Hey girls! I've been studying Luke 5 and I'm finding myself seeing this passage in a whole new light. I wonder what you think? I've always heard this story preached with Peter being this disobedient rebel that missed out because he didn't cast the "nets" but only the "net". I have also always believed that partial obedience is disobedience......I still do. If I tell my girls to clean their room and they do everything but make the bed...they still did not obey because making that bed is part of cleaning the room and they know that. But with that thought in mind let's look at the story of Peter, Jesus, and a fishing boat in Luke 5.
First of all let's think about what details we are provided. In verse 1 we know that Jesus had drawn quite the crowd to Lake Gannesaret (which is the sea of Galilee) and he must have felt a little crowded or overwhelmed because he asked the fisherman that had their boats drawn to land if he could get in one of them and push out a little so that the people could hear him better. Peter was the ship owner in this case and he granted the request of Jesus. V2 tells us that Peter was washing his net. He was finished with the fishing thing for the day. V5 tells us that he had fished all night and caught nothing. I don't know about you but staying up all night alone is exhausting and puts your body out of whack so to speak and then to be up all night and not catch anything? Are you kidding? How frustrating! I wouldn't have been in the best of moods. That was Peter's livelihood. That was his profession....if he knew how to do anything, he knew how to fish.
Simon Peter must have had a soft heart and recognized that there was something special about the teachings of this man called Jesus. Why would he have granted him the wish of using his boat...I'm sure Peter just wanted to go home and go to bed. But there's no record of even a complaint. He just did what Jesus asked.
In v4 Jesus makes his second request. "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught." What?....Fish some more???? Really Lord, that is pointless. We've fished all night....haven't caught one thing! We JUST got the nets washed....that in itself is a lot of work...we are tired....we are frustrated....we have no fish which means no money.....(don't you think you would have had these thoughts?) Here's what the Word records for us v5 "Simon answering said unto him, Master we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." This is where I've heard preachers really give Peter a hard time, because he only let down a "net", singular instead of "nets", plural, like Jesus said. But girls, he did let one down!! Would you have done that? I don't know if I would or not. My flesh and the exhaustion I would have felt may have said, maybe next time Lord, Maybe tomorrow, there really isn't any use....etc.
Well, you read the rest of the story and you'll see that they took in so many fish that their net brake and then even their boats began to sink. Then in v8 we hear what Peter's reply was "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Now, I want you to think through this part too. Just think about what Peter had just witnessed. Like I said earlier, if there was one thing Peter knew it was fishing...he knew he had done his best and it yielded nothing! Now at the command of a man named Jesus they had enough fish to sink 2 boats! He witnessed a miracle unlike any he had ever seen. His feelings may have went from excitement to amazement and maybe even to fear...v9 says astonished and in the amplified it says "For he was gripped with bewildering amazement (allied to terror)" I would have been scared....or more like freaked out! What about you?
I think Peter really caught a glimpse of the holiness and power of Jesus and it opened his eyes to who he was in comparison and that yielded the phrase "I am a sinful man" We are all sinful compared to Jesus. That's why we need salvation.
Should Peter have cast both nets....I think so. But Jesus reply to him tells me that even though he didn't obey fully....his heart was not disobedient. God knew his faith was weak. Look at the response from the Lord in v10 "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." Jesus didn't rebuke Peter; He didn't lecture Him or tell him how horrible he was. He spoke the words that I think we all would want to hear if we were face to face with God "Fear not"....wow...what comfort. What peace that would have brought. And then on top of that he told Peter what his future had in store for him. He told him he would be catching souls! Read Acts chapter 2....boy did Peter catch some souls.....3000 of them!!! The Lord doesn't see you as what you are.....He sees you as what you can be in Him!
I love Max Lucado's words so much when he says "God loves you just the way you are but to much to leave you that way; He wants you to be just like Jesus." How true! How wonderful! God knows where you are, he knows how much faith you have and he sees your heart. He knows if you are sincere and even though you are, you may sometimes falter and even fail....but dear sister don't worry.....He's right there waiting to say...."Fear Not". There's comfort in those words!! Amen!
One more thought.....If Peter had not had his faith muscle worked out in this part of his life....do you think he would have been able to step out of the boat onto the water later on in life??? He may have started to sink but at least he stepped out of the boat..that was a HUGE leap in faith.
Meditate on it and let me know what you think.
I love you all! Keep on Keeping on!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Another monumental moment....
Well, in less than an hour Hope will be 18. Wow! My oldest child will be the age I was when Doug and I got married!!! That is freaky! lol!
