Are you going to fish?

Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

There's an old story about a fisherman who was very successful. Every morning he went out on the lake in a small boat and when he returned a couple of hours later, his boat was loaded down with fish. He never failed.

People wondered how he did it, even when others were not catching anything at all. He always came in with his boat just overflowing with fish.

One morning a stranger showed up with his fishing tackle and said, "Mind if I go fishing with you this morning?" "No," said the fisherman. "Just hop in and we'll go over to a little cove where I always have good luck."

The man hopped in the boat and off they headed across the lake until they came to a small cove. The old fisherman stopped the boat and cut off the motor. He reached over in his tackle box and took out a red stick of dynamite. He lit the fuse and held it for a moment as the fuse burned down.

Then at the last moment he tossed it in the water and there was a tremendous explosion. Fish were everywhere on the water. He picked up his net and began scooping up the fish.

After watching this for a moment the stranger reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up, he showed a badge and said, "I'm a game warden and you are under arrest." The old fisherman simply reached over into his box and pulled out another stick of dynamite. He lit it and held it as the fuse burned down. Then, he tossed it to the game warden and said,"Now, are you going to just sit there or are you going to fish?"

There comes a time when we all have to decide - who we're going to be and what we're going to do!

Dear Lord, help us to always be ready to make wise decisions based on Your Word. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

God may have a different purpose

Psalm 3:8 (ESV)

Salvation belongs to the Lord;

    your blessing be on your people!

Jesus told His disciples to go into the deep waters and let down their nets for fish. When they did, their nets were filled up with fish to the point of breaking. Being fishermen and businessmen, they may have been tempted to start doing business. I mean, think about how much they could make!

But God had a different purpose. The disciples' occupation as fishermen was just a vehicle for God to demonstrate His great power and love. He wasn't blessing them with fish so that they would get excited about fishing -- He was blessing them with fish so that they could get their eyes off their fishing and on to the greater call He had for them! Thankfully, they left the fishing business and went off with the Lord to do great and mighty things.

Too many of us are wrapped up in fish. We seek the Lord for His blessings, prosperity, and success. But true discipleship is focusing not on the blessings of the Lord, but on the Lord of the blessings!

We can rejoice in our blessings, but let's not dwell on them! Let's set our eyes on the Lord and the calling He has for us. When He sees that we have pure and willing hearts, He will be faithful to use us to accomplish His glorious plan!

Dear Lord, help us to rejoice in the blessings that we get but keep our focus on You.  In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Wrapped up in work?

John 10:10  (ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

A recent study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California Los Angeles wanted to find out, "if you had to choose between more time and more money, what would it be?" While they found most respondents answered, "more money", they also found that those who preferred "more time" were generally happier! When I read this article, it reminded me of a story.

A wealthy businessman was shocked to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child. So the businessman asked, "Why aren't you out fishing?" The fisherman replied, "Because I've caught enough fish for one day." "Why don't you catch some more?" the businessman further inquired.

"What would I do with them?" asked the fisherman. "You could earn more money," said the businessman. "Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me."

"Then what would I do?" replied the fisherman. "Then you could really enjoy life," answered the businessman. The fisherman looked at the businessman quizzically and asked, "What do you think I'm doing now?"

Let's not get so wrapped up in work, that we simply forget to enjoy life – the life that He wants to give us more abundantly! Take some time out this weekend and be sure to praise God for the life that He's provided. 

Dear Lord, we pray that we would have the right priorities.  Help us to take the time to enjoy life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

"Whale-sized" hole

Eagle at the Cooper Center.

Matthew 5:6  (ESV)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Day fifteen of our Alaska Adventure. Bears and Moose and Salmon oh my.  One of our favorite things was seeing the mighty Bald Eagle as thy flew through the air.

I recently saw a fishing cartoon that spoke to me and illustrated something about expectations. Pictured were two Eskimos fishing through holes in the ice. One of them had his line in a normal size hole maybe two or three feet across. But the guy sitting next to him had his line in an enormous hole, in the shape of a whale! This guy was hungry! He didn't want some dinky little fish! He was fishing for whales!

What I like about this illustration is how appetite creates expectation. What is our appetite for affecting the world around us for the Lord's sake? How much do we hunger to change things in peoples' lives through the gospel and through the ministry in Messiah? And how does that affect our expectations? He said "Blessed are those who HUNGER AND THIRST for righteousness."

How would you compare your hunger to your expectation? If your hunger is great and genuine then it's likely that God will move you to carve out a "whale-sized" hole in this icy world and expect a corresponding catch!

Dear Lord, we pray that our hunger and thirst for righteousness be the focus of each of us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

What are your expectations?

