Launch Out

Some food for thought.  

God Bless.

Morning and Evening Daily Devotional by C.H. Spurgeon

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

Luke 5:4 

We learn from this narrative, the necessity of human agency. The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet neither the fisherman nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored; but all were used to take the fishes. So in the saving of souls, God worketh by means; and while the present economy of grace shall stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. When God worketh without instruments, doubtless he is glorified; but he hath himself selected the plan of instrumentality as being that by which he is most magnified in the earth. Means of themselves are utterly unavailing. “Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing.” What was the reason of this? Were they not fishermen plying their special calling? Verily, they were no raw hands; they understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskilfully? No. Had they lacked industry? No, they had toiled. Had they lacked perseverance? No, they had toiled all the night. Was there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they swam to the net in shoals. What, then, is the reason? Is it because there is no power in the means of themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? “Without him we can do nothing.” But with Christ we can do all things. Christ’s presence confers success. Jesus sat in Peter’s boat, and his will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to the net. When Jesus is lifted up in his Church, his presence is the Church’s power—the shout of a king is in the midst of her. “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes, and we shall not labour in vain, for he who bids us let down the net, will fill it with fishes.

Daily Bible - http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=spurgeon.morning_and_evening.devotional.AOUWQEJPCEQPQPTU

God Isn't Gloomy

Love this one!

God Bless.

God Isn’t Gloomy

Devotional by John Piper

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The implication of this text is that God has the right and power to do whatever makes him happy. That is what it means to say that God is sovereign.

Think about it for a moment: If God is sovereign and can do anything he pleases, then none of his purposes can be frustrated. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:10–11).

And if none of his purposes can be frustrated, then he must be the happiest of all beings.

This infinite, divine happiness is the fountain from which the Christian (Hedonist) drinks and longs to drink more deeply.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected?

Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1)? I don’t think so.

We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor.

But that is not the way God is. He is never out of sorts with frustration or discouragement. And, as Psalm 147:11 says, he “takes pleasure . . . in those who hope in his steadfast love.” So the aim of the Christian Hedonist is not to avoid this God, not to run from him, or tiptoe through the living room lest his gloominess become anger. No, our aim is to hope in his steadfast love. To run to him. To be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy his fellowship and favor.

Devotional excerpted from Desiring God, pages 32–33

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You Are My Lamp

Amen!

Be encouraged. 

God Bless. 

"O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. (NLT)" -2 Samuel 22:29

"Just like the lights along the floor that direct your path in a dark movie theater, God can do the same. He has the power to bring light into your darkness. Allow God to be a lamp at your feet and light the way to a brighter path. Trust in God that whichever direction His light shines is for your good."

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Sometimes God

This.

Be encouraged. 

God Bless.

Today's Quotation:

Sometimes God does not change your situation, because He is trying to change your heart.

Unknown

Today's Meditation:

There were times in my life in which I came to God asking and praying for a specific outcome to a situation and my desired result never did happen. This, of course, left me feeling let down and questioning why God did not answer me. But as time went on, I began to realize that perhaps God did answer me and I was simply not listening. You see, by not getting what I had hoped for, I had been given the chance to gain something else that was essential for my personal growth--perseverance, integrity, faith, hope, humility, and so much more. It seems that nearly every time I have felt that I know what I need, I discover that not only can I manage without receiving it exactly as I have asked for it, but that I have been given an opportunity to discover something necessary for my journey through life.

Listening to God in our lives requires us to spend time in solitude and prayer listening to our hearts. More importantly, it requires us to have trust and faith in our loving Creator and His plans for us. But because we are human, this can be incredibly difficult--we have flaws such as the inclination to be quite stubborn, to listen to our worries and fears, or to desire to be in control of our lives. But when we are stubborn, we do a poor job of listening to what others are telling us. And when we start to entertain our worries and fears, or attempt to control our lives, we miss out on so much of what God is saying to us through those trials and difficulties? What if He is asking us to grow? What if He is challenging us to become something greater?

There will be things we must face that are difficult and challenge us--the loss of a loved one, financial struggles, loss of a job, relationship issues. But these are also opportunities for us to grow, to become better husbands and wives, to become more compassionate human beings because we understand the pain of loss, to become better than the person we were yesterday.

Today's Challenge: Face your challenges today with an open and willing heart.

Questions to consider:

Can you think of a recent situation in which you did not get what you asked for? What was the outcome?

What kind of personal growth did you experience?

How has your heart changed over the course of your life?

For further thought:

We believe we can change things according to our wishes because that's the only happy solution we can see. We don't think of what usually happens and what is also a happy solution: things don't change, but by and by our wishes change.

Marcel Proust

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Inspire Me Books (Amazon)

Inspire Me: Currents...

Inspire Me: The Swells...

https://amazon.com/author/clstarling

Series of daily inspirations revisited and revised for publication. Thank you for all the interest and support through the years.

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Quote Of The Day - If We Stare

Wisdom.

God Bless. 

Quote of the Day -Joyce Meyer

“If we stare at our problems too much, think and talk about them too much, they are likely to defeat us. Glance at your problems but stare at Jesus.” 

-Joyce Meyer, The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

Quote Of The Day - Lord I

Love this..

God Bless.

Quote of the Day -Joyce Meyer

“Lord, I need to see You and hear Your voice over and above the storms in my life. Help me to break free of anything that is holding me back from doing” 

-Joyce Meyer, The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

Don't Feed Your Mind

This inspired me and may it inspire you.

God Bless.

Today's Quotation:

Don't feed your mind with negative thoughts. If you do, you will come to believe them.

Catherine Pulsifer

Today's Meditation:

There are those times in our lives in which our minds become fixated with negative thoughts--anger, jealousy, envy, hate, loneliness, gloominess. And it truly does seem that the more we feed our minds with negativity, the more we come to believe them. We essentially substantialize our feelings by filling our minds with negativity and embracing it in our lives.

Most of us wear our emotions, attitudes, and feelings each day just as we would put on clothes to wear. If I take a moment to observe others around me, I most likely will be able to see their positivity or negativity in the interactions they have with others, or in their voices and body language. That is because we choose how we approach each day of our lives. And this is an important realization, for it empowers us to determine how our experiences here on Earth will be. Personally, I do not want to spend my day walking around filled with anger or stress, as I am sure that would be extremely unhealthy and unpleasant for me.

It is normal, however, that negative thoughts should enter into our minds from time to time. But we must work to not let them stay there for an extended period of time. And having a positive anchor is a great way to overcome them. Whenever negativity starts to overwhelm us, we can reflect on this positive anchor to bring us back to where we want to be.

What are you feeding your mind with today? Positive thoughts that will help to create a more positive experience... or negative ones, which definitely are not helpful and serve only to add stress and negativity to your life? If you can get in the habit of dwelling on positive thoughts, you will find that the lives around you, as well as your own, have become a much richer experience.

Today's Challenge: Pay careful attention to what you feed your mind today.

Questions to consider:

In what ways do negative thoughts tend to become destructive?

How can you practice shifting negative thoughts to positive ones?

What are some of the positive anchors in your life?

For further thought:

When you are offended or annoyed by others, do not allow your thoughts to dwell on them or on anything relating to them. For example, don't think that they ought not to have treated you so, being who they are, or whom they think themselves to be, or the like. All this is fuel and kindling of wrath, anger, and hatred.

Lorenzo Scupoli

----------------------------------------

Inspire Me Books (Amazon)

Inspire Me: Currents...

Inspire Me: The Swells...

https://amazon.com/author/clstarling

Series of daily inspirations revisited and revised for publication. Thank you for all the interest and support through the years.

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