Introducing My New Bible Devotional for the Summer

I am excited to announce the upcoming release of my new Bible devotional, designed to help readers deepen their faith and grow closer to God each day. This devotional is crafted for anyone seeking daily inspiration, encouragement, and practical guidance from Scripture.

What Makes This Devotional Unique?

Daily Scripture Readings: Each day features a carefully selected Bible verse to meditate on.

Reflective Insights: Each entry is designed to help the reader connect the Scripture to real-life experiences.

Personal Application: Practical prompts encourage readers to apply God’s Word in daily living.

Life Focus: Every entry concludes with a short challenge or reflection, inviting God’s presence into your day.

My Heart Behind This Devotional:

My prayer is that these daily entries will guide you on a journey of spiritual growth. Whether you read it in the morning to start your day or at night for reflection and rest, I hope these daily entries become a space where you encounter God’s love and truth.

We start this coming Sunday (July 5). I hope you will be a part of reading this each day.

We Are Disciples—Follow Him (21:19–25)

Jesus has just spoken about Peter’s life and ministry. Now He speaks about Peter’s death. This revelation must have been a shock to Peter to have the Lord speak so openly about his death. Doubtless Peter was glad to be restored to fellowship and apostleship. But why mention martyrdom?

When Jesus spoke about His death the first time, Peter had opposed it (Matt. 16:21ff.). Peter had even drawn his sword in the garden, trying unsuccessfully to defend his Lord. But Peter had sworn that he would die for the Lord Jesus but he was terrible at it when it mattered. (You and I probably would have done worse!) Whoever commits himself to serve the Lord must honestly face this question of death.

When a man has made up his mind about death, then he is ready to live and to serve! The death of our Lord is a constant theme in the gospel of John. He knew His “hour” would come, and He was ready to do the will of the Father. If it is the will of God, His followers must give themselves as He gave Himself for us and be “living sacrifices” (Rom. 12:1–2) who are “ready to be offered” (2 Tim. 4:6–8).

That same morning Peter had “girded himself” and run to the shore to meet Jesus (John 21:7). One day someone else would take over Peter and kill him (cf. 2 Peter 1:13–14). Tradition says Peter was crucified upside down, as he was not worthy to die like his Master.

However, Peter's death would not be a tragedy; it would be to the glory of God! The death of Lazarus glorified God (John 11:4, 40) as did the death of Jesus (John 12:23ff.). Paul’s profound concern was that Christ be magnified in him, whether by life or by death (Phil. 1:20–21). This should also be our desire.

Our Lord’s words, “Follow me!” must have given new joy and love to Peter’s heart. Jesus literally told Peter to keep on following Him. At once Peter began to follow Jesus as he had done before his grievous denial. But Peter had looked away from the Lord Jesus for a moment, a mistake he had made at least twice before. After that first remarkable catch of fish, Peter looked away from his Lord and looked at himself. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When Peter was walking on the stormy sea with Jesus, he took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the wind and waves, and immediately he began to sink (Matt. 14:30). It is dangerous to look at the circumstances and not look to the Lord.

Why did Peter begin looking back from his Lord? He could hear someone approaching behind him. The apostle John was also a follower of Jesus Christ. Peter acted foolishly and asked Jesus, “What shall this man do?” In other words, “Lord, you just told me what will happen to me; now what about John?”

The Lord rebuked Peter and told him his business was to follow and not to meddle in the affairs of other believers. Be careful when you stop focusing on the Lord and start looking at other Christians! The goal and practice of every believer should be to be "looking unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:1–2). If we become preoccupied with ourselves, our circumstances, or other Christians, we disobey the Lord and may sidetrack ourselves from His will. Keep your eyes of faith on Him and on Him alone.

This does not mean neglecting others, for we have the responsibility to care for one another (Phil. 2:1–4). Rather, it means we must not let our curiosity about others lead us away from following the Lord. God has a plan for us, and He also has plans for our Christian friends and associates. It is His business how He works in their lives. Our work is to follow Him as He leads us (Rom. 14:1–13).

I remember a critical time in my ministry when I was troubled because other ministers seemed to be getting God's "blessing" in great numbers, while I appeared to be reaping a meager harvest. I can confess to envying them and wishing that God had given their gifts to me. But the Lord gently rebuked me, as if to say, “What is that to you? Come with me." It was the message I needed, and I have tried to listen to it ever since.

Jesus did not say that John would live until His return. That is a faulty interpretation that only causes confusion. Confused saints cause more trouble than lost sinners! When people misunderstand the Word of God, they only breed misunderstanding of God’s people and His plans for them.

What the Lord said about John is kind of cryptic. Jesus never said that John would live until He returned or that John would die before He did. As it was, John lived the longest of all the disciples, and he did see the Lord’s return when he saw the visions that he recorded in the book of Revelations.

Now as John is reaching the end of his book, he reaffirms the credibility of his witness. Recall that witness is a major theme in the Gospel of John. (The word occurs forty-seven times.) John himself saw these things and wrote them for us as he was guided by the Holy Spirit. He might have said a lot more, but he wrote only what the Spirit told him to write.

The book ends with Peter and John following Jesus together, and He led them right into the book of Acts! How glorious it was to receive the power of the Spirit and to bear witness to Jesus Christ! Had they not trusted, been transformed, and followed Him, they would have been successful fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and the world would never have heard of them.

Jesus Christ is changing lives today. Anywhere He finds a believer who is willing to yield to His will, to listen to His Word and follow His way, He begins to transform that believer and accomplish remarkable things in that life. He starts doing wonderful things through that life as well.

