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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Luke 5:8
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’”
I shall never forget this verse.
It’s one of many verses of the ‘Logos’, which has also become a ‘Rhema’ to me. Ironically, one which completely changed our lifestyle and ended up with me working in a ministry called Radio Rhema Inc. (although I wasn’t aware of it at the time).
The background is that after close on 20 years in the Banking Industry in the U.K. culminating in management in London, I saw a video of the Christian Radio Ministry in New Zealand. It was shown in our home and I was invited to become part of a prayer group, which would begin to meet monthly to see what God wanted to do regarding Christian Radio in the U.K./Europe. Additionally, I was asked to bring a devotional message to the first such meeting.
As I was working in London, I was very busy, and coupled with that, I had to travel as a commuter by train and ‘Tube’. On top of that, I had a young family, ran a weekly cell group and led the organisation of a summer youth camp ministry so there wasn’t much ‘spare time’. I therefore left my ‘preparation’ until two nights before the meeting – I grabbed my Bible, sank into a chair and prayed, “Lord, I need to know and I need to know now, whether I am to get involved in this radio ministry or not.” You see, I’m not one who ‘sits’ on committees, just for the position or kudos – I am either ‘in boots and all’ or ‘out’.
I opened my eyes and my Bible and it fell open at Luke 5. That was over 30 years ago but the message is as vivid today as it was then. I read verses 1-11. It’s the story of the people coming to hear Jesus, Jesus borrowing Peter’s boat to teach them and then providing a miracle catch. What did God say to me? What was the ‘Rhema’?
1) People today are just the same as then – they are crying out to hear the Word of God.
2) Jesus harnessed the airwaves. He knew that His voice would carry further over water than over land.
3) He was telling me as He told Peter – to “put out into deep water” (v 4). That is the ‘place’ where you can no longer trust in your own ability or human resources because you have only got God left to hold onto.
4) Like Peter, I would have to be obedient to what God told me, even if it seemed illogical and against ‘common sense’.
5) Miracles always follow obedience (they do throughout Scripture as we have already seen).
6) Just as Peter had to receive help from others to realise the vision, so too would I need help and I was not to get jealous of them.
7) The miracle would be so big; I would get a whole new appreciation of who I really was – “a sinful man.”
8) I would begin to “catch men.” People would be saved through the ministry.
9) If the Radio Ministry were to be established, like Peter, someone would have to give up his or her full-time occupation and go full-time into the ministry.
As you can imagine, I went to the meeting totally fired up and ended looking around the room saying, “Someone here is going to have to go ‘full-time’ if this is going to take off.”
You guessed. Over the next few months I had this ‘picture’ of Jesus seated on His throne smiling at me saying, “It was you I was talking about.”
So I did and saw all the prophecies fulfilled.
Can I encourage you? I believe God is saying the same to you.
Maybe you won’t have to give up your full-time job. But will you be obedient anyway?
Read the 9 points again and ask God what is it He wants to say to you and what is it He wants you to do?
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