I find myself feeling incredibly thankful. Thankful for the young woman Hope is, and for how I see God at work in her life. Thankful that she is healthy and happy. Thankful that she is following the natural process of growing up. Thankful that I've been priviliged to be her mom for 18 years. I've had the opportunity to love her, nuture her, teach her, guide her and be not only her mom but her friend. I've been able to teach her about Jesus and his great love for her and for all of us. I had the extreme honor of explaining the plan of salvation to her and leading her to Christ. Wow...how exciting that was!! I'm thankful that Ben is in her life and that I'm allowed to see their love grow for one another and to see them begin to serve Christ together through Upward and teaching Junior church, through the Christmas Day hospital ministry, the Samaritan's purse, and many other things. My heart overflows with gratitude and love for Hope Lauren. She'll never know how proud I am of her and all her achievements and until she has a child of her own, she'll never understand how powerful a mother's love is. It runs deep and has a fire that burns within, it started for me when I found out I was pregnant and was confirmed when I held that 6lb 12oz bundle of pure joy in my arms.
I don't know what tomorrow holds but I do know who holds tomorrow and as long as He gives me breath to breathe I'll be trusting Him and thanking Him for my girls, their lives and my ability to participate in them.
Happy Birthday Hope.....I love you so much!.......Mom
I find myself feeling incredibly thankful. Thankful for the young woman Hope is, and for how I see God at work in her life. Thankful that she is healthy and happy. Thankful that she is following the natural process of growing up. Thankful that I've been priviliged to be her mom for 18 years. I've had the opportunity to love her, nuture her, teach her, guide her and be not only her mom but her friend. I've been able to teach her about Jesus and his great love for her and for all of us. I had the extreme honor of explaining the plan of salvation to her and leading her to Christ. Wow...how exciting that was!! I'm thankful that Ben is in her life and that I'm allowed to see their love grow for one another and to see them begin to serve Christ together through Upward and teaching Junior church, through the Christmas Day hospital ministry, the Samaritan's purse, and many other things. My heart overflows with gratitude and love for Hope Lauren. She'll never know how proud I am of her and all her achievements and until she has a child of her own, she'll never understand how powerful a mother's love is. It runs deep and has a fire that burns within, it started for me when I found out I was pregnant and was confirmed when I held that 6lb 12oz bundle of pure joy in my arms.
I don't know what tomorrow holds but I do know who holds tomorrow and as long as He gives me breath to breathe I'll be trusting Him and thanking Him for my girls, their lives and my ability to participate in them.
Happy Birthday Hope.....I love you so much!.......Mom
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Life isn't slowing down....
On Monday my baby girl Hannah reached a milestone in her life. You see she received permission from the NCDMV to drive a car..........yep...she got her learner's permit! I can't hardly believe it! Because of her petite stature she still seems so young to me...she is my baby...but, she is also 15 now and there is no denying that life is not going to slow down just because I'm having a hard time accepting that I do not have "little ones" anymore. lol.
I couldn't help but get tickled at Hannah on Monday. She was so nervous about that test. She couldn't even sit still. She had studied....a lot! She had been through 2 weeks of drivers education in the classroom and the mandated hours of driving time through drivers ed but the nerves were still there. She was afraid of the unknown. She sat beside me and quoted Philippians 4:13 under her breath.
Soon it was her turn and she went back to take "the test"....and a few minutes later she returned to ask for $15.00....that meant she passed. lol! It was amazing that as nervous as she was about the test, she wasn't one bit nervous to actually climb behind the wheel of my car and drive us home. I couldn't help but think on that. She was just as prepared for the written test as she has been to drive so what made the difference? She had to leave momma's side to take that written test and be with people at the DMV (which aren't the friendliest in the world)behind a closed door away from me; but to drive she was with me. She knows me, she's comfortable with me and knows that I only have her best interest at heart. I would NEVER do anything to hurt her, but I would give everything to help her. I'm on her side, every day, every time.
Well, dear sisters, that is like our Father. He is with us, encouraging us to do things we don't think we can. He only wants what is best for us. He is there every day, every time. He NEVER leaves us (Hebrews 13:5) and even when we face "unfriendly" people or situations...he CAN go back with us...He lives within us! What a treasure that is!! The better we know Him, the more we are in His presence the more we will feel at rest.
I'm glad that God shows himself through the mundane things of life. Who knew spending an afternoon at the DMV could be such a blessing!
I couldn't help but get tickled at Hannah on Monday. She was so nervous about that test. She couldn't even sit still. She had studied....a lot! She had been through 2 weeks of drivers education in the classroom and the mandated hours of driving time through drivers ed but the nerves were still there. She was afraid of the unknown. She sat beside me and quoted Philippians 4:13 under her breath.
Soon it was her turn and she went back to take "the test"....and a few minutes later she returned to ask for $15.00....that meant she passed. lol! It was amazing that as nervous as she was about the test, she wasn't one bit nervous to actually climb behind the wheel of my car and drive us home. I couldn't help but think on that. She was just as prepared for the written test as she has been to drive so what made the difference? She had to leave momma's side to take that written test and be with people at the DMV (which aren't the friendliest in the world)behind a closed door away from me; but to drive she was with me. She knows me, she's comfortable with me and knows that I only have her best interest at heart. I would NEVER do anything to hurt her, but I would give everything to help her. I'm on her side, every day, every time.
Well, dear sisters, that is like our Father. He is with us, encouraging us to do things we don't think we can. He only wants what is best for us. He is there every day, every time. He NEVER leaves us (Hebrews 13:5) and even when we face "unfriendly" people or situations...he CAN go back with us...He lives within us! What a treasure that is!! The better we know Him, the more we are in His presence the more we will feel at rest.
I'm glad that God shows himself through the mundane things of life. Who knew spending an afternoon at the DMV could be such a blessing!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
So simple....but so hard!
John 14:15 "If you love me you will keep my commandments."
Wow, that's straight and to the point isn't it? I mean, no gray areas in that one, we don't need a theologian to explain the Hebrew or Greek or tell us what it "really" means. If you love the Lord, you'll obey Him. I understand that verse. I even long to say that I absolutely, positively, ALWAYS keep his commandments but I would be lying to you if I said I was there. Oh, I can hear some of you gasping now. Well, try not to judge to quickly. You see God's standards are much higher than any of ours. Not only are they higher but they are fair. You see he doesn't see sin in degrees. You know, we've all probably heard that preached and may have even said an "amen!" here and there but the truth is for a lot of us we still think some are worse than others. You may say, I don't ever drink or curse but you gossip like there's no tomorrow. You may never miss a service and be on every committee there is but if you have no compassion you are still sinning. You are not obeying the commandments and according to John 14:15, not loving Christ like you should. You may hold those secret sins of bitterness or resentment. You may get your feelings hurt easily and feel you definitely are due an apology but let's get real, have any of us been wronged any worse than Christ? No one in scripture that I can find apologized to Him.
I've been really thinking about my life, where I am as a Christian, how am I serving Him...how am I obeying Him? It comes down to the simple observation of how much am I loving Him? You see, I can bite my tongue and not say what the flesh really wants to say if I love Him enough to allow the Holy Spirit to control me. I can serve my family without applause or appreciation if I look at it as serving Him, and doing it all because I love Him. I can be kind to a sister in Christ who certainly isn't going out of her way to be kind to me if I love Him enough. I can do anything as long as the love for my master is there. I will resist the urge to "fix" things in my kids and allow Him to work in them in His timing if I love Him enough.
I don't have to grit my teeth and dig my heels in to "will" myself to obey.....I just have to love Him, for then, I'll gladly do what He wants me to do. I don't want the devil to cause me to loose focus of that. Christ is easy to love, actually he made it possible for us to love Him. His word tells us that "We love Him because He first loved us".....Lord.....help me remember all you've done and all that you are and help me to love you more each day....for then I will obey.
Wow, that's straight and to the point isn't it? I mean, no gray areas in that one, we don't need a theologian to explain the Hebrew or Greek or tell us what it "really" means. If you love the Lord, you'll obey Him. I understand that verse. I even long to say that I absolutely, positively, ALWAYS keep his commandments but I would be lying to you if I said I was there. Oh, I can hear some of you gasping now. Well, try not to judge to quickly. You see God's standards are much higher than any of ours. Not only are they higher but they are fair. You see he doesn't see sin in degrees. You know, we've all probably heard that preached and may have even said an "amen!" here and there but the truth is for a lot of us we still think some are worse than others. You may say, I don't ever drink or curse but you gossip like there's no tomorrow. You may never miss a service and be on every committee there is but if you have no compassion you are still sinning. You are not obeying the commandments and according to John 14:15, not loving Christ like you should. You may hold those secret sins of bitterness or resentment. You may get your feelings hurt easily and feel you definitely are due an apology but let's get real, have any of us been wronged any worse than Christ? No one in scripture that I can find apologized to Him.
I've been really thinking about my life, where I am as a Christian, how am I serving Him...how am I obeying Him? It comes down to the simple observation of how much am I loving Him? You see, I can bite my tongue and not say what the flesh really wants to say if I love Him enough to allow the Holy Spirit to control me. I can serve my family without applause or appreciation if I look at it as serving Him, and doing it all because I love Him. I can be kind to a sister in Christ who certainly isn't going out of her way to be kind to me if I love Him enough. I can do anything as long as the love for my master is there. I will resist the urge to "fix" things in my kids and allow Him to work in them in His timing if I love Him enough.
I don't have to grit my teeth and dig my heels in to "will" myself to obey.....I just have to love Him, for then, I'll gladly do what He wants me to do. I don't want the devil to cause me to loose focus of that. Christ is easy to love, actually he made it possible for us to love Him. His word tells us that "We love Him because He first loved us".....Lord.....help me remember all you've done and all that you are and help me to love you more each day....for then I will obey.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thankful
Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything on here lately and I just wanted to share with you how God has been working in my life.
