Pastor Jason Varnum preached a passionate message on Sunday morning and it really got me thinking. Have you ever talked to people that fish? Have you ever been fishing yourself? It's amazing what people will do sometimes, just to "have a good time." Get up at the crack of dawn, load up with tackle, bait, rods, etc..., get the equipment and boat out on the water, fish for hours at a time, and sometimes have nothing to show for it but a dirty boat, a stomach full of half-eaten snacks, and a sunburn...
Yet, they'll do it all over again the next day, the next week, the next month, over and over again because they know the fish are out there, but "maybe they just weren't biting today."
What if we had the same attitude about souls? What if we would launch out into the deep (Luke 5:4) at God's word, and not worry whether the outcome is everything we'd hoped? After all, our job isn't to MAKE people come to church, involve themselves in a Bible study, or save a soul. No, no, no, our job is to bait the hook, toss the line, and fish for men...
I think it's time for more of us to take on the mentality of Jesus Christ--everything He did was to try and reach the lost. Whether He was healing someone of blindness, casting out a demon, or feeding thousands of people miraculously, His purpose was to win the lost...
It's time for more of us to be............fisher's of men!!!
Irony has a very special place in the realm of literature, poetry, and even in the realm of television and film-making, but nothing is quite so amazing as some of the incredible instances in the Bible, the ironic turnarounds that God orchestrates for His people...Over and over again, throughout historical accounts in the Word of God, the seemingly inevitable plight of the children of God had a way of turning into great victory (can anyone say, "Red Sea crossing?").
The story of Esther is no exception, in fact, it's one of the most elaborate instances of a great comeback of all time.
Haman couldn't stand the fact that Mordecai wouldn't bow to him and pay him homage, even though the entire rest of the kingdom did so. He got focused on the one "problem" and decided to do something about it. He planned not only to kill Mordecai himself, but also to annihilate all the Jews in the land. During the ordeal, Haman boasted greatly about three things in particular: his riches, his children, and is position in the kingdom (Esther 5:11).
But it was all downhill from there. Over the next three chapters, Haman's estate was given to Esther, his sons were all killed, and his position was given to Mordecai. To top it all off, Haman himself was hanged on a gallows that he had just built to hang Mordecai.
Talk about a comeback!!! If God can work it out for Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews in this account, He can work it out for you. Hang in there and don't lose your faith. Stay true to God's Word and in love with Jesus and He'll bring you through victorious!!!
It's such a great feeling to know that as children of God, as ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:20), we are able to walk in freedom and liberty in this world. 2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us where God's Spirit is, there is liberty, and Romans 8:2 tells us we're free from the law of sin and death.
So, in effect, our ambassadorship gives us diplomatic immunity here in this world. When we walk in the Spirit, we don't have to fulfill the desires of our human "rules of engagement," according to Galatians 5:16. We're free, traversing this land as pilgrims and strangers because, in the end, this place is not out home (1 Peter 2:11).
So live for God strong, live in the freedom and liberty His Spirit provides, deny your flesh and human way of thinking, and claim your place as an ambassador for Jesus Christ!!!
Isn't it funny, in a cynical, somber, not-so-funny-at-all kind of way, how we so often ask for God's will or seek godly counsel, only to turn around and reject it for something else altogether? Well, the fact is sometimes it's difficult for God to overcome the herculean strength of man's will.
Just look in Jeremiah 42:1 - 43:7...
Here we find the account of Azariah, Johanan, and a remnant of Judah, left behind after king Nebuchadnezzar conquered them. They ask Jeremiah to seek the will of God to see whether they should stay in the land or go into Egypt. Jeremiah comes back and tells them God wants them to stay. They accuse Jeremiah of lying and subsequently go into Egypt anyway.
Of course, Egypt is consistently a type or allegorical representation of the world. So often we pay lip-service to desiring God's will, but really we want someone to confirm that the plans we have for ourselves are the way to go. When it doesn't happen, we rationalize and justify our actions so that we can feel somewhat good, even though we know deep down we're resisting God.
Let's challenge ourselves to pray and seek God objectively. Let's seek to pray the prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden before He faced the cross: "not my will, but thine be done" (Luke 22:42).
After all, when we examine the lives of the people of God during the time of Jeremiah, we clearly see that God's plans for us are for good and not for evil, He loves us with undying love and will set us on the path that is best for us!!!
Pure silver, refined to it's fullest, is a beautiful thing, not to mention valuable, and really the idea behind the process is quite basic: take silver and remove all the impurities. However, sometimes the silver refuses to "let go" of these impurities, no matter how hot the fire, so it becomes labeled as rejected silver and is tossed aside. We, as Christians are to be purified by God's refining process (I Peter 1:7), but all too often, we refuse to let go of the impurities.
Jeremiah 6:16-21 describes people in this wholly undesirable state, telling us that they rejected the direction of the Lord, refused to hearken to the watchmen placed in their lives, and turned away from God's Word and laws. So, later in the chapter, the prophet states, "They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them." (Jer 6:31, NIV).
Even though these people still offered "sacrifices" to God, they were not what God truly wanted. He doesn't desire sacrifice more than obedience to His Word (I Sam 15:22), and too often we want to give Him what we want to sacrifice rather than what He wants us to sacrifice, and that's exactly what they were doing.
Oh, what a tragedy for those who've allowed themselves to get to the place where God can't speak to them through His Word...But it doesn't have to be that way; He has given us hope:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (I Chr 7:14)
Humbling ourselves in the sight of God (I Peter 5:6), and obeying His Word (John 14:5), will set us on the right track, on our way to being blessed by Him once again!!! I don't want to be rejected silver, I want to be a vessel of honor (2 Tim 2:21), useful for His service!!!
Pastor Jason Varnum preached a passionate message on Sunday morning and it really got me thinking. Have you ever talked to people that fish? Have you ever been fishing yourself? It's amazing what people will do sometimes, just to "have a good time." Get up at the crack of dawn, load up with tackle, bait, rods, etc..., get the equipment and boat out on the water, fish for hours at a time, and sometimes have nothing to show for it but a dirty boat, a stomach full of half-eaten snacks, and a sunburn...
