Fishers of Men

 Matt 4:19,20
 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

The TV series, The Chosen, on Amazon Prime takes the liberty to fill in a lot of what might have taken place when Jesus encountered Simon-Peter, Andrew, James, and John. The two sets of brothers that would become 4 of the 12 Apostles who were called out of the world to begin a journey that would turn the world upside down. Scripture does not give us a lot of background information about these 4 men when Jesus called them to follow Him. But, we know that they were fishermen and making a living catching fish was not a lucrative career. It paid the bills, but their lives were simple and ordinary. They were ordinary Jews that lived day by day with the cares of life. They lived under Roman rule and were suppressed in spirit. They were governed spiritually by the Pharisees and High Priests, who were more concerned about their reputation than showing love and grace to their people. John the Baptist had already been preaching and paving the way for Jesus. The word was spreading that the Messiah would soon appear and would save the Jews from the bondage and tyranny of the Roman Empire. These fishermen would soon find out that this conquest to set the captive free was not from Roman rule, but from sin that ruled in the hearts of men. Their willingness to drop what they were doing and follow Jesus may not have been done with the right motives, but they knew there was something different about this man called Jesus. The love of God compelled these men to drop their fishing nets, leave the world they knew behind, and become fishers of men. Time will tell that these men would cast their net across Judea and many would be caught for Jesus..   

Winning Souls

 Proverb 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

The soul of man is trapped and is held by Satan. From the fall of Adam and Eve, the soul of man has been made captive to sin and darkness. A child, as innocent as it may be, was born with the nature of sin in his heart. The battle to “win” back God’s creation has been fought from the beginning of time. It is the desire of God that souls be brought back into fellowship with Him. Winning souls is to convert others from their sinful ways and win them over to Christ. To win is to teach and persuade others of the claims of Christ in their heart.  Teaching them that the source of life is found in the tree of life. Righteousness and right living is to confess our sins, trust in the blood of Christ to cleanse our heart from sin, and live righteously before Him. As Christians, we are to be ambassadors for Christ, doing what we can to convert others to follow Christ. Our first responsibility to win others to Christ is to live a life that reflects the image of Christ. Our words and teaching are discarded when our lives are not consistent with the teaching. It is through the teaching of the word in harmony with our lives that others can be won to Christ. It is possible to win others to Christ without walking them through the "Roman road to salvation." Our life should be a living Bible, seen and read by all men, but there is power in the spoken word. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Roman 10:10. Let our fruit be that of righteousness and our lives win others to Christ.

Whosoever Shall Be Saved

 Roman 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

What do we need to be saved from? Why do we need to be excused? We, creatures of humanity, born of Adam, inheriting the Adamic nature from the fall of Adam and Eve are a fallen race. Sin abides in our heart and the wages of sin is death. But, Jesus came to save us from death. He took upon Him the sins of the world, died on the cross and paid the debt that we owed. Everyone who will believe, and accept this work of Christ will be saved. Believing and accepting implies that we know that we are sinners and recognize that Jesus alone can forgive our sinful way. We confess with our mouth our depravity, and believe in our heart that Jesus took upon Himself our sins, we can be saved. The core of equity is made clear in scripture. “Whosoever” means every human being born on earth has access to this salvation. God is no respecter of person, regardless of the color of your skin, the identity of your birth, the culture of your land, or the genealogy line you come from, we all have the opportunity to be saved. God so loved the world, that He gave Son that we may be saved. We confess, We believe! We are saved.

A Living Sacrifice

 Roman 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

A living sacrifice is what God desires of us. Like Isaac who laid on the altar for Abraham ready to be offered up to God, God wants us willingly to give our entire life to Him. As Christian, we have already been forgiven of our sins and have been washed in the blood of Christ. We have already received the newness of life and are new creatures in Christ. The step of giving your body (Your life) a living sacrifice is a full surrender of all your hopes and desires. Our ambitions, goals, and aspirations are laid at the altar. Death to self, the removal of ourselves from the throne of our heart and putting God there. It is no longer our will, but God’s will be done. This is life experience and crossroads that all Christian come to. We don’t slowly present our bodies, but it is an act of the will that we present our life to God to use for His glory. This sacrifice means that we no longer live like the world. Our worldview is now based on God’s word. Our thoughts, way of Life, and behaviors are now conformed to how God wants us to live.

Conform Not

 Romans 12:2
​​Do not be conformed to this world,  but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..

