My friend, Shibu and my Mom were constantly ministering to me through text messages and calls. These played a major role in my deliverance, which I will talk about towards the end.

In my life the Lord has used Simon’s life countless times to encourage me to press on forward to reach the mark. Simon reminds me of myself. And this message is a message for the “Simon’s” around the world:

When Jesus first met with Simon, He looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter) [John 1: 42]

The name “Simon” means “unstable”, while the name “Cephas” is the Aramaic for “rock”. Jesus was in fact saying, “You are unstable, but you shall be stable as a rock”. And through out Simon’s life, my friends, God was determined in building Simon to Cephas, and He never gave up.

We all know how Simon said he’d stand for the Lord and was even ready to go to the prison with Him, but when the hour of trial came he failed the Lord by denying that he knew Him, even three times. Now beloved, three is a number that symbolizes “complete personality”. Man’s personality is triune, God’s personality is triune. Man would be incomplete if he didn’t have one of the three faculties: the spirit, soul and the body. The same way, God is incomplete without the trinity: Father, Son and the Spirit. The spiritual implication I draw from this is that Simon’s personality was totally messed up. I don’t know about you, but my personality is very unstable, not trust worthy, quick to speak and slow to perform. Do you know what Jesus did when Simon denied knowing Him three times? The Bible says in Luke 22:61, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter”. Do you think that look was a look of condemnation? No, my friend, it was a look that said, “Peter, I still love you”.

Peter wept bitterly, he felt condemned and upset with himself. Though Peter saw the unstable “Simon”, Jesus saw the “Peter” that would come out of him.

After Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection, the women who went to Jesus’ tomb saw two angels in there who delivered the message that the Jesus who was crucified had risen. But notice what they go onto say… “But go, tell his disciples AND PETER…” [Mark 16: 7]. Those two words speak volumes. Beloved, God has never given up on anything He has started. And He is not ready to give up on you either.

Later Jesus makes breakfast for his disciples and when they finished eating, Jesus asks Simon three times, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?”. And Peter’s reply all the three times was “Lord, you know that I love You”. I want to point out here that the Greek word Jesus used here for love was “Agape” which means “unconditional, divine love”, while the word Peter used for love was “Phileo” which in Greek is “natural affection or human love” [which is unstable]. Peter was still thinking about his “Phileo” love while Jesus was speaking of supernatural love. Peter thought his love for the Lord would make him stand, but where Peter’s “phileo” love failed, God’s “agape” love won! Hallelu-Yah!

When Simon received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, a remarkable change occurred in his life. Some people might think Simon became all perfect after this. But that’s not true. Simon did have weaknesses and did fail to be all that the Lord wanted him to be. Here’s an example from Paul’s epistle: