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Peter’s Up and Down Journey with Christ

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He Was Human Just Like Us, After All

As we continue the journey to Easter, this week we’ll look at the interruption in Peter’s faith.

In John 1:35-42 Peter’s journey with Christ started with his brother Andrew introducing them. Introduction is where relationships start. Like Andrew, we need to introduce others to Christ.

The next step on the journey was Jesus inviting Peter to follow Him. We see this invitation both in Matthew 4:18-20 and Luke 5:1-11. In both Scriptures, Jesus extends an invitation for Peter to follow Him. He extends this invitation to us also.

Last week Jesus was instructing Peter and the other disciples how rough the journey was going to be. (Mark 8:31-9:1) Peter didn’t want to hear this and pushed back. This caused Jesus to reprimand Peter. We need to be open to Jesus’ instructions and not let our own ideas disrupt our journey.

This week we talked about Peter’s interruption.

As Jesus and His disciples shared their last meal together, (Matthew 26:17-30) He told them of the things that they could expect on their journey. He told them that one of them would betray Him. We know now that this person was Judas.

After the meal they were on their way to the Mt. of Olives, and Jesus told them how things were going to go on this journey. He told them that all of them would desert Him.

Once again Peter spoke up and said, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

As Paul Harvey would say…we know “the rest of the story”. We know that Peter does in fact deny Jesus three times.

While they were on the Mount of Olives, Jesus is approached by a crowd of priests, elders, and temple guards led by Judas, and he betrays Jesus with a kiss. (Luke 22:47-52) As Jesus is being arrested and taken away, His followers all run away.

They take Jesus to the home of the high priest to interrogate Him while Peter followed at a distance.

The guards then lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it. Peter joined them. A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. She said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”

Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”

After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”

“No, man, I’m not!” Peter replied.

About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”

Once again Peter said,

“Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

This denial of Jesus was certainly an INTERRUPTION in Peter’s journey.

Can you imagine how Peter would have felt in that instant when Jesus looked at him and knew what he had done?

Like us, Peter and Judas both had interruptions in their journeys. They both handled these interruptions completely differently.

Judas gave up and killed himself.

Peter asked for forgiveness and was forgiven.

Interruption is a normal part of our life journey. Like Peter and Judas, how we deal with these interruptions is up to us.

Remember that no matter what our interruption is, we can ask for forgiveness and move forward on our journey.

Living a Good Life is Not as Hard as We Make it

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Learning to Live Life from the Bible

Over the past couple of weeks, we been looking forward to Easter through a series of messages about Peter’s relationship with Jesus.

The first week was about Peter’s introduction to Jesus (John 1:35-42) by his brother Andrew. This simple act of introduction changed not only Peter’s life but the lives of those he met, as well as people throughout history and even still today.

Being introduced to Jesus can have this same kind of impact on us today and others that are introduced to Him.

Last week was about Peter’s invitation from Jesus (Matthew 4:18-20, Luke 5:1-11). Jesus invited Peter to follow Him and fish for people rather than fish.

Jesus invites every one of us to join Him. He gives us the direction of where to go and how to do it…whatever our “it” is.

This week we learned about Peter’s instructions from Jesus. A big part of learning is instruction. We all need it, but too often think we have it all figured out. Peter was no different.

In Mark 8:31-9:1 Jesus tells His followers that He is going to suffer terrible things, ultimately going to be killed and then be raised from the dead. This is not the kind of king the people were expecting, and Peter reprimanded Jesus for saying it.

Jesus then told Peter, “Get behind me Satan. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Jesus went on to tell the crowd that if they wanted to be His followers that they needed to quit focusing on their worldly thoughts and focus first and foremost on what He was telling them.

Just like the people listening to Jesus then, we need to be open to His instruction in our lives today.

We can get His instruction today through daily reading of the Bible, being a part of a Bible-believing church, and communicating with Him regularly through prayer.

Invitation, introduction, and instruction…a good way to live life.

Information, Instruction, and Implementation…This is Where the Real Work is Done

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Do You Think the Construction Business of Your Dreams is Worth it?

Last week we discussed how hard it is to keep a construction company from failing. If you have a construction company, this all-too-common outcome doesn’t have to be yours.

We’ve talked about how building a dream construction business starts with BEING AWARE of the issues construction companies face. The next thing is UNDERSTANDING these issues, which starts with asking questions and finding answers.

One of the biggest issues in construction is that most people in this industry are willing to do the hard physical work of building a building but will work even harder to avoid the work of building the business.

