Developing a Ministry of Availability

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

Tags

clothing, Corrie Ten Boom quote, deeper waters, fisherman, fishing, food, inability and ability, ingredient to success, Luke 5, Luke 5:10-11, ministry of availability, more concerned about physical things than spiritual, shallow to deep

Whenever Jesus has an encounter with us, He wants us to be more concerned about spiritual things than physical things. This is the way Jesus reaches us in our blindness and busyness of life. The Lord takes the physical things which usually trap us and turns them in such a way that it becomes a lesson about spiritual things. In the New Testament a simple discussion about food turns into a lesson about spiritual food… clothing becomes a lesson about wearing clothes of righteousness… fishing becomes a lesson about fishing for men. Jesus turns what we are concerned about into eternal matters.

The Lord is always striving to take us from shallow water into the deep. It is in these deep waters we begin to grow in faith and learn to trust Him more. The question becomes are we appreciative for the Lord’s attempts to move us into deeper waters? Do we view deeper waters as troubles or opportunities to grow.

Here is my invitation to you. Don’t be afraid when God attempts to move you from one place to another. He has a purpose and there is no need to be afraid. God has your best interest at heart. It is true…”If He led you to it, He will lead you through it.” Deeper water is always an opportunity to express faith and please the Lord. Peter’s response to Jesus at the shore should be our response as well. Listen to his response to the Lord.

Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.’ Luke 5:5

Peter basically said, “Lord, I really don’t want to do this again…but because You suggest I should…at Your command, I will do it.” This needs to be our response to the Lord as well. We may not be totally excited about every word the Lord speaks to us. In fact, some of those words may actually give us shivers. But because the Lord speaks… we are obedient.

I believe there is a “ministry of availability” ready for each of us today. Obedience is the most important ingredient to our success in living the Christian life. The question becomes are we available to the Lord? There is an old quote which says, “God does not ask for your ability or for your inability. He asks only your availability.” I am sure you know your own abilities and inabilities. In fact, you may have already told the Lord about them. The truth is God is not interested in what you think you can or cannot do. He is only interested that you avail yourself to Him. Every believer is called to the ministry of availability.

In this story in Luke, Peter’s boat was available to Jesus, his net was available to Jesus, and ultimately his life was available to the Lord. The end result of all this availability was….”And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men. When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” (Luke 5:10-11)

Peter did become a fisherMAN. Three years later He would preach a message after Pentecost in which three thousand people came into the Kingdom. Now all this didn’t happen at once, but it began on this day by the shores of Galilee. Many life altering events begin at inconspicuous moments.

I am reminded about the petite Japanese lady who was on a bus touring Iceland. At one short bus stop she got off and went into the bathroom to change clothes. While she was gone it was reported that a person was missing from the tour. She returned, not recognizing it was her personally everyone was looking for…and joined in on the manhunt. It is difficult to find someone when they are not missing. So for a whole day everyone was looking for a small Japanese woman who wasn’t lost.

I know a lot of people are looking around church and the kingdom for someone to step-up and give themselves to the Lord’s work. They have never considered that the Lord is actually searching and calling for them. They only see their inabilities…. never their availabilities. I believe there is a boat with your name on it and it is ready for deep water.

Blessings,

Pastor

Are You a Fan or a Fanatic?

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

apply what we learn, are we willing to go into deeper waters, classroom instruction, deeper waters, faith, fan or fanatic, God is always at work, individualized tutoring, Jesus, Jesus recognizes hunger in people, Joni Erickson Tada, lake of gennesaret, Luke 5:1-3, Peter, taking God at His word, we don't recognize God

I know I may have told this story before, but it is one of my favorites.

A middle-aged woman has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she has a near death experience. During that experience she sees God and asks if this is the end. God says no and explains that she has another 30 years to live. Upon her recovery she decides to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, etc. She even has someone come in and change her hair color. She figures since she’s got another 30 years, she might as well make the most of it.

She walks out of the hospital after the last operation and is killed by an ambulance speeding by. She arrives in front of God and complains, “I thought you said I had another 30 years.”
God replies, “I did, but I didn’t recognize you.”

I know and you know God always recognizes us. This story is usually the other way around. We don’t recognize God. We fail to recognize what He is doing in our life. We fail to recognize what He is doing in other’s lives and in general we miss what He is doing in the world around us.

Listen to the story from Luke as Peter has a personal encounter with Jesus one day by the Sea of Galilee. Even in this story Jesus was already working in Peter’s life… he just didn’t know it yet.

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. Luke 5:1-3

Jesus was teaching and the people were listening to Him. Apparently, He felt a little crowded and wanted some space. He saw two boats near-by and asked to use Simon Peter’s as sort of a stage or platform.

But I believe there was clearly another reason why Jesus wanted to speak from the boat. Later on, He wanted to talk to the owner of the boat, Simon. Jesus is not only interested in crowds, He is also interested in you individually. Sometimes we need more than classroom instruction. We need individualized tutoring. The Lord knows when we need more personal attention and arranges life so that we get His undivided attention.

If we believe the Lord’s instructions cease after we leave the church pew, we are mistaken. If we believe the Lord’s instructions conclude when our Bible’s are closed, we are deceived. These events are merely the beginning of our journey. The real test arrives when we are called to apply what we have learned. How much one-on-one time have you received lately?

Why does Jesus change His approach for just one person? Why would Jesus change His focus from a crowd to a single person? Most ministers are trying to climb out of the single digits, not move towards them. Evidently Jesus recognized a hunger in Peter He didn’t see in everyone else. So, He rearranged His schedule to help Peter move from a shallow type of faith to a deeper faith. I don’t believe Jesus wastes His time. If you are receiving one-on-one attention, then He believes it is time for you to move into deeper waters as well.

There was an Episcopal pastor who was having a cup of coffee in the restaurant across the street from his church. He was reading his paper when the fellow next to him noticed his clerical garb and asked which church he led. He pointed across the street to the Episcopal Church. The fellow eagerly piped-up and said “Why that’s the church I go to myself!” At this the pastor perked up and said “That’s strange. I’ve been preaching there for five years and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you.” The man responded, “Come on now, preacher. I didn’t say I was a fanatic.”

Peter was a “fan of Jesus” at this point, but he wasn’t a “fanatic for Christ” either. He had been baptized by John the Baptist and witnessed Jesus being baptized as well. He had witnessed Jesus performing a few miracles including the healing of his mother-in-law. But until this point, he had yet to commit himself fully to Jesus’ teachings.

For many Peter’s type of committment would have been enough to give them security. Jesus knew the difference and so should we. Jesus wants to move each of us from the “fan” level of faith to the “fanatic” level. The only question is are we personally willing to go with the Lord to deeper waters?

– More tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor