instruction manual

Good morning dear friends. Glad to celebrate another day with you and the LORD. Each day is precious to us. It is a gift from our LORD Jesus. I am known for not reading the instruction manual. Our sons have finally given up on me doing this. I tend to rely on their expertise in matters that are at times complicated (electronically speaking). They seek out my advice on other things. Not a problem.

God gives us an instructional manual known as the Word of God. It is a daily guideline for living a life that honors God and allows others to see Him in our lives. Many read it like it is a historical account of the happenings of old timers back in yester-years. But we fail to read the “fine print.”  The details get caught up in the destination, so-to-speak. 

I say often times to congregations that we have enough education and experience that we can do church and never have to rely on the Holy Spirit for anything. Many of our churches are plateaued and declining because they rely on their own abilities. Oh they do call out to God but it is to bless what they are doing. You see, the fine print of God’s Word is that we should be doing what God is blessing. We can use our man made plans and strategies to see some results but it doesn’t happen that way for many of our congregations. That is the reason why many are struggling just to keep the lights on and pay the bills. They are real close to being a statistic of closing their doors. It doesn’t have to be that way. God said HE would build HIS church and death will never touch it.

God has been speaking to me from Luke 5:1-11 for the past few hours. You can read the story. Here were experienced fishermen, who had the right equipment, and knew the lake, the fish, the nets, their boats better than anyone else. They had fished all night and their stringer was empty. When they allowed Jesus to get in the boat and they followed His advice...well you know the rest of the story. There was so many fish that it took two boats that were sinking to bring the catch to shore. The Word of God said they had to call other partners in the (fishing Gospel) to help bring in the catch. 

So what was the difference? Christ became the MASTER of the boat, the MASTER of their lives and they followed HIS instructions. Churches, if the nets (pews) are empty we might need to look at who is in charge of the fishing trip. Have a blessed day as you make your way into the deep today.