Gone Fishing

I love how Jesus uses analogies and parables that are directly pertinent to what he is dealing with at the time, to make his point. For those who have memorized popular statements from Jesus, though they are still very powerful on their own, may not understand how artfully Jesus was able to craft his words if we take them out of context. A good example was when he spoke to Peter, James and John after performing the miracle of the large catch of fish. He said these words in Luke chapter 5 verses 10 and 11:

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

I don’t have to tell you that the metaphor of “fishing for people” was spot on. Not only did it harken to their fishing trade and the fishing miracle they just experienced, it is a perfect analogy for what we do when we share about Jesus to the lost. We are, indeed, “fishing” for them. The bait is the truth of the promise of salvation through Christ alone. And every time we share about him, we hope and pray that our listeners will bite, and in effect become hooked to the point of giving their lives to Jesus. My question to you is, “are you fishing”? For you to play a part in the Spirit’s plan to win souls for Christ, you might have to be proactive. You might have to go out into deep waters, cast the word toward unassuming prey, and exercise patience with those who are considering what Christ is offering. But the first step is being willing to fish.

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25 years ago, God gave us the ministry of KTF Productions. And with projects like this one, I always hope and pray that as we cast our nets with every segment shared, that God may reap some harvest from the effort. God gave us this ministry to fish for men. And though we are not all called to evangelistic ministry, we are all called to be fishers of men even if only on a one-on-one, face-to-face basis. It isn’t about how may God brings to himself through you, it is about being willing, listening to the Spirit, looking for open doors and opportunities, and obeying. I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to become fishers of men. Pray to God and ask him how he wants to use you to bring others to him.

Our Mandate

I hope and pray that your walk with the Lord is strong, that your relationship with him is close and personal, and that the Spirit is helping you to keep the commandments and obey our Lord, because when it comes down to it, that is our mandate. Joshua chapter 22 verse 5 puts it this way:

“Be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all of your heart and with all of your soul.”

Those are the ingredients to a strong walk with our Father; to love him, obey him, hold fast to him and to serve him with everything that is within us. I encourage you to consider your walk daily. Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow him. That tells me that every day we need to evaluate our walk, realign our focus, and do everything we can to remain sensitive to the Spirit. Do you ever sense, or hear, the Spirit talking to you? I believe that one way we can open the lines of communication with him is to have our minds and our focus set upon him; to do what it says in Joshua 22 which his to love, obey, hold fast, and serve him with everything that is within us.

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Our mandate as believers and followers of Christ are to love God, obey him, hold fast to him and to serve him with all of our heart and soul. When I read Joshua 22:5, I understand that we are expected to put our whole selves into our walk with Christ; to do it with all of our heart and soul. That is total commitment. If you decide to follow Christ, what benefit is there if you do it half heartedly? I say that we should go all the way, all in, whole heartedly or not at all. And I know that God would agree because it says in Revelation that we are called to be hot toward him. It explains that he would rather we be cold than lukewarm. So I encourage you today, to run hard after Christ and to burn hot for him. I encourage you to pursue a walk with him that is totally committed.

Made New

The Bible tells us that when we become a follower of Christ; when we choose to believe that his blood saves us and we accept his gift allowing us passage into heaven, that we are “born again”. We are a “new creation”. Have you ever given thought to what that means? Do you feel like a new creation? When Paul speaks to the new believers in Ephesus, he instructs them on the next steps of being a Christian; he instructs them on the path to Christian living, encouraging them not to live like the gentiles do, but to pursue purity and holiness. He instructs them to live the way that they were taught to live in Christ. It says in Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 through 24:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” 

Paul shows us that being "made new” is a process, that it is a learned behavior, and that we have a role in being made new. If you claim to be a believer, then your desire should be to be made new; to put off your old self that is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, as Paul puts it. How? Through the attitude of our minds. I believe, and the Bible attests, that we can train our minds in the process of being made new. That is why we are told to think on heavenly things; to fill our minds with things that are holy, just and right. It is kind of like washing our brains with the things of Christ. So, I guess you could say that being “brainwashed” is a good thing if your brain is washed in holy thinking.

