WHEN JESUS PULLS YOU OVER

 What’s the first thing you do when blue lights appear behind you on the highway?

You immediately start checking yourself.
“Was I speeding?”
“What did I do wrong?”
“Did I miss something?”

Before the officer even reaches your window, guilt starts speaking.

In this powerful and deeply relatable episode of Unrelated Sisters: Truth & Grace Conversation, Shannon explores the connection between conviction, guilt, shame, and grace through the story of Peter denying Jesus three times.

What did Peter feel when Jesus looked at him after the denial?
What did Jesus do when He saw Peter again after the resurrection?
And what does that teach us about the grace Jesus gives us every single day?

Using biblical truth, real-life application, personal testimony, and emotional storytelling, this episode reminds listeners that conviction is not rejection — it’s an invitation back to relationship.

If you’ve ever felt ashamed, spiritually distant, or afraid that your failures disqualified you, this episode is for you.

Hebrews 12:6

“For the Lord disciplines the one He loves.”

The officer pulls you over because something needs attention.

God convicts you because something needs healing.

Luke 22:31-34

Jesus tells Peter:

“Before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

Peter immediately responds:
“No Lord, not me.”

And honestly?
Peter believed that.

Because most of us think we’re stronger than we are…
until pressure exposes us.

Then Jesus gets arrested.

Chaos breaks out.
Fear spreads.
People begin questioning the disciples.

And suddenly Peter becomes afraid.

A servant girl says:
“Aren’t you one of His followers?”

Peter says:
“I don’t know Him.”

Then again.
And again.

Three times.

Luke 22:61

“The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.”

Romans 8:1

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Conviction says:
“Come closer.”

Condemnation says:
“Stay away.”

Jesus did not define Peter by his worst moment.

And He doesn’t define you by yours either.

 PRAYER 

Jesus…

Thank You for grace.

Thank You that You do not abandon us when we fail.

Thank You that conviction is not condemnation.

Lord, for every listener carrying guilt, shame, regret, or disappointment…
remind them today that You still love them.

Restore hearts.
Restore identity.
Restore passion.
Restore intimacy with You.

And help us stop running every time You start speaking to our hearts.

Thank You for loving us like You loved Peter.

In Jesus’ name…

Amen.

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https://unrelatedsisterspodcast.buzzsprout.com and tell us your stories and let us know if it’s okay to share (no names). Let us know if you need prayer or how we can support you in your journey. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Lord, we love you today. And we just want to thank you for letting us together again today. And God, I just pray for every listener that um whatever they may be going through today, God, that what we speak would um help them, Lord. And I just pray that we speak with boldness and confidence in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Hey everybody, and welcome back to Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation. I'm Shannon. I'm Deb. And we're today, we're back today, and we're just gonna uh talk a minute about our week, and then we're gonna talk about um when Jesus pulls you over and uh talk a little bit about that, and then uh we have uh some exciting news. We have a guest next week that's gonna come that has a very, very powerful story that I can't wait to hear. Um, and we're excited to have her on here and uh everybody pray that she doesn't let the nerves get to her. Um, but then uh I kind of want to talk about my week. Uh I've been gone all week. I've been um I traveled. We uh we drove up to Missouri this week, uh, me and my husband and some friends, and we spent some time out in God's country. Uh and it was kind of funny because we're from the mountains. But those mountains were amazing. Like, it was like a different kind of mountain. Like, you know what I mean? Like, they were just so green and so it was just the weather was perfect, like God blessed us so much while we were there, and um, we had a really good time. We spent a lot of time together. We spent a lot of time in the car together, and uh, and uh so when I'm traveling, uh your uh your G your GPS, Google or uh Apple, whichever one you use, you know, it'll say police up ahead, you know, and uh it kept saying that, you know, and we traveled, like we went across Alabama into Mississippi, we stayed the night in Mississippi, and then we drove up through Arkansas into Missouri, and that's a lot of states, and not a lot, it's a lot of time on the road. We were on the road for over 10 hours, uh going and coming. And uh the more my GPS said there's police up at police up ahead, the more it just started kind of the thought process to this came, but we'll get to that in a minute. Um, but you know, think about it. I just want to ask this question, and then you can tell me about your week. But what's the first thing you do when blue lights appear behind you in the highway? Just think about it. Yeah, I know. That's what happens to me. Yeah, so let's talk about your week first, and then I want you to answer that question for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

No, I this has been a really good week. Um, I've been trying to apply the things we talked about last time, um, about my perspective on looking at things different, and I feel very I feel lighter. You look lighter, yeah. You look lighter, you you're glowing today, you don't look so stressed out.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

I was felt I was very heavy last week. Yes, yes, and I do not like that. No, I know, right? You bring yourself out of it and then you allow yourself back in it.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

But it helps me like coming and talking to you. Oh, for sure. I probably need that.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Yeah, oh yeah, it's good to have somebody you can communicate with for sure. Good. I'm glad you've had a good week.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Yeah, I have to but I can see it.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Your face is glowing, yeah. Yeah, so my little boy's back from Florida.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

He was gone. Might have been why I had a good week. He was gone all week. No, I'm just kidding. No, he he went uh to Florida with his little friend, and so yeah, he came back last night. Good and uh our little family back together. No, that looks good. Mabel's doing good. Good. You know, she's I'm letting the you know, I'm just doing like you said. Just got love on her. Yeah, just got love on her where she's at.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Love her where she's at, you know. Yep, yeah. I mean, because imagine all the theft she's going through. Yeah. On top of all the hormones.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

You know, uh took her out of a whole different setting.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Yeah, and put her in something she's not used to, something she doesn't understand.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

She's very appreciative, but I I I love that about her. You know what I mean? She's very she tells me often or she'll text me, thank you so much for helping me.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Well, you know, and sometimes that's all people want. That's all people need is that they need a helping hand. They don't need you to fix it. I know they need you to give them a hand. Yeah, right? Good. That's good. Good. So what's the first thing you do when blue lights appear behind you on the highway?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Okay, well, today I usually was for real panic because obviously I was not doing the right thing, so uh I knew I would be going to jail. But today, even though I know that um I'm not did anything, I don't have anything illegal on me or anything, it's still that that that panic kind of Oh yeah. Yeah, no, I understand. Oh no, what if what if?

SPEAKER_02 5:05

What if? Well, but you automatically, you automatically start. I s I look down, oh god, was I speeding? Yeah. Uh did I change lanes without turning on my blinker? You know, did I make a full stop? You know, because I like to do the Georgia roll at stop signs, you know, oh god, did I make a full stop at the stop sign? So even though my first thought isn't to, okay, what do I have on me? You know, or what's in the car. I still have that panic. Yeah, you know, and uh I know, right? Even though I know, you know, and you know, we talk we talked about it because my husband coming back from our trip, he got tired. He let me drive. Oh wow, I know, right? First time. Did you go to sleep? No, God knows Lord help him. Uh but he let me drive. And he's a wild driver. I am I am, I'm a wild driver. I am, and I speed. And I don't speed because I'm in a hurry. I don't speed because I got somewhere to be. I just speed. Yeah, right. Like everybody's like, are you always in a hurry? And I'm like, I'm not in a hurry. Then why are you speed? That's just how I drive, right? And you know, so we're driving along, and he goes, You can't help it, can you? And I said, Help what? He goes, You're doing 70 and a 45. I said, I am not. I looked down, yes, I was. You know, but we were we were we were on a mountain road, a curvy mountain, not curvy, but you know, a mountain road that just kind of swerves with the you know, and I'm that's where I grew up. That's why I grew up driving on. So I'm just swerved along. He's like, you just can't help it, can you? You know, and uh I was like, no, and he goes, but how do you feel when the police pull you over? And I thought, I thought about it for a minute and I thought, oh, I get nervous. You know, even before the officer reaches the car, I already have guilt. I already have guilt. Like I already'm in trouble, I've already done something wrong. I already it's already there.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Am I gonna get a ticket or am I going to go?

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Yeah, you know, how fast was I going kind of thing. You know, and if you think about that, that's deep, right? Because do we have that same when Jesus knocks on the door or walks up to the window? I mean, if you do it like that, if you think about it, do we have that same level of guilt every time Jesus walks up to our heart, every time he taps us on the shoulder? And where does that come from? And why do we why do we allow ourselves? Because Jesus loves us where we are, right? So we don't need guilt. You know, uh, and it reminded me of the story of Peter. You know, what how did Peter feel? I mean, he denied God three times, three times after saying he wouldn't, yeah, you know, after telling him he wouldn't, you know, and then but God, even after Jesus saw Peter again after the resurrection, what'd he do? He had open arms, he showed love, he told Peter to go tell his testimony, he told Peter to go share his word with others, you know, and so what does that teach us about grace? We give grace to everybody around us, but we forget to give it to ourselves. Oh, yeah, you know, and that's kind of what I wanted to talk about today. I want to talk about Peter and his story, and I want to talk about how it feels whether you're doing anything wrong or not. As humans, we automatically go to guilt or shame, or we automatically are feel as though we're doing something wrong. And most of the time we really aren't, right? Because he loves us where we are. So, you know, um, when you think about when you think about life and you think about all the things that suddenly happen, you know, blue lights coming behind you, getting pulled over, you know, your stomach drops, you get all nervous, you have anxiety, you start thinking about what was I doing. But when Jesus knocks on our door, we either we start making ex, you know, we do the same thing. Our stomach drops, we start making excuses, we start looking for this or looking for that, you know, and before we know it, we're allowing the whispers of the devil to take that guilt or that shame or that whatever we're feeling and take it to the next level. And the moment conviction shows up is the moment that God starts speaking to you. When you feel conviction, that's God coming to you. You know, and the moment our spirits get uncomfortable, we immediately start replaying all of our failures. But just because he's coming to you, our mistakes, our sins, our shame, our regrets, that's not what he's there to point out to you. That's what we automatically go to. You know, uh Peter knew exactly what it felt like to look in the eyes with uh to look to felt like to lock eyes with Jesus after failure. And Peter denied Jesus three times. Not once, not twice, but but three different sections or separation separate times. And I can only imagine the guilt that he felt in his heart afterwards, right? I mean, I feel guilt when I don't, you know, when I don't get up and do the things I know I'm supposed to do. So denying him, I just I don't know. Um but how Jesus responded to him afterwards, uh, because Jesus didn't pull Peter over to destroy him, he didn't pull him back into grace, he pulled him back into grace, and maybe somebody listening today needs to hear this. Conviction is not condemnation.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Did you listen to my dad's preaching live this morning? I did not. This is literally his he we he didn't talk about Peter, but he talked about shame and guilt and how and condemnation, like the difference between all of it and yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's pretty cool. Conviction is not condemnation. Yeah, it's not.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

He didn't come to condemn us. He didn't, and he didn't even though he knew you know, he knew when he broke bread and he had wine with these gentlemen, he knew exactly who was gonna portray him, he knew exactly who was gonna turn their back on him, he knew exactly who was gonna go out and fight for him. He knew all the things, and yet he still sat there and broke bread with them, you know, and sitting at somebody's table, that's that's special. That's special. And breaking bread with somebody, that should be and washing their feet. And washing their feet, right? That should be an honor. That should that, you know, and then to know to allow them to do that, knowing that in 30 minutes or an hour or then, you know, the next night or next day or whatever, however it happened, they were gonna deny ever knowing him, that they didn't want to do all the things. You know, blue lights make us nervous as people, and authority exposes us, right? Even if we didn't do anything major, we still immediately start checking ourselves. And spiritually, God's presence often does the same thing to us. God's presence. Because we and we and the funny part about it, and I don't know if this is everybody or if this is just me, but like I search for his presence. I want his presence. But then sometimes when I get it, I'm like, maybe a bit off more than I could chew. Right? Same thing with the police, right? Even though I know I don't do anything wrong other than speed, I do speed a lot, but you know, when I every time I get pulled over, I think, oh god, Jeremy's gonna be so mad. I'm about to get a ticket, you know, and usually I get I don't get a ticket. I I've only gotten a ticket once in the last few years, which blows my mind considering how many times I've been pulled over. Um, most of the time, you know, they let me go with a warning because they're like, Do you know you were speeding? I'll be like, probably. And they're like, What do you mean probably? And I'm like, I can't help it. Like, I'm just honest about it, right? Like, one of them, the one of them he goes, Do you know how fast you were going? I was like, no, but listen to the song. I was like, I was in my own world. I'm sorry, like I didn't realize, you know, I was praising God, you know, and uh he he let me go, but but when God's present, when God starts speaking louder with his convictions, and when conviction hits, when spiritual awakening begins, and that's what I think that's what I went through about a month ago when you know I had this light bulb go off in my head or whatever happened in that moment, you know, I'd been sad and just lost and just ugh, and then all of a sudden, you know, one one listening and obeying one small thing, and the whole world has changed in the month's time, the whole world has been different. But spiritual awakening begins, and that's where we confuse condemnation and conviction, I think.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

