Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 21:14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

Although this was the fifth appearance of Jesus since His resurrection, it was the third to the disciples as a group. This settled the question, “Who is Jesus?” These three times testify to this great truth or reality. Jesus lives. Jesus, is the Son of God. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

May this verse encourage us today again to declare to ourselves who Jesus is. We may also have opportunities today to declare Him to others. Everything in our lives rests on this great truth. Jesus is our life! He lives. He lives in us. We are one with Him and today He plans to love people through us. He has orchestrated our days and there is a queue of people lined up who will be brought into the presence of Jesus. They will show up one at a time as we go through our day. The Father is giving them to Jesus so that He can love them and reveal to them that He lives. For many of these people, it will be one of many times they have been in the presence of Jesus, but were prevented from recognizing Him. Perhaps today, their eyes will be opened, and they will have an encounter with the resurrected Jesus in us.

Father, manifest Your Son in and through us today. You open the eyes of Your disciples to see and know You. May You do that today. Let us see You and may the world in which we walk see that You live. Amen.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.

My understanding of middle-eastern culture is that hospitality is an incredibly high value. If a guest came, food and drink were offered. It was expected as a display of honor. To not do so was to shame the guests and would be considered shameful of the host. The earth is the Lord’s. It’s His house, and that morning on the beach, He wanted to refresh them after their fishing adventure. What kindness.

This encourages us to be kind also. One aspect of love is hospitality—kindness—sharing what You have with others as God brings them into your path or your home. Sometimes our kindness may be planned and other times it may be random. Regardless, let’s just let this idea of kindness encourage us to be looking for opportunities to be kind to those God puts in our lives today. What do you have that you can share with your wife, husband, children, parents, friends, and work associates?

Jesus, show us how You want to be kind to those You put in our lives today, for Your glory. Amen.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples ventured to question Him, "Who are You?" knowing that it was the Lord.

John wanted his readers to know for certain that this was an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Therefore he stated uncategorically that they knew that it was the Lord. The Holy Spirit inspired John, so we can know this comment about this encounter is important for us. He wrote these things so we might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that in His name we may have life. What encouragement can we draw from this?

Even though we may believe and know the Lord, we can’t be encouraged enough. We need a daily reminder of who Jesus is because our faith will be tested today. Satan and the world, who hate the light, may be allowed to express that hatred in the affairs of your life, and then a thought may flash through your mind. Is Jesus who He said He was? Is Jesus really Lord of all?

May we receive this encouragement with open hearts. Jesus, we don’t question who You are. We know You are the Lord, no matter what happens today. We worship You as the Lord of creation and the Lord of our lives. We know You care for us and want to be with us and break bread with us—fellowship with us. That’s amazing and humbling! Fill us with the awareness and reality of what we know about You today. Thank You for inviting us to eat and fellowship with You. Amen.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

It seems that Peter was still in the water and hadn’t yet come on the land because John said that he “went up and drew the net to the land.” Had he been on the beach he would have “gone down.” John thought it was important to note that there were so many fish, 153 to be exact, that the net was not torn. Someone had to have counted them, perhaps John or whoever the accountant was for the disciples. The encouragement to me is that those nets were important to Jesus’ friends, and He, who holds all things together held the net together as Peter drug it ashore so full of flapping fish. Let’s be amazed at this Jesus, the Son of God, the creator and sustainer of the universe.

The apostle Paul described Him this way, Col. 1:15-17 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Today, let us be encouraged by this great reality of who Jesus is. He loves us and cares for the things that are important to us, like He cared for the net which belonged to one of the disciples. He created us for Himself. We exist for God and we exist through Jesus’ purpose, love, and care. As we co-labor with Him, may we trust Him with everything in our lives. This glorifies Him. It’s our way of saying to Him that we know He loves and cares for us. Notice how Peter obeyed Jesus’ directive. It was hard work, I’m sure. We can be sure that he was careful with his net, not to break it. We can trust Him as we work carefully to obey Him and do as He directs us today. That confidence is an important aspect of living to love with Jesus. He will take care of the important things to us.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught."

Why did Jesus ask them to bring some of the fish they had caught when He already had fish and bread prepared? I’m not sure, but it does seem like the Lord to bless our labors and then use the fruit of what He provided for His glory. We are in this together, and in a way, Jesus asking them to add their fish to His dignified their work and exemplified His union with them. They were co-laborers and they were to enjoy their work and the fruit of it.

