Luke 6:12-16

Luke 6:12-16 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, WILL HE FIND FAITH on the

earth?"

Have we lost the art of sustained prayer? Jesus prayed all night alone: spent the night praying to God. Praying takes the same kind of faith that brings us salvation and healing: the belief that God is, that He loves us and wants the best for us. Without that kind of faith, we won't pray. When the Son of Man comes, WILL HE FIND FAITH on the earth? Jesus had faith that God was listening to him at all times, yet He set himself apart from others and prayed. Many who are reading this have busy lives; activities and duties fill your lives to such a degree that you only quickly whisper prayers as you progress through your day. However, others of us with lots of time also fail to set aside time for sustained prayer. We, too, tell ourselves, "I am too busy to pray." Sadly, the attitude, "I just don't have time to pray," is often an indication of weak faith, not a strong belief in God. People with weak faith don't really believe God will change their lives. Such individuals tend to believe things will go on as they have whether they pray or not. However, people with strong faith know God intently listens to every prayer they say to him; HE CARES ABOUT THEIR LIVES, and He wants to do good to them. This kind of faith motivates people to pray more. Televisions, computers and Blackberries do not satisfy that kind of faith; nothing will steal away their time with God.

Jesus prayed all night for a reason. In the morning He chose twelve disciples out of a large crowd of his disciples (vs 17). He prayed all night but He got Judas too. He prayed and Judas was one of the answer to his prayers, and Judas was a thorn in his flesh throughout his ministry. Why Judas? Because God had plans for Judas. God had plans to bring salvation to all people. We pray and a Judas pops up in the results, and then we quit praying, for we are discouraged. We claim, "God doesn't answer. Things are the way they were before I prayed. Why pray?" Sometimes we get up off our knees and quickly find circumstances much worse than they were before we prayed. So why pray? Well, we pray as a demonstration of faith that God is, that He hears our prayers, and that He is faithful. We pray because God is a reality, not a figment of our imagination. We pray because we believe God's words; we pray because we have a saving, healing faith within us. Are we all healed or delivered when we pray? No, but we are all heard. Are we going to get the perfect twelve after we pray? No, a Judas might pop up, but we are still answered, for God intends to do good for us, his beloved children.

Faith is an immersion in God's plan, God's life. People with strong faith know God stays in contact with his loved ones at all times. They know God will hear their whispered prayers. Nevertheless, people with strong faith know sustained sessions of prayer are restorative, are necessary. They reinforce faith. In Old Testament God repeatedly says, I will not answer you in times of trouble if your heart has turned from me. Otherwise, don't expect God to be there if you are not serving him daily. Don't expect him to get you out of the foxhole if your desires up to that time have been totally worldly. God desires a continuous relationship with his people. Good relationships take time. In our day, activities and the electronic media have eroded that time with God. The Bible says, in the last days scarcely will faith be found. Otherwise, few will be found on their faces seeking God, few will believe He is really concerned about their lives enough to have sustained prayers, few will walk the walk God has planned for them. Now God often does show up at that foxhole even when we have not done our part, but how much better if we have been a person of faith, one who believes that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Let us pray.

Luke 6:5-11

Luke 6:5-11 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

In the above passage, Jesus reveals He is in charge of the Sabbath, not the Sabbath in charge of him. “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath"; therefore, He can do what He wills on the Sabbath: your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Pharisees were bound by the Sabbath; Jesus was not, for He was the creator of the Sabbath. He fulfilled the Sabbath because the Sabbath was to be a holy day, and Jesus IS HOLY. Holiness originates from God, not from man's obedience to laws. The laws were so strict concerning one's actions on the Sabbath to keep it holy that even picking up sticks for a warm fire would bring a death sentence. No work of any kind could be done on the Sabbath, not even cooking or boiling water. Because sin permeates man's heart, God evidently considers man's activities in general as contaminating, or at least not deferential to his omnipresent, omniscient existence, much like cancer cells' uncontrolled activity in the body. Therefore man's activities must cease, for God's activities to receive full attention.