I think too uh when you're in God's presence, you do examine yourself. That you know what I mean? I pray that a lot for for examine me, show me so I can change my habits and my and the the bitterness of kind of what I was feeling. Hopefully last week a little bit of bitterness and uh uh but when you do that when you ask them to expose those things, be ready, like you're saying, be you have to be ready, yeah. And be a motherfucker.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

It is, and you don't like it, you know, because you think that's not me. Where did that come from? Yeah, but if that's what you're portraying, that's what you're portraying. Yeah, you know. Um I had a manager one time at work, and uh we do self-evaluations every year at work, and that's where you write down what you think you do really good and what you think you should work on. And she came and she emailed all of us and she said, I want you to send me three things that I need to work on as a as your manager. And I'm like, Are you really ready for that? Like, do you want honesty? You know, I mean, do you really want honesty with that, or do you do you want us to sugarcoat that? Because that's hard. Especially because if we email it back, she knows who said what.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:38

So are you willing to take that and not retaliate or not hold that against us? Because as humans, if somebody's brutally honest, we have a tendency to want to hold it against them, yeah, right? But Jesus don't do that, right? He doesn't hold it against us, he shows us what we need and he shows us the path to get us to where we need to be, you know, and some people run from conviction because they mistake it as rejection, yeah. You know, and but conviction is actual love, yeah, and it's the love that we should have for one another because brutal honesty is what you need, right? Sometimes it just needs to be a little nicer, right? So Hebrews 12 through six uh 12, 6, for the Lord disciplines the ones he loves, that changes everything because discipline isn't punishment from an angry God, it's correction from a loving father, you know. And uh when I was a kid growing up, my daddy was, and I know y'all have all heard the story of of the last 50 years, but when I was a kid, uh young kid, my daddy was a preacher, and he truly believed in in the Bible and the discipline and all the things. And he never ever one time whipped me out of anger. Like he would be mad at me and he would send me to my room to sit and stew until he was until he could come and whip me out of love for whatever I did. And and and I'll never forget that as a kid. Like I was never I never felt in danger when I was getting in trouble or being disciplined, right? I knew he was doing it out of love because of the choices that I made, and he always made sure I understood that. But people don't always feel that. Yeah, they don't always feel that so and discipline.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

A lot of people think discipline is punishment from God, from an angry God. No, God's not an angry God. No, not punishment, the same thing with your child. If you see it doing something that is dangerous to it, you know what I mean? You're gonna stir it in the right direction, the same way he does us. He's not doing it because he don't love us, doing it because he loves us.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Right. You know, the police and and the the the temperature that we live in right now, you know, people blame the police for the things they do. But they pull us over because something needs attention. Well, God does the same thing, right? He convicts us because something in our life needs healing, something in our life needs attention, something in our world at the moment, in our bubble, needs needs him. And and we tend to overlook things in our immediate vicinity, yeah. Right? We tend to think it's normal or get comfortable. Yes, we get complacent. So let's talk a little bit about Peter. Peter was very passionate, uh, he wasn't fake, he didn't pretend with God. Peter genuinely loved Jesus, and I think in everyday life, Christians genuinely love Jesus. I think we genuinely love Jesus. You know, he was one of Jesus' closest disciples. He walked on water, he defended Jesus, he followed him everywhere, and then Jesus warned him. Jesus warned Peter in Luke 22, 31 through 34. Jesus tells Peter, before the richer crows today, you will deny three times that you know me. Peter immediately responds, No, Lord, not me. And honestly, Peter believed that. Because most of us think we're stronger than we are until pressure exposes us. Then Jesus got arrested. Chaos breaks out, fear spreads, people begin questioning the disciples, and suddenly Peter becomes afraid. A servant girl says, Aren't you one of his followers? And Peter says, I don't know him. Then again and again, three times, can you imagine how Peter must have felt? The same man who promised loyalty, now denying Jesus beside a fire. And then scripture says something heartbreaking. In Luke 22, 61, the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. That verse destroys people emotionally. You know, he turns and he looks at Peter after the denial. Uh, because Peter failed and then Jesus looked at him. Can you imagine that moment? Can you imagine? I can I know how I felt as a kid every time I disappointed or way I felt like I disappointed my dad, or I made a bad decision or a bad choice, right? Shame, guilt, just you know, and you think every believer has this mo has a moment like that. Moments where conviction hits your heart and you realize I missed it. I failed. I drifted. I denied him with my actions. And that's we do that. Let's think about that for a minute. You know what I mean? Like those convictions. I can I feel like sometimes I miss it all the time, you know, and then I'm like, and then it's like he has to keep on me, right? Like, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I've never been a child that you could tell one time. Yeah, right? I had to be told two or three times before I got it. And even with Jesus, I feel like sometimes I'm still that way. Like I have to be told two or three different times, two or three different ways, or however, before I want to listen.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

