Power of Remembering by Guest Writer - Jason Elam

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter had grown disheartened and given up on ever being able to fulfill the call of God on his life.

It’s not hard to understand why.

Just a few weeks earlier, Peter had promised to stand by Jesus no matter what. Later that night, Peter was swearing (using actual swear words!) that he didn’t even know Jesus. On the night that Jesus needed Peter the most, Peter let Him down. The scriptures say that when the rooster crowed that third time, Jesus locked eyes with Peter.

Imagine the pain of letting down your best friend, and Savior, on the night He needed you most.

A few hours later, Jesus was dead, and Peter was sure Jesus must have gotten it wrong when He called him into a life of ministry.

Even after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to the disciples, Peter was still struggling with doubts about whether he was worthy to carry the miraculous message of God’s grace. Jesus finds Peter back at his old job, pulling nets around the sea, hoping for a catch. Jesus calls him to the shore, cooks him breakfast, and reminds Peter who he really is and what he was born to do. Peter’s heart, hardened by self-doubt melts and Peter goes back to work as a fisher of men. A few days later at Pentecost, Peter preaches the Gospel and thousands of people come into the Kingdom of God.

Just like Peter needed Jesus to remind him who he really was, every prodigal needs someone in their life who knew them before their “fall” to remind them who they really are and who God is still calling them to be.
One of the easiest things for a prodigal to do is to allow their personal failure to become their identity. Many prodigals never find their way to wholeness because they believe they have been permanently disgraced. They desperately need someone to look past their failures and see them as they really are. Or at least, how they were before.

Before the drugs.
Before the abuse.
Before the affair.
Before the long string of broken promises.

Every prodigal needs at least one person who can look beyond all of the pain they have inflicted and remind them who they really are.

1. Remind Them of God’s Love
Many prodigals feel that God is disappointed in them. It’s our job to remind them that God knew that they would make the poor decisions long before they actually did. God has never had an unfulfilled expectation of them. He never had any delusions of their grandeur. Our Father in heaven has always known the paths we would choose but chooses to love us anyway(see Romans 5:8). Even when we break His heart by choosing our own way like the prodigal son in scripture, our Father in heaven waits for us to take one step towards home and then He rushes to our aid, covers us with kisses, and throws us a party(see Luke 15).

2. Remind Them That God Still Has a Plan for Their Life.
Many people will write off the prodigals in their lives when a tragic failure happens. Prodigals need to be reminded that failure isn’t final. They need to hear that God’s gifts and callings are without repentance(see Romans 11:29). Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. He still has a plan. He still has good plans for them. God will never write them off.

3. Remind Them of Who They Were Before the Fall.
When a prodigal’s self-identity becomes clouded by personal failure and the disappointment they feel in themselves, they need someone to remind them of the person they were before the pain. No child is born wanting to be a drug addict. Remind them of the person they were before the catastrophic choices were made. Remind them of the plans they had and the future they wanted. Remind them of their best characteristics, the good things they did, and the meaning to be found when they get the focus on helping others and making a positive contribution in the world around them(see Hebrews 3:13).

4. Remind Them That You Believe in Them and Will Always Be Cheering Them On
Finally, every prodigal needs to know there is someone who sees the best in them and hasn’t stopped believing in them. Time after time, I’ve seen hard hearts melt when someone steps up to cheer a prodigal on. It’s harder to doubt yourself when someone else is rooting for you and expecting great things.

Most prodigals I know can’t remember who they were before they fell from grace. So we have to remember that for them and remind them often. They may be afraid to allow themselves to feel valued and accepted again, so be persistent and relentless in your lavishing of grace upon them. By reminding them that God loves them, has a plan for their life, sees past their failures, and has placed you in their life to cheer them on, you might just get to witness a miracle as God raises grace from the ashes of a broken life.

Yes, life is hard and some mistakes are hard to recover from.

But grace happens.

Jason Elam is Pastor at Freedom Night Pinson, a Jesus centered, kingdom driven ministry whose mission is to help people experience the freedom found only in God’s presence. They offer community groups for those addicted to pornography, for families of addiction, and a (12 step approved) class “Healing the Wounded Heart”.

New Testament Reading

As I was reading in John 1 tonight, specifically verses 35 through 42, and read the accompanying study notes, I ran across an interesting question.  One that made me stop - and will stick in my mind until I have more time to think it over.

Here's the question:  Why are you following Christ?

Simple question - right.  Wrong!!  Are we following Christ for the right reasons?  If we are following Christ for our own purposes, i.e. His blessings, His favor, etc., then we are following Christ for the wrong reasons.  If this is the case, we are actually asking Christ to follow us - to bless and support us - to advance our own causes instead of His.

Do we seek Christ's glory - or our own?  When we perform a good deed, do we expect or want to hear praise for it?  If so, then did we perform that deed to show God's love or to make ourselves look good?  I actually experienced a good example of this myself.  I became involved with a group who feed the homeless in our area monthly.  The first time I went, it was amazing that we fed over 100 people and each person who came through the line said close to the same thing, "Thank you for coming and feeding us."   My friend who accompanied the group also mentioned afterwards that there was something we did not do correctly.  I thought things went well, so I questioned that statement.  Of course, my own answer to these people, along with everyone else who was there, was the standard "You're Welcome."  This was what we did wrong that night.

Receiving all the "thank yous" and responding with "you're welcome" simply took the praise and glory for ourselves.  Our response should have been, "Jesus loves you."  This would have put the praise and glory where it belonged.  It was most certainly through God's provisions that we were able to purchase the necessary supplies and food to feed that many people.  But, instead of directing the praise and glory in the proper direction, we simply took it for ourselves.

In verse 38 of John 1, it states that when when Jesus saw John's two disciples following Him, He asked, "What do you want?"

So, I will now take some time and think this over - specifically that question - what do I want?  Do I want to follow Jesus for the right reasons or do I want to follow Jesus for the wrong reasons?  Do I want to advance His cause or my own?