Jesus' activities on the Sabbath were good; they were restorative. In these verses, He healed the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath. The original intent of the Sabbath was to honor God and to restore men and women's strength for the upcoming work week. But in the above story, we see people using the Sabbath to condemn Jesus; this day of rest was being used for the evil purposes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Rather than committing the day to good purposes, the Sabbath was being used by them to bring fear and damnation upon people. However, Jesus said I am the Lord of the Sabbath. I consecrated the Sabbath, the Sabbath does not consecrate me. I cannot be judged by whether I keep the Sabbath or not, for I am literally the fulfillment of the Sabbath. I am holy and I always do the will of my Father God. I honor him every day of the week.

We who are in Christ are no longer under the restrictions of the Sabbath or of the law. We are free from those restrictions because we are IN THE LORD of the Sabbath or in the consecrated one, the Holy One. WE ARE FREE INDEED, for we have been set free by the blood of the Lamb. He has consecrated us to God, set us apart. Otherwise, we are literally hidden in Christ, the one who can heal on the Sabbath or not, eat on the Sabbath or not, boil water on the Sabbath or not, for we are IN HIM, the creator of all things, even the special day to honor God. He is truly the DAY OF REST mentioned in Hebrews. The Pharisees were the keepers of the Sabbath; they were the Taliban of that day. THEY WERE THE ONES WHO COULD JUDGE WHETHER THE JEWISH PEOPLE KEPT THE SABBATH RIGHTLY OR NOT. Jesus broke their supposed power that day by revealing He could supernaturally heal or do creative work on the holy day of the Sabbath. He did not need their permission to do good on the Sabbath, for He was God, the creator of the Sabbath. This angered them greatly, and from that time on they set out to kill him. He continued to be about the Father's business.

Luke 6:1-5

Luke 6:1-5 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Today's verses show Jesus teaching his disciples and those around him that God is more concerned with what is inside a person that the outside of a person. He cares more about God's plan than man's interpretation of God. When his disciples are criticized by some Pharisees for eating kernels of corn on the Sabbath, He reminds them of David and his companions who entered the house of God and ate consecrated bread when they hungered. His explanation is that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. In essence He says, you do not serve God in a vacuum; God also serves you. You are not under the Law; I, the Son of Man, have set you free. It is not what enters a man from the outside that defiles him, but what comes from a man's heart that will cause him trouble, the very reality that brought guilt to these judgmental Pharisees.

We know from the Old Testament that David, for example, was a far from perfect human being, yet scriptures tells us that he was chosen by God and found favor with God. He was also a man of faith and continually returned to a position of dependency upon God. The women's group was studying Hebrew's 11 yesterday, and there is so much in this wonderful chapter to remind us that faith is the sure substructure of a believer's life, our hope of what is certain and what we believe to be true. We place our faith in the continuing reality of God's existence, not based upon our intellect or upon our senses but upon our trust in Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus was telling his disciples they served a God who loved them enough they could eat in faith of the fruit of the field when they hungered without judgment. I think Jesus was also pointing to a walk of faith that places full dependency upon God for everything: food, drink, shelter, guidance, understanding, EVERYTHING. He was making everything new, offering a new and living way, such as what we read about in Hebrews, for He had not called them from their nets to a life of fear but a life of freedom in him.

This new life was to be a life of faith. Although faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, this certainty does not always transfer into our actions. God might not always ask us to do things as simple as eating grain on the Sabbath. He might ask us to build an ark on dry land in a place where there has never been a flood when our human inclination and intuition tells us that we are going to look very foolish indeed. But He says, "Build the ark," so by faith, we build an ark. The rains come for 40 days, and our entire family escapes destruction. Then God calls us "righteous" because we trusted him, but we know that He deserves all the praise and all the glory, for He was the one to whisper in our ear; He was the one who made us bold. Yes, just as He gave the boy king, David, the nod and called him to a great task, just as He gave him the strength to defeat a giant, God gives each of us the power and the faith to defeat the giants in the land. Whatever you need today, whether it is food, a boat for the flood, money for the bills, faith to endure to the end, God is your source. Don't let unbelief keep you from entering in by faith. Enjoy God's goodness today.

