John 21:3
“Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto
him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship
immediately; and that night they caught nothing.”
Have you ever had something not turn out in your Christian life the
way you thought it would? The disciples certainly faced disappointment
when Jesus didn't set up His kingdom as they thought He would. They were
consumed with the fact that Jesus had come to set up His kingdom on
Earth, but they were highly disappointed when He was crucified because
it didn't work into their design of what they thought should be done.
What did they do when they were disappointed? The verse above shows us
when it says, “Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing…” At the first sign of disappointment, they went back to the old life.
John 10:11
“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
I’m afraid we often get the purpose of life and the ministry mixed
up. It is very easy to get our priorities turned around; however, God
made the priority quite simple. As long as our priorities are right,
life will be filled with joy, and the ministry will produce and
effective impact on those to whom we minister.
John 5:19
“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.”
Many children love to play the game, follow the leader, where one
child is proclaimed the leader, and the rest follows everything they do.
Many parents don't realize that children often learn how to live life
by following their parent’s footsteps. Much like the follow the leader
game, whether nor not children realize it, they follow what their
parents do; however, following the leader in parenting is not a game.
Your children are copying your habits, whether good or bad.
Luke 10:42
“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
The story of Mary and Martha is an intriguing story because we have
two sisters whose personalities were certainly different. They were
both good ladies, and both of their actions are needed in our churches.
Mary chose to worship at the feet of Jesus, and this is very needed. On
the other hand, Martha chose to work in the kitchen preparing a meal for
the Master. There is nothing wrong with Martha’s choice to stay busy in
the kitchen; somebody has to do the behind the scenes work in the
church or else nothing will ever get done.
Psalm 119:57
“Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.”
The psalmist said, “I would keep thy words.” This is a great desire, but desire alone will not make you follow the LORD. At some point, you have to turn desire into action. I have known many people who desired to follow God, but they failed because they never did what it takes to follow Him. In verse 58-63, six things are found that are needed in your life if you are going to follow God successfully.
Mark 1:26
“And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.”
It was the sabbath day when Jesus entered into the synagogue to teach. While He was teaching, a man with an unclean spirit heard Him speak and cried out, “…Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth…” When the man with an unclean spirit came into the presence of Jesus, those spirits knew they had no power. After Jesus rebuked the spirit it “came out of him.”
Matthew 13:25
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.”
Several years ago, I worked for a package delivery company. Every night when we came to work, we had to walk past a guard station and show our identification badge to get on the property. Several nights in a row when we came to work, the guard inside the security station was asleep. It became a joke to those with whom I worked how safe we felt with that guard sleeping on his watch. What was a laughing matter to us could have been a dangerous matter had someone who wanted to do something wrong walked past that guard station. The guard was putting others at risk because he was sleeping on his watch.
Matthew 12:25
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city
or house divided against itself shall not stand:”
The dialogue from the verse above all happened because the
Pharisees accused Jesus of having a devil. Why did they accuse Him of
this? Because he cast a devil out of a man and they didn't like that He
was getting more recognition than them. They were jealous of his fame,
and they thought He would take their power away from them.
Psalm 81:11-12
“But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would
none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they
walked in their own counsels.”
God eventually got fed up with Israel and their constant
complaining and straying from how He wanted them to live. They came to a
point in their history where they wouldn't listen to His Word through
the mouths of His prophets, so God chose to let them do what they wanted
to do. The problem with this is that they lost what they didn't like.
What they didn't like about God’s ways is what made them who they were
and gave them the strength as a nation. They lost what they didn't like,
but they didn't like what they got. Israel should have been content
with what they had because what they didn't like is what made them
happy.
Zechariah 1:12
“And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search
Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their
lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will
he do evil.”
One of the common statements I heard people say about me when I was
a young preacher was, “You will settle down.” Many people said this
about my preaching because they didn't like the forwardness and style of
my preaching. They felt that marriage would have a way of causing me to
settle down. My desire is never to settle down.