How Are My Sheep?

God has brought something very serious to my attention. How am I using my (it’s really all His) money? I was skipping along happily through my days and not really regarding my budget. I made it years ago and was sticking to it but the circumstances of daily life have changed and I didn’t. So now I have to rethink and restructure. Is it painful? Yes.

Proverbs 27:23 - 27 Know well the condition of your flocks,and give attention to your herds,for riches do not last forever;and does a crown endure to all generations?When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,the lambs will provide your clothing,and the goats the price of a field.There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

Applied to me in this modern day; I’m supposed to know the condition of my income. Like the shepherd should know each face of his flock, I’m supposed to know each line item and how much it is costing me. Because, yes, money doesn’t last forever. The writer of proverbs wants us to look ahead when the monthly money (that green grass) is gone. Does new money (new vegetation) replace it? Can I support myself with what is coming in? Can I maintain it for the year? I want the “girls” (whomever is dependent on my income) to be sustained.

Yep, I let this slip up on me. But I’m getting back to taking care of my sheep. It’s not an easy task to change a budget and stick with a new lifestyle. God, however, has so richly blessed us that we are accountable to Him to use our money not only for our household maintenance but also for the advancement of His kingdom on earth. It’s not just my personal sheep but the sheep of the world.

So with a lot of prayer and Holy Spirit intelligence (I’m not good with numbers.) I’m working out next year’s herd of sheep. I will know each fixed little sheep face. And have a better prediction of the variable sheep faces. I’ll even have to be ready for the emergency little sheep that are a bit unexpected.

It’s time to find out:

How are my sheep doing?

Desired Haven

What if you were one of Jesus’ disciples in the stormy sea when Jesus calmed the water by saying three words: “Peace, be still”? You would probably breathe a sigh of relief. Calm would probably engulf your body making your grip loosen, and your shoulders relax, and your muscles unwind. Spa time!

King David also wrote about this same scenario and the same feeling. I think that though we are not fisherwomen out on the stormy sea, we all have those moments when all we want is a little calm.

Psalm 107:23-31

Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
They saw the deeds of the LORD,
his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!

Those words really struck my heart as I read them this past week. I remember crying out to the Lord in my trouble and distress. I remember telling God that I felt like I was in a rushing river going toward the waterfall and all I could think of was just for God to let me pass a branch I could grab and hold onto before I went over the edge. I know that is a run on sentence but go back and read it as fast as you can and that is how I felt.

I know that I’m not the only one who has felt the storm of life.  You may have had this life hurricane and reeled and staggered your way at your wit’s end just trying to make it through the day. It’s in those times you and I cried to the Lord, “Give me a branch! Give me a branch!”

But our Lord God is greater than the storm. He doesn’t give a branch. He stops the tempest. We realize that He has delivered us to a safe harbor or our desired haven.

Our Deliverer has taken us into the middle of His love for us.

Let us always be thankful for His steadfast love in the storm and in the safe harbor.

He will deliver us to our desired haven…His arms.

Wait Like a Tree

After a friend asked me to paint a picture of a giant oak tree for her I started noticing trees. And I started thinking about trees. And I started looking at trees.

Trees are pretty wonderful. They all started from a seed, even the really big ones. Then they just grew. Rain and sun helped but mostly it was years that made the huge ones what they are today.

Years of just growing. Years of just being what God created them to be. I know it sounds a little sappy (yes, pun intended) but I never really thought about trees in the perspective of years, decades, and centuries before. With these thoughts in mind, I drove around town one day to find really large trees and wonder how long they had been there just growing and waiting.

In my quest to see giant trees I realized that God wants to take the time to make us into His ultimate design like He has taken His time with trees. He wants us to learn what doesn’t come fast and natural to us. Sin is natural for us (and fast before you realize it.) Godliness takes time. Some of us take longer than others to learn our God brought lessons. I'm glad God is a patient teacher and will pursue us even when we don’t want to pursue Him.

Trees are teaching me to wait. Trees are teaching me to look behind and see what God did with a seed like me and to look to the future to see the tree I will become. I know I’m taking the tree analogy a little too far, but when you just stop and look at trees you get the sense of the Creator and a sense of the created.

Joyce Kilmer Got it right.

Trees

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree… (skip some)

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray…(skip some)

Poems are made by fools like me

But only God can make a tree.

And looking at God all day and constantly lifting our prayers to Him is a great and glorious thing. Kind of like a tree. We wait and watch and learn and grow.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

We can fly and run and walk unlike trees. But we must all wait. Wait for God to grow us into His likeness.