First of all I am excited about 2009 and what God is going to do in my life. There will be valleys to walk through and mountains to climb and times to soar like an eagle and other times when I'm sure I'll feel like I'm crawling face first in the dirt, but I am certain that I will not be alone through any of them. What a comfort to know he'll be there too. I serve a God who will not leave me, fail me, nor will he leave me defenseless. He will give grace at the appointed time and strength when I am weak. Exodus 14:14 even says "The Lord will fight for you and ye shall hold your peace".....that means be at rest......I can rest while HE fights for me....wow...what a Savior!
I had the family over for lunch today (16 of us) and I had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We all love each other and accept each other (I must say I learned that part of loving people from Paul and Karen) and it was wonderful just to be together. I couldn't help but think of how blessed I am as a woman to have all these amazing people in my life. We all love the Lord, love to serve Him and love to bring Him glory. I loved serving them lunch and making their afternoon a little less hectic. They just showed up and ate and relaxed. What a joy it is to serve others! (If you haven't tried it....you should!)
I had to be back at the church for choir practice at 4:45 and Ben went with me. What a joy that was! Not only was I praising my Savior through song I had the great joy of knowing Ben was experiencing this with me! We are learning the song "Lord you are Holy" and it is amazing. The words are powerful and so true. It just brings me to a place where I want to just tell the Lord how much I love Him over and over again. Just snuggle up next to Him and rest in His arms for a while. I hope it ministers to people the way it does to me.
I stand amazed at how good God is to me. Believe me, I know I don't deserve it...not even a fraction of the good in my life do I deserve. God is so gracious. God is so kind. I am overwhelmed at the goodness of God.....it really does make me want to know Him better. Please Lord help me not get caught up in the petty things of this world, but keep my eyes focused on you. Eternal things are all that warrant concern....help me keep this in the forefront of my mind. Help me love those who are hard to love, help me be extra gentle to those who get their feelings hurt easily, and help me be willing to put pride aside and make amends even if it really isn't my fault if it will make you smile. Lord let it all be about you this year. That's my heart's cry because.........I am THANKFUL!
What about you?......................
First of all I am excited about 2009 and what God is going to do in my life. There will be valleys to walk through and mountains to climb and times to soar like an eagle and other times when I'm sure I'll feel like I'm crawling face first in the dirt, but I am certain that I will not be alone through any of them. What a comfort to know he'll be there too. I serve a God who will not leave me, fail me, nor will he leave me defenseless. He will give grace at the appointed time and strength when I am weak. Exodus 14:14 even says "The Lord will fight for you and ye shall hold your peace".....that means be at rest......I can rest while HE fights for me....wow...what a Savior!
I had the family over for lunch today (16 of us) and I had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We all love each other and accept each other (I must say I learned that part of loving people from Paul and Karen) and it was wonderful just to be together. I couldn't help but think of how blessed I am as a woman to have all these amazing people in my life. We all love the Lord, love to serve Him and love to bring Him glory. I loved serving them lunch and making their afternoon a little less hectic. They just showed up and ate and relaxed. What a joy it is to serve others! (If you haven't tried it....you should!)
I had to be back at the church for choir practice at 4:45 and Ben went with me. What a joy that was! Not only was I praising my Savior through song I had the great joy of knowing Ben was experiencing this with me! We are learning the song "Lord you are Holy" and it is amazing. The words are powerful and so true. It just brings me to a place where I want to just tell the Lord how much I love Him over and over again. Just snuggle up next to Him and rest in His arms for a while. I hope it ministers to people the way it does to me.
I stand amazed at how good God is to me. Believe me, I know I don't deserve it...not even a fraction of the good in my life do I deserve. God is so gracious. God is so kind. I am overwhelmed at the goodness of God.....it really does make me want to know Him better. Please Lord help me not get caught up in the petty things of this world, but keep my eyes focused on you. Eternal things are all that warrant concern....help me keep this in the forefront of my mind. Help me love those who are hard to love, help me be extra gentle to those who get their feelings hurt easily, and help me be willing to put pride aside and make amends even if it really isn't my fault if it will make you smile. Lord let it all be about you this year. That's my heart's cry because.........I am THANKFUL!
What about you?......................
Monday, January 5, 2009
Women's Bible Study
Hey ladies! Tomorrow night January 6th we are cranking back up with the ladies Bible study! It will be from 7 to 8 at the church in the Joyful Women's class. Please review your homework and be ready for discussion. You'll need the review since we took the month of December off. I'm SO ready to get started back and hope that we see God do great things in the months ahead. This month is on Repentance and Grace and it is AWESOME!
I hope to see you there!!!
Serving Him,
Lora
I hope to see you there!!!
Serving Him,
Lora
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