CALLING ALL FISHERMEN

Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

— Matthew 4:19

 While I am not in the ranks of great anglers and seasoned fishermen, or even “semi amateur”,

 I have fished a few times. I know that I need to use different kinds of bait for different kinds of situations, because different types of bait are required to catch different types of fish.

In the same way, as we share the gospel, we might bring up different aspects of it to speak to a person's situation---to someone who is filled with anguish, we might speak to them of the peace that God can bring. If we are talking with someone on his or her deathbed, we would address the subject of death and the certainty of heaven for those who put their faith in Christ. Another person might be plagued with personal guilt, so we might speak to them about God's offer of complete forgiveness.

These are various types of bait, so to speak, to bring us to a decision for Christ. And for our example, we can look to Jesus, the Master Communicator, who never dealt with any two people in exactly the same way.

There was the woman at the well who had spent a lifetime trying to fill a void in her life with relationships with men. To her, Jesus spoke to her of her deep spiritual thirst.

Then there was a man who was an expert in theology and a great intellectual. With him, Jesus spoke in almost childlike terms as He told him, "You must be born again."

Jesus adapted to their situation and appropriately applied the truth of God's Word.

Jesus had time for the multitudes, but He also took time for the individual. And we should take time as well.

Independence---is it really a good thing?

In a day and age when independence is praised, I wonder if it's really a good thing when it comes to our relationship with God.
"God helps those who help themselves," we say, as if quoting Scripture. Oh really? I believe Scripture implies God helps those who admit they can't help themselves. The Apostle Paul, who probably considered himself quite independent before he met Christ, claimed the strength that comes through a total dependence on God when he said God's "power is perfected in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Some of us have trouble depending on anyone. Usually it stems from being burned -- having had a parent who walked out on us, a boyfriend or husband who betrayed us, someone significant who let us down and made us think twice before we depended on anyone again. We find ourselves think.ing "I don't need anyone. I'm on my own. And I'm doing just fine."
But oh how that mindset must hurt the One who longs for us to depend on Him.
If you've prided yourself on not needing anyone, or have just feared trusting another person because of disappointment or betrayal, God wants to more than make up for your disappointment in someone else by showing you, in His Word, that He's the most reliable One you could ever depend on. This July 4th could be your Dependence Day--it could give you something to really celebrate!

JUNE 17TH---WOW!

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. — Psalm 51:10 If you're married, then you remember when you first met your wife or husband-to-be, and how you probably had the feeling of butterflies in your stomach and even a loss of appetite. You felt nervous when he or she was around. You wanted to make the best impression. Today marks the anniversary of my first date with my first wife ( and current one for 52 years) I remember what I wore---where we went---and how I felt! I have always remembered June 17th. I hope you understand that those emotions aren't going to last throughout your entire marriage. I'm not saying that you won't have a deep, passionate love that will grow. But I am saying that I hope you're not expecting to always have the butterflies you once did. It is kind of like driving a car. There is the love that brings you together, like an explosion that starts the engine. Next comes the actual driving of the car, which means that now you need to understand what real love is. The problem is that some people don't understand that. They think that when that emotional excitement is not there on a daily basis, they have fallen out of love and it is not working out. "I suppose we have irreconcilable differences," they say, "so let's just dissolve it." Then they move on to another relationship because they don't have a clue as to what real love is. The idea is that first there is an excitement and passion that brings you together. Then you deepen and grow in what real love is. In the same way, we need to mature in our relationship with God. It is more than a journey of feeling. It is also a journey of faith. So we must deepen in our love for God, because we are in it for the long-term. You might even remember the thrill and excitement of coming into a relation ship with Christ. But let me tell you something, if it wasn’t for the fact that God poured His love into our hearts at our spiritual rebirth we wouldn’t last in a long term marriage or a lifetime walk with Him. ( Romans 5 ) God wants us in it for now and eternity. Let me say that June the 17th means a WHOLE lot more now than it did then---and we want and will finish this race well.

Be Choosey About Your Choices

Many think that life is just a set of circumstances: You can't help what happens, just try to adapt and hope for better luck next time -- which explains the greatest excuse of all time: I'm just a victim of circumstance. The Bible teaches something different. Your life is not the result of random circumstance, it's the result of the choices you make. Moses and Joshua both highlighted this simple truth. "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..." (Deuteronomy 30:19) "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15) Life is a series of choices. Success depends on making the same right choices again and again, day after day -- at the dinner table,on the social internet sites, in conversations with families and friends, with your paycheck, in what you read or don't read in books/internet/magazines,at your job,etc. etc---you get the idea! These choices determine who you are and what your life becomes. Every minute of every day we have the privilege of choices that go into to making your life more rewarding or more disappointing. What choices are you willing to make? Think about it. I mean REALLY think about it!

Sitting in a chicken house won't make you a chicken!

Sitting in a chicken house won’t make you a chicken!

Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. —Matthew 15:28
Faith is often found in unlikely places. The Bible tells the story of a pagan woman whom Jesus commended for her great faith. She was not raised as a Jew, knowing the Scriptures. She certainly did not have the privilege of walking and talking with Jesus as the disciples had. This woman had been raised in a godless home, in a home filled with idols. But with what little she knew about Jesus, she applied dramatic faith. We could even describe it as amazing faith.