Brother Scott showing off the Salmon

Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Day four on our Alaska Adventure we got to go to the river and catch fresh salmon on the fish wheel. We never saw so many Salmon.

I recently saw a fishing cartoon that illustrated something about expectations. Pictured were two Eskimos fishing through holes in the ice. One of them had his line in a normal size hole maybe two or three feet across. But the guy sitting next to him had his line in an enormous hole, in the shape of a whale! This guy was hungry! He didn't want some dinky little fish! He was fishing for whales!

What I like about this illustration is how appetite creates expectation. What is our appetite for affecting the world around us for the Lord's sake? How much do we hunger to change things in peoples' lives through the gospel and through the ministry in Messiah? And how does that affect our expectations? He said "Blessed are those who HUNGER AND THIRST for righteousness."

How would you compare your hunger to your expectation? If your hunger is great and genuine then it's likely that God will move you to carve out a "whale-sized" hole in this icy world and expect a corresponding catch!

Dear Lord, thank You for the lesson we can learn from a cartoon. We pray that our hunger for the things of You would be “Whale” size. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Dreams

John 13:34-35 (ESV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Have you ever had a dream that you wished would come true? I sure have had many. One of my dreams was that God would lead me to a wife that had our Heavenly Father at heart. The day I married her, my dream was fulfilled.

During the 17th century, the inhabitants of the Isle of Skye also had a dream that they wished to see fulfilled. Living so close to the North Sea where fish were so abundant, they couldn't help but dream that one day they could become fishermen. Unfortunately, none of them at that time had the means to buy a boat that was adequate for fishing.

Others soon discovered the fish-rich waters around the Isle of Skye, and to the dismay of the islanders, ships originating from the east coast of Scotland, as well as from many other countries, soon began taking advantage of this untouched heavenly harvest. The fishing grounds of the inhabitants of the Isle of Skye were being robbed in front of their eyes!

Eventually they figured out how to be compensated for their lost fish. Every anchor laid off the Island was charged 6/8, and for every 12 barrels of herring, a tax of 3 Pounds was levied. At least this way they could make some money!

Only in the second half of the 18th century did their dreams become fulfilled. Thanks to funds provided by the Scottish, they were able to buy suitable ships to fish their own waters.

It sure feels great when our dreams are fulfilled!

When Jesus came to planet Earth, He too had a dream that became fulfilled when He died on a cross. He paid the price of our sins so that we could experience our Heavenly Father fully again. None among us have ever had such an unselfish dream!

In other words, when the Holy Spirit became a realty among Christians, they hungered to do God's will at all times. Yes, they would still sin from time to time, but these infractions will not be remembered. We, too, are truly forgiven through what our Savior endured on the cross.

Jesus' dream was fulfilled on the cross. We can follow in His footsteps. Hallelujah! Even better than any dream we may fathom!

Dear Lord, thanks for fulfilling the dream You had of the forgiveness of our sins. Thanks for dying on the cross and rising from the dead. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Do You Feel Like You are Alone?

2 Corinthians 11:25 (NIV)

Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.

I wonder if Adrian Vasquez feels blessed or cursed.

He might feel he is cursed because he had to bury two of his friends at sea. On February 24th he and his pals went fishing. They were headed back to their home port of Rio Hato when the boat's motor conked out.

After two weeks, one of the lads stopped eating and drinking. He died on March 10th. Because of dehydration, sunburn and heat stroke, Vasquez's second friend passed away on March 15th. When their bodies began to decompose, he had to consign them to the sea.

Now you know why Vasquez might feel cursed.

And why should he feel blessed? Sometime after his water had been depleted, it stormed. It stormed enough that Vasquez was able to refill that five-gallon water container. That water and the raw fish he was able to catch sustained him for the rest of his ordeal.

But there's more to Vasquez's blessings. By a minor miracle he was spotted by some commercial fishermen. They picked him up and turned him over to Ecuador's Coast Guard.

Vasquez had been adrift for 28 days. That beats St. Paul's "a night and a day" adrift at sea.

Still, I wonder if when you're adrift, when you don't know what is going to happen -- or if anything is going to happen -- it doesn't make any difference how many days pass. You're really, truly alone.

Or are you?

Now it's true no human knew where Vasquez was, but that doesn't mean he was alone. The living Lord Jesus Christ who had given His life to save Vasquez's eternal soul was fully aware of the lad's location. Indeed, there was never a moment when Vasquez managed to slip off the Lord's radar.

Now if that's true for Vasquez, it is also true for you.

Although I don't know what your situation or circumstance might be, it is possible you may feel you are alone ... lost ... adrift.

