Fishers of Men

Our Lord said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." It is evident, then, that a true disciple is a soul-winner. It is possible to sit on the shore discussing the signs of the times when we ought to be driven by the signs of the times to launch out into the deep and let down our nets for a draught.  Vance Havner

Summertime always brings back memories for me of fishing with my grandpa or family outings.  Those are special memories for me because of the time I was able to spend with family and the great outdoors. 

When my grandpa taught me how to fish part of the lesson was how to bait your hook and remove the fish from the line.  If you are a non-fisherman, you may not know that a fish will raise its fins and flop around a lot when it is taken out of the water.  I guess if I was a fish that lived in water and someone dangled a worm in front of me for dinner and I took the bait; it would be kind of startling to be jerked out of the water.  I’m thinking I would flop around a lot too. 

Anyway, there is a technique to taking the fish off the hook.  You hold the fish up and gently slide your hand over its head and then slide your hand over its fins to keep the fin from sticking into your hand.  Sometimes the fish would flop and wiggle so much that it would come off the hook on its own and then you were left trying to catch a flopping fish in the bottom of the boat. 

Sometimes we are very much like the flopping fish in the bottom of the boat.  We often don’t want to change our life or be different for God so we fight it just like the fish.  The same thing happens when we cast out to be a soul winner.  You try to show others why coming to know Christ is important.  You cast your line and pray for a bite.  Fishing is the sport of patience.  If you have ever sat for several hours watching a cork, you know what I am talking about.  It is the same with being a fisher of men.  If we get distracted or impatient we will never draw anyone to the Lord. 

My husband is a different type of fisherman.  He is a catch and release fisherman.  You patiently flip a fake bait into the water and slowly real it in.  In his type of fishing you don’t have a cork to watch to see if a fish is on the line; you feel the line for vibration.

It doesn’t matter what type of fisherman you are, God can use both and make them fishers of men.  Both will require patience, wisdom, knowledge, skill and most of all God’s presence.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I love to fish. There is a certain peacefulness about the process of fishing.  I can have the same peacefulness in the pursuit of others for Christ.  You are the one who gives me the strength and perseverance to patiently wait for the right opportunity and when it comes You will give me the words to say.  Help me to not hesitate when those opportunities come along. 

Scripture: Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:2-6

Decrepitude

The only way the corporate Body of Christ will fulfill the mission Christ has given it is for individual Christians to have a vision for fulfilling that mission personally.  David Meremiah

de·crep·i·tude – decrepit condition; dilapidated state; feebleness, especially from old age.

I must admit I really like this word.  It really sounds great rolling off my tongue.  The problem is I am getting closer and closer to being in this state.  The state of decrepitude.  You know how they used to say you needed an attitude adjustment.  I may soon need a decrepitude adjustment.

The world offers me all kinds of things to fix my “decrepitudeness” (I don’t think this word is in the dictionary so maybe it will be added next year).  I can get Botox, fillers, new teeth in two days or pull out all the old ones if I prefer, then there are collagen injections to give me smooth skin and a permanent surprised look on my face.  I can get gel nails, hair extensions and hair removal. The interesting thing is; that is not going to change the fact that I will eventually fall into decrepitudeness.  

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden decrepitudeness didn’t exist; until a snake in the grass offered them an apple they couldn’t refuse.  When that happened we started the downhill slide into decrepitudeness.  They could have lived in a perfect garden forever walking with God.  

One of the most amazing things to me is that it doesn’t matter how decrepit we get, we can still be used by God to further his kingdom.  God didn’t give up on a fallen world.  He still gives each of us the opportunity to be redeemed.  There will come a day when the sorrows, pain and suffering of this world will come to an end.  I look forward to that day, but until then I think I will let nature take its course and let decrepitudeness in.  It is an inevitable fact of life and all the chemicals of today that are used to make me look younger will eventually move somewhere I don’t want them to, so I will refrain from denying my decrepitudeness and press on.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, as I get older and my body sometimes fails me it reminds me that I am still useful to You.  As long as there is another person on earth that needs a Savior, there will always be a need for me to pursue them for You.  I am Your feet and hands and even though they may get slower with time, I can still be used for Your purpose.

Scripture: The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psalm 92:12-15

Faith In the Right One

Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process.  Elisabeth Elliot

In many of my devotionals I will use quotes by Watchman Nee.  I think what I find so interesting about him was the suffering he endured because of his faith.  He studied the Bible and other writings by Christian authors.  He had no formal theological training during his ministry. During his lifetime of ministry in mainland China, he suffered from illness including a stomach disorder, tuberculosis and a heart condition.  In 1952 he was imprisoned at a labor farm for 20 years until his death in 1972.  When he wrote letters in prison he was not allowed to mention the Lord’s name as all of his writings were censored.  In his final letter on the day of his death he wrote the following words: “In my sickness, I still remain joyful at heart.”  Can you imagine making that statement in the midst of illness or imprisonment?

As I read this statement it brought to mind the apostle Paul.  He suffered, was imprisoned, beaten and some of his best writings in the Bible came out of great suffering.  One of my favorite verses comes from Paul’s writings. 

Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I often think one of my biggest weaknesses is not being content with whatever state I am in.  Sometimes I am not content when God provides abundant blessings in my life. The problem is I often overlook the simplest of blessings.  The number one blessing being that I am still breathing and was able to get up this morning. My faith in our Heavenly Father will make the difference in an abundant life through any and all circumstances.  If I am worried about the outcome or what will happen to me next, my faith is not in the Right One.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your Son Jesus, who suffered and died for a poor sinner like me.  Help me to keep my focus on You so that I can rejoice in any circumstance.  Help me to remember that when my faith is on the Right One, that faith will sustain me through any suffering.

   

Scripture: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9

Cash Back

Most people fail to realize that money is both a test and trust from God. ~ Rick Warren

Have you ever really thought about cash back?  You know the commercials that advertise you can get cash back on tires, gas, groceries etc….   The commercial is intended to make you spend more but they make it sound so enticing.  It is kind of ironic don’t you think that they sell us on buying more so you can get something back.

In reality they are trying to convince us that the more you spend the more you save.  What kind of thinking is that?  I am currently reading a book about business.  In the book it talks about how every transaction that we do in business should be a win-win-win for everyone involved.  What does that mean?  It means that the business owner is not in it just to make money.  If you run your business with a win-win-win theory, it means that the business owner wins, the supplier for the business wins and the customer wins.  What a concept!

What normally happens is companies are greedy so they do whatever it takes to win.  This means they will cheat the customer, charge outrageous prices or take advantage of their suppliers.  In this case with credit cards they will charge extremely high interest rates so that they can offer cash back.  They want you to think you are making money, by using your credit card, so that you can use it to buy more stuff. 

Let’s take furniture for an example.  Most furniture stores mark up an item by at least 80% or more.  So here is where it gets interesting.  They will run a promotion and mark the item back down to give the illusion that the consumer is getting a great deal when in reality they are just reducing the amount of profit they will make on the item.  How about this trick?  Most retailers put the sales items at the back of the store so that there is good chance of you making an impulse buy before you ever get to the sale items.  Retailers in furniture will often use a maze layout to increase the chances that as you wander through the maze you will see something you can’t live without and impulsively buy.  There is even a retailer that sets up their store so you have to walk all the way through the entire store before you reach the check-out line.  What they don’t advertise is that there are various shortcuts throughout the building but you will probably miss those because they are hidden.

I am not trying to pick on the furniture retailers.  You find the same thing in car showrooms, grocery stores, gas stations and all sorts of businesses.  God never intended for us to use greed as a motivator for business.  God intended us to own businesses, but our intent should not be to make the most we can make from the consumer or cheat the supplier.  God’s perfect plan is for us to charge a reasonable price so that our customers and suppliers walk away as winners too.  If everything I own is God’s, then how I sell it and how I handle my relationships with suppliers and customers should reflect Him in everything we do with what He owns.

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often get tired of the hype associated with buying things. We live in a world where making money is the most important criteria for the majority of businesses.  It has become more common for me to think about how a business is cheating me than to trust that they are doing the right thing.  I pray that You will remind us daily of the blessings You give us when we own a business and to treat it as Your’s not ours. 

     

Scripture: Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  1 Timothy 6:9-11

Look Up

This is one of the basic truths in the Bible. If you're a believer, nothing comes into your life that hasn't been filtered by your heavenly Father. Your life is not a random series of freak accidents and occurrences and circumstances. God never does anything by accident. He has an appointed time for everything in your life. Even the bad times? Yes.  Rick Warren

Do you look up or around as you negotiate the treacherous waters called life?  One of the greatest lessons I learned over the past few years is to look up.  When I have a question about faith, sorrow, blessings and happiness in my life I look up. God has the answers and he will reveal them to us if we look up instead of around. 

When we look around instead of looking up, we place our faith in ourselves and those around us instead of the One who created us.  Remember the verse in Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. God has a purpose for each one of us and we can fulfill His purpose or deny it.  He gives us the ability to choose. 

One of the traps of Satan that I frequently fall into is that I often look to those in the world around me to give me answers.  One of the most important lessons I have learned in my life is that every person we encounter is a sinner.  That includes me, pastors, deacons, brothers, sisters, parents and friends.  There is not a single person on this earth who is not a sinner.  Jesus was the only person to ever live on this earth that was sin free.

God is continuously sending us signals.  Too many times we ignore them because we call them coincidence.  God doesn’t work through coincidence.  He works with purpose.  If we want to hear His voice we must look up and pay attention or we will miss an opportunity to glorify Him.   

