I Will Do As You Say: Part 3

(Luke 4:22 shares this about Jesus: “all were speaking well of Him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips.” Perhaps this is also what they were experiencing this day in Luke 5. Oh, may we be like Him in this way!)

Luke 5:1

“Now it came about that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fisherman had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land.  And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.”

Notice that these fishermen were done.  They were washing their nets, and as we will see, they did not have a very good night of it, so they were probably ‘really done’.  This causes me to wonder if these fishermen were thrilled to see Jesus coming along at this particular moment.  Did they feel privileged that He climbed into their boat and asked them to carry Him off shore OR did they just smile, while harboring a little ‘But I was done’ feeling inside? Were they thrilled to be used by Him and for Him to use 'their stuff' or did they just want to go home and kick their feet up and not be used by Him this day, this time?

I’m sure they were thrilled- this was Jesus!  Yet what about us; are we thrilled to be used?  He is the same Jesus, and His call doesn’t always come at the most convenient moment.  He often calls us when we are ‘done’.  In fact, that is probably when we are most useable as we are then forced to depend upon Him and not upon ourselves.

Be used... by an all-powerful God today....even beyond your pack it up 'done' moments...."strengthened with power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience..." (Colossians 1:11)

I Will Do As You Say: Part 2

Let us obey God just because He asks- not because it makes any sense, not because we necessarily want to do what He asks (though He will then be “at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”),  not because someone else couldn’t do it better (maybe they could, but if He’s asking you, then He is asking you and not them),  not because we feel like we have the time….or for any other reason- just in obedience to our Master, at His bidding.

“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you- energizing and creating in you the power and desire- both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.  Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves].  That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation- [spiritually] perverted and perverse.  Among whom you are seen as bright lights- stars or beacons shining out clearly – in the [dark] world;  Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life…”  Philippians 2:13-16a Amplified

 Spend some time TODAY seeking Him and the answers to a few probing questions:

     What is He asking you to do through His Word?

     What has He put on your heart?

     Will you trust Him and obey?  Trusting that His will is good and pleasing and acceptable and certainly what is best for you and those around you? 

     Will you do what He says?

Let Him SHINE through you.

I Will Do As You Say: Part 1

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Thy faithfulness.”
 Lamentations 3:21-23.

His mercies are new every morning.  Therefore everyday can be a ‘start over’ day.  This is good news as we so often find ourselves discouraged.  We strive and try, many times in our own strength (rather than “everything by prayer”), to be the ideal that God has placed in our hearts and endeavor to make changes we know are necessary.   Yet still, after many years of New Years’ Resolutions, we find ourselves struggling with the same old issues.  Be encouraged that even though this may seem to be true and you may not be where you long to be, change has inevitably happened as a result of the struggle.  You are on your way- (halfway there?-hold on to that idea; it's coming).

 In these next few posts, we will look to find some encouragement in Luke 5 and learn some lessons from a group of fisherman who had nothing to show for all their labor.  There we find some lessons of obedience for our own lives and the contrasting results between trying in our own strength, walking in our flesh, (which is exhausting, and many of us are right there today)…

                 and walking by the Spirit, in intimacy with Christ, listening to Him, and OBEYING GOD just because He asks, Who then puts the power of the Holy Spirit into that act of obedience.  He works in and through us and gives us everything we need for life and godliness.  And He works! He is ABLE to DO.

          "May grace (God's favor) and peace, (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity and freedom from fear and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in (the full, personal, precise, and correct) knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the (full, personal) knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). " 2 Peter 1:2,3 Amplified

Know Him and His Word

"And this is how we may discern [daily by experience] that we are coming to know Him- to perceive, recognize, understand and become better acquainted with Him:
 if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments)."

1 John 2:3 in the Amplified

Everything by Prayer

“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in
 everything by prayer and petition [definite requests] 

with thanksgiving continue to make your wants known to God.  And God’s peace [be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

               Philippians 4:6,7 Amplified

“Everything by Prayer”
What a great motto that would be for life.

       Everything by PRAYER; not by striving, not by using your own common sense or trying really hard to figure out your life and the lives of those around you, not by trying to stay in control and manipulating, and not by self-determination, but by prayer.  Everything! The big and the small details of life. 

      Lord, we want to be all yours: to truly surrender all our worry and anxiety, and in every circumstance and in everything, PRAY:  praying definite, specific requests, voicing our wants to You rather than just agonizing over them in our souls.

         Our worry does not accomplish a single positive outcome and only does us harm; it harms our faith and feeds our fears.  Somehow we think within ourselves that holding onto a situation in worry means that we still have some control over it, and letting it go seems almost ‘irresponsible’.  What lies!  The very lies that keep us bound to worry and anxiety.   

       

        Help us to let it go, to fling it upon You.  We are Your sheep, and sheep are not weight bearing animals. Right now, we give to You, our Great Shepherd, all that concerns us the most, and we ask You, in Your all-sufficient strength, to carry and accomplish it.

        
      In every circumstance and in everything by prayer, we let our requests made known to You: the big and the little- the little details that make up most of our days. 

           
      The ‘daily-ness’ of life is where we most often stumble and lay down the motto, “everything by  prayer”, and seem to take up another, “Be ye overwhelmed!”  Help us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to You.  The power is in prayer.
               
        With thanksgiving, Lord, we continue to make our wants made known to You.  Garrison and mount guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

"..casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 2 Peter 5:7

Ask for Wisdom Without Any Doubting

        The book of James begins with the encouragement to consider it all joy when we encounter various trials, knowing that this testing of our faith produces endurance, and if we will let endurance have its perfect result, we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing….  

