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We all want to step out in faith and have God do things in our lives ... However, simply stepping out in faith is not really a problem, but ... ... without truly trusting God and His Word ... ... so that we have something to step out on ... leaves many a faith step, fruitless!
The biggest challenge to our faith ... is TRUST! Do you really trust God? Do you trust His Word enough to step out in faith ... ... being sure that God will do what He said He will do! Sadly ... ... most of the time we have to say, No! Jesus, knowing that the essence of faith, is trust ... ... that (truly) trusting God and His Word is the foundation to faith and to receiving from God ... Therefore, right at the beginning of His ministry He taught His disciples, and in particular Simon Peter, ... this very practical lesson...  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon,
"Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. --- Luke
5:4-6
Jesus had been ministering all day, in fact He had been teaching, standing in Peter's boat because of the multitude pressing about Him. When Jesus had finished teaching, He told Peter who was in the boat with Him, to launch out into the sea and cast his net into the water for a catch. Peter replied, saying ... "Master, we have fished all night and caught nothing, but at Your Word, I will cast my net out for a catch." What happened? They caught so many fish, the net nearly broke! Why did Jesus do this? What was He showing or teaching His disciples? Jesus knew that for God to be able to do something for us, it is imperative that we ... ... accept God's Word, ... trust God's Word, that what God said will happen, and in trust ... ... act on or obey God's Word! Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. --- Psalm
37:5
Peter and the other disciples had to learn ... ... that only when they listened to Jesus and in faith, trusting His Word, obeyed His instruction ... ... then there was a supernatural result, a Godly provision!
Well that was easy for Peter and the disciples ... Jesus was there personally to teach them and to help them when they needed some help. But, was that really so? Well, for the next three years Peter and the other disciples walked with Jesus, were taught by Jesus Himself and were present when God performed miracles ... And in particular we find Peter doing his utmost to be the best and greatest disciple of them all. Peter was always in front ... first to answer and first to act, but as just often, Peter also missed it. At the end of Jesus' ministry, when Jesus told His disciples that the time had come for Him to be taken, Peter was the one who drew his sword to defend Jesus ... ... totally missing what Jesus had told them that He had come to accomplish. Not much more than an hour after Jesus was arrested, we find Peter denying that he even knew Jesus... And then ... only a few days later, Peter together with the other disciples return to their fishing trade. If only Jesus were here ... Did the disciples really benefit more than anyone else, from the fact that ... ... they walked with Jesus, ... were taught by Jesus, ... and that He was there to help them? No, not at all! As Jesus Himself said to Thomas ... "Thomas,
because you have seen Me,
you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." ---
John
20:29
If having been with Jesus, and being taught of Jesus was the criteria of faith, then they should have been spiritual giants, able to cope with any situation ... ... but in fact we find exactly the opposite. We find that Peter and the other disciples had to deal with faith in exactly the same way as we have to ... ... accepting God's Word, ... trusting God's Word, and in trust ... ... acting on or obeying God's Word! |
Praise God ... Love never fails! And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love --- 1 Cor.
13:13
It does not matter how much we miss the mark ... ... Love never fails us. God will always reach out to us, and help. The disciples and in particular Peter, after three years of being personally taught by Jesus ... had missed the mark! Jesus
had taught them all about faith ...
... shown them how to step out in faith ... even as far as walking on water! Yet ... something was missing ... Could
it be that Jesus did not teach them well?
Certainly not! Then what was missing? After His resurrection... Jesus, knowing the situation the disciples were in, ... knowing that they had failed ... ... knowing that they needed help ... went to where they were. Knowing what they were lacking, He went to show them what they were missing and what was limiting their faith. Just
like at the very beginning of His ministry ...