        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You know everything that will happen in my life and I know I don’t have all the answers.  It is not by chance or coincidence that things have occurred in my life.  If I pay attention and continuously look up to You for the answers, You will reveal them to me. Sometimes I can’t see what Your plan is for me, but I do wait eagerly for You to reveal it to me.  I praise You Father.      

  

Scripture:  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  Romans 8:18-30

God’s Hands

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:3-5

Have you ever looked at other people’s hands?  I spend a lot of time with my parents and one of the things that break my heart is the state of their hands.  They both suffer from arthritis but you probably wouldn’t know it if you didn’t look at their hands.  They seldom complain about the pain they suffer but I know it is there.  It is harder for my dad to use certain tools and more difficult for my mom to open jars and do some of the basic things that we often don’t think about.  Even door knobs are no longer easy to use and the simplest tasks are painful for both of them. 

Since my parents own their own business they have to wear many hats.  When I watch my mom struggle to tie bows on our many products it reminds me how hard working my parents are and how much of that work ethic they have passed on to their children.    

If I had to describe the beauty of my parent’s hands it would be go something like this:  The joints are curved and swollen most of the time.  There are lines and wrinkles and a great deal of life revealed in their hands.  Those were the hands that comforted us when we were hurt and put Band-Aids on the scrapes of life.  They gave direction and discipline and gave my hand to my husband’s in marriage.  The hands that have grown into crooked joints and stiff fingers reflect a life well lived.  Their hands are a source of strength but also of gentleness.   My mom always says that she has ugly hands.  To me they are the most beautiful things in the world.

God gave us hands to use for good.  We can use these tools that God created to show love to others and to do great things through them.  Hands can give and they can take away.  How we use them can make us or break us. 

This made me think of God’s hands. He guides us and comforts us.  He protects us through the storms of life.  God basically holds the world in His hands.  If I had to choose a place to be for the rest of my life it would be in God’s hands.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I see beauty in my parent’s hands.  They have held me through the worst of times and also through the best.  Although they are wrinkled and the knuckles swollen, I see love and beauty in their hands.  Their hands remind me of who You are and how You hold my life in Your hands.  Help me to use my hands for You. 

   

Scripture: I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.  Psalm 17:6-8

Blue Light Special

How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.  George Macdonald

When I was a kid we would often go to the nearest large town with my Mom to shop.  This is often the case when you live in a small town.  We didn’t have much to choose from besides the Piggly Wiggly or Weingarten’s and there was always the TG&Y which is similar to a five and dime.  The local five and dime wasn’t really a good name for the store because by the time I shopped there, nothing in the store cost a nickel or a dime. 

Anyway, we would go to the nearest large town that had a Kmart.  If you are near my age you may remember the “Blue Light Special” at the local Kmart.  The way it worked was there was a blue light on top of a pole.  The light looked like one of those lights on top of a 1970’s police car.  You could see the blue light from anywhere in the store, but to make sure you didn’t miss out on the special they would also get on the overhead speaker and announce the “Blue Light Special”. 

The “Blue Light Special” would be something like buying 2 for 1 or you could get their deli sandwiches for a bargain price.  Although the only thing I remember about their sandwiches were the bread was soggy from sitting in the deli case all day. Anyway the store used this to grab customer’s attention and you could get a bargain at the same time. 

As a kid I always thought the blue light was cool.  I mean it flashed and the light circled and blinked in different directions all in an effort to grab your attention. 

This started me thinking about how God tries to get our attention.  Sometimes he pursues us with great fanfare.  If we read the Bible we find that there is nothing that happens in this world that hasn’t passed through God’s hands first.  Job is the best example I know of where God allowed things to happen to Job through Satan.  How would we have handled the things Job went through if we were in his place?  Loss of our family, possessions, sores covering our body.  Job talks about how he felt abandoned by God during these trying times.  God has a purpose for everything under the sun.  He loves His children and wants what is best for them.  He wants to draw us back to Him.  Sometimes our “Blue Light Special” may be an illness, or a horrible storm that devastates lives.  We live in a fallen world where tragedy will happen.  How we react to the tragedy is what is important.  Will it draw us closer to our Heavenly Father who loves us or push us further away.  The choice is up to us.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there have been some terrible tragedies in our world and they continue to happen on a daily basis.  I pray for those who have lost loved ones and entire communities to storms or who have lost children to a gunman’s hand.  We live in a fallen world and that means sin has entered our presence.  I praise you for the tragedies in my life that helped to draw me closer to You.  I look forward to the day when You return to make things new again.  Pain and sorrow will pass away one day and I look forward to that will great joy.   

                  

Scripture: Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty

But Job answered and said: “How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many? To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you? “The dead tremble, those under the waters and those inhabiting them. Sheol is naked before Him, and Destruction has no covering. He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. He covers the face of His throne, and  spreads His cloud over it. He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His rebuke. He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm. By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”  Job 26:1-14