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Paul explains that being made new is the putting off of the old self and the putting on of the new. If you’ve ever been baptized, I’m sure you understand that it reflects the sentiment behind this portion of scripture. But being made new isn’t a one-time event, it is a continual process. The idea is to become more and more like Jesus and less and less like our old self with its deceitful desires. So I encourage you to wash your mind with heavenly things. Every day, allow the Spirit to cleanse your mind and your heart. Begin every day in the mindset of your new self; your new attitude; your new mission. I encourage you to allow yourself to be brainwashed with the attitude and desires of the Holy Spirit.

Through The Fire

The Bible tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust alike, meaning that times of trouble and trials are bound to come to everyone regardless of whether your walk with the Lord is strong, or whether you have no walk at all. Even still, believers who have a relationship with the Lord should know that when trials do come, and if God calls us to persevere through the trail instead of delivering us, he is walking right by our side through the fire. We don’t have to walk through it alone. We only need to trust him. King Nebuchadnezzar learned that lesson when he decided to throw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace for not worshiping an image of gold that he’d set up. It says in Daniel chapter 3, verse 25:

“He said, ‘Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’”

Earlier, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego proclaimed that whether God chose to deliver them or not, they would never bow their knee to the image of gold. They recognized the sovereignty of God, desiring his will above their own, still having faith that he’d deliver them. Likewise, we should also pray in faith that God will deliver us, while at the same time knowing that he is God and may have a plan that is different than our desires. In the case of these three, God allowed them to be thrown in the fire, but he was right there with them all along. In the midst of their trial, God was not far away, he didn’t watch from a distance, he was right there with them. I believe that when we go through trials and are crying out to God, whatever he decides our fate to be, he is right there with us. Do you believe that today?

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God has the power to deliver us from any situation - even if it is a trial of our own making. When we call out to God, our job is to have faith, not only to believe that he will deliver us, but also to trust that he is God and that his ways are higher than our ways. Sometimes our prayers aren’t answered the way we’d want. Sometimes, God chooses for us to walk through the fire instead of helping us to avoid it. When that happens, don’t lose heart. God ultimately saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but not before they were thrown into the fire. When you’ve prayed and still see yourself heading for destruction, does your faith waver? I encourage you to keep your eyes on God. Whatever your fate, God is in control. Put your trust in him. Whether you are delivered, or whether you have to walk through the fire, trust that God sees what we cannot see, and that he is right there with you in the midst of it all.

Bread of Life

What did Jesus mean when he referred to himself as the “bread of life”? The Jews really had a difficult time with that analogy, and for those who don’t understand today, it can be just as confusing. In John, chapter 6 verse 27, Jesus tells them, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” Then later in verses 47 through 50 he says:

“Very truly I tell you , the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

I believe that Jesus uses the bread analogy partially because the Jews were in the midst of discussing the manna that God sent in Moses’ day. Jesus uses that analogy to explain to them that any bread earth can provide is temporary. It may even spoil if we don’t eat it in a timely manner. But Jesus, being the “bread of life”, gives those who partake of him, eternal life. His flesh for bread, and his blood for drink may sound strange to those who don’t understand. But to those of us who do; to those of us who have accepted and have partaken of Jesus’ gift to us, the flesh and blood that he is talking about means our very salvation. If you are new to the Bible, don’t get tripped up with this analogy like the Jews did. Simply put, bread on earth only sustains life on earth. But Jesus will sustain us forever if we believe in him and accept his gift to us.

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Jesus told his listeners that he is the bread of life. He said that if we eat, or partake, of him, we will live forever. When Jesus died, it was the act of his body being broken and the spilling of his blood that covered our sins, giving us eternal life. When his righteousness covers our unrighteousness, we can stand in the presence of a holy God. So I encourage you, if you haven’t already, partake of Jesus, the bread of life. If you do, you will live forever in heaven with God. But if you don’t, you will experience eternal death, or eternal damnation, in hell separated from God forever.