... Jesus finds them fishing, and just like the first time, ... something was lacking! Was it the fish that was lacking? Was it faith that was lacking? What was it? But when the morning had now come,
Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any food?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.  Jesus saw the disciples fishing, and asked them whether they had caught any fish. Not knowing that it was Jesus, they answered Him with the same answer as Peter did 3 years before, ... No! we have fished all night but caught nothing! So ... Jesus gives them the same instruction as He did 3 years before ... Cast the net in on the right side, and you will find fish. Still not having recognised Jesus, they obeyed His instruction, casting their net in, and again with the same result ... a net filled with a multitude of fish! Seeing the net filled with fish, Peter immediately realised that it was Jesus who was speaking to them ... ...not because he recognised Jesus, but because Peter remembered what had happened 3 years earlier.
The first thing
Jesus had taught the disciples about
faith
and being blessed by God, in
a very practical way,
was ... ... hearing and accepting God's Word, ... trusting God's Word, and in trust, ... acting on or obeying God's Word! For three years Jesus had to teach them the same lesson ... Why? What was missing? No!
... it was not the fish that was missing ...
... they caught a net FULL of fish! No! ... it was not their (faith) action that was missing ... they were there, and they were fishing! BUT ... ... Who were they trusting? Too often we expect to be blessed, ... we expect God to do something for us, But, have we actually asked Him ... where, when and how? In other words ... Are we acting out of our need, expecting God to bless us ... ... because He promised to meet our needs? or ... Are we actually TRUSTING God? ... and doing what He told us to do? Are we acting on His word to us, personally? Who or what are we trusting and placing our step of faith on? "Now it shall come to pass,
if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: --- Deut. 28:1-2 Trusting
Love ... is a personal relationship ...
... listening to His voice, to you! ... doing what He told YOU to do! Yes, there is fish in the lake ... but, on which side of the boat did He tell you to throw the net?.  Jan D vander Merwe
Covenant
Ministries
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Just
like Jesus' disciples, we all want God to do things
When Jesus sent His disciples out to minister ... Luke 10:1-9 Jesus was teaching them that ... ... the emphasis is not on what God could do for them, ... but on what God could do through them! ... When Jesus showed His disciples where the fish were ... Luke 5:4-6 - John 21:4-6 Again Jesus was teaching them that ... ... the emphasis should not be on their needs, ... but on their trust in God and His Word! At the same time, Jesus showed them that in everything ... ... God is more than enough ... Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. ---
John
21:9
For Jesus had already prepared a meal for them, ... not out of what they had caught ... but, ... out of Jesus' provision, out of God's supply! What does that mean in our lives?
If we trust Jesus and
listen
to His voice ...
If we act on His Word, to us ... ... He will not only show us how to get our every need met, but ... ... He will equip us to reach out to others, and ... ... meet their needs through us!  As Jesus said to His disciples ... For he and all who were with him were astonished
at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men." --- Luke
5:9-10
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Kitale Youth Meeting ...
Covenant
Ministries Kenya has begun to sponsor a youth event every month, and
was able to talk to over 500 youth this past Saturday.
We are doing this because almost 80% of our youth are idle and this only brings in opportunity for sin. We are teaching the youth about Peter and how to fish, from John 21, and about God's blessing and their responsibility from Gen.1:28 and Mark 16:20. These events are attracting hundreds of kids and we are starting to see some changes as they start responding and start finding something to do. Kids are beginning to try whatever is available for them. Some are getting involved in farming, music, art and craft, and other kinds of trade skills. We believe that with this kind of approach we at Covenant Ministries Kenya can help destroy ignorance, poverty and laziness in our young people.  When Kids understand themselves and get busy being themselves and doing what they can do, then they have no time for immorality and we believe that this will even help take care of the AIDs problem here in Kenya. The Area Chief has approached us and asked how we have manage to bring so many youth together. I told her that it is because this teaching leaves the youth with something to do and that the youth themselves can witness the change in their own lives as they begin to do and act on what they hear. I will also be meeting with some local authorities soon to explain the power behind our approach to this generation using covenant principles.  Pastor Dawson Mudenyo Covenant Ministries Kenya
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