Building the business of your dreams is a choice.

Our lives are a string of choices, one after another, after another, after another, after another. These choices are the things that direct our paths through life and business.

We need to be aware of these choices and understand how they affect who we are. Understanding this leads us to gathering the information needed for building a business.

The INFORMATION that we consume determines who we will be.

Information comes from what we read, listen to, watch, and who we surround ourselves with. This is true for every aspect of our lives including our businesses.

Information is knowledge obtained through learning, investigating, experiences or study. It is the answers to questions that we ask. Knowing what’s needed to build a successful business begins with having the right information.

INSTRUCTION is an efficient way to consume information.

Instruction is advice or direction about how to do or use something. It happens when someone with more experience and knowledge teaches or trains others.

This lack of knowledge and understanding is why most people in construction don’t have business systems and tools. Sure, it can be learned without instruction over time, but why wait? Instruction is a more effective way to learn how to do or use things.

Don’t spend years by yourself in the “School of Hard Knocks” when is much quicker and less expensive to get instruction from someone who’s already graduated.

IMPLEMENTATION is making instruction and information real.

Implementation is the act of putting things learned into action or to use. This is where knowledge becomes reality. It’s where the rubber meets the road.

This is the scary part.

What if it doesn’t work right the first time? – It won’t.

What if I forget something? – You will.

What if it feels overwhelming? – It will.

Without implementing the things you’ve learned, you gain nothing.

This fear of failure is why most people choose to do nothing. They will just keep doing it the way they always have, knowing there’s a better way but just like the GEICO commercial, they’ll hide behind the chainsaws rather than getting in the running car.

Your construction business is worth the effort needed to gather the INFORMATION, get some INSTRUCTION, and IMPLEMENT what you learn.

If you would like some information about tools to help you build the construction business of your dreams, check out the 5-step Business BUILDing Process. Or if you need some tools for building that dream business, check out the Business BUILDing Toolbox. If you have any questions, you can schedule a free 30-minute consultation here!

You Need the Right INFORMATION to BUILD the Construction Company of Your Dreams

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Next, You’ll Need Some INSTRUCTION on How to IMPLEMENT This INFORMATION

Most of us in the construction business started out with a vision in our minds of what our dream company would be like. We see those successful companies out there and there’s no reason we can’t do the same thing. After all, we’re really good at building things.

The problem is more times than not…those companies are struggling with the same kind of things that you are. Everything always looks better from the outside.

Dreams usually aren’t founded in reality; it is after all…a dream.

Without knowing the struggles inside those other companies, we begin to doubt that we have what it takes to run a successful business. Then the dream turns into a nightmare. Maybe we’re just kidding ourselves. What made us think we could do this anyway?

This is where a lot of companies give up, close the doors and go back to working for someone else feeling like a failure.

In that time of doubt, you know something is wrong, but you just don’t know what. BEING AWARE that there is a problem is the first building block in BUILDing your dream business.

You don’t need anyone’s help with BECOMING AWARE there’s a problem.

This is where the next block in the foundation of a successful construction company needs laid. The second building block is UNDERSTANDING those problems. It would be nice to have some help with this block.

This is the realization that building a successful construction business includes more than just construction. It requires a plan for the business. In time you can figure out what you need to build a successful business, but it can take a long time and can be expensive. What you need is INSTRUCTION from someone who’s graduated with a master’s degree from the ‘school of hard knocks’.

Having been in construction for more than forty years I have just such a degree.

The third BUILDing block is INSTRUCTION. Just like going to school to learn from teachers is helpful, having someone with more experience in business operations to INSTRUCT you is also helpful. It’s important that you are INTRUCTED with the right INFORMATION. You need the right INFORMATION to help you solve the problems specific to your business.

Asking for help can be a hard thing to do, but it’s easier and faster than trying to do it alone.

The amount of information it takes to run a successful construction business can be overwhelming. Asking someone for help can be scary, not to mention time-consuming. Ultimately, it comes down to you making a decision. You can decide to keep doing things the way you’ve always done them or…

You can decide to do something different and change things.

After being INSTRUCTED and INFORMED you need to LEARN how to use the INFORMATION you’ve received. LEARNING is the block we’ll lay in the next post.

I don’t think your dream was to start a company and have it fail.

It’s up to you to keep that from happening.

If you’d like some help with finding solutions to the problems your company is facing, you can get a free 30-minute construction company consultation with me by filling out this survey.