Casting Pearls- Want to go fishing?

The World says that we can do nothing to stop it from doing whatever it wants to do. The truth is seen in two places in the Bible that explain that we have all the strength we need to influence the path the world around us takes by only drawing our strength from Christ. The most obvious verse is from Phillipians 4:13 that says; ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength’
        The less obvious place it is shown is in John 20:3-11 which states that Peter, upset and depressed after first denying Jesus, then seeing Him put to death, even though Peter had seen Jesus’ resurrection, he still felt sad and lost because he was unable to forgive himself for denying Jesus.  In spite of how Jesus had tried to reinstate Peter in the leadership of the Apostles Jesus had left behind at His death.
        Peter was so upset and depressed with himself that he had given up on the things he had been taught by Jesus and decided to go back to the one thing he knew how to do without question. Just like Peter, we also give up on God’s plan and go back to what we know, before giving God the chance to work in our lives.  Peter went back to what he knew best and not only went himself, but like we so often do, he took several other Apostles with him. As we take those who are lost or wish to give up on God to go away from God or the things of God.
         He and the other Apostles did what they had been trained from youths to do and began to fish again. They struggled to be successful in their own strength and fished all night, because it was the usually best time for catching fish, and ended up catching nothing. As they came in closer to shore, they saw a man on the shore cooking some food over a fire. The man called to them when they had gotten within earshot and asked if they had caught anything to eat. They had to respond NO.
        The man then instructed them to do something that went against their training as fishermen, let down the nets again where they were close to shore, and let them down on the right side of the boat that was closer to shore. They knew by their own understanding that this instruction by the stranger should do nothing to help as it went against everything they knew to work as fishermen. Peter had an idea as to who this was and it seemed confirmed by what happened next. The net that was let down by them was filled with fish so much so that they could not by their own strength pull the net back up on the ship. This was basically the same thing that had happened to Peter when Jesus had first called him to be a disciple and follow him. Jesus wanted Peter to do the same thing, let down the nets on the boat’s right side. The same thing happened, the net was filled so much with fish that Peter could not bring them all up. The first time Peter could call to other boats in the area to help him with all the fish. This time though, there were no other boats in the area to help. Rather than wait for the boat to return to shore, Peter confirmed his suspicions with John and immediately Put on some clothes, as he was necked from being out on the boat fishing and working hard so he took off his clothes as it was very warm there even at night. Peter put on his over coat and dove into the water to swim on to shore so he could be with Jesus.
        Even though Peter felt depressed and lost he knew that he was very excited to see Jesus again. The other disciples rowed on to the shore dragging the net behind them and Peter filled with the strength of the Lord, then went over to where the boat came ashore and singlehandedly pulled the net with as John said, 153 fishes, on the shore before returning to Jesus. Peter and the other disciples had been blessed beyond anything they had dreamed, again by Jesus. Despite their lack of strength to follow the teaching and direction in their depression and sadness over losing their leader, they were greatly blessed with great riches by God. Peter in himself showed the strength given by God in that he alone was able to drag on shore the net with 153 fish that the other disciples were unable to drag in the boat.
        We have a choice we must face in our life, either follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives, or follow the world and the things of this world that limit the power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Which one do you think you will follow? The Creator of all things, or the creation He made? That is the choice we all have to make, because we know who is the lord of this world and who is ultimately in control.

Casting Pearls- Denial...

We start in Mark 14:66-72 where Peter, who has followed Jesus to the courtyard of Caiaphus the chief priest and was behind their faux arrest and trial of Jesus. Peter, who has followed with Jesus as He was led to the courtyard, stood outside the door to the courtyard. Peter was seen by the servant girl that stood by the gate and she said in “are you not one of His disciples?”. Peter quickly denied it, then went over to stand with the officers of the guard and the servants at a fire of coals they had made. 

Then we go to where Peter is again accused of being with Jesus by the servants and officers standing around the fire with him. Peter denies this as well. Shortly afterwards a servant who is related to the guard that Peter’s sword had cut off the mans ear, accuses Peter of being a friend of Jesus, again Peter denies Jesus though this time with cursing and swearing. Soon after that a cock crows and reminds Peter of the prophesy Jesus had made, and he saw Jesus being led away from the courtyard and when Jesus looked at him, Peter ran away in tears for what he had done.

Now, There are four different words in the Greek language that are translated as love, the one we most commonly think of is Agape love, which is a deep love for someone that loves them even though they don’t deserve to be loved by us. The person may even be mean to us, but we still love them. This type of love is the type most commonly associated with Jesus or God. 

The second type is eros, or physical love between people, this kind is never mentioned in the New Testament.  The third type of love is phillia which is a mental love or an affection due to friendship or family status. This type is found in the New Testament. The fourth kind is storg, which is better translated as affection, however it is a natural affection like someone would have for the family dog or pet of some kind. 

