Fishing

I was able to recently go fishing with two friends. We drifted a river and not only caught fish but enjoyed some of the most spectacular colors of fall one could see. God is good in so many ways. There are many blessings that surround us daily. Do we recognize them as blessings? Often I think we get so engrossed in our work and life that we don’t realize the blessings.

The first men called to work with and along side of Jesus were fishermen. Matthew 4: 18 – 22 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets, Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

These four fishermen followed Jesus as he began his ministry. They witnessed healing and teaching. This was the beginning of a friendship that would last for eternity, and that would set the stage for the spreading of the gospel. I wonder what it was about fishermen that caught the eye of Jesus. Was it temperament? Was it the tenacious desire to keep on trying regardless of daily outcome? Was it the fact that these four were everyday men who would commit to spreading the gospel after the departure of Jesus from earth?

Jesus didn’t pick wall street executives or influential priests to be in his first four. He didn’t examine their past or make demands of perfection. He simply said follow me and then he allowed them to see miracles and teaching. These men were about to learn by example. They would change as they learned. Peter later identified Jesus as: The Christ the Son of the Living God!

Another factor of interest is the way that these four left their lifestyle to follow Jesus. What about us? Are we willing to follow Jesus and learn of him? The way to follow and learn is to read His word and listen to His voice. Some will want to wait to follow because they feel unworthy or think they need to find some level of perfection to fit the mold of believer and kingdom worthiness. Jesus wants us to come as we are. He wants us to commit to learning and listening. He calls the wall street professional and the fisherman, the homeless and the wealthy, the old and the young. Jesus isn’t waiting for any of us to clean up our act. He isn’t expecting perfection before acceptance. Jesus is wanting us to seek Him first.

Jesus, please help us understand your calling to salvation, and may we be ready to act upon your call by faith.

Facebook

One day I got an email request from Jim, an X-Detective friend, to be his friend on Facebook. I didn’t really know anything about Facebook. Basically I still don’t know much. My wife Jeanee keeps my page up and running. My concern was that if I rejected Jim as a friend he might take it personally. Jim is not only a friend but we’ve been through some real tough situations together through the years. I signed up on Facebook and became his friend.

I wonder what kind of Facebook we have in the eyes of God? He wants us to be sons and daughters, a friend. He is calling all of us to repentance and He marks us as His children when we commit our ways to Him. I John 4: 13 – 17 We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
Then in verse 19: We love because He first loved us.

If we have accepted the truth of the gospel, that Jesus was God in human form, came to earth and died for our sins, that He rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. To those who believe and live in love, we are in the lambs book of life. This book is more important than Facebook. It is the recognition book that identifies believers from non believers.

God is not willing that any should perish. God wants to add us into the book of life. It is a decision that must be made by each of us individually. I can not make this decision for my children, loved ones, relatives or anyone else. What I can do is tell others of the great news of the gospel. It is up to you and up to them to either believe or reject.

Light over Darkness

John 1:1 – 5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There are more great verses from John 1:6 to verse 14 and I recommend you look them up and read them. John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

I listened to a well known television commentator talk with an atheist the other night. I was extremely saddened to hear the interchange of words. The atheist said that Christians are foolish to believe in creation and such a person as Jesus. The commentator who usually stands his ground firmly became soft grounded and told the atheist he does not really know if Jesus is God but he believes Jesus existed. He went on to say he believes in the Christian philosophy. The commentator also said that he believes in certain types of evolution but in order for the evolution to occur the matter had to come from somewhere.

Faith is believing. Romans 3: 22 – 26 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Faith begins by accepting Jesus for who he is and what he did for us. He came to earth, was sinless, was crucified for our sins, was buried and after three days in death was raised from the dead. Jesus defeated sin and death by this act. Those who live in darkness do not understand this message. Those who live in the light understand this gift. Some will read this message or hear it preached and will be drawn to the truth of it. One might not fully understand the totality of the message. The faith kicks into gear when we leave the details in the Lords hands and we begin a faith walk with Jesus. It is essential to then begin to read and digest the Word of God. Reading the Bible with a prayer of understanding is of utmost importance. If you are not sure where to start then begin with the book of John followed by the book of Romans. Find a church that teaches from the Bible. Prayerfully ask God to direct you where to worship.

