"I'm Just Trying to Pay You Back, Smart Aleck"

Heb 6:10 - For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Let's take a look at Luke 5. Verse 2 says - And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing [their] nets. Wait a minute. Verse 5 will tell you that they had been out all night fishing. I know that I'm not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but if they had been out fishing all night, that means that those nets had been in the water. Why did they need to be washed? If you read all of the previous verses, you'll know that Peter and the boys had taken the nets out of the boats to a separate place. They needed to spread the nets out, take out foreign particles like seawead or things that might have gotten tangled during the night of fishing. These items could cause the nets to tangle and keep them from opening correctly. Also, it gave them a chance to examine the nets for torn webbing that would allow fish to escape. All of these things were important to the fishermen. It meant the difference between catching fish or losing them because of tangled or broken nets. It meant having enough money to put food on the table. It meant being able to buy the things that they needed to to live. It was a vital part of their day.
It is just like daily Bible reading and daily prayer for the Christian. These two are vital parts of our lives. They give God an opportunity to untangle things in our lives that daily living tangles up. They give God an opportunity to patch up holes in our lives that daily "strains" seem to put there. Amen? Can you see the parallel? Every day problems that we face sometimes get us tangled up as to what God's will is for us. The "strain" of facing these problems sometimes "tears us apart." Never, never, never, ever forget that Jesus' blood was shed to redeem us from sin, sickness and poverty. That is why it is so important to get a daily dose of His Word. And how can He speak words of kindness to us if we never come to Him and prayer and shut up during prayer. Spend some silent time with Him and let Him do some talking if He wants to.
Luke 5:3 - And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Luke 5:4 - Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Luke 5:5 - And 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.
Peter and the boys were probably thinking, "Hey, Jesus-whoever-you-think-you are, you sound pretty good at preaching. Well, we're pretty good at fishing because that's what we've been doing all of our lives. Why don't you just stick to preachin' and let us tend to fishin." However, Jesus had just finished a sermon in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. They believed this Jesus guy to be a real somebody. All hundreds or thousands of them were standing there watching to see what Blowhard Peter was going to do.
So, Mr. Slickster thinks he is going to pull a fast one on Jesus, since Jesus is only a preacherman. Go down to verse seven. It says that they had to call for help from the other ship. Peter knew that it took two boats to properly fish with a net. Trying to pull a fast one on the stupid preacher, ain't you Petey boy? You know it's a good thing that none of us try to pula fast one on Jesus, ain't it? R-i-i-i-i-i-i-ght.
Notice that in verse 5, Peter says "Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." Peter knew where the fishing spots were and was not even going to give Jesus a hint. His plan was to drop the nets into the water, and wait a little while until the crowds started leaving. He knew that the nets would never fully open with just one ship. That's right, drop the nets overboard, pull them back in real quick, make a fool out of Jesus and go home and get some sleep. It was a real slick plan.
Did Jesus fall for this plan? He sure did. He was in the the whole creation thing back in Genesis 1. He knew where the good spots were. He also knew the fish. But most of all, the fish knew who Jesus was. They knew that He was King of kings and Lord of lords and to disobey Him was to bring on disaster.
Up at the top of this lesson, Hebrews 6 tells us that God always remember our work and labour of love. Sure, He was asking a strange thing of Peter. Sure, it did not make sense to go fishing during the day when the fish were supposed to be out in the deep water where their nets couldn't reach. But, Jesus had used Peter's boat and He was just paying Peter back for it's use. He knew that Peter was hard-headed and a blowhard. Trying to reason with Peter would have been useless until he realized who Jesus was. Once Peter found out, he would make a great disciple.
Sometimes God asks strange things of us. First of all, our relationship with Him needs to be so up-to-date that we know when He is speaking and when it's just us thinking. He might be directing us to take a position in the church. He might be directing us to attend another church that needs help. He might be directing us in a specific way of giving or of increasing our giving. Sometimes, the things that He asks do not make sense to us. Sometimes, they go against the grain of the way we have been doing things all of our lives. If we know God, and know that He is directing us in a thing, then go for it and let Him be responsible for the blessing. Remember Peter. In all his vast experience, what Jesus asked him to do did not make sense at all. However, to Jesus, it made perfect sense. Peter did not realize that until Jesus was through blessing him. Have patience with God. He might just be trying to pay us back abundantly for all the hard work we have done. Know Him and know His blessings.

Know God, Know the Word, Know Yourself

Let's take a look at the temptation of Jesus and learn a few things.
Matthew 4:3 -And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Matthew 4:4 - But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The important question here is, do you know who you are? Jesus did not have to turn stones into bread to know who He was. He already knew who He was by what the Word of God said about Him. He knew about His past, He knew about His present, and He knew about His future. He knew what His job was and it wasn't turning stones into bread. It was seeking and saving the lost. It was healing the sick.
The problem most Christians have is allowing their denomination, their family, their past or their church determine who they are and how they should act. Jesus gave us the example of how we should look at ourselves. We should define ourselves by what God says about us in the Word. After all, He makes the rules and what He says goes. If He says that our sins are gone and He will never remember them, then quit remembering them. Others might bring them up again and again, but live by the Word. I am saved and washed by the blood of Jesus. God threw my sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) and He will never remember them (Is 43:25). God said that I am more than a conqueror (Rom 8:37). OK, then. I am going to think, act and pray like someone who can whip any devil and anything that comes my way. I refuse to dread today. I refuse to dread anyone who is operating in the flesh by not holding to the Word of God. That might be my spouse. That might be my boss. That might be my pastor. That might be the church. From today forward, I will act like everything that the Word of God says about me is true. I will live by every word the proceeds out of the mouth of God. I have made Him the Lord of my life and I am going to believe every word He has said about me. Now, my precious Christian, dig into the Word of God and find out who you are. Patiently wait on God's creating power to mold you into what He says. Don't be dismayed by anyone or anything that tries to remind you of your past failures. Just like Jesus said to the devil, "No thanks, devil. I don't need miracles to tell me who I am. I already know because of one reason and one reason alone. God told me who I am in His Word. I know it and you know it, too."

Matthew 4:5 - Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

Matthew 4:6 - And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in [their] hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

This time, the devil challenged Jesus to prove to the world that He was the Son of God by performing some supernatural feat in front of the muckety-mucks. Every single one of us desires approval among their peers. It is so easy to get caught up in longing for the applause of those around us. However, Jesus came to minister healing to lost souls. He didn’t come to play and sing the flashy songs. He didn’t come to dress in fancy duds. He didn’t come to build a fancy church and name it the Jesus of Nazareth Memorial Worship Center. His Father’s mission was to bring abundant life to a world that he loved (John 3:16). Would there come a time when mankind would shout the praises of Jesus? Sure. Now, we hail Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. However, Jesus knew that His Father had everything organized and all He had to do was follow His Father’s plan for His life, one day at a time. We have a tendency to judge our effectiveness in the Lord by how much praise we get from the world. We get discouraged when no one seems to notice how hard we work or how much we have had to sacrifice to serve the Lord. However, Heb. 6:10 - For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name. God always rewards faithfulness and not flash. He is well able to perform His word to you and His timing is impeccable. Wait for His promotion.

Finally, Matthew 4:8 - Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Matthew 4:9 - And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4:10 - Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Jesus knew this about the devil. John 8:44 - Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. There is no truth in what the devil says. Those kingdoms were created by His Heavenly Father. God had already promised them to Jesus. Why should He serve the devil to get something that already belonged to Him anyway?
Jesus was not looking to own the glory of the world. He came to bring the glory of the Father into hungry lives. Let that same desire rise in the children of God. Let revival come!!

It's Not Who You Are, But What He Has Done!!!

The lyrics of one on my favorite worship songs goes something like this, "Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are, Not because of who I am but because of what You've done." God works in people's lives not because of their qualifications for miracles, but because of who He is and because of what He has done. Read all through the Bible and you will find that His great men of faith, that He worked miracles through and for, were far less qualified than what you would think. We have gotten into the un-Godly idea that only a certain class of people qualify for miracles. Therefore, the enemy has convinced most of us that God just won't do for us peons what He has done for those "special" people.
What was so special about Abraham that God would choose him to build nations from? What great university did he graduate from? He didn't. Was his family the ruling family of the area? Nope. If you will read in Genesis, his father had taken the family away from their home town and were not native to the area that God called him from. God chose Abraham because Abraham had the heart to believe that whatever God said was true. Abraham believed that whatever God said He was going to do, that He was God enough to back it up. Abraham believed that God would never let him down. The greatest qualification that Abraham had was--He believed God and God showed up just like He said He would.
David, the apple of God's eye, was not chosen because of who he was. He was the youngest son of a lowly shepherd family in the sleepy little town of Bethlehem. He was the brunt of all the little brother jokes. He wore all the hand-me-downs. One day, the prophet Samuel came to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse to anoint one of Jesse's boys to be the next king. All of the boys took baths, dressed in their dignified clothes, put on their best smell-goody and stood before Samuel. Samuel looked at the oldest one. He looked like a future king but he was not the one that God had in mind. Look at what God said in 1 Samuel 16:7 says, But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. Here we find GOD'S QUALIFICATION. God qualified David because of what He saw in David's heart.
Moses came from a dysfunctional family. They were slaves. They were afraid he would be killed so they hid him in the river. He was found by Pharaoh's daughter who raised him as an Egyptian. He later killed an Egyptian and had to run away from home a wanted man. He was shy and couldn't talk very well. But God saw something in his heart and He chose Moses, out of two and one-half million people.
Peter was a stinky fisherman. He was a loud-mouthed, foul mouthed, scaredy cat that let Jesus down when Jesus needed him the most. He was not from a prominent family. He was not chosen by the high priest. He did not go to a seminary. But, God saw something in his heart. Peter was chosen and anointed to be the leader of God's very first church because God saw something in Peter that no one else could see.
What about Paul the apostle, who wrote the biggest part of the New Testament. Now, here was a college-educated man from one of the finest families in Israel. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews and concerning the law, he was perfect. He was respected by the high priest and was one of the muckety-mucks of the Jewish religion. Yeah, boy! He was qualified, all right. He took those very qualifications started killing Christians and putting them in jail for serving Jesus. He tore homes apart, made widows out of wives and orphans out of children. He was really qualifed to be called into the ministry, wasn't he? A religious, holier-than-thou murderer and home-wrecker. That's who Paul was originally. But God saw something in his heart that He could work with.
God qualifies people. People might go to religious seminaries and stand before the grand councels of the religious organizations and become ordained. But in no way, shape, or form, does that qualify them for miracles. It's what you have in your heart. All of the people that God chose to anoint had one thing in common. God saw in them a heart that would run after Him with all of their might. No matter what you have done in the past, if you feel God tugging at your heart to run after Him, run on. Let God worry about your qualifications. Obviously, if He is tugging at your heart, He has already qualified you. So, run on, my friend and be oblivious of what men may say or how they look at you. It is not what you have done, it's who He is. And it is not who you are, it is what Jesus Christ has done for you on Calvary's cross that qualifies you to do what He has asked you to do. Run on, faithful Christian, run on.

How Do You React to the Word of God?

In Luke, chapter 1, we see how three people reacted to the Word of God. First of all, there was a man named Zacharias. He was a priest of the temple. It was his month to burn incense in the temple of the Lord. On this particular day, however, God showed up and began to unfold His plan for the world.
Keep in mind what I just said. God was beginning a plan, not only for Zacharias and Elizabeth, but for the whole world. God needed a forerunner for His son, and He had handpicked two faithful servants. As He looked into their hearts, God knew that they would be faithful in what He called them to do. God is still the same and He still operates the same way. If you wonder why He hasn't called you into a particular area of ministry, it is because He has seen your heart and knows you better than you know yourself. He knows that you have some more growing to do for the task HE has for you to do. We should be waiting on HIS promotion and not try to manufacture our own.
Back to Zacharias. Notice that he was faithfully doing the job that he was assigned to. (Now there is a sermon in itself. Be faithful in what God has you doing.) He didn't have his application in to be the "Forerunner Parent." He wasn't sitting on the bench and "waiting for the call." He was busy, faithfully doing what he was called to do. He wasn't criticizing others for not being as good as he was. Do you want God to take notice of you? He doesn't need you to fill out an application with Him. He needs you to be faithful to Him. That not only gets you to first base with God, it get's you a home run, and as many homers as God wants you to have.
Now, How did he react to the Word of God. We see that he met God's first qualification, faithfulness. An angel appeared to him while he was burning incense on the altar. This angel told him that Elizabeth and he would finally have a child in their old age. This child was going to be special. This child would be great in the sight of the Lord and would turn the hearts of the children of Israel to God. (See Luke 1:11-17) He also told him that this child would come in the spirit of Elias and prepare the way for the Lord. Pretty heavy stuff, huh?
Zacharias reacted by asking this question, "Whereby shall I know this?" About this time, the angel probably would have wanted to answer him by grabbing him up by the scruff of his neck, lifting him about five feet in the air, popping him on the butt a few good times, setting him back down and yelling in he ear "BECAUSE GOD SAID SO YOU BIG DOOFUS." But this angel was sweet and politely said, Luke 1:20-And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. You see, contrary to popular belief, God is smart. Zacharias had already started off spouting his doubts. If God didn't shut him up, he would have talked his way out of a miracle. "Why, Bro. Henry, I would never do anything like that." To which Bro. Henry would answer, "Oh, really?"
Okey-dokey then, let's read further on in this chapter and see how believers acted and we will see. Even though Zacharias could not speak, we know that he could write. After John was born, every one wanted to name him Zacharias. (See verses 59-64) I am sure he conveyed the message of the angel to Elizabeth. So what did she say? She began to tell everybody (vs 25) that God had taken away her reproach. She began to praise God not only for the child but for what God had said about the child. She lived in the same house that Zacharias did, under the same set of circumstances that he did, surrounded by the same daily events that he did. However, she chose to not only believe God that what He said was true, she talked to everybody as if it was going to come to pass like God said. I am sure that when she prayed, she thanked God for bringing it to pass.
Mary had a similar experience. The angel came to her and told her that she would have a child, His name was to be Jesus and that God would give Him the throne of his father David. Mary's question was about it coming to pass was simply, "But I'm not married yet." The angel simply said to her (vs 35) The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. The angel then told her the good news about her cousin Elizabeth who was now six months pregnant and he ended by saying in verse 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. Look at Mary's answer, in verse 38 Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy Word. When she called herself the handmaid of the Lord, she committed the performing of the miracle to God. Her answer to God was, 'I'm going to do everything You ask me to do, because I have faith that You are going to do everything You said You would do.'
Let's look quickly at how Mary and Elizabeth talked to each other. As soon as Mary stepped inside the house, the Holy Spirit came on Elizabeth. She began speaking about the goodness of the Lord to Mary. She ended by saying in verse 45, Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Mary, through the unction of the Holy Spirit, began speaking about all the great things of the Lord. Never was there a question as to how God was going to do it. They began to talk excitedly about what God was going to do. The question of how these things were going to come to pass was not in the conversation. Read the remainder of this chapter to refresh your memory of everything that was said and see if they questioned God or not.
Zacharias wanted to know how God was going to perform His word before he would believe it. Elizabeth and Mary got so excited about what God had promised that they declared themselves servants. In other words, they said "God, I believe what You said. I don't know how You will accomplish these things. I haven't got a clue how you will get me from here to this miracle. However, I believe You are smart enough and big enough to take care of every situation that will come up between now and then. Whatever I need to do, I am Your servant."
Their conversations became words of joy and praise as they waited on the promise of God. As we accept the promises of God, we too, should let our conversations be filled with the praises of the Almighty. He doesn't want us to get labored down with the 'how to's' and the 'whatevers'. That's what He wants us to trust Him for. When we make plans to buy something for our children that we know that they will love and bring them joy, do we do it with sadness or joy? Even though we have some work to do to provide the funds to buy it, we constantly think about how much joy it is going to bring to our child when we give it to them. When our children come to us and ask us how we are going to do such-and-such, what do we say? "You just let me worry about that." You know that they probably would not understand if you went into every detail that it would take to give them the present. It gives God great pleasure to provide for His children the same way that it gives us great pleasure to provide for ours. Let's quit the doubting and join in with Elizabeth and Mary and begin praising Him for the answer. Let's talk about the answer just like they did.
How does it make you feel when your child tells people, "My mom and dad are going to buy me a such-and-such." You break out into a big smile in front of everybody because of the joy of your child that believes you and is telling everyone of your goodness to them. When they praise you in front of other people, it solidifies the fact in your heart that you will give them the gift that you promised. Matthew 7:11-If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Your heavenly Father knows how to give you good gifts, just like you know how to give your children good gifts. Why don't we just praise Him for a while?

What is the value that I put on my time with Jesus?

This morning I was reading in Mark 14 about the time that Jesus went to eat with one of the Pharisees. It seems that during this meal, a woman came in and anointed His head with oil. In Luke 7, this woman is described as a sinner. Mark's gospel declared that the ointment that was in the bottle was worth 300 pence. A penny was worth a day's wage. If you consider that a day's wage was, just for round numbers' sake, $100. That would put the value of the ointment at $30,000. Jesus said that where ever the gospel would be preached, what this woman did would be spoken of. She valued Jesus and her small amount of time with Him at $30,000. Again, Jesus honored what she did above the lavish dinner that the Pharisee gave him. The question I had to answer as you do, dear reader is, what is the value that I put on my time with Jesus? Is it some small 50 cent jesture or do I value my time with Him as I should?

Let's also consider this. In Psalm 23, David says, He anointeth my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Meditate for a while on the value that Jesus puts on His time with us.

Blessings are on us today.