After all that Peter had seen and been told by the others, and  having denied and betrayed Jesus that way, and having lost to death the only one who could have been the messiah. Peter was very dejected. He was really upset at how his Lord had been betrayed by Judas and the Priests, and put to death, as well as how he had denied Jesus just to save himself. Jesus rose again from the grave on that sunday, the first day of the week, and after that, the disciples and the followers of Jesus, met together to honor the first day of the week, Sunday, and they fellow-shipped. That is where the sunday worship service came from. 

Having seen Jesus a few times and being told by Him that a helper would come in His place, Peter was thinking Jesus would not be back for some time. Getting bored with waiting, he and the other disciples decided to go fishing. After being out fishing all night, which was the best time to catch something, the disciples had decided to give up and come in. when they approached the shore, they saw a man cooking a fish and some bread on a fire. Just as Jesus had done when Peter had first been called, the man called out for the disciples to try casting the net on the right side of the ship. The net was so full of fish they couldn’t pull it up. Peter then asked John if he thought it might be the Messiah Jesus. Hearing from John that he also thought it was Jesus, Peter didn’t wait for the boat to get to shore, and jumped in and swam to the shore.

Jesus was waiting for them with a fish and some bread he offered them, then they cooked some of the fish they had caught and Jesus ate with them. This was the third time Jesus had shown Himself to them, and he ate some fish and bread with them. Once they had dined, Jesus asked Peter, “do you Love(agape)me? 

Peter said back”Yes Lord you know I Love(phillas) you”. once again Jesus asked Peter, “Do you Love(agape)me?”, and once again Peter answered Yes Lord, you know I Love(phillas) you” and a third time Jesus asked, Do you Love(Phillas)me? and Peter answered again “Lord you know that I Love(Phillas)you. After each question, Jesus said to Peter, “Go feed my sheep” 

For the three times Peter had denied Jesus, Jesus had restored him to good standing by telling him three times to go feed Jesus’ sheep, and asking him three times if he loved Him. Then the Lord Jesus told Peter the way in which he would die in service to the Lord. Peter knew from what Jesus told him that he would suffer for Christ and he gladly went ahead and worshiped Jesus openly. 

Casting Pearls- Golden Rule

We all know what the Golden Rule says. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But few have thought the same rule extends to God too. He did for us as He would have us do for Him. How many of us are willing to give our lives for our children, or our spouses? Our mothers or fathers, our granddads or grandmas? All of us can think of someone that we would try to lay our lives down to save. Why don’t we feel the same way toward the One who laid down His life for us?

The Bible says in John 13:34 Jesus said “ A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have Loved you, that you also love one another”. Jesus was telling us that as He was willing to lay down His life for us, we should be willing to lay down our lives for each other.We can all think of someone we would be willing to lay our lives down for, but we can also think of someone we wouldn’t help. Someone we wouldn’t give a bucket of water, if they were on fire. Can we love them too? Are we willing to lay our lives down for them? This command goes a lot further than we think. 

There are many different words for love in the Greek language. The one used here is Agape, meaning without reserve or reason. To love someone not because they deserve it but just because you want too. God loved all of us not because of anything we did. God loved us just because He wanted to love His children, Just because, you might say. We are God’s children because through Jesus we have been made Holy and been able to be adopted into the family of The Lord. I am unworthy, but I AM made me worthy with His Sons blood. The Lord loved us so deeply that He was willing to give up His own son for us so we would be acceptable in God’s sight.

As Christians we are called to show the same love to those around us. Now as a good Father, The Lord has to discipline His children sometimes, or show ‘tough love’ as we call it today. This is still in keeping with God’s commandment. We only need to remember the verse 2 Timothy 4:2 which exhorts us to “ preach the word; be instant in season; out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” So we need to be ready, both when we prepare, and when we don’t, to let others know what is right, what is acceptable behavior, what is right for them to be involved in, and teach them to recognize these things themselves, but to do so in a loving and gentile manner, as in 1 Peter 3:15 where the Bible says to “ sanctify  The Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 

We all should be ready to lovingly rebuke and witness the reasons why we have a hope in Jesus. “My hope lies in nothing less, than Jesus love and righteousness.” There is a reason, for us all to hope, and we are called, as Christians, to tell the world  that they can have that hope too. This fulfills the Great Commission from Jesus, to go out and tell the world about Him.