The pressure to conform to the WOK ideology has never been greater. The freedom to believe and think according to one's own conscience only applies to those who conform to the political correctness of this present culture. The world is defined in scripture as a life living in opposition to God’s moral law and the teachings of Jesus. The philosophy of the world is to trust the arm of the flesh and believe that self is the supreme god that rules. Every man doing that seems right in their own sight. As Christians, we are not to conform to the thinking of this world that is contrary to what is good and holy and acceptable to God. We are to present our lives as a living sacrifice to God. This is the will of God, that His people be transformed, set apart from sin, transformed by His grace, showing forth the gifts of God given to each one of us. The carnal mind has been renewed into the mind of Christ. Our lives are transformed, and seek to be more like Jesus.

Reconcilation

 Romans 5:10
 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Basic Bible doctrine of the purpose of Jesus coming to earth, Why the Son of God was sent to walk the dusty roads of His own creation. Man’s disobedience caused him to fall away from a holy relationship with his Creator. All humans born into this world are born with the nature of sin in their heart, yet God left within man a desire to have fellowship with his creator. This is the struggle of good and evil. There is no amount of good that man can do to erase the evil (Sin) in the heart of man. To regain our relationship with our Creator and be reconciled, Christ had to die, pay the supreme sacrifice. We are made clean through the shed blood of Christ and now can come boldly to the throne of God. Reconciliation did not stop with his death, Jesus rose again from the grave that we could be saved by His life. Because He lives, we also can live a life that is holy and blameless without sin. I write nothing profound, I write the truth of God’s word, and I choose to believe it. Thanks be to God!

Show Real Love

 Romans 12:9, 10
  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good...Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another,
Don’t pretend to love or try to act like you care when you really don’t. It is hypocritical to say you love someone, then treat them unkindly. Stay away from anything that is bad, hold tightly to everything that is good. Put others before your wants and needs, show others what love is really about by being kind, go the extra mile to show your love. Be an extension of Christ and let love reign in every part of your life.

Power of the Holy Spirit

 Roman 15:13
The God of hope fills you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Living the Christian life can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit. In our humanity, we can set our will and determination to do right and live justly, but living with hope and being filled with peace during times of hardship, uncertainty, and tribulation is made possible only through the power of the Spirit. Calling upon His power is made accessible to us as we keep our relationship with Him open. We walk in His word, we talk daily with Him as we go about our daily routines. The power of the Holy Spirit is made available to believers to live victorious and overcome unrest and discouragement. Call upon the Holy Spirit. Let Him fill you with love, peace and joy.

Who Shall Be Saved

 Romans 10:13
 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Salvation is not automatic. Christ dying on the cross for the world does not save the world, but it provides a way for the world to be saved. The world is lost in darkness and sin remains lost and without hope, unless it calls upon the Name of the Lord. The Gospel is no respecter of people. Salvation is not restricted to a selected few or some elect hand-picked by God. All people from all lands, all cultures, all languages have access to this great salvation. It is truly for whoever will. We are not born Christians, or even raised Christians, we become Christians when we call on His Name, confess with our lips that we are sinners, and make Him Lord of our life. 

Romans 1-3

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believeth”- It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is able to set  the sinner free from the life of sin. In a world that mocks the faith of Christians and their belief in God’s Word, a Christian that will stand for truth will make no apologies for their faith. There will come a day when every knee will bow at the feet of Jesus and confess that He is Lord, but their confession will be too late. In the face of ridicule and mockery, the righteous man will by faith stand for the righteousness of God and it’s power to give new life to all who will bow the knee of their own free will. (Rom 1a)

“he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and whose circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, and whose praise is not from men, but from God.”- It is the heart that is the issue. Keeping the law and obeying the letter of the law is to be admonished, but the secret to spiritual life is the cleansing and purifying of the heart of men through the blood of Christ. Our acceptance with God is not filter through the judgment of men, but through a God who is all knowing and is able to discern the attitudes and motives of the heart. It is the approbation of God we desire and not the approval of men. (Rom 2)

“for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”- It matters not who your parents are, or your “royal” blood that runs in your family. Everyone born into this world is lost and without God. His grace covers those who have not reach the point accountability, but nevertheless, humanity in all of it’s efforts to obtain God’s favor, still fall short of God’s required atonement for sin. No man is righteous within himself, righteousness come only from God who is holy. But, thank God provision has been made and we can find God’s glory through Christ Jesus. (Rom 3)