 BUT (next verse- James 1:5) if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.  This statement is written as an imperative which means that it is actually a command:  if you lack wisdom, you MUST ask of God.   Strangely enough we need that command, don’t we?  When we need wisdom, need to make a big decision, isn’t our temptation to run to everyone else first and obtain everyone else’s thoughts, which can only make our thought process even more confusing. 

        Where do we go when we need insight into His Word (wisdom)?  Do we run first to the Author of the Word or to the many other authors of many other books to gain their wisdom? A command:  ask of God!  The definition of the word used here of wisdom is “in respect to divine things, wisdom, knowledge, insight, deep understanding, represented everywhere as a divine gift, and including the idea of practical application”_1.  (We must then obey the wisdom that we are given- apply it!  Oh, don't miss that. Go back and read it again if you have to.)

James 1:5-8  “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” 

We are told here in God’s Word to ask for wisdom without any doubting.  This makes perfect sense as Hebrews 11:6 teaches us that.. 

"..without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

The Greek word for doubt (diakrino) is made up of a word that means separation and another that means to distinguish, decide, judge.  It means to separate throughout, completely, to separate oneself from, to contend with, to be in strife with oneself, i.e., to doubt, hesitate, waver.₁

Then we are told that the one who doubts (hesitates, wavers) is a double-minded man, “a man of two minds- hesitating, dubious, irresolute”₂, “a doubter, waverer”₁, “a soul divided between faith and the world”₃.

The same word is used in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”   “Such a person suffers from divided loyalties.  On the one hand, he wishes to maintain a religious confession and desires the presence of God in his life; on the other hand, he loves the ways of the world and prefers to live according to its mores (the customs and habitual practices that a group of people accept and follow, especially as they reflect moral standards) and ethics.”₁

        That man who doubts ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways!

       Are you living with a hesitating, wavering, divided soul today?  Are you struggling between what you know God's Word says to be true and what your eyes see or what your 'feelings' are telling you? Are you living this day divided between "the stability of your faith in Christ" (Colossians 2:5) and what the world holds forth as truth? And if so, can you not testify that you may just be feeling a little 'unstable in all your ways'?

Oh, we do not want to be, in the least bit, unstable.  Choose now whom you will serve!

And let us pray.  Oh Lord, I confess that I have been a doubting, hesitating child- that I waver- that I suffer from divided loyalties- that I would say, and truly believe, that my heart’s desire is Your presence in my life and to walk in holiness, but to be completely honest with myself (You already know this), when I hesitate to obey You, when I look at man and the world and let fear set in, when I want to take the comfortable way out, when I want to stay in my comfort zone and care more about what the world thinks, when I just decide that I want to go my own way and do my own thing,…… then I am preferring to live according to this world.
          I confess that I am double-minded, which makes me unstable in all my ways!  Oh Lord, help me.  I ask and hear, and then I waver, hesitate, doubt (‘hath God really said?’).  I turn from this sin and call it what it is: sin.  Lord I do not want to be unstable; make me firm and help me to step forward in faith.

 And "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.  In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can mere man do to me?"  Psalm 56:3,4

 “Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate (limp on the two divided opinions) between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow Him; but it Baal, follow him.’  But the people did not answer him a word.”  1 Kings 18:21

Oh, let us not keep silent but answer and commit to follow Him fully without hesitancy.

_{1 Zodhiates.  The Complete Word Study Dictionary  2 The Amplified Bible  3 Rogers and Rogers Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament}

Step Up

          Let us all step up, take our place, and...

 DO what He has specifically called and gifted each of us to do…              

                                   unafraid and unashamed… 

          May we rebuild what has been destroyed,

 take back what we have fearfully or complacently relinquished and abdicated, and               ask, “Lord, what would you have me do?” 

                     Then DO ‘Yes”. 

                                         One obedient step at a time.

          "For we are His workmanship," 

(workmanship=poiema-where we get our word 'poem' and can also be rendered-'masterpiece': think of that, we are His workmanship, a masterpiece of God, the poem of God)

          "created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

                                which God prepared beforehand 

                                             so that we would walk in them."   Ephesians 2:10

              Not depending upon your own strength, but walking in those good works by His power that works within you, 

                       to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.  (Ephesians 3:20,21) 

You are more than a conqueror, dear one, through Him who loved you.  (Romans 8:37)

                                    Step up and walk it out.

Take Your Place

What if……. we all stepped up and LIVED IT?!!  

         What if you laid aside every encumbrance (the excuses, the fears, all the cares of what anyone would think, all your insecurities, all your ‘performance’, all the things you ‘think’ you lack- as He has given you all you need, you lack nothing) and the sin which so easily entangles you (the pride, selfishness, anger, laziness, and living the ‘normal’ way of the world rather than what God says/calls you to personally)…....?
              
            What if you run with endurance the race that is set before you.. RUN IT..

 RUN your RACE₁  .....UNASHAMEDLY AND WITHOUT FEAR OF WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS!

What if you were to BE who God has called you to be, DO what He has called you to do (no matter what anyone else is doing), and LIVE LIFE ABUNDANTLY : not afraid, lazy, or too busy to fulfill your calling in Christ.....?

Think of it, what if we ALL, as the body of Christ worldwide took Him at His Word, dared to believe Him (for nothing is impossible for God.. believe that!), and took our place in fulfilling His plan?  And what if it started with you right now?

Phil 3:12  “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

Revival!  Oh, Lord may it come to our hearts!

Let us consider “that GOD IS ABLE to raise people even from the dead₂”!  Lord, raise us up out of our deadness.  Let us be LIVING sacrifices, presenting our bodies and very lives, with all of our todays and all our tomorrows, fully to You…… and take our place.

 How?  Here’s that answer in Romans 12:1,2:

 “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].”

_{Hebrew 12:1  Hebrews 11:19}