Wait like a tree.

Make Sure You’re In the Correct Line

Something wonderful happened to me when I printed out my boarding pass for a recent airline flight. It had “TSA” written at the top. I love those letters when I fly. That means I go in the short line and the whole process of check-in is so much easier. The workers don’t treat me like a would-be meanie. I always feel so intimidated and guilty when they do that. But this time I had a happy experience.

Not so for the elderly couple in front of me. They were in the TSA line but didn’t have the TSA clearance. They couldn’t understand why they had to go to the end of the other long, long line and start over. They were surprised and shocked. I mean, really, who would suspect these people? There they stood with shoes in hand, one carry-on apiece, and a little baggie of liquids. Weren’t they doing every right? Yes. Did they meet the demands of airport security? No.

I thought of That Day when Jesus lines us up to be evaluated to enter His kingdom.

(Jesus said) Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you, depart from Me, You workers of lawlessness.” Matthew 7:21-23

You see? It’s not what you have done for Jesus. It’s what Jesus has done for you. God the Father’s will is that you accept the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as atonement for you sin and surrender yourself to His leading in your life. You can’t do works, no matter how wonderful, to earn that.

The elderly couple was not in the correct line. They didn’t meet the standard, no matter how much work they had done to follow the rules. They had to go in the other line.

Without Christ’s salvation accepted there is no entrance in heaven, not matter how many wonderful Godly works you have done.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

It’s not “TSA.” It’s “HAS” – Heavenly Admittance Security

Make sure you’re in the correct line.

Cell Phone Trouble

I’m still in awe of modern electronics. Our cell phones have come a long way. Yes, cell phones are great…until you have a problem with them.

Cell phone trouble sent me to the cell phone technology help store. My phone wouldn’t hold a charge, any calls to me went straight to voice mail, I had no audio notifications that I had incoming calls or texts, and my calls out took so long to connect that sometimes my phone just dropped it, and just forget my outgoing text deliveries.

The kind young tech girl quickly found the problem. She said that every time my phone was used it had to do a search for a server. “But I have a server,” I said. “Yes,” she answered, “But your phone has to recognize it each time. It’s not the server; it’s the phone not having a consistent connection to the server.” And she fixed that.

Suddenly, my battery had longer life, all calls and texts were coming and going with speed, and all the pings and dings I programmed into my phone to let me know I had current information were pinging and dinging.

And I realized that, boy howdy, there’s a spiritual lesson for me here.

Stay consistently connected to God (the server.)

It’s not the server’s fault that I’m disconnected. It’s my fault.

R. A. Torry (A pretty famous evangelist, church and college starter of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s) wrote it this way in His book, The Power of Prayer.

The people of Isaiah’s time were saying, “God does not answer prayer any longer. He may have answered in Moses’s days. He may have answered in the days of Elijah, but He does not answer any longer. Either His ear is heavy that it cannot hear, or His hand is shortened that it cannot save.”

“No, no,” said Isaiah, “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save: neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear. (Isa. 59:1-2) The trouble is not with God. The trouble is with you. Your sins have separated between you and God…If you are praying for something and not getting it, I beg you, do not think that God does not answer prayer…God may be dealing with you. He may be trying to bring you to your senses and to Himself. Get alone with God and honestly ask Him to show you if there is something wrong in your heart and life...When He shows you, set it straight at once. You will find an open heaven and a God who answers prayer.

Well said, R.A. Well said.

Stay connected to God by taking care of your sin.

And you will have constant  and consistent access to the Father.

Not A Professional

And yet another teacher of first graders story:

One little girl with her new school tennis shoes was having trouble keeping the laces tied. We, as teachers, try to help them become problem solvers and I encouraged her several times during the day to try it herself or find a friend. At the end of the school day she came to me with shoe laces trailing and said, “Ms. A. will you please tie my shoes?” I asked her if she knew how to tie shoes. To which she replied, “Yes, but I’m not a professional.”

It made me think of Philippians 3:12-14. Even Paul, the great apostle and devout follower of Christ Jesus, had to admit that he wasn’t a professional at this being a Christian.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I strive to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. I do not consider that I have made it my own. (He admitted that he wasn’t a professional yet.) But this one thing I do: forgetting what happened in my past and straining forward to what lies ahead, I pursue earnestly to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

I’m not perfect in this living the Christian life either. You may see me regularly with my spiritual shoelaces dragging. But I’m making a habit of pursuing the life that God wants me to have. If the laces of my life come untied and trip me up a bit I tie them, get back on track with God, and keep at it.