If that describes you, remember, the Lord knows, and He cares, and He is with you.

We have a Savior, a Redeemer, a Friend -- a very present help in time of trouble.

Dear Lord, when we feel adrift, send an extra measure of the Holy Spirit, so we might realize and appreciate the blessings of having You as our Savior. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

How Do You See The Law?

Romans 8:3 (NIV)

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh.

Several years ago, there was a beautiful hotel that was built in Galveston, Texas, which jutted out over the water in the bay. It had these large plate glass windows that allowed you to look out over the Gulf of Mexico. And the balconies on each room made an ideal fishing pier! It seems that right after this hotel opened, there was a fisherman who took his rod and reel and tried to cast out into the water. Somehow, though, he managed in his clumsiness to knock out some windows in the room below him.

The hotel very quickly put up signs in every room of the hotel that read: "No fishing from balconies." Guess what happened? People had never given much thought to fishing from their balconies, but they suddenly thought that was a great idea! So everyone decided to try it! Even people who could care less about fishing joined in. And they kept knocking out windows. Until finally, one bright administrator came up with the idea of removing the "no fishing" signs. Now guess what happened? People quit fishing!

That story demonstrates one of the shortcomings of law. Last week, I shared with you with positive things about law. God's law is holy and just and good (Rom. 7:12). God's law shows us what sin is (Rom. 7:7).

However, there are at least two shortcomings of law. One is that not only does the law reveal sin to us, it actually causes us to want to commit sin. It leads us into more sin! Listen to Paul:

"But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire." (Romans 7:8)

The law says, "Do not covet". And the first thing your sinful nature does is say, "Mmm. Covet. Now there's an idea." The command that's meant to bring life, actually stirs up sin. There is something about law that produces a rebellious spirit within us. What happens when you see a sign on a door that says "Wet paint. Do not touch"? You may have passed that door a thousand times over the past ten years and never had the slightest desire to touch it. But now there's a sign saying, "don't touch it" and what do you want to do? There is an almost irresistible urge within you to reach out and touch it. Or tell Johnny to stay away from the cookie jar, and you'll soon hear its lid rattling.

The other shortcoming of law is this: Law can tell me what I'm doing wrong, but it can't make me better. "And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death." (Romans 7:10)

God's law is intended to lead us to live godly lives, but it doesn't succeed. God's law tells me what I ought to do. And it tells me what the punishment is if I fail to obey. But keeping the rules doesn't necessarily change what you're like on the inside. And, no matter how good you are, you'll never succeed at keeping all the rules. It's not that there's anything wrong with God's law. Rather, there's something wrong with us.

Fortunately, what the law is unable to do, God has accomplished through another means: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin." (Rom. 8:3)

Give thanks for God's law, but give even more thanks for His Son who does what law could never do -- make us right with God!

Dear Lord, we pray that we would be right with God.  We thank You for the laws that You have given us to guide us as we go. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Bass and a Lesson of Integrity.

Proverbs 10:9 (NIV)

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,

    but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got from a dock at his family's cabin on an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake.

On the day before the bass season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, catching some fish and perch with worms. Then he tied on a small silver lure and practiced casting. The lure struck the water and caused colored ripples in the sunset, thin silver ripples as the moon rose over the lake.

When his pole doubled over, he knew something huge was on the other end. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish along side the dock.

Finally, he very gingerly lifted the exhausted fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass.

The boy and his father looked at the handsome fish, gills playing back and forth in the moonlight. The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 p.m. -- two hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy.

"You'll have to put it back, Son," he said.

"Dad!" cried the boy.

"There will be another fish," said his father.

"Not as big as this one," cried the boy.

He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were around in the moonlight. He looked again at his father.

Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could tell by the clarity of his father’s voice that the decision was not negotiable. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the black water.

The creature swished it's powerful body and disappeared. The boy suspected that never again would he see such a great fish.

That was 34 years. Today, the boy is a successful architect in New York City. His father's cabin is still there on the island in the middle of the lake. He takes his own son and daughters fishing from the same dock. He was right. He has never again caught such a magnificent fish as the one he landed that night long ago. But he does see that same fish -- again and again

- - every time he comes up against a question of ethics.

For, as his father taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult. Do we do right when no one is looking? Do we refuse to cut corners to get the design in on time? Or refuse to trade stocks based on information that we aren't supposed to have? We would if we were taught to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth.

The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant in our memory. It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and our grandchildren.

Not about how we had a chance to beat the system and took it, but about how we did the right thing and were forever strengthened.

Dear Lord, we pray for strength today to do what is right.  Help us when nobody is looking to do the right thing. Help us to be people of integrity. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.