Matt said... GREAT BOOK!!!! be careful reading it, you might do something radical! It's amazing to see that things still can happen just like they did in the book of Acts. May we be willing and ready just as Yun.
Matt, thanks for the reply to my last post. The book, "The Heavenly Man" truly is a modern day example of Paul's journey through the book of Acts. The word you used... Radical, is what God's awesome power is all about isn't it? Nothing we do in and of itself amounts to anything, but with God's power, amazing things happen. Another comment out of that book that really stuck with me was when Brother Yun said, "The best we can ever hope to do when God is moving is to try and hang on for the ride." When God moves... look out! What a blessing to experience that kind of awesome power. Usually however to experience something of that magnitude comes at a huge sacrificial price. We must be willing to go wherever, whenever, to whomever. When we get to that place of obedience... God can use us. Now we just have to hang on for the ride! One of the best examples of this is found in Matthew Chapter 4.
Matt 4:18-22
(18) One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers-Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew-throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.
(19) Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"
(20) And they left their nets at once and followed him.
(21) A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called to them to come, too.
(22) They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
THE REST IS HISTORY, and those four were a huge part of it! As I think about that day, I'm sure none of them awoke that morning thinking, "Hey, today I bet we'll be leaving everything behind and going on a mission trip with Jesus." Nope, it was probably more like, "I wonder how many fish we'll catch today?" Their idea of fishing and Jesus idea of fishing were completely different. The point is this... Talk about hanging on for the ride. A willing obedient heart, is what God desires from us, just as he did with the first Disciples he called to follow him that day on the shore.
Matt, you and your family are standing on that shore today. You've been called to leave everything behind and go fishing for men. Of course it's not the first time you've been called and I imagine it won't be the last. God has this amazing way of constantly directing our lives when we're obedient and truly his followers. Your willingness to follow and obey is a light for us all. I'm so thankful that when God calls Disciples today, that we have those that are still willing to drop their nets and leave everything they own behind trusting in the Lord to provide when He says, come! May God bless you and your family on this next journey in your life.
May your fishing nets break from the abundance of your catch!
God bless you,
Steve
Matt, thanks for the reply to my last post. The book, "The Heavenly Man" truly is a modern day example of Paul's journey through the book of Acts. The word you used... Radical, is what God's awesome power is all about isn't it? Nothing we do in and of itself amounts to anything, but with God's power, amazing things happen. Another comment out of that book that really stuck with me was when Brother Yun said, "The best we can ever hope to do when God is moving is to try and hang on for the ride." When God moves... look out! What a blessing to experience that kind of awesome power. Usually however to experience something of that magnitude comes at a huge sacrificial price. We must be willing to go wherever, whenever, to whomever. When we get to that place of obedience... God can use us. Now we just have to hang on for the ride! One of the best examples of this is found in Matthew Chapter 4.
Matt 4:18-22
(18) One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers-Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew-throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.
(19) Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"
(20) And they left their nets at once and followed him.
(21) A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called to them to come, too.
(22) They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
THE REST IS HISTORY, and those four were a huge part of it! As I think about that day, I'm sure none of them awoke that morning thinking, "Hey, today I bet we'll be leaving everything behind and going on a mission trip with Jesus." Nope, it was probably more like, "I wonder how many fish we'll catch today?" Their idea of fishing and Jesus idea of fishing were completely different. The point is this... Talk about hanging on for the ride. A willing obedient heart, is what God desires from us, just as he did with the first Disciples he called to follow him that day on the shore.
Matt, you and your family are standing on that shore today. You've been called to leave everything behind and go fishing for men. Of course it's not the first time you've been called and I imagine it won't be the last. God has this amazing way of constantly directing our lives when we're obedient and truly his followers. Your willingness to follow and obey is a light for us all. I'm so thankful that when God calls Disciples today, that we have those that are still willing to drop their nets and leave everything they own behind trusting in the Lord to provide when He says, come! May God bless you and your family on this next journey in your life.
May your fishing nets break from the abundance of your catch!
God bless you,
Steve
3 comments:
Thanks Steve, you don't know how much I needed to hear that. It is so easy to talk about living by faith, but so hard to really do it. I was just saying to Myra this morning that this is why so few Christians really do live by faith not by sight. It's hard
Psst, Matt, your judgmental attitude and arrogance is showing! You really don't have any idea how many Christians live by faith, because there's no way for you to know who is and who isn't. My life of faith will look different than yours and Steve's and Brother Yun's. There's only one of each of us and we each have a different and unique calling from God. Sorry your path seems hard at the moment.
Ouch! Matt pick yourself back up after that one. I didn't read all that in your comments, the way I understood it was that so many Christians appear to struggle with going or doing what God leads them to do. We make excuses or give reasons why we can't obey at the time. I can't say every christian does it, but I've struggled with it and I know of many others that have as well by their own admission. It is hard to live by faith. I like to see how it's going to work out first. I'm a big picture type person and there's comfort in having a plan and working the plan. But God likes to reveal His plan a little piece at a time. That's make people like myself a little uneasy when taking steps of faith. In my case the real issue or question is... is this direction from God or me? Then when I accept that the direction is from God, am I ready for what lays ahead and willing to go? My walk and yours may be different, but I do think it's safe to say... it's challenging to stay strong in your faith and follow through with God's plan... whatever it may be. It's not easy, because it always requires sacrifice on our part.
Post a Comment