We don’t have to be professional Christians. We just have to be student Christians; always learning, always pursuing, and always reaching for our Jesus. He’s the professional. He will help us in this life to reach the heavenly goal.

I'm not a professional.

But one day I’ll be able to keep these life shoelaces tied!

To All The Nancy Nice Girls

Romans 13:1-7Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, (be nice – I added this interpretation) and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Yes, I had to remind myself of this passage just the other day. I was at the “Everything and Groceries Too” store at the self-checkout. The button “Finish and Pay” was flashing with a total of $89 and some cents. Since I hadn’t scanned anything, I had to call over the girl who oversaw the self-checkout stands. At first she wanted me to pay the total flashing but she saw I only had 4 things in my basket and it would have hardly totaled $30. So she had to cancel out the total and get to the start button. I questioned her, “So, do you mean someone scan scammed almost a hundred dollars’ worth of groceries and just walked out?” She said, “Yes, Ma’am.” And we both shook our heads. 

It just bothered me all the way home trying to consider how someone could go to that extreme to get around the system and do it with a clear conscience. Wouldn’t it bother them? How could they sleep? How could they eat food they stole? And, Yes, I had just read Romans 13 (in my quest to read through the Bible in a year) that morning.

I tried to picture myself doing the scan scam and couldn’t. Now before I got self-righteous patting myself on the back for being such a Nancy Nice, I had to realize that the Holy Spirit in me was the conscience warning part that made me have a problem with the scan scam artist. I couldn’t steal like that, not because of me but because of the Holy Spirit in me.

Sometimes we read passages in the Bible like Romans 13 and think of our submission to governmental authority only. But it goes to a more personal level. We are always to be Nancy Nice’s wherever we go. We don’t come back with an angry response, we don’t try to find the loop hole, and we do what is the nice and right thing to do. The Bible becomes our truth standard that we follow even when we see a way get around the system.

That day was a reminder of what the unredeemed heart considers acceptable because it wasn’t caught. That day reminded me of my redeemed heart that would have bothered me just considering doing the stealing. That day made me thank the Holy Spirit for making me a Nancy Nice. Now I’m not sinless. Oh no, I can sin with the best of them BUT I can’t walk away without getting smacked by my conscience. I just know I can’t sin guilt free. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

To all the Nancy Nice’s out there;

Thank you.

Let’s be nice for conscious sake together.

Psalm 119:1-2 Blessed are those whose way is blameless (the Nancy Nice's,) who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek the Him with their whole heart.

It’s OK to Ask for Grace

I was reading a Facebook message from Jo Hancock, founder of His Vessel Ministries, which really spoke to my heart. Here is a little of it: “THEN PRAY FOR GRACE. It is the GRACE of God poured out in your heart …” She said more but really the Holy Spirit stopped me at “PRAY FOR GRACE.”

I’m really good at praying for mercy (the compassion and forgiveness toward me from God not to give me the judgment for sin I deserve.) As I said, I’m really good at praying for mercy because I need a lot of daily mercy. I am confident that God forgives through Christ Jesus. This is The Great Compassion shown by God to cover my daily sinful boo boos.

But it seems I either didn’t know I could pray for grace, or forgot I could pray for grace, or didn’t feel worthy to ask for grace. Grace is the free unmerited favor bestowed extravagantly on me in the form of blessings made possible with my salvation through Jesus Christ. I guess I just waited to see if God would bless me. He did but I never asked for more.  Maybe I was missing the outpouring of Gods good things for me. Maybe I was missing the awareness of the little gifts poured on me from God each day and only noticed the big knock me in the head obvious blessings.

My Bible quest in, “Do I pray for grace?” was quite a revelation:

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.

Palm 142:1 I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy. ... My voice is unto Jehovah, I cry, my voice is unto Jehovah, I entreat grace. ... 

1 John 1:16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

It seems not only will my Father God lavish gracious blessings on me but I can entreat, beg, and implore My God for grace.

I like this little quote from Suzanne Eller's book Mended Heart: “He invites us to step into His presence where mercy and grace await to help us in our time of need. (This is a great book I read at the beach. God used this book to overhaul and begin to mend my broken heart.)

I’m so happy to finally find out after all these years of being a Christian that, yes, “little ole me” can confidently ask for grace from my Heavenly Father.

And do you know what? He’ll give it.

“I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous Presence.” Christopher Columbus  

Only Christians Understand

Pastor Wade's message on Sunday really caused me to pause and think. I know. I'm just as surprised at myself as you are.

