“He is your friend who pushes you closer to God.” Abraham Kuyper

You are an experienced boat person. You know the lake – its different types of wind, times of days to be on it, and fishing conditions.

You’re bored. You’ve got to do something. So, you go fishing and a number of your buddies, some who know the lake as well as you, decide to tag along. After fishing all night and coming up empty, you head for the dock.

As the sun rises, you hear a voice. You can’t make out who’s saying, “Cast out one more time over the right side of the boat.”

What do you and the boys do? You know the most opportune time to fish has passed. There’s no chance of catching anything.

Yet, you are friends. If one wants to, you all go for it. They do. They did. And you know the rest of the story. It was Jesus doing the calling.

The Psalmist writes, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” This means to go in the same direction as one group.

Becoming like Jesus isn’t easy, especially by yourself. This process requires going against what you think, feel and, at times, believe in the moment the Spirit calls you closer to Jesus.

This is due to the fact that you only know what you know when you know it and can’t know something new until you are exposed to it. The guys knew the lake; yet they would have missed the catch without each other agreeing to try one more time.

Having others going in the same direction is important. Some will have different journeys toward Jesus than yours. Yet, you all are becoming more like Jesus. The Spirit can use this to encourage each other to keep going because you’ve seen Jesus come through in the past.

Growth is about having the right Christian friends. It’s those who can and will think through what each is hearing through a biblical filter. Is what we are hearing something God could be saying? If not, why keep fishing? If so, why not keep fishing?

Christian friends push each other toward Jesus to keep fishing.

“God made the world from nothing, and if we can be nothing, then God can make something of us.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Jeremiah writes, “Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the King’s table.” (52:33)

Jehoiachin was the second to last Judean king before God removed Israel from its homeland for refusing to make Him King.

Because Jehoiachin voluntarily surrendered to the King of Babylon, he was imprisoned rather than killed. Years later, he was let out and allowed to sit at the King’s table for meals.  

Jehoiachin was a humbled king. He used to tell others what to do; and now, he was told what to do by a more powerful king.

We are all like Jehoiachin. We think we are something and a bag of chips! Doubt me? How often do we just go about our day doing what we feel we should be doing hoping Jesus will be pleased with it and/or bless it?

I have to raise my hand in acknowledgement. I recently was asked to pray at a dinner honoring volunteers. Sure, I’ve got that covered. After praying, however, I sat down and heard, “Chris, did you ask Me about what you should pray? You know there were people in that room listening to that prayer who needed Me, didn’t you?”

At that point, who was king? Me. Before I did another thing, I bowed my head before The King asking His forgiveness for acting like a king that I am not.

Jehoiachin would have remained Judah’s King if he had surrendered to the right King – the LORD. Yet, he didn’t and was humiliated and imprisoned by a more powerful king.

We all, myself included, need to be reminded now and then: Your king is the one you listen to and follow. One king wants to imprison you (Jn. 10:10) while The King wants to set you free (Jn. 8:32-33). Think you’re something? Ask forgiveness sooner rather than later. Think you’re nothing? Good. It’s a great starting point to become something made by The King of heaven and earth.   

“Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God.” Andrew Murray

Someone asked me, “Will you agree with me that I need a new car; and then, pray with me to get it because the Bible says where two agree it will be done (Matt. 18:19)?”

This is not only bad hermeneutics, but it also lacks an understanding of faith.

Do we trust our Savior with our lives? Careful how you answer that question. Ok, when it comes to heaven, yes. But in the here and now, is it still a, yes?

Faith is not about getting from God. It’s about becoming more like the One you say you love – Jesus.

It takes faith to hear from Jesus, which is a choice to either listen to ourselves or to Him. It also takes faith to follow Jesus, which is a choice to do or to ignore what He says.

Twice Paul wanted to go to Asia to share about Jesus. Isn’t that a good thing? Yup. Both times, however, the Spirit said, “Nope!”

Why? Because the Lord can see tomorrow! The Spirit wanted Paul in southern Greece, where a certain man working in the jails was ready to put his faith in Jesus along with his family.

Paul had the faith not only to listen, but the faith to follow as well, which made him more like Jesus. Think about it. Jesus went where He was told, earth, because the Father saw and wanted to save you.

Paul was changed into the image of Jesus, though, by a process that meant the Father saying “no” to one thing, so He could say “yes” to something else.

Do you trust the Father to open the doors needed for you to become more like Jesus and to close other doors also needed for you to become more Jesus?

Faith…is not in the getting, but in the becoming.

Answered prayer could just be a step of obedience away.

Joshua went on a mission the LORD gave him (Joshua 10:12-14). In so doing, Joshua needed more time, so he asked the Lord to stop the sun dead in its tracks.

I love how the LORD responded to this request. He not only did it, but wrote, “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man.”

The author of Journeys wrote, “God never downloads the whole plan at once; we must discover it along the way. This is because the greater goal is not that we accomplish something but that we grow more intimate with our Lord. Those who listen well to God will find that God listens well to them, and they will accomplish a lot more.”

It was in the midst of his obedience, which came after listening, Joshua could ask for something he couldn’t have known prior to his obedience. He listened well and God listened well in return.

If heaven is silent, ask yourself, “Am I doing what He already told me to do?” If not, it’s time to listen well by acting upon your listening.

God is the mixer, not added to the mix.

The pastor asked an older farmer to pray before the meal, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” Without skipping a beat, he added, “Lord, I don’t much like lard either.”

The pastor’s eyebrows raised at that point. He looked around the room to see others were starting to get uncomfortable with where this prayer might be going as well.

Yet the farmer kept on praying, “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for raw white flour either.” Now everyone’s eyebrows were raised!

Finally, the farmer ended with, “But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I sure do love warm fresh biscuits. So, Lord, when things come up that I don’t like, when life gets hard, when I don’t understand what is going on, help me to relax and wait until You’re done mixing. It will probably be much better than biscuits. Amen.”

We don’t always get to choose the circumstances in which we find ourselves. And we certainly don’t always understand the “why” at the moment either. Job sure didn’t!

Yet, our Father does. He takes all the sounds produced by the musicians and mixes them into a sweet-sounding song that will bless your socks off.

He can even take the sounds you wouldn’t necessarily buy the record and mix them into a work of art – being more like Jesus. (Romans 8:28) A record, you will literally cherish for eternity!

So, when you don’t understand what in the world is going on in your life, slow your jets. Be still and know your God. The Mixer is still working on the work of art – you.