That's good. You know. And then you uh like I was sitting in we was sitting in church today and this guy came in. And I know he relapsed again. You know what I mean? But I was glad he was there. Right. And but I but I felt I could feel what he was feeling. You know what I mean? That guilt, that shame, that here I am again. But I d I told him I hugged him after after church and I was like, Jesus loves you. He still loves you. He hasn't changed his mind about you. Right. You know what I mean? But sometimes in those moments we feel like where are you, God? You know what I mean? Or you're just too shameful to go to him. He's just right there waiting. And that's what I told him. I was like, God hasn't changed his mind about you. That's right. You know? You don't have to let that the fear and the guilt of I m I messed up again. I mess up a thousand times. I mess up all the time. Sometimes it might not be, it might not, it's not relapsing, obviously, but in different areas, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. Like, when the Lord tell you to do this and you don't do it, you're like, uh.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Yeah. I mean, well, it's no different than, you know, talking about that small blessing that that God gave me at J Fest. All day long. We were there from nine o'clock at morning, and those people were in front of us, and all day long he kept just throwing things at me, and I kept just going on about my day, right? Until later, and it was dark. So it was after nine o'clock before I finally went up to them, you know. But it was the greatest thing I did.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

You know, it was the best thing I did all day long. Yeah. Took me all day long. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

You know, you're stubborn. Stubborn. Just and sometimes I think when we when the Lord tells us to do something, sometimes we're like, is that really you, Lord? You know, definitely that is me. You know what I mean? So we fight that. I do.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Definitely. Because I have a hard time right there on the house discerning. I really do. Because I can do so much. But I have I've gotten better over this last year of not doing because I can, doing because I'm supposed to. And I have definitely, but yes, it definitely makes me question it more than one time because I do have a hard time because I want to help people. Like my heart is to do, right? And I want to do, and sometimes I overdo. Yeah. You know, and that's and that's hard, and it's hard to discern the difference. But I don't think I think that's different. Discerning it and missing it or ignoring it is two totally different things, right? I think I think with the discernment the you grow stronger in your discernment the more you grow in him.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

There's usually always confirmation behind it. Always confirmation behind it. Always. Um that's you know, that's funny because that's how the that's how the uh the women's conference has come about. Um I've been working on it for, I don't know, two or three months, I guess, just here and there, just kind of not doing it, but not really doing it, kind of thing, you know. Um, and then you're like, let's do a conference. I'm like, okay, God, I get you. Like, you seem to be my person that he that he sends me that says, okay, we're gonna do this. Everybody's like, that's a lot to take on. I'm like, no, I'm ready. I feel like it's all together except for the place. And uh I reached out to I reached out to daddy yesterday and I said, you know, I hadn't heard anything. Do you think that means a no? And he says, probably not. He probably forgot. Yeah, he's old. He said, I'll go by there Monday. I was like, okay. So um, so we may have more news next week about the women's conference. But you know, we'll see. It'll happen when it's supposed to. I'm pretty sure. So I changed my vacation in August. So the 20 August 22nd is looking like the date that I want to do it. Uh I think that's gonna be the perfect date, and then we'll just go from there. So we'll be sending out Facebook invites soon. Yes, we will. So um, in the Bible though, Peter said, you know, Peter went outside and wept bitterly because of course he was ashamed. Like he was, you know, I mean, I'm sure that's heartbreaking. I, you know, I people I respect when I disappoint them, you know, it upsets me, you know, and I lead with my heart a lot. So I'm sure that's part of it. Shame always makes people want to run away. You know, it makes us want to go the other way, it makes us want to hide, you know, Adam hid in the garden. Jonah ran from calling, you know, he got eaten by a whale, and Peter ran after failure. And some of us are still running, some of us are still looking for something that is right in front of us, standing right next to us. Some of us, you know, we're running from church or prayer, we're running from our purpose, intimacy with God. Like there's so many things that we could be running from, or things that we should be running to. You know, and it's not because we hate Jesus, it's because we feel ashamed, you know, and I think going up to that guy and hugging him and telling him J Jesus still loves him and all the that's the right thing to do because how many times have we failed? You could see it all over his face, too, when he came in.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Oh yeah, you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

