“Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the net.” (NIV) Luke 5:5

Bible reading: Luke 5:1-11.

Simon Peter’s faith in a man he barely knew was so amazing. His first encounter with Jesus Christ was the very day he trusted Christ so much to honour what he was told to do. One day, Jesus was preaching to a crowd close to where Peter’s boat was. So Jesus got into Peter’s boat (there was no account of the fact that Jesus asked Peter’s permission before getting into the boat) and then asked him to push the boat a little off shore and Peter obliged. Then Jesus sat and preached to the crowd. As I read this first encounter Peter had with Christ, it was clear to me that Peter was one polite gentleman. How many of us will allow a total stranger into our boat without permission and then go ahead and push him a little off shore just because he asked as to? Well, this is not the focus of this devotion but worth thinking about.

Peter did not know Jesus Christ but trusted Him anyway. All he knew about Christ was a man who gathered the crowd and taught them. However, when this same man asked Peter to cast his net into deep water for a catch, Peter told him how hard he had worked and caught nothing but since He, Christ, says so, then he will. Am sure if we were in Peter’s shoes, we would brush aside Christ’s instructions because we would be thinking, “but this man is even not a fisherman so why must I listen to him?” But Peter listened to Him and he witnessed his first miracle with Christ!

For us, we know Christ and we are His followers but how many of us fully trust in Him? How many times have we doubted that He is capable of handling that problem we have? How many times have we gone ahead of Him to solve our problems in any way possible because we think He is delaying? How many times have we forgotten that He exists? How many times have we told ourselves that our challenge is impossible to overcome because we have worked at it with everything we have? Hebrews 11:6 tells us it is impossible to please God without faith and since following God requires pleasing Him, it is important our faith be as strong as that of Abraham, Abel, Enoch and Noah (Hebrews 11:1-12).

My prayer for us all is our faith be and remain as a solid rock in Christ Jesus-Amen! God bless you.

We can't fool God || More

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows"(NIV) Galatians 6:7

What sin did Jesus condemn more than any other sin? Hypocrisy, especially the flagrant, self-congratulatory kind practiced by the religious leaders of His day.

Religious hypocrites are unspiritual shams. They are trying to gain a reputation for spirituality by playing the role of God-lovers intent on obeying His law. They are unholy fakes who try to fool people, but they can't fool God.

I read an article about Luther Smith, a professor at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. He warned against the danger of "faking it", pretending to be something we are not. He mentioned that he had seen a bumper sticker that read, "Jesus is coming. Look busy."

Although we may look busy, we can't fool God about our faith, our character, or our service. Like the Pharisees, whom Jesus denounced (Mt. 23:13-28), we may appear to be sincerely religious, but the Lord knows if our profession is merely a facade without genuine devotion.

Are you a churchgoing hypocrite, depending on your own good works to gain entrance into heaven? Or are you trusting God's grace and relying on Christ? You can't fool God. It's not enough to look busy.

In Christ, there is only one choice || More

“Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.” (NIV) Philippians 2:5

There is a joke about a man who visited a rich man’s home. And everything he requested, the house help offered him choices to make a pick. This kept going till he decided not to request for anything. Sometimes, making a choice is so difficult because you really cannot tell the outcome of the choice we are making. Making a choice becomes more difficult when there are so many options to choose from but we are allowed to choose only one.

In Christ, the choice is only one because our choices must be Christ centered. There are so many life decisions and choices to make but in Christ those decisions become easy to take because the only choice we see as Christians is the choice with Christ as the focus. Let us look at some examples of some life choices.

A lady in her early thirties is looking forward to getting married one day. However, all her suitors are married men. She is gradually hitting her mid-thirties. There is so much pressure from her mother to get married because she is getting older. Worldly wise, she has two options; one, to cave in to the pressure and be a second wife or just wait for a single guy to come her way. However, in Christ, the choice which is Christ centered is just one; to wait for her own husband.

A gentleman who completed university seven years ago is still unemployed. After so many years of job search, a good job comes along but the CEO who is a female wants to sleep with him first before he can have the job. For people of the world, they have a choice between taking the job or letting it go. For Christians, we have one choice to make, the Christ centered choice of letting the job go.

That exam that determines if you graduate from school or not is so difficult you do not think you would pass. Sitting in front of you is the brightest student in class and just by stretching your neck, you can get to copy his work. However, a Christ centered decision is to refrain yourself from the act and just do your best but for the people of the world, the decision could be to copy or not to copy. The examples are so many.

It is not as easy as it looks to make Christ centered decisions and choices. But the long term benefits should give us the courage and eagerness to always make that one and only choice. Are you battling a choice to make today? Just pick the Christ focused one! That is the only sure choice! God bless you!

Do it out of reverence for Christ || More

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."(NIV) Ephesians 5:21

Many people say that the Christian life is very difficult to live but I beg to differ. I believe we have allowed the worldly standards of what is good and morally acceptable to overrule every word of God. It is now time for us to reverse the status quo or we perish in our sins.

As we focus on "The Christian home" for this month, I believe we can begin by critically analyzing the reference text (Ephesians 5:21). It may have been used to precede a command for married couples but it is a general statement hence the need to review its importance to our lives.

Christ's life on earth was marked by a higher sense of humility and submission to God, His father and to others around him. The cross was the summation of His selfless giving to the service of God and others. This He did unconditionally for us. It is to this effect that He is the greatest man to have ever walked the face of the earth and his works live forever. Similarly, the great men and women of God recorded were those who selflessly gave their services to others during their time on earth.

Christians today, are being admonished through Paul by Christ to submit to one another. Even when it may seem hard to submit to people who are proud, Christ says we should do it out of reverence- respect and love we have for Him, Christ.

Beloved in Christ, let’s put others' interests above ours and out of reverence for Christ, serve them as we would our Saviour. It pays a lot!

Friendship with Christ || More