Jesus had been teaching in the area, and needed to get away from the crowd a little. Into the fishing boat he goes. The night of fishing was over, we know this because they were washing the nets. The fishermen soon to be disciples, had just finished a long night of hard work, and Jesus says lets go out again. Once out there Jesus asks them to do something totally outside the normal, fish during the day. They listen and fish and need help bringing in the catch. From that moment those in the boats are hooked, and change what they are fishing for. Humanity becomes their catch.
Philippians 1:12-20
God uses poor circumstances for great good. Paul is addressing the question of people preaching the Gospel for the wrong reasons. The answer given surprises me every time I read it. Paul says as long as the Gospel of Jesus is going out, no matter the motive of the preacher, I will rejoice. God does not rejoice in the motive either, yet the motive is used to bring Good News to people who are thirsting for it. Another reminder that God is in charge of the ministry not us.
Psalms 119:113-120
The world we live in is not different than the world of the psalmist. There is a mix of good and evil, positive and negative. Often they reside within each of us at the same time. We are encouraged to focus on God to separate for us where we need to be and what we need to focus on. Keeping ourselves tuned into the teachings of God will help us keep from the pull of the evil in our world and life.
2 Kings 4-5
The Healing of Naaman is a good lesson for us today in how God heals. Naaman expected the healing to come in a certain way, the way he had designed it. Yet God was offering healing an a way Naaman thought to be too simple or not worthy of a man of his position. God offers greater healing than we can imagine. Often we miss the healing of God not because of our level of faith, or the action of God, simply we are looking at a different thing than God is offering. God's plan of healing has so many more options to it than we can even begin to conger. May we be open to what God is offering to us.
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