And you know exactly how he feels.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

You walk in again and be like, Yeah again, here I'm again here I am again.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

I was proud of him though for coming. Good. You know, and that's what you know, definitely that's I mean, and that's what he needs is that encouragement, and he needs someone that he that knows he believes in him.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Well he didn't need me to tell him or preach to him about hey why why you've done this, this you know what I mean? Right. He already knows, yeah. You know what I mean? You can see it on their faces. You can see they just need me to reassure him that God still loves him.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah. Shame whispers, you messed up too bad. God is disappointed in you, you have failed again. You know, and I think that's the biggest one of all. You have failed again, right? Just those three little words, yeah. And when when you're trying, that's huge because you're gonna fail. Yeah, you're gonna fail more than once. You're you're you're a toddler learning to walk, you know, and you are gonna fall on your butt more than one time, and that's just how it's gonna be. And there's nothing that's gonna change that, but each time you stand up and each time you move forward, you learn something, you build something stronger, you believe you can do it, right? And it's it's the same, like it's the same, and it's to me, it just blows my mind how life and your relationship with God is just like your baby, you're born, you're a toddler, you're learning to walk. That's your spiritual growth follows that same path, I believe. And I believe every I believe even the most Christian, religious lover of God has gone through those teenage years, right? They may not have gone out drinking and doing drugs, and they may not have, you know, went and slept with everybody. They may not have done the big sins. But the little sins are just as bad, right? So Romans 8:1. There is no, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Conviction says come closer. Condemnation says stay away. So remember that. Conviction says, come closer. Come to me, pray with me, talk with me, listen. Now that now here's the beautiful part of Peter's story, right? And of everybody's restoration story. After the cre after the resurrection, Jesus goes looking for Peter. He goes looking for him, he goes looking for the man that denied him three times. And think about that for a minute. Like Jesus knew that Peter had denied him, Peter had failed publicly, Peter had ran, yet he still went looking for him. He looks for each of us every day.

unknown 30:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

Right? And that's grace. Peter goes fishing again because when people feel lost spiritually, they often return to what feels most familiar. So when you fail, when you fall as a toddler, then you go back to crawling, right? Because you fell down and you hurt your bottom, and then you crawl for a minute, and then you stand up and you try again, right? And it's the same, it's the same spiritually, it's the same with addiction, it's the same with any addiction that you have, it's the same with any issue or anything that needs attention, right? We fall, but then we get back up and we walk again. Yeah, and we have to understand that it's okay to fail. It's not okay to stay there. So when Jesus meets him on the shore, he's not angry, he doesn't want to punish him. He there's no rejection. He actually wants to have breakfast with Peter. Can you have can you have breakfast with your enemy? Can you have breakfast with somebody that has gossiped about you or somebody that has said something bad about you behind your back? Can you can you do that? That's hard. That's hard. I mean, I'd have to talk to Jesus a long time about it. A long time. You know, the same Jesus Peter denied cooked for him.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