Casting Pearls - Opportunity Missed

                     In Luke 22: 54-71 As Jesus warned him, Peter denied that he knew Jesus not once, not twice but three times and missed a golden opportunity to witness to others about what Christ had taught him. All was done due to Peter's fear that if he was found to be with Jesus, he would have to face the same retribution that Jesus was facing at that very moment. He might even have to fight for his own life. How often does our own fear of retribution by those of the world, keep us from speaking out when we see wrongdoing? Are we willing to lay down our lives for God? do we trust God to protect us when we do something to witness for Him?Every time that brother Chuck goes to the Jail in Calhoun County, he puts his life and health in the Lord's hands and trusts God that there won't be a riot or jail break while he is there.
                      Verse 54, the guards grabbed Jesus and began to lead Him ti Caiaphas the High Priest's house, Peter and the other disciples followed from far off. We should not let a distance come between us and God. When we allow distance between us and God we are more easily led astray by the evil in this world.  When they arrived in verse 55, instead of going into the courtyard with Jesus, and John, Peter sat down to warm himself by the fire the guards and followers of the priests had kindled in the outer courtyard. Sometimes we seek comfort in the things of the world instead of standing apart as the peculiar people that Jesus said we are to be.
                      The first accusation came in verse 56, where a maid, who just happened to be there by the fire as well, saw Peter and said "this man was also with Him", to which Peter quickly denied, In verse 57. Afterwards, Peter just stayed there for a while until  another person spoke up and said,"Thou art also one of them" to which Peter said "Man I am not". For a second time Peter had missed a chance to tell others about Jesus, and be a witness to others of Jesus' love.
                     After the second time some time passed, about an hour, then in verse 59, a third time a man confidently said, "Of truth, this fellow also was with Him ; for he is a Galilean." to which Peter quickly and vehemently denied using curses. As Peter did this, a cock began to crow and Peter remembered how Jesus had told him that "before the time the cock crowed thou shalt deny me thrice." and Peter saw Jesus looking his way and was very ashamed and ran away to weep bitterly. This was just as the priests had finished with their trumped up trial of Jesus, and were about to take Jesus to Pilate. The man who accused Peter was from all accounts someone who had followed them up on the mount of Olives and had probably seen Peter cut off the guard Malchus' ear. The situation had humbled the once proud and arrogant Peter and showed him that even he, as strong as he was, could fall away from the master Jesus, when self preservation kicked in and made him lie and deny Jesus as his master, rather than face the possible hatred of others.
                     How often do we run away from opportunities to be a witness for Jesus in our lives rather than face up to the possible anger of others? We see opportunities come and go almost every day to speak with others about Jesus and be a witness for Him to the world.Through this blog I hope to reach others that need to hear about the love of God. A great speaker I'm not, but maybe through these columns I can find someone who needs to hear of Jesus and what He did for us, and how He is risen to show us that He has power over the grave. Jesus was the sacrifice that paid our sin debt and none other will ever be needed.

Casting Pearls - Walking in the Spirit

                  Walking is putting one foot in front of the other, staying straight on the path that God has laid out for us, not deviating to the left or the right. We are influenced to go off the path by the lusts of this world. Our flesh is the enemy. In the Bible we are warned in Galatians 5:16 to walk in the Spirit, we should let God through the Holy Spirit lead the way.If we walk the path behind the Holy Spirit, we will not be influenced by the flesh.
                 Our focus should be on Jesus, like Peter's was in Matthew 14:25-32 where he saw Jesus walking to him on the water in a storm. Peter asked to walk out to meet Jesus on the water. Jesus bade Peter to come to Him, and as long as Peter was able to stay above water as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. As soon as Peter looked at the storm raging around him, notice Peter 'began' to sink. Note, Peter only began to sink not sunk. We once we step off the path of God begin to sink into the storm around us. If we quickly call on the Lord for help, we will find help from the Lord. Notice, as soon as Peter called out for help from Jesus that Jesus quickly took him by the Hand and led him back to safety. Just like Peter, we can sink into the waters of this world, as soon as we take our eyes off the things of God, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
                 The danger we face is ourselves. As humans, we are inclined to give in to the cravings of the flesh. As Christians, we must resist the cravings of the flesh and keep our eyes on the Good Shepherd who will never let us walk into danger. We only find ourselves in danger when we take our eyes off Him and leave the path. It only took a second of looking away from Jesus for Peter to begin sinking, and it will only take a second of our looking away from God to stray off the path.
                 As humans we are almost guaranteed to stray from the path. We must decide if knowing Jesus will save us from ourselves is enough. True salvation is evidenced by good works and continuous  attempts at having a relationship with Jesus. If we show that we want to have a relationship, then Jesus will be more than happy to meet with us. Many people think, well I got saved and baptised, now I can live any way I want. But we must do our best to keep our eyes on Jesus and his word, if we are to remain above water. If we take our eyes off Jesus, we begin to sink. Some sink faster than others. Many of us think Jesus will pull us up at the last minute. Jesus doesn't say he will. He says, many will come to me and say ' I did this for you and that for you, and Jesus will say to them away from me I knew you not'. As is said by Jesus himself in Matthew 7: 22,23.
                 The signs of the end times are all around us, but we should not be afraid. Jesus has promised that He will always be with us even unto the end of the world. If not Jesus himself, then His Holy Spirit will be with us. Jesus is only one part of the whole of God. An egg is three parts, the shell, the yolk and the albumen. All three together make up an egg, but each plays an important role. If any one of these three parts were taken away, it would no longer be an egg. The three make a whole, so it is with God, there is the Father God, The Son Jesus, and The Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. These three make up the whole that is God. There are many examples in nature that make up the same thing, an apple, a peach, a peanut, a