10/1/09

John 20:24-21:14 (New International Version)

Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 21
Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish
1Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias.[b] It happened this way: 2Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

5He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.

6He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[c] 9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."

11Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Thomas wanted to physically see Jesus here. God has a plan much bigger than this. He wants to be present with us at all times. He is with you right now in the form of the Holy Spirit. You can talk to him and hear his words through the Bible. Jesus was not mad at Thomas. Thomas was still loyal to believers. Doubt, but do not stop there, continue to search for an answer, and allow your Faith to deepen; Jesus says that we are blessed if we can believe without seeing. We have our proof with the Bible and the testimonies of other believers . Never think that the Bible tells everything that he did , however, it gives us enough examples to understand that Christ is the way to Eternal life.

Peter may have needed special encouragement after his denial of Christ. Verses 1-14 set the scene for Jesus' and Peters conversation. John was the only one who recognized Jesus on the shore.Keep in mind that this was all happening after the resurrection. This just once again proves that Jesus was still performing miracles after his death.

I want to speak one more day on fellowship and protecting our churches. It is our job to protect the unity of our church. God wants our church to experience oneness and harmony with each other. If you destroy it, it is like you are ripping out the heart of Christ. The trinity even represents oneness. The three are completely unified. One of the biggest things that Jesus prayed for prior to his death was our unity. It is up to us to protect our personal church unity. Do everything possible to protect fellowship and harmony in your church. Focus on what we have in common, not on differences. We should concentrate on the fact that we share our salvation, our life, and future through Christ. God is the one who gave us different personalities, background, races and preferences so we should enjoy and value these differences. We must never let these differences separate us from each other. Learn to love each other as Christ loves us. If there is a conflict, there is an indication that we have gotten off track from this practice. We simply need to concentrate on loving each other and fulfilling God's purpose.

Be realistic in your expectations of your church. Passionately love your church no matter what. Do not be immature by criticizing where your church may be. However we should strive for the ideal. Mature people can live with the tension. Church members will sometimes disappoint you and let you down, but you should never stop fellowship with them. We may become disillusioned with our church because we sometimes see conflict, hypocrisy, hurt, pettiness, neglect, and legalism, but remember that the church is made up of sinners, and that includes us. We must work out our conflict. Reconciliation is the key to stronger character and deeper fellowship. Divorcing your church at the first sign of disappointment is a sign of immaturity. There will never be a perfect church. If you happen to find one, they will not let you join because you are not perfect and neither am I. We all need to quit pretending and start admitting we are all imperfect and need God's grace. When we complain about our church, we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow.

We must encourage rather than criticize, when you criticize another believer, you are hiding God's work. Four things happen with criticism. 1. you lose fellowship with God, 2 you expose your own pride and insecurity, 3 you set yourself up to be judged by God, 4 And you harm the fellowship of the church. Anytime we blame, complain, or criticize we are doing the devils work.

Refuse to listen to Gossip. It is wrong. It is the same as accepting stolen property, and it makes you just as guilty as spreading gossip. Have the courage to ask them to stop. It they gossip to you they will gossip about you. If you listen to gossip, you are a troublemaker, not a peacemaker. In God's flock, the greatest wounds usually come from other sheep, not the wolves. You could call gossipers "Cannibal Christians". Lovingly confront your church gossiper and ask them to stop. Tension disappears when gossip stops.

Jesus gave us a method for conflict resolution. The first step is a private confrontation and it should be done as soon as possible. The next step is to take two witnesses to help confirm the problem and reconcile the relationship. If the problem persists then you must take it to the church. If the person still doesn't respond appropriately then you should treat them like a non-believer.

Support your church leaders. Pastors serve as mediators between immature church members. They are also given the impossible task of trying to make everyone happy. They will have to give an account to God about how they watched over us. We will also give an account to God of how well we followed our pastor. They avoid arguing. They pray for the opposition to change, plead for church unity, rebuke those disrespectful of leadership, and they may even have to remove divisive people from the church. Sounds like a piece of cake don't it?

Accept your responsibility to promote and protect the unity of the church. It won't always be easy, but it will please God. Do what's best for the body of Christ, instead of yourself. God gives us a church family to learn unselfishness. He blesses unified churches. If a church is unified then people will want to be a part of it. God's "baby believers" that he delivers need a warm incubator church, not a cold sterile environment. What are you doing personally to make your church family warm and loving? Everyone needs love and when a church is found that exhibits love , you would have to lock the doors to keep them away.

Our most gracious Heavenly Father, I pray that I live for you and your commands. I ask you to bring ultimate fellowship to my church. Thank you so much for the miracles and the examples provided of them in the Bible. Help us Lord to be loving toward one another because you first loved us. Lord,help me to step away from gossip and help the one who is doing the gossiping, as no good can come from it. Thank you for allowing us to doubt and still be part of your family, as long as we continue to search for your answers and not give up on you. I believe you even though I do not see you. I know you are here even if I don't sometimes feel you. I thank you for such a Godly man to lead our church. He truly exhibits the love and compassion as shown to him through Christ. I pray a special prayer for him today, that our entire church family completely and openly follows his leadership. Thank you for all my friends and family and I ask that you bless them with what they need today. Lord I ask for opportunities to witness today. Pleas forgive me where I fail you. In your precious name I pray.......amen