And grace looks different than we than we expect sometimes. And then Jesus asked Peter three questions. So grace never looks the same, and you give grace to however that person needs it at that moment, right? Or however you need to give it at that moment. It's not always gonna be, you know, fireworks and rainbows. Sometimes it's just a hand on the shoulder, it's just a hug. It's just telling them that Jesus loves them. You know, that's grace. In John 21, 15 through 17, Peter, do you love me? Three denials, three registration, restorations. And every time Peter says yes, Jesus responds. Feed my sheep. Jesus restored the place Peter broke. And maybe somebody listening today needs to hear this. Jesus isn't looking for perfect people, he restores the broken ones. He told Peter to go feed his sheep. He wants Peter to go tell his story, to go tell his testimony. Go tell everybody that you denied me three times and then I came and that I told you to feed my sheep. Go tell the story. Everybody needs to hear the story. You know, Jesus didn't deny Peter uh by didn't define Peter by his worst moments, and he'll never define you by yours. And he doesn't define you by yours either, because you in your moments of weakness, he knew they were coming and he was prepared. So now let's talk about the difference between the police and Jesus. So let me say something. When a police officer pulls you over, you expect punishment. You expect it, you expect a ticket, you expect something, right? Every time. But when Jesus pulls you over spiritually, he's offering you restoration, not punishment. Yeah, yes, conviction can feel uncomfortable, but Jesus never convicts to shame you. He convicts to heal you, he wants to restore you. Maybe you just need a little redirection. Maybe you need to be waking up, and that that's where I was at a month ago. I just needed to be woken back up. You know, honestly, some of us need to stop running every time God starts dealing with our hearts because conviction is evidence that God still loves you enough to pursue you. The dangerous place is not conviction, the dangerous place is numbness, complacency when you don't feel nothing. When you ain't feeling nothing. And, you know, if he's not lighting a fire under you every now and again, or if he's not talking to you, whether it's in your dreams or just in the moment of silence, and and I think that's where he speaks the loudest is in those moments of silence for me. Um you know, sometimes it's in song, and sometimes it's something else somebody says, and I hear it, and even though I've heard it a hundred times, I hear it differently that time. Everybody needs that. So Grace for us. So think about your own life, the seasons that you ran, the seasons you ignored God, and we've all been there, we've all done it. The seasons, addiction had control, the seasons, shame convinced me you were too far gone, and that was definitely one of the hardest for me. Was coming back, coming back to here was thinking I was too far gone, thinking that there was no coming back from the choices I had made or the decisions that I had, the things that I had done, thinking that why would anybody ever look at me differently than the way they look at me today? You know, and even the ones, especially the ones that love me, right? Like, are they always gonna look at me like that addict? Are they always gonna question me like that addict? Are they always gonna feel, you know, and that's been hard for me with my dad, right? It's been hard because I'm on the opposite side of it, right? So it's hard to not feel like he's going to, you know, uh, but he's not. I mean, five years, five years is a long time to be clean. Uh it's been over five, it'll be over, it's over five years now. I mean, we're going on into our sixth year, and and and he's done amazing, and I'm very proud of him. But still, the thought of it sometimes is can we come back from that? Yeah, Jesus keeps coming after you. He keeps knocking on your door, he keeps opening, he keeps punching on your heart, he keeps coming to your dreams, he keeps whispering in your ears, he keeps after you, even when you don't know he's there. Even when I when you were denying him with your choices, he still pursued you, and I truly believe that now that I think about some of the situations I let myself into or I put myself into, some of the places that I ended up. I don't know how I was not attacked, beaten half to death. I don't know how I didn't end up with more broken bones or with more trips to the ER or arrested, or you know, I don't know how the only thing I can say is he was there and he had to have protected me because I can think about some of the places that I spent the night. Oh yeah, and now I'm like, I was crazy. Oh yeah, like I was crazy 100% like I don't even know how I got there, you know. Uh and I think about it, I'm like, that wasn't me. I must have been somewhere else, you know. But his grace had to have protected me. Oh yeah, you know, and maybe somebody listening feels like that today, you know. Just because you're ashamed or disappointed doesn't mean he doesn't care. Because, honey, those decisions I made, I was, you know, I was ashamed of while I was making them, but something was protecting me. Jesus still restores people after every failure, you know, and when he restores you, he knows if you're gonna mess up again, right? And he already has the next plan in place, he already has the next person that's gonna, and eventually there's gonna be a person that's gonna help you lead down the right direction. I believe. I believe that he puts people in our lives when we need them at the time that we need them the most. He still calls people after uh after mistakes, he still uses broken people, he still loves people who ran because grace is not earned, it is given. That's good. If Jesus restored Peter after public denial, he can restore you too. Failure is not final, and conviction is not God rejecting you, it's God remaining reminding you that he's still pursuing you. Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your grace. Thank you that you do not abandon us when we fail, and thank you that conviction is not condemnation, Lord. For every listener carrying guilt, shame, regret, or disappointment, remind them today that you still love them. Restore hearts, restore identity, restore passion and intimacy with you, and help us stop running every time you start speaking to our hearts. Help us to lean into you, Lord Jesus, and to let you cover us with your grace and your discipline, Lord Jesus. Give us the strength to hear you, the hear you and the eyes to see you, and help us with the discernment that we need to follow you. In Jesus' name we pray. We thank you and we praise you and we give you all the glory. Amen. Amen. If this episode encouraged you today, share it with someone who needs the reminder that grace still reaches people after failure. And remember this when Jesus pulls you over, it's not always to punish you, sometimes it's to bring you back home. Thank you, and we love you. We love y'all.