#20: THE RESPONSE

By -

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O LORD!”. Luke 5:8.

There are moments in life when the glory and supremacy of God is revealed to you as a human, and you can perceive your emptiness and woes. At this point, we have to be careful how we handle this feeling. If not handled properly, it could lead us to further destruction. Can you compare the response that Peter gave in verse 8 with the one he gave in verse 5?

But Simon answered and said unto Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing, NEVERTHELESS AT YOUR WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NET”

In both verses it was clear to Peter of his short comings. Peter must have been a very honest man. He was never beating around the bush, but in v5, after being honest, he still left room for the Master to have his way. A repentant heart always leaves room for the NEVERTHELESS (in spite of what proceeded; yet) of God’s power that saves lost souls. Thank God that Jesus was quick to react to Peter’s recent status (the status of self-condemnation) in verse 10-And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. This is a consolation!

Even in our state of self-condemnation, if we listen carefully, the Spirit of God will be ministering grace and hope. One of the attributes of the Holy Spirit in us is to be a reminder [to bring our mission statement back to mind and set us on path for our work on earth]. Thank God that Peter got back on track and followed Jesus beyond his present status-they forsook all and followed Him (v 11b).

The way we respond to God’s teaching to us is supposed to lead to a repentance and a change of life, and not further condemnation. When the bible proclaims that “For all have sinned…” (Rom 3:23) it is because it is only sinners that need to be saved. So if the bible cannot convict you of your sins and short comings, then there is no part of life that needs to be changed or forgiven. It is our response to the conviction that determines whether we will be saved or remained condemned.

PRAYER: LORD, as I read your Word daily, teach me to know that You have not visited me to condemn me, but that through you I will become a better man. As you show me my weaknesses and sin, help me to surrender them totally to you. Amen.

Written by DiDi

Happy Sunday.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#126: The Story behind the Hymn I: When Peace, Like a River

By -
Author: Horatio Gates Spafford  (1873) In November, 1873, Horatio Spafford sent his wife and four daughters on the French ship  Ville du Havre  from their home in Chicago to a vacation in France, planning to set out a few days later himself. Somewhere in the Atlantic, the  Ville du Havre  collided with a British ship coming the other way, and sank in just 12 minutes. Of his family, only Spafford’s wife survived.  Spafford took the next boat over, and as he passed the spot where the ship went down, began to write, “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll,” and continued until he had the text, “It is well with my soul.” His good friend, Philip Bliss, composed the tune for his words, naming it after the ship, VILLE DU HAVRE.  In this hymn, Spafford has given all of us words of comfort and assurance in times of physical and spiritual crisis, paraphrasing those familiar words of Julian of Norwich: “And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all m
Read more

#152: FIRE

By -
Image
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Mathew 3:11) I’ve been going through the book of Mathew for a while now and you won’t believe what I saw. Well, you may have seen it before, but as for me, I had just seen this for the first time in my life. I sure had read this verse a couple of times in my lifetime, but I just never saw what I had just seen. This was what I saw, “…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. The word that struck me was the ‘and’ between the Holy Spirit and Fire. Questions began to run through my mind like; Is the baptism of the Holy Spirit different from that of Fire? But Isn’t The Holy Spirit fire Himself? For days I looked upon this verse; I couldn’t forge ahead until I got light.  In the midst of my search, I fell ill; seriously ill that I couldn’t do anything, not even to pray or stu
Read more

#147: THE FORGOTTEN ONE'S 1

By -
Image
“But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 [AMP]) I once heard a preacher say that the reason his church was not growing in size over the years was because the members were not living right; if they lived right, many would see the evidence of Jesus in their lives and follow them to church. That’s partially true, but not 100% true. I once heard another preacher say that the reason they were depreciating in number was because evil was looming around the church and preventing new members from coming in. Well, that could be true to some extent, but not 100% true. I sat wondering year after year why it was the same people I saw in church every Sunday. There was no single new member and the only difference was that these people were getting older and dying while children were born to others to rep
Read more