October 24: Fishing with Jesus!
Luke 4:16-30
Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 So He came to Nazareth, [that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read.
17 And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].
20 Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.
21 And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing.
22 And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s Son?
23 So He said to them, You will doubtless quote to Me this proverb: Physician, heal Yourself! What we have learned by hearsay that You did in Capernaum, do here also in Your [own] town.
24 Then He said, Solemnly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town (country).
25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months, so that there came a great famine over all the land;
26 And yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and yet not one of them was cleansed [by being healed]—but only Naaman the Syrian.
28 When they heard these things, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage.
29 And rising up, they pushed and drove Him out of the town, and [laying hold of Him] they led Him to the [projecting] upper part of the hill on which their town was built, that they might hurl Him headlong down [over the cliff].
30 But passing through their midst, He went on His way.
Have you been rejected by your family simply because you shared truth with them?Have you been rejected by the friends you grew up with and loved? Don't be surprised. Jesus faced rejection as well. From the very ones who knew Him the best.
Luke 5:1-10
Amplified Bible (AMP)
5 Now it occurred that while the people pressed upon Jesus to hear the message of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee).
2 And He saw two boats drawn up by the lake, but the fishermen had gone down from them and were washing their nets.
3 And getting into one of the boats, [the one] that belonged to Simon (Peter), He requested him to draw away a little from the shore. Then He sat down and continued to teach the crowd [of people] from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon (Peter), Put out into the deep [water], and lower your nets for a haul.
5 And Simon (Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [exhaustingly] and caught nothing [in our nets]. But on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets [again].
6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish; and as their nets were [at the point of] breaking,
7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and take hold with them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was gripped with bewildering amazement [allied to terror], and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;
10 And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (Peter). And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!
Fishing with Jesus is different! An exciting adventure! You can't possibly predict the results when Jesus is involved!
Be encouraged, weary laborer! Just cast down your net one more time. This time it will be different, because you're fishing with Jesus! And Jesus will change your whole life! Or not. It all depends on your level of desire.
"Thank You, Dear Jesus, for these encouraging words! Your word comes alive as I read. You have something for me each and every day. As I study, please continue to change me from the inside out. I want to keep on keeping on, even when discouragement closes in. The Old Testament was powerful and exciting, but reading about You walking on earth and physically touching and healing people is much more personal. I believe, Jesus. I believe for the impossible messes I have created in my own life. I also believe for those You have placed in my path. I trust You are working even when I don't see. Thank You for continuing to talk to me every day through Your ancient yet very relevent word. Thanks for Everything, Jesus!!!"
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