Luke 5:36-39

Luke 5:36-39 He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

You must be born again by faith to contain the Spirit of God. If not, your fleshly spirit will leak the contents of God's Spirit. Many people can be inspired by God. They can be awed by God. They can even say God's inspirational words, but unless they are born again, unless they are the new spiritual container, they will not hold God's presence long, for His Spirit is like the wind, who can contain it. Jesus is telling the Judaic leaders that this gospel is a new beginning, a new creation. He has not come to patch Judaism, to make it better; He has come to replace it with a new garment. He has not come to patch the holes in the old with parts of the new garment; no, He has come to replace the old garment.

In another parable He says, He has not come to provide a new wine to an old system, to restore the old system by pumping in new vigor, new revelations. No, He has come to replace the old system with a new system, even though people might like the old wine better, for they are more comfortable with its taste. The leaders of Judaism were very comfortable with their religion and did not want any changes, for they were getting recognition and perks from Judaism. The general public respected them and bowed to their authority, so they were the true winners in the old system. The common people had to go through them to know God.

How many of us are still pouring wine into the old wineskin, the old way of living? How many of us are trying to patch the old garment of our lives with a partial gospel, a good word here or there from the Bible? We cannot do it successfully. We will always feel uncomfortable with ourselves and with God if we try to do that. A new creature has a new start, a new beginning. Salvation comes when we emphatically repent of the old and accept the new. When we accept and follow Jesus Christ and his works by faith, we become a new container, capable of holding the Spirit of God. We are given a new voice, a new song, a new life. The old passes away, and ALL THINGS BECOME NEW. Some of us are still using the old voice, the old personality, the old ways of thinking, the old ways of living, but we just sew on a patch of inspiration once in a while to comfort us, to inspire us. We are singing the old songs of the world, songs not from God's heart but the world. Some of us are continuing on with our old lives, but have conveniently added on Jesus Christ, something like having good insurance or a safe bet if our lives don't work out the way we want. Well, that lifestyle won't satisfy or firmly establish us in God's kingdom. Jesus says we must be BORN AGAIN--be a new garment, a new container.

Now, none of this is to bring you into condemnation, but it should prick your interest. You cannot be a prostitute for the Lord, you cannot be a bully for the Lord, you cannot be a rogue for the Lord, you cannot live the OLD LIFE FOR THE LORD. You must be a new creature, live a different life, dedicated to him. Jesus Christ is not an add-on to our lives: He is our life. No one can wear the old garment with new patches and be acceptable to God. No one can be the old container filled with new wine and still please the Lord. Christians are those who not only accept Jesus Christ as Lord but follow him as Lord. Of course, if we stumble, we say, "Forgive us Lord, for we are but humans, BUT WE INTENTLY BELIEVE YOU HAVE MADE US NEW CONTAINERS, NEW GARMENTS; therefore, we will endure to the end by faith." Faith in Jesus should change our lives for the better. If we are new creatures, we will grow sweeter with age. We will love others more. We will not occupy our minds with the trivial, the mindless, but we will fix our minds and spirits on HIM WHO LOVES US, FOR WE ARE NEW CREATURES, CONTAINERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO LIVES FOREVER. Amen!

Luke 5:33-35

Luke 5:33-35 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast. ”

Luke 18:9-14 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus told the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that after He is gone his disciples will fast. Consequently, followers of Jesus have fasted throughout the centuries. How often, how long, should Christians fast? I don't know, but fasting is a directive. As long as the disciples were in Jesus' presence, they did not fast, for they were in constant communion with him, but as soon as Jesus departed from them, they fasted, for they needed his SPIRITUAL presence; they needed their lives focused back on him and away from the world. We also need to do likewise.

