[Jesus] said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”   Luke 5:4

LUKE’S account of Jesus calling Peter to follow him is striking in many ways. The miracle of the abundant catch, Peter’s realization of his spiritual condition, and his immediate assent to Jesus’ call to follow him are all truly remarkable. Yet it is Peter’s obedience that impresses me the most. Jesus told Peter, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Once Peter obeyed, his haul of fish was so great that the nets were almost bursting. Peter had to call his partners to help haul in the fish. Then Peter experienced a spiritual transformation and obeyed Jesus’ second instruction: “from now on you will be catching people” (verse 10).

God always beckons people to move into deeper waters. Abraham was asked to go far away to an unknown land. (See Gen. 12:1-5.) A similar challenge was rejected by the rich young ruler who came to see Jesus. (See Mark 10:21-22.)  How will we respond when God calls us to go deeper? Will we stay where we feel comfortable and safe in shallow waters, with our feet firmly and securely planted on the ground? Or are we ready to put our hand trustingly in God’s and venture into deeper water? The reward will be worth it — a richer, more intimate walk with God and a more abundant life. 

Lord Jesus, give us courage to venture into deeper waters with you. Amen.

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

It began as a normal day and continued to be normal. It was about as routine as any of my recent days had been. For almost four months, circumstances brought about by the illness of my wife of 54 years had determined the course of my days and the activities in them. So, throughout the day, I followed the usual routine. Among the many things I wanted and needed to do, I gave my attention to what I had to do.  At the close of that day, I reflected upon its events. Although I thought of it as an ordinary day with little more than the routine occurring, an inescapable thought formed in my mind and would not go away: Above everything else, this has been a good day!  As those words rushed into my mind, the words of a Hebrew poet joined them: “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24).  No day is ever ordinary, for every day is a good day — a valuable gift given to us by the Maker of days. Therefore, each day is to be used wisely, enjoyed fully, and appreciated genuinely. 

Giver of this good day, thank you for this gift. May we use it wisely. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  Ephesians 4:15

I remember seeing a man holding a big sign with red flames and the words, “The wages of sin is death.” He was yelling out to people, “God hates you! God is going to judge you! God is going to get you!” I watched as people passed by, intentionally turning away from him.  Finally, I walked up to him and said, “Excuse me, I have a question. I just wanted to say that while it’s true that the wages of sin is death, as your placard says so boldly, it is also true that the rest of that verse says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why don’t you put that on the other side of your placard, and you could flip it around periodically? You could give them the whole message.”  The man then told me that I was going to hell. He was intent on delivering a certain degree of truth in a contentious way.  When we read in Jude 3 that we are to contend for the faith, it doesn’t mean that we’re to assault with the truth. It doesn’t mean we are to bludgeon people with it. The word “contend” in this verse actually speaks of delivering the truth, but doing so in a loving manner. The Bible tells us to speak the truth in love, which means professing God’s truth in a loving way.

It is important to know your theology and to know what the Bible teaches. But it is also so very important to just love people. If we can find the balance of lovingly presenting truth, it will be a powerful combination.

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.  Titus 3:1-2

In Titus, Paul writes to the church on the island of Crete concerning earthly authority in all areas of life. He urges the people of Crete to be subject to authorities. But what does this mean?  Paul points out the obvious: being subject to authority requires obedience. If someone has authority over us, whether it is our boss, a leader within the church, or the government; we should follow their instructions. But that’s not all.  Paul lists several characteristics of submission beyond obedience. He includes being ready for good deeds, being peaceable, being gentle, and being considerate. This goes beyond our typical view of submission. Biblical submission is not just about the action. It’s about the attitude as well.  When someone in authority over us gives us instruction, how do we respond when we feel like they don’t deserve our respect? Paul reminds us that at one point, we were all foolish. We have all acted inappropriately. It was only by God’s kindness and love that we were saved from this foolishness. And for this reason, we should submit to authority even when we don’t feel like it.

Dear God, Thank you for showing your kindness to me by sending your Son to save me from my foolish ways. And because of that, I know that when I am given instruction by an authority figure, I need to respond in a positive way regardless of the circumstances. Please help me to always be ready to do good, to slander no one, and to be peaceable and considerate always. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)

Without question, the gospel is under attack today. And I believe that most Americans, not to mention the rest of the world, have not really heard the gospel message. The fact is that when a lot of people are supposedly “preaching the gospel,” they really aren’t doing any such thing.

That is why Jude 3 says that we need to contend for the faith. We want to make sure that we know what the essential gospel is, because there are certain elements that must be in place for the gospel to be the gospel.  I often hear people oversimplify or overcomplicate the Good News of Jesus Christ. Either they load it down with a bunch of rules and regulations that have nothing to do with the essential gospel, or they strip it of its essential meaning by offering forgiveness without mentioning repentance—or by telling people about a wonderful place called heaven without mentioning a very real place called hell. We need to find that balance and do it properly.  What would you think of a surgeon who just opened you up and started randomly cutting away? It would be frightening for him or her to say, “Hmmm…I’m really not sure where to start!” It’s the same with the gospel message. We want to make sure that what we declare is the real deal, the genuine article, because sharing the message of Jesus Christ has ramifications that stretch through time right into eternity.

So let’s contend for the faith. Let’s declare it. Let’s defend it. And let’s live it.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge….” (Hosea 4:6)

Whenever I’m invited to speak somewhere, I can discern the biblical IQ of the group I’m addressing in the first few minutes of my message. I observe the way they track, the way they listen, what interests them, and what doesn’t interest them. I note how they will come alive when an illustration is rolled out. But as soon as I get back to the biblical text, they go into a daze, as if to say, Wake me when the next illustration or joke is coming.  This is because they have never learned to love the Bible. They have never developed a hunger for it. We love worship at our church—and no one walking in the door way on a Sunday morning could believe otherwise. We love having various artists coming in and sharing their music with us. But the main event is the teaching and the preaching of the Word of God.

Yet tragically, so many people in the church today are biblically illiterate. They don’t have a biblical worldview. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a church as a guest speaker and said, “Turn in your Bibles to…” and no one has a Bible! When I will refer to certain biblical passages or a biblical story, they will look at me with blank expressions. That is not a good sign.  I believe the cry of Hosea 4:6 rings true for many in the church today: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  It doesn’t have to be that way. No matter what the level of Bible teaching might be in your church, you can study the Word of God for yourself. Find a Bible translation that you can understand, plug into a daily Bible reading program, ask the Holy Spirit to open your understanding…and launch into the greatest of all journeys!

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.   Isaiah 40:31

Some years ago I realized that I was spending a good deal of my week just waiting: in lines, in offices, in traffic. In fact, I had grown accustomed to waiting — but had done nothing to use that time for something constructive.  Waiting, however, does not have to be the same as doing nothing. I realized that waiting could also be an opportunity to turn attention toward higher ideals or God. I began to use waiting time as an opportunity to read, to pray, or to meditate.  In our fast-paced world, we often feel we don’t have time to wait, though we do a lot of it. Our concern should not be about waiting but rather about what we can do while we wait.

The prophet Isaiah said that in waiting on God we find renewed strength. When we turn our attention to God, we discover that our inner self is refreshed. God inhabits not only our active times but our quiet spaces as well. We increase our strength when we rest in the presence of God. 

Dear God, help us anytime we wait to wait with you. Renew our strength as we spend time with you. We pray as Jesus taught us, saying, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

The Bible says that God has loved us so that in the ages to come, He might show us the exceeding riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:4-7). In other words, God is saying, “I can hardly wait until you get home so I can show you how much I love you.”

So we don’t need to be stressed out. Jesus is coming again. And someday, in the not-too-distant future, He will set foot back on planet Earth and say, “I have returned.”

As a student of Bible prophecy for many years, I can say that I know of no prophecy in Scripture that needs to be fulfilled before the Lord returns. In my understanding of what the Bible teaches, Jesus Christ could come back for His people today. And it will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

He might return today for those who are watching. Are you ready for that moment?

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. (Romans 8:28)

There are times in our lives as Christians when God will do things or fail to do things that we want Him to do, and it won’t make a bit of sense to us. And because we don’t see the big picture, we may falsely conclude that God has abandoned us. But we need to trust Him during these times, remembering that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. In other words, what God starts, He completes.

It seems as I get older, I get distracted and forget things all the time. But what if God forgot about us? What a frightening thought. Imagine being in the midst of a fiery trial as God is watching and waiting for that moment to take us out of it. Then the phone rings, and He’s gone for a decade! Thankfully, God never forgets about us. He is in full control. He knows exactly what He is doing. He will complete what He has begun.

Sometimes in the middle of that process, we may think the Lord is missing it. But He isn’t. We’re the ones who are missing it. From our limited human viewpoint, we think of the temporal, but God lives in the eternal. We are thinking of today, but God is planning for tomorrow…in fact, He’s already been there. We are thinking of comfort, but God is thinking of character. We are thinking of an easy time, but God is thinking of how to make us better people.

So let’s trust Him. Whatever our circumstances or hardships, let’s believe His promise to His children…. All things are working together.

If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good!  1 Samuel 12:14

God rescued the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and brought them through the wilderness to a wonderful land, one described as “flowing with milk and honey.”  However, there was one problem. It was inhabited by giant warriors. But rather than trusting God and taking their land, they rebelled out of fear. When the going got tough, they got going… the wrong way.  Joshua and Caleb, two of God’s chosen men, pleaded with Israel, “Do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land. For they will be our prey” (Numbers 14:9). They saw the fear of the Israelites the way God saw it, as rebellion. And that rebellion caused almost the whole nation of Israel to miss out on the Promised Land.  When we go with the flow and take the path of least resistance we are often rebelling against God’s authority. Following God won’t always be easy. In fact, it often leads you to take big risks. But with big risks, come big rewards.  So don’t miss out on your Promised Land because of fear. God wants us to follow Him in spite of our fear. And it is because of our fear, that we are able to learn how to truly lean on God, trusting Him with everything.

Dear Father, I know You want me to get out of my comfort zone. So please help me to get going the right way on Your path. I also ask that You give me the strength and courage to follow You and to stop avoiding the opportunities You have given me to reach out to those around me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.