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THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS

"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death " (Philippians 3:7-10).   The cry of the Apostle Paul's heart was to know Christ in all His fullness.  Like the other apostles and disciples of the Lord who came before him, Paul was willing to forsake everything and spend the rest of his life following Jesus and learning Who He really is.  All the things that he once counted as treasures and great accomplishments in his life - his position in the...
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SUCH AS I HAVE

As the apostles, Peter and John, were about to enter the temple in Jerusalem for prayer, they encountered a man who was lame sitting at the gate and asking for handouts.  The man was over 40 years old, and had been born lame and never walked.  When he saw Peter and John, the man asked them for some money.  This man received healing that day because these two men were obedient to God and stopped to minister to the need.  The record of this miracle can be found in Acts 3:1-8.  Five things stand out to me that preceded this miracle, and these five things I believe are pre-requisite to becoming useful servants of God, and, ultimately, channels for miracles:   ·         “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him…”   First, and foremost, before we can minister to others, we must be willing to see their needs.   It is too easy to look past them, or worse, not see them at all, as we speed through our busy schedules. ...
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I'M GOING FISHING!

“AFTER THESE THINGS Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.  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.” (John 21:1-3 NKJV).   After Jesus’ betrayal and subsequent execution, the disciples were despondent and unsure how to proceed.   Jesus had appeared to them two separate times after His death, yet they still didn’t know what they should be doing.   In this context we find Peter and six other disciples at the sea of Tiberias and Peter declaring “I am going fishing.” The others went along with him.     Fishing is what these men knew.   It was their profession before the Lord called them.   They had grown up fi...
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