Launch Out into the Deep

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Luke 5:3-7 (NIV)
“Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink…. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”

Our yearning for authenticity can’t be experienced in the shallow waters.

Psalm 42:7 (NIV)
Deep calls to deep…

It’s a call from the depths that can provoke a response from the depths.

Four things we find in the deep waters:
1. Stillness/Silence

Isaiah 32:17 (NIV)
The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Stillness and silence does not mean the absence of God. He will never leave you.

“People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.”
-Norman Cousins

Our intimacy With God determines the impact of our lives.

2. Joy

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don’t let what is going on around you consume what is going on within you.

Psalm 51:11-12 (NIV)
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

3. Storms

You were built for this!

Isaiah 43:2 (MSG)When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Disappointments are inevitable. Discouragement is a choice!

4. Your Biggest Catch/Opportunity

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NIV)
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial…

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (MSG)
Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.

Genesis 26:16-22 (NASB)“Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there. Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. He moved away from there and dug another well,

Operate out of the passion of conviction and not the convenience of preference.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

If you’ve made a decision click the link below to get a copy of Pastor Steve’s book “The Christian Walk”
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