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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 27 February 2024:
Luke 5:4-7 – Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.
When you are seeking to walk in obedience to God, obeying His word though it may seem to make no sense, He will reveal Himself to you by doing what you couldn’t. Putting down the nets was hard work, but God used that commitment to provide miraculous results. God honors obedience with God-sized results, but the hard work isn’t the cause of the results, God is. We show our commitment, and God shows His power. Ultimately, God is not merely trying to provide for our earthly needs, He is seeking to draw us closer to Him.
“When Christ teaches you something about Himself, He implements it into your life through experience. As the crowds gathered around, Jesus chose to board Peter’s boat and teach the people from there. All day long Peter sat in the boat listening to Jesus teach the multitudes. At the close of His discourse, Jesus allowed Peter to experience the reality of what He had just been teaching the crowd. The crowd had heard the truth, but Peter was to experience it.
Jesus put His teaching into language a fisherman could understand. He told Peter to put out his nets into the deep water. Peter hesitated, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.” Peter had been fishing all night, had washed and repaired his nets in the morning, and then listened to Jesus teach. He was tired. He probably was not expecting a dramatic encounter with God at a time like that. Yet, as Peter obeyed Jesus, he pulled in such a miraculous catch of fish that his boat almost sank! Peter was filled with amazement and recognized that he had just experienced the power of God (Luke 5:4-11).
Peter learned that with a command from Jesus, he could do anything. Thus, Jesus was able to reorder Peter’s priorities from catching fish to catching men (Luke 5:10). Peter’s obedience led to a dramatic new insight into the person of Jesus. This was an invitation to walk with Jesus in an even more intimate and powerful way.
God does not want you to merely gain intellectual knowledge of truth. He wants you to experience His truth. There are things about Jesus you will learn only as you obey Him. Your obedience will then lead to greater revelation and opportunities for service.
No one knows how to help you in your times of failure as Jesus does! He will not overlook your shortcoming or simply encourage you to do better the next time. He will give you victory in the midst of your failure.
Peter had fished all night without success. His was not just a meager catch; he had caught nothing, even though he was a skilled fisherman. Jesus could have said, “Peter, don’t worry about your empty net. You’ll soon be in a different business anyway.’ Instead, Jesus told him to launch out into the deep and to cast out his nets for a catch. How humbling it must have been for Peter! Here was a carpenter telling this outspoken fisherman how to fish!
Jesus often gets your undivided attention when you fail. He sometimes takes you back to your place of defeat in order to build something good into your life. You may assume He must not want you to continue because you failed so miserably in your attempt. Perhaps your problem was that you relied on your own strength instead of the Master’s. Maybe you failed in a relationship. Jesus will not allow you to abandon it; He will help you learn from your failure and experience the difference He can make when He guides your relationships. When you try in God’s strength you may discover that success is indeed within your grasp. If you have recently experienced failure, you may be on the brink of receiving a profound revelation from God!” (Henry T. Blackaby)
Luke 5:8 – But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Experiencing the presence of God causes us to repent and to fear the LORD.
Luke 5:15 – But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities.
Jesus did not seek the crowds; they sought Him. Jesus didn’t beg for followers; He merely revealed the truth and let those who would accept the truth follow.
Luke 5:20 – And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Jesus brings healing and forgiveness to those who pursue Him.
Luke 5:17-24 – When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?”
Some people want things from God instead of wanting God Himself and instead of wanting what He wants from them, which is unity, or oneness, with Him. Therefore, some people, who ‘believe’ in Jesus attempt to change their behavior to get results in their lives, while believers seek to change their hearts so they can remove anything which separates them from God, whether tangible blessings happen or not. They clean the outside of the cup and the plate without cleansing the inside (the heart), rather than seeking first the kingdom of God (God’s reign in their hearts). Believing in God and doing good deeds isn’t the same as loving God and being transformed by His love so that good deeds naturally pour from your life, like fruit. The demons believe in Jesus and shudder, and the Pharisees did a lot of good works, but neither truly love or loved Him to the point where His will and desires became their will and desires and His power became their power. (Matthew 23:25; Matthew 6:33)
- James 2:19 — You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
- Isaiah 64:6 — We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Luke 5:28 – And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
Following Jesus involves surrendering all to Him.
Luke 5:33-6:9 – And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.”
Religion, with its rites and rules, is easier to follow than following Jesus.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 27 February 2024: Today, have a plan and work hard for God’s glory, but consider the true motive of your heart – Are you working to know Jesus more fully or to merely improve the quality of your life, get recognition, feel better about yourself, or somehow earn God’s love rather than receiving it freely as His precious child. Don’t let anything distract you from the ultimate aim of unity with Him and loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, regardless the external outcomes. Abide in God’s love and let everything else happen naturally, receiving all circumstances with thanksgiving, even the ones which seem unfavorable.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 