Reason #622
This has been one of the most hectic weeks we've had in a while, and I think it is setting the stage for how the rest of this month, possibly even year, is going to look. I am such a home body and love nothing more than coming home after work, putting on sweatpants, and being home all night. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I'll settle for a walk but that's it. So ideally, I prefer to be a slightly active couch potato. Anyway, we've had such a busy week, have eaten out every single meal (which is not the norm), and have gone to bed at midnight every night this week. Therefore, I'm about done. I just hope I can dig deep enough to find some energy for tomorrow.
Aaron and I went to an event tonight to hear The Heavenly Man, from China, share his testimony. He was given that name because he was the man who kept telling everyone about Heaven. And so with his testimony, and with the word of God, he has been able to lead thousand of people to Christ. He has been imprisoned for his faith, yet it hasn't silenced him. And so tonight, what I found so intriguing, what that his testimony was basically a story from the bible. He spent about 90% of his time talking about Jesus and the other 10% of his time sharing how Jesus had worked in his life. Well, I don't know about you but I so often make my testimony about me. Of course, I share what God has done for me, but not like he did. No, he made sure to talk about Jesus first and foremost, giving Him the most attention, the most praise, and the most words.
How simple, right? But that's the gospel. So simple and yet we make it so hard because we make it about ourselves. We have to tell about how we feel, what we think, what we witnessed. But what if we just talked about Jesus, about what He said, about what He did, about what He thought. And so tonight this man shared Luke 5 with us, and I was amazed at the insight God had given him as the Lord has turned this man into a fisher of men.
In Luke 5, we see Jesus on a fishing trip with his disciples. They had fished all night and caught nothing, and yet Jesus takes them out in the boat, asks them to throw over their nets and they catch enough fish to nearly sink their boat. Isn't this just how the Lord works, though? We struggle trying to do things on our own, the way we've always done it, or the way we think is best, and we just can't seem to get things to work out. All of the sudden, we finally get in the boat with Jesus and bam, big things start happening. Anyway, these guys are obedient to throw over the nets even though they are pretty darn sure nothing is going to happen. Maybe they really did trust him, or maybe they just wanted to be polite. Who knows?! But I've definitely been there before. Lowering my net in doubt because I had already tried. I had spent a lot of time in that place and nothing came from it. Yet when the Lord asks us to do something, even if we don't really think anything will happen, we should be obedient to act, and we see that obedience was crucial here. These guys did what Jesus told them to do and they were overwhelmed with the results. Fish, fish, everywhere and they were about to sink!
The Heavenly Man talked about the fact that Jesus' sheep know His voice and they listened, and he said that the fish knew Jesus' voice, too. Have you ever thought about that? That deep down, everything knows His voice? Everything had a longing for the Creator, but some seem to be hard of hearing. Yet these fish were right there, swimming right into that net. These men didn't even have to try to catch them, they just had to be obedient. And tonight, for the first time, I was really challenged about my own obedience to the Lord. Because I realized that our obedience affects the obedience of others. Our obedience can win people to Christ just as much as our disobedience can hinder them, or even turn them away, from Christ. That's a heavy realization right there. You see, God calls us to a life of obedience, and we don't always know the reasoning behind it. It may be for our own good, it may be for the good of another, but regardless God uses it to bring glory to His name. And even though we often times feel like obedience is punishment or a strict requirement, it's actually intended for our benefit. Because it's through obedience that God blesses us, and it's through obedience that we are most effective and useful for His kingdom.
Maybe you're like me and you've tried to do the same thing a million different ways and it just hasn't worked. But the one thing you haven't tried is actually getting in the boat with Jesus (figuratively speaking) and doing it when the Lord tells you to. Trusting His word and His timing and throwing out your net even if you aren't 100% sure why. Because the Lord isn't going to ask you to do something that brings about negative return, you can trust that. So listen to Him and be obedient because you never know what kind of return you'll get or who is going to be greatly affected by your choice to obey His commands.
#622 - Because He uses our obedience to bless us and to bless others.
"Lord, accept my offering of praise, and teach me your regulations. My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions." - Psalm 119:108-109
Aaron and I went to an event tonight to hear The Heavenly Man, from China, share his testimony. He was given that name because he was the man who kept telling everyone about Heaven. And so with his testimony, and with the word of God, he has been able to lead thousand of people to Christ. He has been imprisoned for his faith, yet it hasn't silenced him. And so tonight, what I found so intriguing, what that his testimony was basically a story from the bible. He spent about 90% of his time talking about Jesus and the other 10% of his time sharing how Jesus had worked in his life. Well, I don't know about you but I so often make my testimony about me. Of course, I share what God has done for me, but not like he did. No, he made sure to talk about Jesus first and foremost, giving Him the most attention, the most praise, and the most words.
How simple, right? But that's the gospel. So simple and yet we make it so hard because we make it about ourselves. We have to tell about how we feel, what we think, what we witnessed. But what if we just talked about Jesus, about what He said, about what He did, about what He thought. And so tonight this man shared Luke 5 with us, and I was amazed at the insight God had given him as the Lord has turned this man into a fisher of men.
In Luke 5, we see Jesus on a fishing trip with his disciples. They had fished all night and caught nothing, and yet Jesus takes them out in the boat, asks them to throw over their nets and they catch enough fish to nearly sink their boat. Isn't this just how the Lord works, though? We struggle trying to do things on our own, the way we've always done it, or the way we think is best, and we just can't seem to get things to work out. All of the sudden, we finally get in the boat with Jesus and bam, big things start happening. Anyway, these guys are obedient to throw over the nets even though they are pretty darn sure nothing is going to happen. Maybe they really did trust him, or maybe they just wanted to be polite. Who knows?! But I've definitely been there before. Lowering my net in doubt because I had already tried. I had spent a lot of time in that place and nothing came from it. Yet when the Lord asks us to do something, even if we don't really think anything will happen, we should be obedient to act, and we see that obedience was crucial here. These guys did what Jesus told them to do and they were overwhelmed with the results. Fish, fish, everywhere and they were about to sink!
The Heavenly Man talked about the fact that Jesus' sheep know His voice and they listened, and he said that the fish knew Jesus' voice, too. Have you ever thought about that? That deep down, everything knows His voice? Everything had a longing for the Creator, but some seem to be hard of hearing. Yet these fish were right there, swimming right into that net. These men didn't even have to try to catch them, they just had to be obedient. And tonight, for the first time, I was really challenged about my own obedience to the Lord. Because I realized that our obedience affects the obedience of others. Our obedience can win people to Christ just as much as our disobedience can hinder them, or even turn them away, from Christ. That's a heavy realization right there. You see, God calls us to a life of obedience, and we don't always know the reasoning behind it. It may be for our own good, it may be for the good of another, but regardless God uses it to bring glory to His name. And even though we often times feel like obedience is punishment or a strict requirement, it's actually intended for our benefit. Because it's through obedience that God blesses us, and it's through obedience that we are most effective and useful for His kingdom.
Maybe you're like me and you've tried to do the same thing a million different ways and it just hasn't worked. But the one thing you haven't tried is actually getting in the boat with Jesus (figuratively speaking) and doing it when the Lord tells you to. Trusting His word and His timing and throwing out your net even if you aren't 100% sure why. Because the Lord isn't going to ask you to do something that brings about negative return, you can trust that. So listen to Him and be obedient because you never know what kind of return you'll get or who is going to be greatly affected by your choice to obey His commands.
#622 - Because He uses our obedience to bless us and to bless others.
"Lord, accept my offering of praise, and teach me your regulations. My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions." - Psalm 119:108-109