A Life Worth Living

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15 ESV

Your life may be the only Bible someone else will come across. Live it true to the hope that God has pit inside us and they may stop to read

When we forget our eternal hope in Christ and begin focusing on the things of this world His light shines just a little less to the people around us. But when we sink under the waves, others will be sure to ask us what it felt like walking hand in hand with Jesus when we climb back into the boat!

And Can it Be?

And can it be that even on our darkest days when we face our most difficult people God is giving us opportunity to show mercy? Maybe He leads us through the valley of the shadow so that we can learn to forgive even there. A bit further on and on sunnier days we may discover how merciful and forgiving He has been to us when we were most dark and difficult with others.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy  Matthew 5:7

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Gone Fishing

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus         John 21:3-4

 We used to live in a very small town. There was one store, a gas station, and a post office the size of a large bedroom. Moving there from the city was something of a culture shock and one of the most intriguing discoveries was to come to a small store in the area and find it closed during business p1020212hours. Usually there was a sign reading, “Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12-3PM: or “gone fishing”. In the city it was unheard of to close down when there was business to be done, but not in farm country.

In the same way the disciples chose to be laid back about the things that Jesus had called them to do. They didn’t know where to begin, so going fishing seemed like as good an idea as any. You might think that Jesus would show up and give them a long lecture. But instead of treating the disciples the way any “normal boss” would do He chose instead to show up and cook them all breakfast! Can you imagine the conversation around the breakfast table that morning?

The good news for us is that even when we act a lot like the disciples by “going fishing” Jesus comes where we are with grace. He doesn’t wait for us to get everything just right. So once we finish the breakfast He stayed up all night to cook, let’s remember to share His message of love with the same grace which he gave when He waited all night for us to come to shore.