Peter and John have been dead for centuries (apart from their books), but we are still here. We’re replacing him. What a responsibility! Such a privilege!

We can only win as we allow Him to change us.

We Are Shepherds—Love Him (21:9-18)

Jesus met His disciples on the beach where He had already prepared breakfast for them. The whole scene must have awakened Peter’s memory and aroused his conscience. He was remembering that first catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11) and maybe even the feeding of the five thousand with bread and fish (John 6). It was at the end of the latter that Peter had given his plain testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ (John 6:66–71). The fire of coals would surely remind him of the fire at which he had denied the Lord (John 18:18). It is well that we should recall the past; we may have something to confess.

In John’s gospel there are three major “invitations”: “Come and see” (John 1:39), “Come and drink” (John 7:37), and “Come and dine” (John 21:12). How loving of Jesus to feed Peter before He took care of his spiritual needs! He gave Peter an opportunity to dry off, to become warm, to satisfy his hunger, and to enjoy personal fellowship. Let's learn from this excellent example in caring for God's people. The spiritual is certainly more important than the physical, but caring for the physical can lead to spiritual ministry. Our Lord does not so magnify “the soul” as to overlook the body.

Peter had already met privately with his Lord and no doubt had taken care of Peter’s sins (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5), but since Peter had denied the Lord publicly, it was important that there be a public restoration. Sin is to be treated only as far as it is known. Private sins should be privately confessed and public sins publicly. Peter had denied his Lord three times, and Jesus then asked him three personal questions. He also encouraged him by giving him a threefold commission, which restored Peter to his ministry.

The problem is Peter's love for the Lord Jesus, and that is a key problem with us today. But what did the Lord mean by "lovest thou me more than these"? Was He saying, “Do you love Me more than you love these other men?' This was never a problem among the disciples. They all loved the Lord Jesus above all things, but they did not always obey Him perfectly. Perhaps Jesus was saying, 'Do you love Me more than these boats and nets and fish?' Again, this scenario is unlikely, since there is no evidence that Peter ever wanted to go back to the fishing business permanently. Fishing didn't seem to have anything to do with the Savior's love.

The question was probably asking, 'Do you love me—as you said—more than these other disciples love me?' Peter had claimed that he loved Christ and had even claimed that he loved Him more than the other men did.
I will give up my life for thee. (John 13:37). "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended." (Matt. 26:33). There is more than a hint in these boastful utterances of Peter's belief that he loved the Lord more than did the other disciples.

In this Bible passage, many commentators note the use of two different words for “love.” When our Lord asked His questions in John 21:15-16, He used the word "agape," which is the Greek term for the highest kind of love—sacrificial love, divine love. Peter always used "phileo," which refers to the love of a friend for a friend, a fondness for another person. Both Jesus and Peter used the word "phileo" in John 21:17.

But we should not overemphasize this distinction, since the two words are often used interchangeably in the Gospel of John. God's love for man is agape love in John 3:16, but it is phileo love in John 16:27. The Father loves His Son with agape love in John 3:35 and phileo love in John 5:20. Christians should love one another. In John 13:34, this love is agape love, but in John 15:19, it is phileo love. So John would seem to have employed these two words as synonyms, whatever subtle distinctions might have existed between them.

Two other things are worth remembering: we should not be too hard on Peter. In response to the first two questions, Peter affirmed his agape love by saying, “Yes, Lord!” Peter’s use of phileo indicated his full agreement with the Lord’s use of agape. Secondly, Peter and Jesus spoke Aramaic, of course, but the Holy Spirit transcribed the conversation in common Greek. In this case, it is unwise to press the Greek too far.

Peter, with his faults and failings, truly loved the Lord and was not ashamed to say so. The other men were certainly listening to Peter and benefiting from the conversation, for they too had failed the Lord after boasting of their devotion. Peter had already confessed his sin and been forgiven. Now he was being restored to the apostleship and to leadership.

But the image is transformed from that of the fisherman to that of the shepherd. Peter was to be both an evangelist (catching the fish) and pastor (shepherding the flock). Separating these two is a shame because they should go together. Pastors should evangelize (2 Tim. 4:5) and then shepherd the people they have won so that they mature in the Lord.

Jesus gave three admonitions to Peter: “Feed My lambs,” “Shepherd/Tend My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” Feeding and leading are the shepherd's jobs for both lambs and mature sheep. What a wonderful responsibility to be a shepherd of God’s flock (1 Peter 5:2)! There are enemies who would destroy the flock, and the shepherd must be alert and courageous. (Acts 20:28-35) Sheep are naturally ignorant and defenseless, and they need the shepherd's protection and guidance.

The Holy Spirit does give men to churches to be pastors and equips them for that role (Eph. 4:11ff.), but it is also true that every Christian must help care for the flock. We all were gifted or given gifts from the Lord, and we should use what He has given us to help protect and perfect the flock. Sheep have a tendency to wander, and we must look after each other and support each other.
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Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20, 21), and the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4). Pastors are “under-shepherds” and must obey Him in their care of the flock. The first and most important thing a pastor can do is love Jesus Christ. If the pastor truly loves Jesus Christ, he will love His sheep and will care for them tenderly. The Greek word for “sheep” at the end of John 21:17 is a term of endearment, meaning “dear sheep.” His sheep are precious to our Lord, and He wants His ministers to love them and to attend to them personally and lovingly. (Ezek. 34 shows God’s indictment of unfaithful shepherds, the leaders of Judah.) A pastor who loves the flock will faithfully serve it, regardless of what it may cost.