GOD OPENS US FROM THE INSIDE

Judas and the soldiers arrive in the garden to arrest Jesus..."Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. 'Who are you looking for?' he asked. 'Jesus the Nazarene,' they replied. 'I AM HE,' Jesus said...(and) as Jesus said 'I AM HE,' they all drew back and fell to the ground!" — John 18:4-6

---

Amazingly after being knocked to the ground by the shear weight and force of Jesus' authority the guards got back up and arrested Jesus anyway. Though they come up against the power of His Person, they have no idea who He actually is. When Jesus said, "I AM He", He was saying I AM He Who Opens You From The Inside Out.

At their first meeting, Peter had just cleaned the nets from fishing all night and catching nothing worth keeping, when Jesus tells him to "launch back out and drop the nets for a catch." Under protest, Peter grudgingly humors Jesus and drags the nets back into the boat, and out into Galilee's waters. Tossing a net overboard, Peter encompasses such a catch of fish that the net begins to break. Once back on shore, Peter becomes so ashamed he wants to quit his relationship with Jesus before he even gets started: “Depart from me Lord, I am a sinful man.” But Jesus comes right back with, “Fear not. From now on you will catch men!” I LOVE that about Jesus, don't you. But the truth is, Pete was a handful.

After boldly climbing out of the boat and walking on water to Jesus, Peter sinks in fear. Then after proclaiming he will defend Jesus to the death, within hours of His arrest, Peter denies Him 3 times. But when Jesus sees Peter, just days after His resurrection, Jesus bears down on Peter’s soul with the same question 3 times, “Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” But finally on the Day of Pentecost, it’s Peter who boldly stands and leads 3,000 people to Jesus. He has bloomed from the inside out. Jesus is the Master at opening us by transformation from within. He works the internals of the heart in ways that are impossible by the pressures from without. For the rest of his life, Jesus pours out of Peter's soul!

For it is Jesus who is at work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. —Phil. 2:13

A little girl asks her mother why the mangled flower, she has tried to pry open, can only be opened by God. “When God opens it” she says, “it’s perfect. But when I try I just ruin it.” Then before Mom can respond the little girl says, “I know. It’s because God opens it from within.”

Stay On The Path!