Yes, we have the Holy Spirit within us, but sometimes we become so earthy that we cannot hear his voice within us, and sometimes we become so focused on the natural that we cannot believe God for great things. Instead of hearing his voice, we hear the voices of doubt, of unbelief, that circumstances cannot change. But fasting brings the voices of faith, brings an orientation towards God and away from the flesh and unbelief. Our life perspective changes. Rather than being inundated by worldly thoughts, worldly ambitions or even the mundaneness of the world, we find ourselves through the fasting exercise rededicating our lives to God, seeking his pleasure and not our own.

Jesus said do not do your fasting before men. As we forgo the pleasure of eating and drinking, we should also forgo the pleasure of recognition by men as spiritual. Our fast should be seen by God alone. He is the rewarder of all good things, even our dedication to him. In the Luke 18 passage, we see a Pharisee exploiting fasting for his own purposes. He served God to be seen by men. In the temple, he reminded God of his dedication and righteousness. But God rejected his prayers, for true righteousness comes from God, not from man. Consequently, God accepted the prayers of the tax collector, who knew he was a sinner, who knew he needed a merciful God. The tax collector knew his sinfulness, but sadly the Pharisee did not know the wickedness of his heart. He thought his works, his spiritual activity, could stand before God as righteousness.

We should not fast to justify our spirituality. We should fast to serve God, to allow him into our lives in a deeper more meaningful way. Jesus Christ is not with us physically, but we still need his presence, his voice, his healing, his teaching. Fasting allows our inner ear to hear his voice more clearly through the Holy Spirit. Christ's voice, his presence, always warms our spiritual hearts and opens up a real conversation with him. When we fast, we realize God loves us and desires good for us. We realize that we are truly sons and daughters of the MOST HIGH, THE BRIDE OF CHRIST. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days THEY WILL FAST.

Luke 5:27-32

Luke 5:27-32 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were not repentant and therefore could not receive the mercy and grace of the Lord. As long as we are not repentant of our old ways and lifestyle, we place ourselves in the category of the righteous or better said the self-righteous. Then sadly to say, we will meet God in all of our glory, which the Bible calls unredeemed, for all have gone their own way, all have sinned, none are righteous. The Pharisees despised the people at the banquet for supposedly living outside of God's righteousness, but they were the most miserable of all human beings because they were outside of God's grace and did not know it. How many humans today are possessed with the same thoughts of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. They think they don't need God, for they are doing JUST FINE the way they are living. Unfortunately, they are totally misled. The Bible clearly says, ALL HAVE GONE ASTRAY; all need to make a decision about the sin in their lives. Christians and sinners alike must continually understand and recognize that people need Christ.

Sadly, we Christians often don't realize the whole world is in the valley of decision. God is asking human beings to be his not their own, to follow Him, to live a life of righteousness. The Bible indicates that eternal life comes through and is IN CHRIST by faith. What happens to those who never had a chance to know Jesus Christ while they were living? That is God's work, not ours, but I know He is a just God, so I do not worry about that, but I do have concerns about those around us who are in a position to know Jesus Christ. Have we Christians so isolated ourselves that they cannot know God? Are we at the sinners' banquets or have we removed ourselves, the light, to another room, one insulated from the world? Are we so willing to have our own little protected, Christian environment that we literally excommunicate ourselves from the rest of the world? Jesus Christ was AT THE PARTY. He was associating with sinners. Jesus did not isolate himself from them: He dined with them.

We Christians have our own schools, our own business establishments, our own entertainment, our own television stations, our own everything. We have been trying for generations to remove ourselves from the world physically. But Jesus came to the world because they needed a Savior. We often remove the Savior from their presence. We need to ask ourselves if we are making sense. I heard Ed Dobson, who now has ALS, tell how he is much more in the world now than he was before his disease. He even goes to taverns to associate with people. He says he goes where the fish are. If we are fishers of men, we need to be where the fish are. Now Dobson is not just any minister. He was one of the leaders of the Moral Majority, associate of Doctor Falwell, and the pastor of a very large church. Now he has put that all aside and is working where the fish are. Are we outside saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Are we part of the problem or the solution? We need to be where the fish are: in the schools, at work, in the community. ALL ELSE WILL PRETTY MUCH BE AN EMPTY, SELF-SERVING, SAFE LIFE.

