11/25/19

11/25/2019

Good Morning! 

Well, you may have noticed that the change of the heading in my email did not accomplish what I presumed would happen.  Apparently, Google has put in an algorithm that treats the greeting of “good morning” as spam.  I will keep on trying … assuming the best and anticipating the worst.

Listen, I am still thankful for a venue that can be used to spread the Word of God in a way that, hopefully, provides a word of encouragement to people who are traveling with me through this earthly walk. Some MAY consider the daily messages as SPAM.  The old saying is that “you can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.  I know that … but cannot allow the fear of not pleasing someone to inhibit the messages.  My objectives are (1) to give you a positive word from God to start your day; (2) to do a little teaching of the Word of God along the way; and (3) to give you something to meditate upon as you make your daily walk.  Finally, there is a prayer list where you can share your needs with a group of people who are willing to lift your concerns up to God. 

I am very thankful to God for each one of you who take the few minutes each day to read through these messages.  I am especially thankful for those who take a moment to comment as each comment encourages me to keep on going. And, it goes without saying, I am thankful for each person who takes a moment to seek God’s face on behalf of the people on our prayer list. Most of us have never met many of these people … but we pray anyway believing that God knows every situation and hears our prayers for these folks.

You may have noted that I haven’t put a Scripture in today’s post … at least not yet.  The thought comes that ultimately all of us are disciples of Christ Jesus. What is a disciple? It is a person who forsakes all to follow.  And I do mean “ALL” when making this statement.  Listen to what Jesus said to Simon Peter by the seashore …

Matthew 4:18-22 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁸ While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”^[a] 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Footnotes:

Matthew 4:19 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women

For the balance of the three years, we see these four plus eight more not plying their trade but following Jesus from place to place as He sought to bring the people of Israel to follow Him.  Later, after Jesus had been crucified, Peter decided to return to fishing … and, well, let’s look at John’s account of that …

John 21 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

21 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷ That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

⁹ When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

In this passage, Jesus was telling Peter that the mission before him was not catching fish but leading people to Jesus.  I am sure that there were times that Peter returned to fishing to provide for his needs – just like Paul would return to tent making.  But the primary focus of Peter’s life was changed.  How about my life?  Or, yours? 

Well, have a great day following Jesus.  God bless you in your journey.

Agape’

Mr. Jim

Prayer: Father, give me the courage to follow You wherever You want me to go. In Jesus’ Name … Amen.  

Scripture for today: Matthew 4:18-22; John 21:1-19

New Prayer Needs and Updates: (hey, listen – most of these prayer requests come from you … so I need you to let me know if things change so we can update them – especially when we need to praise God for His healing.)

Praises for Answered Prayer: