Discipleship Essentials*
Thursday, October 28, 2004
My Prayer Today
Dear God, I worship and adore Your name! Your are holy and majestic and there is no one like You! I admit that without You I am nothing. Without Your abundant grace and mercy I would be dead in my own sin. I humble myself before You and want You to be the true Master of my life. Help me to always keep my eyes on You rather than upon all that You give me. I thank You for all that I have, but never let those things to replace Your glory and honor. I ask that You would help me to live in Your abundant grace today. I humbly ask this in Jesus' name. . . Amen.
God’s Word Today
Luke 5:1-11
1 "One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish.' 5 'Master,' Simon replied, 'we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, we'll try again.' 6 And this time their nets were so full they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking."
8 "When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, 'Oh, Lord, please leave me -- I'm too much of a sinner to be around you.' 9 For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, 'Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for people!' 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus."
Background on the Text – Who Wrote It? Why Was It Written? Who Was the Audience?
In the chapter before Luke 5, we see Jesus beginning His ministry after being tempted 40 days in the wilderness. We see Jesus begin His ministry in the region of the Sea of Galilee (4:14) in the power of the Holy Spirit. He taught, cast out demons, and healed people wherever he went. The people were not always accepting of Jesus (especially in his home town of Nazareth -- 4:28-30). Jesus, however, moved and operated in the power of the Holy Spirit at all times. In Luke 4:40 it says that, "No matter what their diseases were, the touch of (Jesus') hand healed every one. . . " It is no wonder why the people in Luke 5 where pressing in on every side to touch Jesus, therefore, he needed to get into a boat to be able to preach! People everywhere would follow Jesus and ask him to stay in their city (4:42-44), but Jesus would continue to travel throughout the region of Judea to preach. The fact that Jesus was so popular among the people is evidence that a "great" crowd would gather to hear him preach in chapter 5:1.
Observation – What Does the Text Say?
Interpretation – What Does the Text Mean?
Application – How Can I Respond to the Text’s Insights and Teachings?
Each Week’s Check List
After reading and studying this text, reflect on the following discipleship growth points:
Growth Point |
How |
Encouraged and strengthened me by |
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Fallen short areas |
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What will I do with these insights? |
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What did God say to me today? |
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Share insights and growth points |
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Changed/transformed how? |
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Thoughts...
One of the greatest challenges of being truly blessed of God is keeping our attention upon the One who blesses, rather than the blessing itself. It is so easy to be distracted by the temporal things of life, that we often miss so much more of what God has for us. The greatest characteristic of someone who is truly blessed of God is "humility." Humility is the greatest of all graces, because it is the deep recognition of who God really is and who we really are without Him. In Luke 5:8, after Simon Peter caught a great number of fish in his boat he was caught at the crossroads of either looking at the "Blesser" or the blessing. In this verse Simon Peter chose the Blesser -- for it states: "When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, 'Oh, Lord, please leave me -- I'm too much of a sinner to be around you. . ." It is evident in Simon Peter's response that he knew that he was standing in the presence of someone who was great. He simply stood in awe of Jesus, and marveled at his miraculous power. What is most interesting is that Simon Peter did not talk about the fish, but rather about his own condition. He realized that he was a sinner standing before One who was holy. This reality brought about great humility
If we are ever going to be greatly used of God, and truly live in His abundant blessings, we must not focus upon the blessing itself but rather upon Jesus Christ. Without humility, we cannot ever be the mature disciple that God desires us to be. Like Simon Peter, when we truly encounter the face of God, we will also encounter the depravity of ourselves without Him.