Luke 5:20-26

Luke 5:20-26 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Who can forgive sins but God alone? This is the most important question in the whole Bible, especially in the New Testament. Who can make us right with God? Or how can we be right with God? How can we remove the seemingly irreversible stains of sin from our lives? Jesus answers this question by healing this paralyzed man. This act of healing clearly states that He can forgive sin. I believe all of Jesus' healings were done to put to rest this question. Who can take away sins? Jesus can, for no man can do what Jesus did. Jesus' ministry did not have to be long, but it had to be powerful, miraculous, for He was proving to the world that He came from God, a different domain, a heavenly one. He was not just a man with wonderful ideas about love and life; He was a man of power and authority. If He were the former, mankind would still be hopelessly trapped in sin, without an efficacious redemption plan. Humans (for all have sinned) would still be under the punishment of God, for God will not tolerate sin in his presence. Many cults and religions have chosen a man or woman as their spiritual leader who can do nothing more than offer bits of wisdom and special insights into the condition of mankind, but JESUS CHRIST CAME TO REVEAL HE WAS THE SON OF GOD. His miracles validated that He was from God.

HIs miraculous activities overwhelmed the rational minds of his day. The learned men who surrounded the healed paralytic man were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” I am sure they were thinking in their hearts, Is this man really from God? This is the salvation question. This question must be answered by every man and woman before they can see God, before they can enter into the kingdom of God. Is Jesus from God or is He just a man who performed wonderful acts? If He is just a super spiritual man who possessed a lot of wisdom and love, we are wasting our time in worshipping him, for He is but man and does not hold the keys to heaven and we are still caught in our sins. We still have the sentence of death upon us. But if He is God, He can make us right with himself. He can cleanse us of our sins. The latter is what we Christians believe; subsequently, the promise to us who believe is that we will experience abundant life--eternal life.

Jesus Christ has given us abundant life, eternal life. We sometimes try to squeeze abundant life into this temporary dwelling place. Well, we do have wonderful things happen to us as Christians because He loves us and answers our prayers, but this isn't where abundant life really takes hold. Abundant life, eternal life, is found IN JESUS CHRIST. Jesus says, "Come unto me and I will give you life." His life becomes our reality. No longer do we fear the consequences of sin. No longer do we fear death, for He has taken away the sting of death; the grave has no victory, for life exists in us. Jesus Christ has made all things new, and He came to give us life; his miracles prove his authority to do just that. The paralytic took up his mat and went home. We are at home with Jesus now, and someday we will be at home with him forevermore.

Luke 5:17-20

Luke 5:17-20 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” THE FAITH IT TAKES FOR HEALING IS THE SAME FAITH IT TAKES FOR SALVATION. Jesus reveals this truth by healing and saving the man on the same day. Faith in Jesus gives you not only salvation, which is a miracle, it gives you healing too. Christ is able to do both to the uttermost or completely. The people who were seeking God for healing also received forgiveness of sin. They received God's divine intervention into their lives. The above passage says the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Otherwise, Jesus was going to heal the sick that day; He was going to fulfill part of himself, THE GREAT HEALER.

But every day, He is our Savior. Every day, He has come to redeem souls. The faith it takes to redeem our souls is the same faith it takes to heal us, a complete and total trust in Jesus Christ that He can perform miracles. The men who brought the paralytic believed Jesus could heal, and that He intended to heal all that were sick, so they were willing to deliver their loved one to Jesus through the roof, in front of the religious leaders of their time. Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. I am sure most of these sophisticated leaders were there to hear a wise man, to see what Jesus had to offer them in terms of spirituality. But the men who were carrying the paralytic were there to see Jesus demonstrate his power to heal.

