Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). (John 1:40-42)

Peter’s first meeting with Jesus was not on the lakeshore when he was casting a net into the sea. It came courtesy of an invitation from his brother Andrew who had already met Jesus. The connection was made. Shortly thereafter when Jesus invited Peter to follow Him, he was able to leave everything behind and go with Jesus (Matthew 4:18-20).

When you read through the gospels and the book of Acts, you hardly hear anything about Andrew. Peter, on the other hand, gets a lot of press. Although Andrew does not get the recognition, you have to acknowledge the crucial role he played in making that connection for Peter.

Two of my closest friends in ministry in the Niagara Region are Pastor Dayo Adeyemo and Pastor Ric Borozny. When Sulojana was working at a call center, a young man by the name of C.J. Egbuna kept on bragging about his church and his pastor to her.

He got her so curious about this congregation that when we had a Sunday off in August 2006, we went to the Royal House, met Pastor Dayo, our hearts linked and we became friends. C.J. is no longer in town, but without that connection he made for us, we would not be ministering at the Royal House’s Prophetic Destiny Conference tomorrow night (June 4).

Pastor Dayo then invited me to minister alongside him at the first ever God of Wonders Healing Rally. It was at that meeting that Sulojana and I first met Pastor Ric & Deborah Borozny. Soon thereafter, Pastor Ric invited Pastor Dayo and me to meet with him for prayer once a week. All three of us have since forged a friendship that is strong as steel. From the first connection that C.J. established came the second connection through Pastor Dayo to the Boroznys. Since then I have had the joy of connecting both of these brothers to other anointed leaders and they have reciprocated with great joy. We are all the richer for these connections.

One of the keys to advancing into your destiny is to keep on making connections—not only for yourself, but especially for others. When you make connections for others, the law of sowing and reaping kicks in and you end up making more connections that are a blessing to you!

Nearly two years ago, a friend of ours in St. Catharines, Scott Jones, made a connection between us and a wild prophet from the eastern part of our province, Ontario. The connection was confirmed when he sent me an accurate prophetic word by e-mail and cemented when we met in person in Brantford. He has, in turn, connected us with Mark & Kiwanda Redner of The Oasis in Kinburn, Shawn Gabie of Dominion Outreach Centre in Ottawa, Pauline Wilcox in Golden Lake and many other revivalists.

We took the connection to yet another level when we realized that both of us had the gift of writing that would bless the Body of Christ by helping believers advance into their destiny. I am, of course, referring to my great friend and co-founder of Destiny Word of the Day, Pastor Darren Canning. I have reaped way more than I have sown!

Dear DWOD friend, take a moment now to examine the “connectors” in your life who have been a blessing to you. Thank God for them, and, send them a note of thanks as well, will you, please?

How about you? Are you a connector? Jesus is depending on you to be one! Because, you see, one of the key ways in which the Kingdom of God expands is through people like you and me who keep on making connections for others.

And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)

There is nothing unusual about Jesus calling someone to follow Him. He did this routinely at the outset of his ministry, didn’t He?

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. (Mark 1:16-18)

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)

What is unusual about this invitation in John 21 is that it comes at the sunset of His earthly ministry. To boot, the man who receives the invitation to follow is the leader of the band of disciples who had already followed Jesus faithfully for 3 ½ years! Why would Jesus re-issue the invitation? “Follow me.”

In other words, why would Jesus treat Peter as though he were a fresh, newly-minted disciple?

The incident outlined in the immediately preceding verses provides us with a clue. In verses 15-17, we see an interchange between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asks the same question three times: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter’s answer is pretty well the same every time: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

The third time we see that Peter is grieved by the threepeat of the question. All of a sudden it dawns on him that the reason Jesus asked the question three times is because He wanted to reinforce the fact that his threefold denial is all forgiven. The fact that Jesus commissions Peter to feed His lambs, take care of His sheep and feed His sheep respectively is proof that he has not disqualified himself in Jesus’ eyes.

Peter’s decision to go fishing, i.e. return to his old way of living, may very well have been the result of his sense of unworthiness to serve Jesus. Perhaps this is how he thought: “There is no way Jesus can use me after the heinous offence I have committed. No longer do I qualify to be a fisher of men. I might as well go back to being a fisherman.”

Peter had a load of guilt/shame hanging over him.

Jesus sends Peter this unmistakeable message: “I still believe in you, despite your disappointing behaviour in denying that you ever knew me. You are still valuable to me. I see you as a leader. I have great plans for you, Peter.”

Although Scripture does not state this explicitly, at that particular moment Jesus has removed any guilt and/or shame that Peter had been carrying as a result of his denial. It is as though Peter is a brand new person now, a “new creation”, as “the old has passed away.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Thus it is time to issue the same call once again: “Follow me.”

Dear DWOD friend, ever feel the way Peter did—that the Lord cannot use you anymore because of something you did that you ought not to have done? Was it an abortion, a break-up you initiated, a wilful act of disobedience, a criminal act, a division you caused in your church, a rumour you started, ………………..? (Please fill in the blanks).

No matter what it may be, an encounter with the Risen Jesus will take care of the guilt and/or the shame. You may wish to follow the pattern that has worked well for my friend Darren Canning (see the DWOD for May 26—Does your Conscience Condemn you?) or seek that encounter through Sozo, Restoring the Foundations or other ministry.

You, like Peter, need to hear Jesus say to you: “Follow me.” You need that second call today, don’t you? He wants you to know that He is not finished with you yet. He still needs you.

Will you accept His call and follow Him once again?