The same is true for us today as we live to love with Jesus. We are co-laboring with Him. We are helpless to accomplish anything of significance, so He supplies what we need as we work. Then having finished our work, Jesus blesses it by uniting it with what He has prepared for us. It’s a wonderful picture that encourages us to surrender all that we are and have to Jesus as Lord. We can know that He will dignify our work by using it for His purposes and glory.

Father, we praise You and love You because of Your gracious care for us. It’s really overwhelming love that You have bestowed on us that we can co-labor with You. Thank you for blessing our labors today and using the fruit of them for Your glory. Amen.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

I imagine us at the end of our lives dragging our nets to Jesus. Each one’s net is full of the people God put into our paths throughout our lives. People whom Jesus loved through us and to whom He ministered. We present them to Him because we know we didn’t catch them. He gave them to us for our joy and blessing and for His own joy and glory.

Lord Jesus, we want to see You manifested in our lives, but are as helpless as Your disciples were to catch fish. Without Your power and presence, we waste our lives. Fill our nets with the souls of many for Your joy and glory.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.

How exciting it must’ve been for the disciples to see the Lord on the beach. It’s hard to imagine what was going on in their minds, but you know they had to be thrilled. It’s always thrilling when Jesus shows up.

Lord Jesus, we are expectant today to see you show up as we work just like you did that day on the beach at the Sea of Galilee with Your disciples. May we be as excited as Peter. We can’t wait to see you. We need Your presence and power in our lives so we can work with joy and love the people you bring to us. Father, glorify the name of Jesus in our lives, we pray in His name.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 21:5-6 So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch." So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

It surely must have been a deja-vu moment. Here’s Luke’s account of a similar event.

Luke 5:4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

Luke 5:5 Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets."

Luke 5:6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

Luke 5:7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

After this event recorded by Luke, Jesus called Simon to follow Him. It was a life-changing encounter. This also was to be another life-changing encounter as we will see.

As believers in Jesus, we are people of hope. We know Jesus lives and that He can show up anywhere, anytime. Let’s be alert today for the presence of the Lord as we walk by the Spirit in His love.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

1 John 3:18-20

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

Love in action

John encouraged his readers, his little children, to put love into action. The gnostics, who believed that salvation came through the knowledge of spiritual truth, didn’t believe their deeds were of any significance because their deeds were done in the body, which in their minds, was of the material world and therefore evil. In stark contrast, the true children of God, in whom the Son of God dwelled, are known by their deeds done in the body. When John used the word “truth” he was referring to reality. So as Jesus loves through us, it will be more than just words, loving deeds flow out of the reality of the living, indwelling Son of God.

John had just mentioned that the love of God is revealed through believers laying down their lives in this world and meeting one another’s needs through His supply (v. 17). God is glorified as we express His love in tangible, real generosity and hospitality. God’s love is illustrated in His word to His people in Isaiah 43:4-5 “Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you.” Yes, God spoke to them in words, “I love you,” but they needed Him to be with them and help them. So God didn’t just love them in words, he loved in deed and in truth. He came to be with them and to manifest His presence and power.

A quiet heart

When we put action with our words, the words have meaning and testify to the reality of the truth that Jesus lives in us. Love is the evidence that Jesus lives in us, which means God, who knows every single sin of our entire lives, has totally forgiven every one of them! Living to love with Jesus is the key to a quiet heart.

When John wrote in 1 John 3:19-20, “We will know by this that we are of the truth,” what was the “this”? It’s clear in verse 18: loving in deed and truth. In verse 16, John wrote, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us,” so we conclude that God’s love dwells in us if we love one another as He loved us. In this verse, he wrote that we will know that we are of the truth by two things. First, by the acts of love to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Second, by how we respond to our sin, namely, we trust that there’s no sin that God didn’t know when He justified us through the death and resurrection of His Son. We practice applying the truth we believe about Jesus to our lives daily. In other words, we abide in God’s love.

John 21:4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

Remember how Mary and the two on the road to Emmaus were prevented from recognizing Jesus? This may be another time like those. In each case, we understand that God has a purpose for the temporary blindness. It makes the revelation of Christ a miraculous expression of love.

You may be in a similar state where you are confused and wondering what you are supposed to do. Jesus may be standing nearby, but you don’t realize He’s there. Take heart. Keep doing what you know to do and wait on the Lord. Keep loving the people God puts in your path regardless of how successful or unsuccessful you think you are. He will show up because He loves you. You are His!!!

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com