The journey of faith begins with the first step.Give up the right to yourself and turn your life over to Jesus. If you already have but you are not in right relationship, repent. Give God the right to work in you!

Galatians 2: 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

Heavenly Hosts

A few years ago I attended a weekly bible study. (I still do weekly Bible studies but in a different group.) In the study was a woman who told a great story. The woman and her husband had boys, one of whom was quite young. (I believe 4-8 years old, I’m not sure the exact age.) The youngster came into his parent’s bedroom and told them there was a large man on the house next door. The mother went to look, didn’t see anything so the son was put back to bed. Later he came and again said there was a large man on the house next door. It was more toward morning so the lady asked her son to show her. She went to the window with him and he pointed and said, “Right there.” Again, she saw nothing. As mothers can do, she noted his genuine intent so she asked for him to describe what the man looked like. He described a big guy with big muscles and light hair. I don’t remember all the description but it was what I’d expect a big angel dressed in human clothing to look like. The boy didn’t change his story and so the mother believed him.

The woman felt a strong urge to go introduce herself to the woman next door and tell her what her son saw. She resisted going over for a while. She didn’t know the lady as apparently she had just moved in. Eventually, with her son in tow, she went next door to the house that had the big man sitting on it. She knocked and a woman came to the door. She introduced herself and began telling her what her son was saying. The woman broke down in tears and began sobbing. When she controlled herself she explained how she had been caught up in a satanic type life style. She wanted to escape and come into relationship with the Lord but felt the presence of evil. She said she hadn’t slept for days and was afraid. She had prayed during the night for the Lord to send an angel to watch over her and she said she had fallen asleep and rested.

Joshua 5: 13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “But as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

Joshua fell face down, was told to take off his shoes as he was on holy ground. The Lord then told him how to fight the battle of Jericho.

The boy who went to his mom with the story of the guy on the roof undoubtedly saw an angel. His mom had to accept by faith the story, and then be led by the Holy Spirit to go next door and tell someone she didn’t know the story.

Joshua was approached by someone he didn’t recognize and when reality set in that it was the Lord, he responded in faith. He followed the instruction of the Lord and Jericho was captured.

I’m convinced that we have heavenly hosts around us today. There have been times where people have been protected, rescued, transported to safety, etc., by someone they describe as heavenly. The angel rescuer generally arrives from out of no-where. There are other times that we are rescued and the angel invisibly acts on our behalf.

There are times we all need to hear stories like this. They encourage and comfort us when we hear them. Equally, we realize we don’t walk through problems alone. The Lord lives in us and heavenly hosts are among us. We need to not focus on the heavenly hosts. We need to focus on the Love of God and rest in the promises of His Word.

Thank you Father for the blessings of protection.

Monument

Joshua 3: 14 – 16a So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zrathan.

The water parted and dry land appeared for the Israelites to pass over to the other side. The Israelites had been camped in the wilderness for 40 years. They camped while God developed a new nation from the children who grew up during those 40 years. This new nation was willing to follow Gods leading and the water parted and they moved forward in faith.

Joshua 4: 1 – 3 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.

The stones were to be a monument. Joshua 4: 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

In the last lesson we talked about how shame can effect our lives in a negative way. Satan uses shame to stifle our lives and keep our witness of Jesus impeded. A wounded soldier is not effective in war. What Satan does is he encourages us to live life by looking in the rear view mirror. He wants us to live ineffective lives because we focus on our past. The Bible says that the person who is plowing has to look ahead and keep his eye on the point of direction. When one constantly looks back the plow weaves around and to rows are not straight. There is a lot of wasted energy and confusion when we try to live in the past. The best is still to come. We can see it by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!

Father, please by the Blood of Jesus, forgive us of our past. Renew us and guide us into your will and way. Help us to look ahead with our eyes focused on you. Please heal us, re-vitalize us and encourage us. May we also encourage those who are in need of a kind word and witness. In Jesus name, Amen.