Luke 5:4-6  NASB When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

If my mother-in-law offers advice about plants I’m going to listen, because I’m terrible with plants and she is great with them. If my uncle offers advice about buying cars I’m going to listen because he has a lot of experience. But if someone offers me advice about something I think I already know how to do? (Like when my husband tried to give me advice on how to make macaroni and cheese out of a box.) Yeah, I’m going to ignore that advice.

Simon Peter was a fisherman. So when Jesus, a carpenter, offered him advice about fishing, his inclination was to ignore it. Fortunately he followed Jesus’ advice and learned a great lesson: Jesus was much more than a carpenter! The result was that these fishermen “left everything and followed Him.” Luke 4:11  

Let’s not be too prideful to take good advice (and I’m not talking about the macaroni). The Bible is full of good advice for our lives, if we can admit that we need it!

-Kevi

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Luke 4:1-2a,13  NASB Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. ¹³When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

As many times as we reprimand her, our dog just loves to lick our son. She would never try to lick us, but she is always looking for an opportune time to lick him! I don’t know if it just because he is a toddler and always smells like food, but the fact that he never tells her “no” doesn’t help!

Jesus resisted every temptation the devil presented Him with, so the devil left. But that didn’t mean the devil wouldn’t continue to look for opportunities to tempt Him in the future. We need to always be vigilant in resisting the devil’s temptations. If one thing doesn’t work, he will be looking for another opportunity later. The good news is that God wants to help us defeat the devil’s temptations!

James 4:7 NASB Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

-Kevi

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Psalm 51:7 NASB Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

While drying my hair this morning, I thought “Wow, my hair doesn’t even look that clean”…then I realized I never used any shampoo when I showered!

When we try to clean up our own lives, we don’t get very clean. We need the forgiveness of sins and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit if we want to really clean up our act. Only God can make us whiter than snow.

-Kevi

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1 Chronicles 22:5; 14 NASB David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore now I will make preparation for it.” So David made ample preparations before his death. “Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weight, for they are in great quantity; also timber and stone I have prepared, and you may add to them.”

My second baby is due in about 10 weeks, so we’ve got to get serious about getting ready for a new baby. The nursery needs to be painted, furniture assembled, and diapers bought. There are lots of things that are better to accomplish before the baby arrives.

David wanted to build God’s temple, but God told him it would be his son Solomon that would build the temple. But David still wanted to contribute to the work of God’s house, so he spent the rest of his lifetime gathering up resources in preparation for the building to come.

If we want to see great things accomplished for God’s Kingdom, then we need to make preparations. If we don’t spend time studying God’s Word, if we don’t gather the resources needed, then we won’t be ready when it’s time to build!

-Kevi

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Luke 1:1-4 NASB Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.

Sometimes I write one of these devotionals and think: well, that fell flat, I’m not sure what the point of writing that was. Inevitably those are the devotions that I get an email about the next day, from someone who says they really needed to hear it! It reminds me that I just need to keep sharing how God is speaking to me, and let Him worry about the rest.

Luke acknowledged that he was not the first to write about the life and ministry of Christ. There are four Gospel books in the Bible and they include many of the same events. But God used each of the Gospels to reach different audiences. Each of the four authors encountered the same Jesus, but they had four different perspectives and four unique experiences to share.

Don’t let the devil tell you that you don’t have a witness. Share your encounter with Jesus: someone needs to hear it!

-Kevi

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1 Chronicles 13:8 NASB David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and with trumpets.

My son had his tonsils out last week, and he is understandably cranky right now, which can turn even routine tasks into an epic meltdown. Every time we try to give him medicine, he tries to resist it with all his might. And he is surprisingly strong for his size!

We often use all our might to resist things, and we sometimes use all our might to pursue our goals, but when is the last time you used all your might to praise God? Not sure I can remember the last time…

-Kevi

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1 Chronicles 9:1b NASB And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon for their unfaithfulness.

After many chapters of genealogies, I came across this simple statement. I wonder if those that were taken to Babylon saw it this way. Did they recognize that God was using the Babylonians to try and restore Judah’s faithfulness? Or did they see the Babylonians as the ones to blame in this situation.

Whenever I am going through difficult times, I don’t usually see how my circumstances can bring about God’s glory: I’m more likely to see my circumstances as something that God needs to fix!  It’s only after the fact that I can see from God’s perspective how it prepared me and shaped me for the better.

-Kevi

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1 Corinthians 1:22-25 NASB For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

My sister-in-law was telling me about an acquaintance of hers that had surgery on her baby before it was born, in utero. Since my sister-in-law and I are both expecting, this seemed especially scary to us! But, she said, this woman was also a doctor, so she trusted them to do the surgery. A doctor is more likely to trust in medicine than the rest of us, right?

Our faith in Christ will seem like foolishness to the rest of the world, but to other Christians, it should make perfect sense! Don’t be surprised when others are doubtful of your faith, but don’t let that stop you from sharing it either: someday they just might get it!

-Kevi

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2 Timothy 4:2-5 NASB preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

We know a little bit about being ready out of season in Oklahoma. We can have a warm day in February and look around for some short sleeves, or we can have a cold day in April and need to put on a jacket. The seasons are just a little more fluid in Oklahoma.

If we want to fulfill our ministry and reach those around us, we can’t just look for opportunities in season (while we’re at church, etc.). We need to be ready out of season, too. So grab a jacket and be on the lookout so God can reveal opportunities to share our faith and uplift fellow Christians.

-Kevi

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2 Timothy 4:2-5 NASB preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Thanks to the Internet, everyone can find someone who agrees with them. Whatever your opinion, someone else out there will cheer you on! This can happen inside the faith as well: there are ministers, Bible study and book authors, inspirational speakers and bloggers galore. So you just find the one that agrees with you and follow them, right?

Well, this is nothing new. Paul saw that it was the case in his own time as well. It’s easier to listen to someone that already agrees with you, than to seek out sound doctrine that lines up with God’s Word. But if you want to “fulfill your ministry” then we have to do it God’s way, not our way.                        

-Kevi

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