There is a total difference between these two groups of men. One group was there to investigate Jesus; the other group was there to see God perform miracles. One group observing, the other believing. We want to belong to the believing camp. We want to be in the group of men who believed God performs miracles. Too many of us tarry with the group that says, "Well, maybe. Let's see if He really can do something special. Let's see if He is truly from God. But investigating or observing will never be a substitute for trusting and believing. Mulling over whether or not Jesus is a miracle worker will never be the faith that moves mountains. WE MUST BELIEVE WHO JESUS IS, THAT HE IS THE MOVER OF MOUNTAINS. We must pray in faith believing. We must stand emphatically in the camp that says God can do what He said He can do. If so, we will remove the ceiling and lower the paralytic at Jesus' feet. Then it is up to Jesus. His will is to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. If Jesus is going to heal the sick that day, He will. But if he says, "Your faith will be made perfect in your weakness, then let it be so, but regardless, we must present ourselves to him in faith, for He is the great healer. Most of all, He is the lover of our souls, and we are his dearly beloved.

Luke 5:12-15

Luke 5:12-15 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

They came to be healed of their sicknesses. They needed a Savior, but they wanted a doctor. How human this is! A couple of weeks ago after an early morning Bible study with two friends, I gave a lift to an older man who was thumbing a ride to downtown Auburn. I asked him where he was going, and he told me he was going to a casino. I dutifully drove him to the casino, so he could get in on an extravaganza betting opportunity the casino was offering. On the way, I talked about my life and the fact that I was a Christian and had a son who pastored a church in Auburn. I invited him to visit the church. "Well," he said, "I really needed a church a few months ago when both my wife and I were unemployed. We were having a rough time paying our bills then. But now, we are okay; my wife is back at work as a nurse." What he was saying was they needed the church to pay their bills when they were both unemployed, but now since they were on their feet financially, they didn't need the church. I thought how true that is. People want a healer, not a Savior. They want service from the church and Christians, but they don't want their Savior.

When people are in need of help, they will gather to hear and to be healed, but when they are well and doing fine, the church's doors are far from their presence. People want service when they need it, but not Christianity, and if they don't receive service readily from the Christian community, they'll complain about hypocrites in the church. Jesus told the man who was healed to fulfill his duty to the church, to God. Go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing. In the Old Testament a cleansed man would offer a burnt offering and a sin offering to the Lord. The priest would receive the leftovers of these offerings as edible food. Jesus commanded the man to do these offerings as a testimony to the priest. By fulfilling the commandments of Moses, he would testify to the priest that his whole life had been changed, not just his physical life. His sacrifices would indicate a rededication to God; he would be establishing holiness again in his life. By this man's actions, the priest would know that Jesus was not just a good doctor, but He was a person who was leading the Jewish people back to God.

In our society, people want God involved with their lives when they are in need, but often they commit very little to God when they are doing well. I read a poll the other day about tithing. Ninety-five percent of Christians don't tithe. Tithing doesn't necessarily measure your commitment to God, but it can be an indicator. Recently, I was listening to a woman who said her church doesn't do enough for her, doesn't visit her often enough, doesn't pay enough attention to her needs. As I was listening, I was wondering what this woman was doing for the church. I know she does not commit any money to the church even though she has sufficient money to do so, yet she wants the church at her doorstep. How potent would the church be if we all thought this way: SERVICE FOR ME, BUT NO INPUT, ONLY OUTPUT.

Jesus died pretty much alone on the cross. The Jewish people cried for Barabbas's release, not Christ's. Jesus knew their hearts when He was in their midst and healing them. He knew they were going along for the fishes and the loaves. Their hearts had been darkened over the centuries; they all like sheep had gone their own way. They really did not want a Savior; they just wanted a healer, someone who would make life easier, better. Jesus knew that, BUT HE CAME FOR THEM. When he was in the lonely places and prayed, He probably prayed to God, "Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. They need a shepherd." And on a cross, a shepherd was born, a shepherd who would wait until blind eyes would open, deaf ears would hear, and hearts would turn toward God.

