God Always Makes it Worth Your While

“Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.” When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking. They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.” ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭5:1-11‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

When there’s a need, God leads His children by the Holy Spirit to be His hands on earth to fulfill that need.

God chooses who to use, and if He chooses you, you have the choice to accept or reject the offer.

Jesus was led by His Father to choose Simon Peter’s boat.

Sometimes we think that serving God means sacrificing, when actually it’s the best investment you can ever make.

By lending Jesus his boat, Peter was sacrificing some time and effort which he could have used on washing his fishing nets or going out for another fishing expedition.

Here he was, doing a voluntary service to Jesus, having to row the boat out without any promise of payment.
Most fishermen would have frowned on this and said that it’s a bad deal.

However every time you say yes to offering your resources to serve Jesus, He will surely restore you with more to make it worth your while.

Remember during His earthly ministry, Jesus did nothing without first being instructed by His Father in Heaven.

“Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel.” ‭‭(John‬ ‭5:19-20‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

Through Jesus, our Abba Father revealed His heart as a generous Rewarder when He gave Peter a miraculous catch of fishes.

God can tell us the right time and right way to receive our restoration blessings. In this case, Jesus said it very specifically—He asked Peter to let down his “nets”.

However, Peter was skeptical about it because he had more faith in his experience as a fisherman than in Jesus’ words.
Peter only let down one net—to test the waters and see if there was any credibility in Jesus’ words.

When God says He’s blessing your fruit orchards, don’t just bring a basket—bring trucks to carry the huge harvest of fruits because you believe that He is a generous God that doesn’t hold back any goodness from you.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.” ‭‭(2 Corinthians‬ ‭9:8‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

You can see from this miracle that our Christian life is from faith to faith.
It takes faith to obey the Holy Spirit when He prompts us to serve, and it also takes faith to receive the resultant restoration blessings.

The catch of fishes was so great that it filled both boats—Peter’s and John’s. When we receive God’s blessings through faith, He empowers us to be a blessing to others as well.

If God had just meant to reward Peter, He could have just filled Peter’s boat. But the catch was enough to fill John’s boat as well.

When God’s blessings overflow in your life, remember to share your blessings with others and show them Christian love for Jesus’ sake.

Read my book “Sandcastles Don’t Last Forever” which will reveals God’s heart as a generous Restorer and Rewarder of both earthly blessings and eternal rewards.

Get a paperback copy ==> https://www.amazon.com/Sandcastles-Dont-Last-Forever-Biblical/dp/172671327X

Become a patron and receive “Sandcastles Don’t Last Forever” as an ebook, as well as our new series “37 Miracles of Jesus” which closely examines all the recorded miracles worked by Jesus during His earthly ministry.

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拿撒勒又譯納匝勒，是以色列北部區城市，位於歷史上的加利利地區。與它的姊妹城上拿撒勒共計有大約12萬人口（2005年）；其中上拿撒勒居民55,000人，主要為猶太人；拿撒勒居民約65,000人，主要是阿拉伯人，35至40％是基督徒，其餘的是穆斯林。拿撒勒源自希伯來字netzer，意思是枝芽或苗。《以賽亞書》曾經以「枝子」來形容大衛家系的後代，在古代，許多大衛家族的不同分支居住在此地，這可能是此地名稱的由來。那裡是耶穌基督的故鄉。福音書中描述他的父母聖母瑪利亞和聖若瑟住在這裡。在拿撒勒，天使加百利到瑪利亞那裡告訴他她將因聖靈懷孕，所生的將會是救世主，耶穌在降生後以就是在這裡長大。新約聖經時期拿撒勒是個不起眼的地方，人們打聽耶穌是會問：「拿撒勒能出什麼好東西？」（若望福音1,46）。今天的拿撒勒屬於最重要的朝聖聖地。在傳說中的瑪利亞故居和報信天使所在地地方。遊提比利亞當然不能錯過約旦河洗禮，相傳耶穌就在這裏接受聖約翰的洗禮。洗禮是基督教非常神聖的入教儀式之一，主禮者口誦經文，把水滴在受洗人額頭或將受洗人身體浸在入水中，表示赦免入教者的罪惡並賦予"恩寵"使其成為教徒。據說英國的皇室成員接受洗禮的時候，皇室都會派專機來到這裏，裝上一些約旦河水，然後再飛回到遙遠的不列顛，用約旦河的水為皇室人員洗禮。耶穌洗禮處每天都有來自於不同的國度，不同的民族，不同的膚色的人，據統計，每年人數超過了50萬人。黑門山，又名西雲山，是一座位於東黎巴嫩山脈南部的山，最高峰海拔為2,814米。頂峰位於敘利亞和黎巴嫩。在1967年六日戰爭中以色列獲勝後，黑門山的南坡和西坡歸屬以色列控制。1980年，山脈的這一部分和戈蘭高地被以色列單方面合併。凱撒利亞腓立比位於很高很高的黑門山的山腳下，每年春天，山上的雪水融化流下來滋潤了大地，所以這個地方農作物非常的茂盛，大家就覺得這一定是繁殖之神的祝福，因此就變成香火鼎盛的拜神中心啦，他們在向上聳立的懸崖牆上挖了許多的洞當神的祭壇。他們拜的神叫做潘 (Pan)，希臘人叫這個地方“Panias”來尊崇Pan(老潘長得像隻山羊，就是羊男的迷宮中的半人半羊怪神，還有很多電影和故事都有出現，他會吹笛子亂勾引別人) 。可參考資料:
路加福音2:39；4:16
馬太福音8:23-27
馬太福音5:1-11
約翰福音21
馬太福音8:5-18
馬可福音1:9-11
列王記下5:8-14
士師記18:5
列王記上11:3；12:2-20；12-13
馬太福音16:13-19