As The Man Is – Discipleship

Let us hear the Press of Christ in this passage to His disciples:

“When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon,
“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:4 (NKJV)

May we catch the secret of the Lord in this powerful scripture:

“When He had stopped speaking“

With HIS disciples He never allowed them to linger in teaching. When He had finished “speaking,” He told them to “launch out”. Teaching is to be followed by an exhortation for His people to “launch” themselves into the substance and reality of His Word. We are not to linger in the ethereal and unproven realms of belief. We are to “eat” of His Flesh by walking in the substance of His Word by our own experiences. Those who serve Him, obey Him. They follow Him and have the joy of participating with Him in accomplishing OUR Father’s Will.

“Launch out into the deep
and let down your nets for a catch.”

The deep things of God are discovered by those who launch themselves into the mystery of His Will. To remain on the shores and the shallows of mere teachings, to continue to live within the confines of our own understanding, will keep us impoverished and ignorant of the deep movements of His Spirit.

The Potter’s House

“The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear My words.”
Jeremiah 18:1-2

Had Jeremiah not gone to the potter’s house he would not have received the Word of the Lord. Jeremiah’s obedience precipitated the revelation of God.

The Donkey

“Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me.”
Matthew 21:1-2

There is much here for us to comprehend. He sent “two disciples” not all twelve. If our faith is dependent upon what others are doing, we will MISS God! There is something pure and beyond comprehension that the King of ALL Glory would communicate to us individuality the mystery of His Will. The privilege of participating in His purposes for our day is a staggering revelation of the Mercy of God!

For the disciples to go into an unfamiliar place and do what they were bidden by Jesus would offend and stagger the natural mind. It seemed foolish and risky. There are barriers and obstacles that we need to overcome if we are to follow Him. Discipleship is a great mystery and His highest Call. The mystery of His Will for each of us can only be solved by our own obedience. No other individual can solve this mystery for us. Faith, true and living faith, is the key to our inheritance in God.

Faith fulfills the Will of God. These two disciples moving at the command of Jesus DID NOT KNOW they were fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah concerning Jesus! Jesus did not go and get the animals; He sent His servants to do so. May we see and comprehend the essential nature of His faith being gifted to us in the Person and the Spirit of Jesus.

While millions in our land call Jesus “Lord”, it is only those who obey Him who can rightfully declare Him as such.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”
Luke 6:46-48

The obedience of Faith is how the child of God digs deep and lays a foundation upon Him who is the Rock. Ethereal teachings and an unproven walk will leave us vulnerable in the flood that is coming upon our land. May we hear the Word of the Lord for us to “dig deep” and hide ourselves in the preparatory work of faith built upon a walk of experience with Him.

David and Goliath

The young man David, confronted with the taunting and scorn of Goliath, ran toward him in the faith of Almighty God. Such a reaction was not possible without a previous history with HIS God!

“David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17:37

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith that is real and alive must produce a LIFE within the individual that is the EVIDENCE of the unseen Christ. It can be no other way.

“NOW, Faith is… the evidence of things not seen”
Hebrews 11:1

As The Man Is – Discipleship

(continued from Part One)

See related Post: Arising In The Night

♥

“Faith means being grasped by a power that is greater than we are,
a power that shakes us and turns us, and transforms and heals us.
Surrender to this power is faith”
Paul Johannes Oskar Tillich (1886–1965)

Brian Troxel