Luke 5:8-11

Luke 5:8-11 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Simon Peter on that day at the Lake of Gennesaret left his boat and nets and began fishing in the lake of humans. He began fishing for the catch that God desired: people who would love him forever, people who would put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord. In Acts 4, we see Peter the fisherman casting his net of the Spirit into a dark and dying world. For Christians, that is what life is about; we are fishermen. All other lifestyles pretty much add up to pure vanity. King Solomon lived a very prosperous life; he tasted of the best of life. Nevertheless, he counted up all his experiences, all of his possessions, all of his fleshly interactions as nothing more than vanity, meaninglessness. He realized if this is all that life is, it has not much to offer, for it will soon pass away. Every experience will someday be forgotten; every possession will turn to dust; every relationship will fade into eternity. ALL WILL BE LOST EVENTUALLY. Solomon realized if there is not something more meaningful that just living, our lives have been lived in vain.

Jesus wowed Peter with the miracle of the abundant catch of fish. On that day at the lake, Peter the fisherman, realized Jesus was truly divine. He became fearful because he knew Jesus was something different from him, a sinful man. But Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” Jesus was saying, From now on you are going to function in the eternal world of the Spirit. From now on you are going to do God's work. You are going to do work that never PASSES AWAY. Peter left all to follow Jesus, for he knew he had a bigger commission than just living this mundane, purposeless life. He knew he had to fulfill the life Jesus had prepared for him.

Today we Christians need to see that reality clearly, to have our focus on eternity rather than on the mundaneness of this world. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in this temporal world that we do not appreciate the eternal purposes for our lives. We become more concerned with catching and eating fish than knowing God and his perfect will. Our lives and lifestyles should never be so removed from God that we cannot hear his voice and do his will. We should never be so involved with the details of life that we cannot change course if God wants us to. Peter heard Jesus talking to him directly that day. From that day on, Peter knew his plans and his directions for his life would be the Master's plans and directions. He had found the Master, and he would follow him all the way to death. Peter chose an eternal existence with God; he chose the role of fisherman for God. Let us fulfill our roles also, individually and collectively, for we are his workmanship, even his fishermen, created for good works that He ordained.

Luke 5:1-8

Luke 5:1-8 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Jesus sat down in a stranger's boat and taught the Word of God to people on the land. After He finished, this stranger, Simon Peter, must have been impressed with Jesus, for he called him MASTER. However, as a professional fisherman, he disagreed with Jesus' command to go into the deep water and let down his fishing nets, for he believed strongly that it would be a futile activity; however, he chose to obey this man who impressed him so much with his teachings. Peter and the rest of the fishermen were surprised when they caught an abundance of fish, almost enough to swamp two boats. Peter, the professional, knew right away this event was a miracle. He no longer just respected this man, Jesus; he knew He was divine. He knew this amount of fish could not have come from just the natural act of fishing; something supernatural was involved. He was undone by this presence: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Sometimes we need to let down the nets even though WE KNOW THERE ARE NO FISH THERE. Peter went where the Lord directed, submitting to the Lord's command. This is hard for us professionals. We are the living--we know how to live because we spend every day doing so. What does God know about living? He is spirit. We humans are the ones who struggle through every day for sustenance, for a safe and secure existence. But Jesus, the carpenter, says, "Try again, cast out your nets, and you will see my glory, for I am God. You will see my intervention. You will see my abundant supply." Can we believe for God's abundance when we see no fish in the water, no hope of reward or production there? Can we really believe or in discouragement will we pull in our nets and stop fishing? We have a choice. We can hear the Master say, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Or we can hear ourselves say, "I quit, this is a useless enterprise." Sometimes the latter is easier to say, for it demands little of us, but the former demands that we get back in the boat, row out to the deep waters where the wind is whipping our boat. Sometimes the latter is dangerous to our ego, our self-esteem. Will we fail again? Will we come up empty again? But God in many ways is saying to us, "Strike out to the deep. There you fulfill my will by letting your nets down at JUST THE RIGHT TIME."

