He [Jesus] 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 everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
--John 21:17
In Matthew 10:29, Jesus tells us that not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from God’s knowledge. And if God cares about a sparrow, don't you think He would also care about you as His child?
Well He does. It’s an amazing thought that the same God who made the stars and calls them all by name is the same God who knows the number of hairs on your head!
Not only does He know the number of hairs on your head, He knows your name. Your name is recorded in God’s infinite mind and heart!
God knows you. He knows your past as well as your future. And the thing He knows better than anyone else is your heart.
Now, that might strike terror into your life at times when you realize that God sees the worst about you! But what’s so wonderful is that even though God knows the worst about you…He loves you anyway!
Perhaps today, you feel a little like Simon Peter…you feel like somehow you’ve let God down. Perhaps you feel ashamed of something from your past…a failure that you can’t seem to get past.
If so, remember that with Jesus, no failure is final. The Lord restored Peter…and He can restore you as well! God knows your heart. He knows all about you. He knows what you need…and He wants to meet you at the point of your need today. Will you let Him?
Even though God knows the worst about you, He loves you anyway!
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:”
Luke 18:9
The author and humorist Mark Twain was not a Christian, and his disregard for faith and the things of God were well-known. One of the things that Twain hated the most, and that helped turn him away from being saved, was the hypocrisy of professing Christians he knew. Though that does not excuse his refusal of salvation, it should serve as a warning to all of us that our conduct does have a great impact on those around us. It is said that on one occasion a prominent businessman who claimed to be a Christian but was known for unscrupulous dealings told Twain, “Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top.” Twain responded, “I have a better idea. You could stay in Boston and keep them.”
The temptation to feel like we are doing well—or at least better than those around us—is so comforting that we often find ourselves giving in to it even though we should know better. When we evaluate our lives by the measure and standard of the expectations and commands of a perfectly holy God found in His Word, we quickly realize that we fall far short. God uses the metaphor of a mirror to describe the Bible. “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was” (James 1:23–24). Instead of looking around for others to whom we can compare ourselves so that we feel better, we need to allow the Scriptures to perform their cleansing and correcting work in our lives.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Rather than measuring ourselves by those around us, we need to hold up Jesus as the absolute standard.
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