At Your Word

"But at Your word, I will let down the nets." Luke 5:5

Hey all!  Deeds here with a small blog devo. 😁  I channeled all my Sweet n' Sassy goodies for the month of March; all the new releases are shown in this entry including the "Texture Tile" stamps, the "Garden of Grace" printables, and "Go With" stamp set.  I have enjoyed how well all of them harmonize so beautifully on a page!  

||DEVO||

It must have been a bit ridiculous sounding when Jesus (a carpenter) told Peter (an actual fisherman) to try a select "technique" of fishing.  I like to think that Peter would have acted the same way I would have if someone had told me how to do MY job; raise MY kids; hone MY style; enjoy MY hobbies.

Jesus: "Peter, try throwing your net into the water on THAT side."
Peter:  "Lord, ummm, no offense.  I admire you and your skills as a carpenter.  I enjoy hanging out with you, because let's face it, you're fantastically different! But, I'm pretty sure that fishing - as close of a skill as it could be to carpentry - is not something you know anything about.  Maybe leave it to the ones to whom fishing is second nature?"

Jesus: "You'll get fish, I promise."
Peter:  (Chuckles) "Oh, Lord, I appreciate your contribution to my cause.  I'm tired and distraught enough to actually try it your way.  Because you say so, I will throw my nets to THAT side." 

I read a great sermon by C.H. Spurgeon regarding this passage.  He went into great detail about a few things that the simple statement, "At your word, Lord, I will..." carries with it.  

It's not a mere saying; it's not trite, or even stale when Peter says it.  It's huge!  It's actually the attitude of one who even IF he has doubts, he's willing to learn.  Even if he's mildly amused by Jesus' call to trust, he's also curiously drawn into Jesus Himself.  I think that's wonderful.  If we think in any way that we have MORE or even LESS faith than Peter, we don't know Peter very well.  He's prime example of the average person in his or her journey to get to know and love Jesus Christ.

Spurgeon writes that there are 3 implications that come when we say, "At Your word Lord, I will..."  

❶  The Word of Christ is supreme rule of the Christian. When we become Christians, Christ's Word has the overall authoritative position in our hearts.  The way of a Christian is to live according to His word; the position we take in Christ is that of "slave" under a perfect "Master" and "Lord."  We submit to this supreme Authority, and in all we do, live under His Word, which is the Bible. 

❷  The Word of Christ is our sufficient warrant.  Warrant?  For what?  Spurgeon says, "If the Lord Jesus Christ has bidden you do this, you certainly may do it; and if any shall ask you why you believe on Him, this shall be your triumphant answer, 'The King gave me the command to do so.'”
That is fantastic!  The King has given us all liberty to do what He has bid us to do!  I love the thought of being able to proceed with something that I'm called to do, and knowing that with that call comes absolute power and strength from the Lord Himself!  Peter has been told to do something, which then he has the absolute right and expectation of Jesus to go forth AND really catch some fish!  

❸  To keep the Master's Word is to ensure a reward!  The Lord promises reward.  He rewards for those who follow, trust, and act in Him.  If there is any question or doubt as to the legitimacy or certainty of something God is bidding us to do, we have only to remember: doing the Lord's work (whatever ministry we are called to) ensures that one day we will be rewarded for it.  Peter saw reward at that moment following his cast into a lake that he was certain was non-profitable.  We may not see the reward quickly, or in our best estimations, timely.  But know that what the Lord promises, He fulfills.  What does the scripture say?  For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Cor. 1:20)

So, now what?    

As Christians today, we DO have a calling and we CAN DO it in Jesus Christ because He has called us to it.  As tired or as distraught as we may feel, let's not give up, friend!  Don't let the enemy take from you all that Jesus has built up in you to use for His glory!  Believe His Word is supreme authority in your life; remember that we have power because His word is a warrant from a KING; and we WILL be rewarded.  God tells us to continue in faith because our labor (our ministry for the kingdom) is not in vain, and there will be fruit!  

God bless you in YOUR callings!

Deeds (Instagram: @mrcfuldeeds2010, Youtube: mrcfuldeeds)

God Is More Than Enough!

Recently our family celebrated the second anniversary of my grandsons' arrival from the Philippines.  They had been waiting for over a year after my son married their mother to rejoin her here in the United States.  It seemed like it took forever to complete all the complicated steps of their legal immigration paper work.  Finally the day arrived, the plane was on the way and the entire family waited with breathless anticipation for the boys and their mother to walk through the airport gate.  The boys and my son had skyped many times, so they knew each other, but this moment would be a once in a lifetime moment.  They would meet for the first time face to face.  I expected the boys, 7 and 10, to be shy and a bit reticent when the moment to meet actually arrived. Imagine our surprise and delight when they came through the gate, immediately laid eyes on my son and broke out in a full run shouting with complete abandon, "Daddy, Daddy."  They opened their arms wide and both simultaneously jumped up into his strong, waiting embrace.  As you may well imagine, there wasn't a dry eye in the terminal.

Our heavenly Father waits with strong and open arms to receive us whenever we need Him.  He will never turn us away.  Sometimes we are at a distance, communicating with Him, believing Him.  Then there are those times when we need to run to Him with complete abandon, call out His name and jump into those arms to be near His heart and feel His protective embrace around us.  He delights our in our need of Him.

God is always ready to accept our need of Him and work on our behalf.  He is always accessible and always moving in our lives for our good.  He watches over us, stands at our right hand, intimately knows us and our need.  He will neither slumber nor turn from us.  He will always have eyes to see us and arms to hold us.

Since Jesus instructed His disciples, believers have experienced trouble here on this earth.  In fact, He said the world would hate us.  Christian brothers and sisters are being tortured and killed in some parts of the world just because they are believers.  Even here in our country, we see contempt and intolerance for Christians growing.  We need not fear.  God is for us, He moves toward us to keep us in His arms, and we can trust that God is more than enough for anything we face.  He may not remove trouble from us, but we can rest assured He will hold us through it all.

For these pages I used chalks to color the background, SU inks for stamping and Copics for coloring.  I set my work with hairspray so the chalks wouldn't dust off.   I combined the following Sweet 'n Sassy stamps.  More will be released this month and you will absolutely love them for Bible journaling.

My Friend                              Perfect Faith

God Is For You

(newly released)

Diane Noble, Daydream Designs