He posed two questions- What if someone asked you, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” or “What does it mean to be ‘saved’?” I started thinking that there are things that we, Christians, say and live by that someone who is not a Christ follower would have a hard time understanding. Such as…

1. I have surrendered my life to Christ.

We don’t like to surrender to live under anyone’s authority. Winston Churchill’s famous WW2 speech is sometimes our battle cry, “We shall never surrender." Yet Christ asks us to surrender this “never” to Him to do with us as He wishes. Only Christians understand that when we surrender our lives to Christ, we win

Ephesians 1:21-23 Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

2. Not my will but Your will, God (we say as we pray.)

We live in a “me, me, mine, mine” culture. We feel we are given certain rights that provide what we want without question. Only Christians understand that everything belongs to God our Creator. He has a brilliant plan for the world set up since the beginning of time that will not be changed or be compromised. We are given the privilege to ask our Father for anything and know that God will give us and our world what is better than we can ask or even think to ask.  

Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”

3. Salvation is not a religion, it’s a life covenant.

We like to put people in groups: ethnicity, sexual orientation, grade levels, ages, geo/political areas, and, yes, religions. Only Christians understand that following Christ is a covenant or promise we make with Christ to surrender our corrupt nature and follow Him and His teachings in the Holy Bible for our lifetime.

Colossians 2:6  So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him.

It’s not a special closed club that is hard to get into.

Just believe that only Jesus atoned for your sinful self.

Trust and surrender to His Lordship of your life.

Be faithful in your pursuit of a constant fellowship relationship with God.

When you are a Christ follower, you understand.

Just Like Your Daddy

As I was walking on the beach I heard little snippets of conversations. Kids are just funny. One boy (probably about 7 year old) ran up to his mom and said he was tired of the beach and wanted to leave. His mom said, “Well, just go up to the room. Dad’s there. You are just like your Daddy!” I took that to mean that dad wasn’t a real beach lover either.

But it made me think of me with my Heavenly Father. I hope someone says that I’m just like my Heavenly Daddy.

1 John 4:13-17 This is how we know we abide in Him and He in us: He has given us His Spirit. We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. God abides in the one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and He abides in God. We have come to know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. This is how love has been perfected among us: we have confidence on the Day of Judgment because; during our time in this world we are just like Him.

It’s all about abiding in God.

And this abiding means:

1. To stay with Him,

2. Continue to stay with Him,

3. To linger in His presence spiritually,

4. To remain always with Him,

5. And to have a constant relationship with Him.

We have to believe in Him and  “go up to the room. Dad’s there.”

And then we have to stay with our God.

Then we will be just like Him.

The Difference Between Happiness and Joy

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

I’ve been thinking about that hymn lately and am not quite sure about that little ditty of a chorus. The other words to the hymn are great though. OK, I trust in God. I obey His Word. I’m enfolded in Jesus’ love. But “happy” in Jesus? Not always.

There are 658,000 responses on Google about the Biblical difference between happiness and joy. I didn’t read all of them but the answer seems to be … Happiness is instigated by an external source and Joy is instigated by an internal source. Happy/ about 30 times in the Bible. Joy/ over 300 times in the Bible. It seems that God would rather us seek joy than depend on happiness to just show up.

 A testimony at a Dwight L. Moody evangelistic meeting was the impetus for the song. The story goes that a young man who had just been converted stood and said, “I’m not quite sure. But I’m going to trust and I’m going to obey.” John Sammis took those words as an inspiration for the song.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

It seems to me that this song is more about Joyful in Jesus than Happy in Jesus. But I wasn’t around in 1887 to give my input so I’ll just sing it as it is and whisper to myself “joyful”.

Galatians 5:22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

The main thing is to Trust and Obey joyfully, even when we are not quite sure.

Listen to “Stir Me” (If You Dare)

I guess I had a nostalgic moment last week but I started remembering sermons that left a lasting impression on my life. Now I have heard sermons since I was able to realize that the guy standing up on the stage behind the podium was preaching. And I have not remembered the hundreds of messages I have heard. My apologies to all the pastors living or with Jesus. There are, however, sermons that changed my life. Those I remember.

One of the remembered sermons was called “Stir Me” delivered by a petite missionary lady named Helen Roseveare. I heard her as a college student sitting in a required chapel. I was not ready for this little lady to make a difference in me but the words she said burned my heart.

I bought the cassette of her talk. (I know, cassette, which I can’t even play on any machine I now own.)

