John 21:15 - RESOLUTIONS

John 21:15 (KJV) So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon 
Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith 
unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto 
him, Feed my lambs.  

Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him! He 
does not humiliate us. He does not criticize us. He does not ask us 
to make a resolution to try harder. Rather, He takes us aside and 
asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.  
Peter miserably failed his Lord when he fled with the other 
disciples from the Garden of Gethsemane. Later, he publicly denied that he 
even knew Jesus. Peter must have wondered if he had been capable of 
being Jesus' disciple when he was unfaithful to Jesus in His most 
crucial hour.  
As you begin a new year, you may be painfully aware that you 
have failed your Lord in many ways. Perhaps you were not faithful. 
Perhaps you disobeyed His word to you. Perhaps you denied Him by the way 
you lived. Jesus will take you aside, as He did Peter. He will not 
berate you. He will not humiliate you. He will ask you to examine your 
love for Him. He asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" If your answer, like 
Peter's, is "Yes, Lord," He will reaffirm His will for you. If you truly 
love Him, you will obey Him (John 14:15). Jesus does not need your 
resolutions, your recommitments, or your promises to try harder this year. If 
your resolve to obey God last year did not help you to be faithful, 
it will not make you successful this year. Jesus asks for your 
love. If you truly love Him, your service for Him in the new year will 
be of the quality that He desires. [Experiencing God Day by Day by 
Henry and Richard Blackaby re John 21:15] 

We are conscious every day of the visible world around us. We 
need to remember that this world speaks to us of God, His existence, 
His wisdom, and His power (Rom. 1:20; Ps. 19:1-3).  
God creates. Everything begins with God and fulfills His 
purposes for His glory (Col. 1:16-17; Rev. 4:11). He works by the power 
of His Word (Ps. 33:6-9), the same Word that can work in our lives 
(1 Thess. 2:13). He works according to a plan: first He forms, then 
He fills. He formed the earth and filled it with plants and 
animals. He formed the firmament and filled it with stars and planets. He 
formed the seas and filled them with living creatures. He can form and 
fill our lives today if we will yield to Him. Persons who have 
trusted Jesus Christ are a part of the new creation (2 Cor. 4:6; 5:17; 
Eph. 2:8-10).... 
God divides. He separated the light from the darkness, the dry 
land from the waters, and the waters above from the waters beneath. 
This principle of separation is basic in all the Bible: He separated 
Abraham from Ur, the nation of Israel from the Gentiles, His church from 
the world (John 17:14-16). He wants His people today to be separated 
from all that defiles (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). 
God blesses. Because we are created in the image of God, we are 
different from the other creatures God has made, and we must be careful 
how we treat one another (Gen. 9:6; James 3:9). Sin has marred that 
divine image, but one day all true believers will bear the image of 
Christ (Rom. 8:29). The more we behold Christ, the more we become like 
Him (2Cor. 3:18). [Chapter by Chapter Bible Commentary by Warren 
Wiersbe re Gen. 1]