Happiness / JOY is worth fighting for other than freedom and FUN. When it's not worth dying for, it's worth fighting for. JOY is happiness of the soul......

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength. I laugh with the Lord, I sing in the Lord, I work unto His Name, I worship on to Him and I praise unto His Mighty Name. I had always loved the Lord. The Lord, My God is my Soul and my entire being......

Today, Sunday, 29th, April, 2012 time : 10.00am Place : Diakonia Christian Church, DCC.

I went with my mother and Sis Ah Chan in her car. I had the greatest time of my life. The speaker was Pastor David Tan, a former pastor of the church, and the wonderful fantastic singing was led by Bro Calvyn Laang. Vision as a Distinct Christ Centered Family Church that Cares for the Society through Services and fulfills the Commission to Share the Good News....Mission - to Build Loving, Christ Centered Lives Through Cell Structure to Equip Believer to do the task of Evangelism to establish Caring Services that display God's Love to Society.

STAND FAST IN ONE SPIRIT, WITH ONE MIND STRIVING TOGETHER TO ADVANCE THE GOSPEL. Philippians 1 :27  - Diakonia Christian Church.

What is your calling ?
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said,"Feed my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He answered,"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you," Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said," Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." ~ John 21:15-17

In the passage above, I can learn a lot of things about the character of God, especially in the area of forgiveness and calling.

God knows and understands us.
In the passage above, it was actually the 3rd time that Jesus had met with Peter. In the 1st two times the Bible had not recorded in great length about the encounter between Jesus and Peter. Why? It is most likely that in the two earlier encounters, Peter was just lurking in the shadows. I supposed he was just too embarrassed to face the risen Christ after denying Him three times before His crucifixion. That is why Peter went back to his previous vocation as a fisherman after the 1st two encounters with Jesus.

In this passage, we see that it was Jesus who seeks out Peter. It is the same with all of us. In our darkest moment, more often than not, it is we who push Him away. It is we who want to hide in the corner. Here we see a great example that He is always near. So much so that sometimes He would even interrupt our despair to hold us. To "sayang" us.To say that He cares for us.

He comes down to our level.
The word "love" was mentioned 6 times in the passage above. However in the original Greek, there are actually 2 different words used. When Jesus asked Peter the first and second time, "Do you love me?" The word for "love" is agapao (Greek). Meaning the highest form of love. It is from this word that we get the word agape. And it is the same word in John 3:16 - For God so loved......

However on both occasions, Peter answered with a different word for "love". He used the word phileo(Greek) meaning to love as a friend. Peter knows that he is not able to attain the level of agapao love for Jesus as he had denied Him just a few days before. Then we see Jesus using the word phileo when He asked Peter whether he loved Jesus in the 3rd "Do you love Me?" Here again we see an example of Jesus coming down to our level. Instead of judging us, He comes down to show empathy and care for us. Even when we had denied Him many times. In our speech. In our conduct. In our thoughts.

He calls us even in our darkest moment.
This was indeed the darkest moment for Peter. He was confronted by Jesus and he was asked pointblank on whether he loved Jesus. Yet in His answer to Peter, Jesus had issued a calling for Peter. For Peter to "feed My lamb," "take care of My sheep" and "feed My sheep". Here we see an example of Jesus giving a call to Peter's life even if his darkest, most despairing time. God will do the same for each of us. And just like Peter, we will be issued with many tasks. Therefore let us not be satisfied with just one task / assignment that we are doing. Let us be just like Peter, who feeds His lamb (disciplining young believers), take care of my sheep (leadership over the Church and pastoral care) and feed of my sheep (teaching older believers).

All of us have a calling in our lives.
1) We just need to let go and let God reveal it to us.
2) We must be willing to be that vessel that God will use to glorify His Name.
3) God uses ordinary people to achieve great things for Him. Peter was just a fisherman and yet, Jesus said that upon this rock, I shall build my church......
4) God uses people who failed. People who had denied Him. Therefore no matter what you have done in the past, you can achieve great things for Him, if you allow Him.
5) God may give us different callings at different stage of our lives. Just like the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, you too can be called to do drastically different things for Him at the different stage of your lives.

AMEN.