I have found a website that has the recording of the message and I happily listened to it again. I wondered if it would still have the impact it did so long ago. It did. Find this at sermonindex.net and search “stir me” by Helen Roseveare. Let her get through her unassuming and dated intro before you turn it off, or skip ahead a bit.

Don’t! And I repeat, don’t listen to this if you are a half-way Christian. She doesn’t have time for you and her sermon doesn’t include you.

I’m not even sure if I can put myself in the complete surrender position she placed herself in God’s hands.  But I surely want too. And Hope I will if God calls me to it.

Stir me, God, really stir me.

Stir me to go.

Stir me to give.

Stir me to pray.

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=17462

P.S. BTW she's still alive the last I heard. An amazing life story.

Look at the Groom

This is wedding season. I have 3 wedding invitations posted on my refrigerator door and am expecting another one any day now. And so my thoughts are turning to the friendships I have with the brides and grooms and their families. I remember all of the happy and even not so happy events that brought our lives together and bound us together. I'm so honored that they want me to share in this special event in their lives.

There is a lot of planning, preparations, and (dare I say it) stress involved with the process of getting two people married. But overriding all of this is overwhelming joy.

OK, so now I’m studying all the passages about “brides” in the bible. And do you know what I found? It’s really not all about the bride.(As they say in the south, "Well, shut my mouth!") It’s all about the groom! Sorry, I know that is a shock to our cultural sensibilities.

Symbolically in God’s word His people have always been portrayed as the bride and the Godhead as the Groom. That’s why the Bible puts more emphasis on the “Groom.”

I remembered a line from the movie “27 Dresses.” Yes, it’s a chick-flick. The main character, Jane, says, “You know how the bride makes her entrance and everybody turns to look at her? That’s when I look at the groom. Cause his face says it all you know. The pure love there.” The writers probably didn’t realize it but that is what the Bride of Christ, His church, our, response is and will be. We look at our God spiritually but finally face to face at His return and see…pure love.

Isaiah 62:5 for just as a young man marries a maiden, your sons will marry you; and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride; so your God will rejoice over you.

So while we turn and look at the bride as she comes down the aisle, remember where the bride is looking. She is looking at the groom. She is looking for the pure love in his eyes.

Our world can get pretty crowded and distracting.

But let’s not lose our focus.

Let’s keep our spiritual eyes on Jesus.

If we look to Him we will see His pure love for us.

We will see that He is rejoicing over us.

Keep looking at the groom.

You Are the Boss of Me

My mother was a saintly woman but even she could be pushed too far. I remember one time she was making her way slowly with her walker from one room to the next and and I was telling her what she should do and not do. She stopped, looked me in the eye and said, “You’re not the boss of me.” It’s pretty bad when your 80 year old mother puts you back in your place.

I thought about her as My Pastor Wade was preaching on Sunday. We all have that tendency toward independence. In most cases, that’s not a bad thing.  But in our Christian life we have to be the followers and surrenderers (Is this a word?). We need to follow Christ and surrender ourselves to pattern our life after The Word of God.

My Pastor Wade took us through the early ministry of the disciple Peter (pre-apostle.)

Jesus originated the contact with Peter. He just looked at him and basically said, “I am the boss of you and I will completely overhaul your life into something you have never experienced before. But you have to stick with me.”

Matthew 4:18-20 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately, they left their nets and followed him.

The disciple Peter had a struggle with the “who’s the boss” part of his life in the beginning of his pursuit of Christ. Sometimes he got it right and sometimes he asserted himself way beyond his place of total surrender.

I can’t be too critical of Peter because he just lived out loud my struggle. I can easily follow Jesus until He steps out of my comfort zone and beckons me to follow. Then, I must confess, the old independent me (or is it scared me?) stands still and says, “You’re not the boss of me.”

My Pastor Wade said in his sermon, “He loves you as you are but He loves you so much He won’t let you stay there.”

And He won’t let me stay there .He didn’t let Peter stay in his beginning place but with love and patience molded him from a lowly uneducated fisherman into a bringer of the Gospel of Christ to his world. He is using great love, grace, and patience to realign me into something that resembles Him too.

I like what Charles Spurgeon said in his sermon “How to Become Fishers of Men” - When Christ calls us by his grace we ought not only to remember what we are, but we ought also to think of what he can make us. It is, "Follow me, and I will make you." We should repent of what we have been, but rejoice in what we may be. It is not "follow me, because of what you are already" but, "follow me, because of what I will make you." It doth not yet appear what we shall be.

My job is to surrender and follow.

His job is to make me into a new person.

He is the boss of me.