Two Lots Of Fish

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. John 21:11

Two stories of the Lord Jesus providing a miraculous catch of fish, one in Luke and one in John. In one case, two boats are not sunk but the number of fish is not told. In the case of our verse for today, the number was counted by someone and so is the size of the fish noted, and in this case the net remains unbroken. The first case came early in our Lord's ministry at the calling of the disciples, while the second from John came after the resurrection. In both cases though, professional fishermen had caught nothing in a night of labor just before the big catch. We see the miracle of bounty and want that, but how often do we consider that the Lord also provided for nothing for a long period of time first? To spread a net and catch nothing at all could happen, once, twice, but all night? Nothing at all, not even a junk fish or two? The hand of the Lord may provide to us in our endeavors a long night of nothing to prepare us for the big catch.

Watch for Him!

Bucky

Standing On The Precipice Of History

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
  -- Malachi 4:5-6

These are the closing words of the Old Testament in the Bible. Another prophet, Amos, had foretold of a famine of hearing the words of God, and Malachi closed out the writing of the word. Centuries would pass before John the Baptizer came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but he was not Elijah. The famine had ended though, and John is the herald of the New Testament. I wonder at times though if Malachi knew that he stood on the precipice of history as the final prophet of the age? I wonder if Malachi and John met in Heaven with a 'Hey, Brother!' as the famine of the word ended with the coming of Jesus? Maybe we will get to ask them soon.

The famine has ended, as Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Bucky

You Follow Me

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”  John 21:22

Is the election over yet? Three more weeks from tomorrow? Ahhh, no, say it isn't so! The disciples took from our verse for today something that humans have looked for since their earliest times - immortality. John wrote to set them straight on that since what Jesus said was about comparisons. "You follow Me," Jesus said to Peter to remind us not to worry over God's will for others as we walk with Him. We can easily be led astray worrying over another believer's circumstance. While there are followers of Jesus who are wealthy in faith, there are also those who are just plain old wealthy. What is that to us? We follow the Lord Jesus! For most of us comparisons with other believers will not work out anyway. Living that way we will end up too much this or not enough that until we are depressed and anxious all the day long. Follow Jesus. 

To each of us He has said, "You follow Me."

Bucky

Takes Away The Sin

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  John 1:29

Has a nation ever chosen a lamb as its national animal? Perhaps a small nation who didn't want to attract the unwelcome attention of powerful neighbors with their lions, bears, or eagles, might do so. We generally do not look to a lamb to stimulate respect for our strength in others. And yet, here comes the Son of the Almighty, and John said to look at the Lamb. The Jews at that time were fully expecting the Lion to come and chase out the Romans. They got the Lamb. To those who are given the ability to believe in Jesus though, Lamb sounds exactly right. 

Gentle, humble, and Savior, the Lamb of God! 

Bucky

You Need Some Euangelion

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.  Matthew 24:14

As always it seems, there are plenty of bad tidings to tell of this morning, and our news media has become proficient at telling of it. So, you need some euangelion this morning. That odd-looking term I used is the Greek for gospel, which means glad tidings. You and I need some glad tidings this morning, and our Lord promises that His glad tidings will be preached in all the world. Just a quick glance at all the different religions active in the world today makes that promise quite a bit of good news all around. But His glad tidings are not just a geographic quota to be filled. There are the promises of eternal life, love, joy, peace, and righteousness. An end to sorrows, grief, despair, and sadness comes as a further promise of joy unending in our Lord Jesus. For the lonely there is the hope of close companionship, and for those in pain or fear there is an end to the old things. Why there is even talk in Isaiah of predator and prey animals lying down together with a little child leading them. 

It's about time for some good news, and Jesus is just the man for the job!

Bucky

His Way

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. Mark 9:43 NLT

In our studies of historical peoples we have read of those who prepared the corpse for a successful afterlife with horse, weapon, money, and even wives and servants. Imagine having all of this prepared for you, but no hands! Of course Jesus knew when He said this that hands don't just take off on their own to do sin. When it comes to dismemberment for preventing sin, the head would seem to be the place to start. But that causes other problems such as being rather permanent. He who has ears to hear... cannot hear when his head has departed his body. The message here seems to be about priority. Is your priority entering God's kingdom in Heaven, or is it to be with the sinners in Gehenna, that Greek name for Hell? Eternity sounds like such a dreadful long time to be in a place of fire and brimstone.

Of course we know from the Word that salvation comes by faith in Christ Jesus, and not (sigh of relief!) by dismembering our sinful bodies. Praise God for His way!

Bucky

The Start Of Something

So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.  Exodus 12:14 

Moses did not know at this time that the Lord not only began the feast of the Passover, but in time would also start the celebration of communion. It was at the Passover that Jesus told His disciples to take the bread and the wine in remembrance of Him. I wonder if there will be another celebration added to this when Jesus returns? Perhaps the celebration of the wedding of the Lamb and His Bride will take place at the Passover too. We may be looking ahead to something new that began way back in the days of Moses, or Adam! 

An everlasting ordinance for a celebration of God's work, that's wonderful!

Bucky

He Saw And Believed

Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. John 20:8

Thomas has been called by a derogatory term among believers. But it would appear from our verse for today that young John might also deserve that name. He too had to see and then believe. Due to his statement, we add the name 'Doubting' to Thomas, but all the disciples had to see before they would believe it. So, why do we in our age have to go by their testimony for our belief? That is what Jesus wanted from His disciples as well, to believe in Him because of His testimony. None of the disciples were present outside of Bethlehem when the Heavenly Host praised God. Only the Baptizer saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove on Jesus. But the disciples all needed testimony, teaching, miracles, death, and finally resurrection before they would believe. Before He ascended to the Father, Jesus imparted one blessing that none of the twelve disciples can enjoy:

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

Rejoice that we have not seen and yet have believed!

Bucky

You Will Decide

You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways. Job 22:28

Often we are told that answers to prayer may be in the form of yes, or no, or even wait. But another answer to prayer may be that you or I will need to make a decision. If we take our verse for today, all sounds good and righteous in our decision. However, after yesterday you will note that this comes from Job, and from the same chapter, which means that it is ol' Eliphaz still speaking. Oh no! Yes, Eliphaz has told Job that after he returns to God and when he agrees with God, then all will be right and happy. But that big assumption of Eliphaz still hangs out there over Job, that he was not with God already and that all these terrible crimes against the poor man are punishments.

Therefore, how does that bear on our current circumstances? An answer to prayer may be that a decision is required and God will be with us either way we go. Or, it may be that we have a sin that has put us in a place where the Lord would not have us go in either direction from where we are and we do need to return to Him. If you are standing in righteousness as Job was, make the decision and have no fear. If on the other hand, the assumption of Eliphaz is correct in my case or yours, then stop, leave the decision and come to God in prayer and repentance.

Oh, that darn context!

Bucky

Is God Invested In Us?

Can a man be profitable to God,
Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
-- Job 22:2

References to Job, such as our verse for today, must be used carefully. For many verses in Job come from those friends of his who wanted to show that he had sinned and his punishment was deserved. God, as we recall, had boasted that Job was blameless and upright. Now there is a character reference! When we read what appears to be an erudite question from Job's companions, we may want to read on before answering. For example, the very next question from this Eliphaz goes: Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? And we say, "Yes! Absolutely!" For we know that God is indeed invested in us and delights when any of us choose righteousness over sin. Just how much God invested in us can be seen at the cross where His Son gave His life to save us.

May His investment have a great return on it!

Bucky