT
Page 138 and 139: to the fact he was about to suffer
Page 140 and 141: TOMB As we look at the accounts of
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ENDNOTES INTRODUCTION: FULLY ALIVE
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The book is also the basis for a sm
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Demands a Verdict (Nashville, Tenne
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FURTHER ALIVE RESOURCES Now you hav
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