One would have thought that the strongest faith would have come from one of Jesus’ disciples like Peter, James, or John. But it came from this pagan woman. The only other time Jesus called out someone’s faith as an example was when a Roman centurion—another Gentile—asked Him to heal his servant.

Sometimes if you have been raised in church, especially if you have been raised in a Christian home or went to a Christian school, you can take it for granted. And in the very place where your heart should be transformed, it can become hardened. It all comes down to the way you listen. Do you show up prepared to listen and wantingto  listen---or are you there just to "check the box"?
This is why Jesus often would say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” You decide how you will react to what you hear. I hope you don’t go to church under duress or pressure, because your spouse wants you to or because your parents want you to. I hope you don’t think that if you go to church or a Bible study, you will earn favor with God. If you come with that attitude in a place where your life should be transformed, then you can get a hard heart and miss the point.

Sitting in a chicken house won’t make you a chicken anymore than sitting in a church house won’t make you a Christian!  It is by grace, not the place, that makes people believers.
                                                           
S0000----do you “have ears to hear” like the Scriptures ask? This can make the difference in your heart being changed.

IT'S RAINING---NOW WHAT?

One of my favorite musical movies is Gene Kelley's "Singing in the Rain". In the main theme scene Gene is so full of joy and excitement he is dancing and singing in a downpour. Rain or no rain his joy would not be "rained out!"

Former baseball great Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

This sounds like good old salt-of-the-earth wisdom, but it’s terrible advice. (For future reference, good advice never begins with the phrase, “Don’t pray.”)

Everyone knows that it’s a mistake not to pray when the sun is shining. But it’s foolish to compound this mistake by refusing to pray when the rain starts pouring down. Even if you haven’t prayed enough in the past, this is time to start praying more than ever.

Many times, when trouble strikes, our first reaction is panic. Our first emotion is fear. We need to get past that and move move in the direction of prayer.

This is what happened to King Jeshophat when he heard the news that three armies were aligned against him, prepared to attack. The Bible says…

Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. (2 Chronicles 20:3)

First came fear, a normal reaction.

Then came prayer.

Then came guidance.

Then provision.

Then victory.

This is where God’s work in your life often begins: from a place of need, or hurt, or fear. Many who walk close to Christ can tell you that it was pain that led them to pursue a deeper walk with God. Despair can be a catalyst to experiencing God’s power. There’s a reason for this. When confronted with trouble, we’re more likely to shed the religious façade and get real with God. In the journey to experiencing God, this is the first step. Whats the forecast?

SURRENDER AT GETHSEMANE

Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt as though your friends and family had abandoned you? Have you ever felt like you were misunderstood? Have you ever had a hard time understanding or submitting to the will of God for your life?

If so, then you have an idea of what the Lord Jesus went through as He agonized at Gethsemane.

Hebrews tells us, "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it" (4:15–16 NLT).

Consider the fact that Jesus, who was God, was omniscient. He was all-knowing. Therefore, He was fully aware of the horrors of the crucifixion that awaited Him.

He knew His disciples would abandon him. He knew Judas Iscariot would betray Him. He knew that Simon Peter would deny Him. He knew they would rip His back open, press a crown of thorns into His head, beat Him, spit in His face, and crucify Him. Worst of all, He knew that all the sins of the world would be placed upon Him.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was "a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3 NLT). But the sorrow He experienced in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion seemed to be the culmination of all the sorrow He had ever known and would accelerate to a climax the following day. The ultimate triumph that was to take place at Calvary was first accomplished beneath the gnarled old olive trees of Gethsemane.

Jesus told Peter, James, and John, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch" (Mark 14:34). Jesus' sorrow and anguish was so powerful, it threatened His very life.

In the face of this dreadful prospect of bearing God's full fury against sin, Jesus knelt to the ground and began to pray. This was not a quiet whisper of a prayer. Hebrews 5:7 tells us, "While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death. And God heard his prayers because of his reverence for God" (NLT).

It is interesting that the very word Gethsemane means "olive press." Olives were pressed there to make oil, and truly, Jesus was being pressed from all sides that He might bring life to us. I don't think we can even begin to fathom what He was going through.

Maybe you are at a crisis point in your life right now—a personal Gethsemane, if you will. You have your will; you know what you want. Yet you can sense that God's will is different.

Would you let the Lord choose for you? Would you be willing to say, "Lord, I am submitting my will to yours. Not my will, but yours be done"? You will not regret making that decision.

Sometimes, we are afraid to do this because we have a false concept that God's will for us is not good. You might be thinking, "How about His plan for Jesus? That didn't seem very good."

No question, it was very difficult for Jesus, to say the least. No question, He faced the full wrath of God against all sin.

But look at what it accomplished. It brought about your salvation and mine. Because of what Jesus went through at Gethsemane and ultimately at the cross, we can call upon His name. Though it was an unfathomably painful, horrific transition, it was necessary for the ultimate goal of what was accomplished.

Maybe you are going through a difficult time. Ultimately, it will be so much better if you allow the Lord to choose His plan for you. One day, you will be able to look back and say, "Lord, thank you for making that choice."

God's plans for you are good. As Jeremiah tells us, the thoughts that God thinks toward you are "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (29:11).

In our moments of uncertainty, in those times when we think that everyone has let us down, remember that Jesus has been there and is there for us. God's plans for you are so much better than the plans you have for yourself.

Will you let Him choose?