Are you doing that? Are you saying, "MASTER, I will follow you regardless of my insight, my knowledge." Some of us need to reapply for God's workforce, for the next job. Some of us need to pray again, for the next miracle. Some of us need to fish again, in the same lake. God is asking some of us to move, so we might be what He wants us to be. He is asking us to walk by faith and not by sight. Throughout scripture we see that persevering faith is what pleases Father God. As we read in Hebrews, But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. Hebrews 10:38 Notice, the catch was so great that Peter needed help from others to bring in the fish. Jesus knew this would happen when He requested Peter to launch out again and let his nets down. He knew Peter would understand better who Jesus really was after this event. He knew Peter would really know him from that time on as Master.

Jesus' blessings, his filling of our nets, are for his purposes not ours. His blessings should bring bended knees of thankfulness to him. If so, we won't spend our time building bigger boats, buying more nets, constructing more buildings. We will spend our time, praising him, serving him, for He is truly God, our MASTER. Peter, James, and John did not become better fishermen or businessmen; they left their boats and nets to follow him. We also should follow him with the same dedication. God's blessing falls on those who serve him, who hear his voice. Be prepared to receive his blessing, for He loves his children. And in thankfulness give it all back to him. Give him your time, your money, your service, for He is worthy. Therefore child of God, launch out again if the Lord is telling you to do so; an abundant harvest awaits you.

Luke 4:40-44

Luke 4:40-44 When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

The demons knew Jesus was divine, that He was from heaven. They knew He was the Son of God: “You are the Son of God!” But Jesus was not going to allow demons nor angels to come along with him from city to city to announce that He was the Son of God, for Jesus knew eternal life doesn't come through knowledge but through faith. Faith alone unlocks the door to eternity, not knowledge. People often say to God, "Show me that you are real and then I will believe," or "Give me a sign and then I'll believe," or "Get me out of this predicament, this foxhole, and then I'll believe." But, God hasn't chosen to reveal himself that way because real life, eternal life, doesn't come this way. The Bible very plainly says, "Whosoever believes in me shall have life." Otherwise, whosoever puts his or her total belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God without observing conclusive, empirical evidence of his divine existence or without experiencing a divine visitation from the spirit world to substantiate his claim of being God will have eternal life.

The demons KNEW Jesus was the Son of God, but the people who were receiving healing thought He MIGHT BE DIVINE or maybe a powerful prophet. The spirits from hell knew Christ's role in heaven. Realistically, the people knew very little about this Jesus, except that He was Joseph's son. This carpenter could heal and do miracles, but their prophets of old could also do miracles and heal. So who really was this Jesus? Was He some divine messenger from God or was He a prophet with special powers? This question is also ours to answer.

We must believe that HE IS THE SON OF GOD, not that He is a wise man, a prophet, a kind and powerful man. By faith, we must have the assurance in our hearts that He is God, and He can save to the uttermost all those who put their complete trust in him. Everyone pretty much likes the good Jesus. They tried to keep him from leaving them. We like the good things He imparts to us: healings, miracles, the feeling of peace, but we are not so enthused about serving him if He is not going to stay around to meet all our needs. We'll serve him readily for the fishes and loaves, but we are not so ready to serve him if we have to do it out of faith alone. However, saving faith is serving him regardless of the circumstances in our lives. Saving faith is believing God is near even though He feels distant, as if He has journeyed to another country. Yes, the demons knew exactly who He was, and they feared him, but they were not allowed to speak.

Today, God could prove that He exists and that He is God by healing all who is sick and dying this very minute, but He doesn't. Why? Because God is in the business of making children. Creating children comes through the Word, the written and the spoken Word. Jesus, The Word, came to speak to men. Whoever believes his words will be a new creature, born again. John 1 says all things that were created were created through the Word, Jesus Christ. To know and believe that is life. Rational thinking or empirical investigation will not bring life to you: accepting Christ and becoming a new creature will; faith will. Studying the universe and things made will not allow you to be with God who is spirit. Faith alone breaks down the barriers between man and God, not knowledge. Faith alone delivers us to the spiritual world, not human knowledge. But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ. The demons were not allowed to interfere with God's plan of redemption, his plan of making children out of the Son of God's loins. Now we share the "good news" with those who have an ear to hear the Spirit's call.