God’s faithfulness to us is borne out of our relationship with Him. More like to say, because we are children of God, we belong to God and so He is obligated to be faithful to us. We can go to sleep with this assurance.

Proverbs 18:9 associates a slothful person with a destroyer, suggesting that being slothful is destructive.

Some Christians actually display foolishness in their decisions and choices. Many times, this happens following a failure to recognize and seek God’s face, His wisdom and counsel (as if to actually say ‘there is no God).

This scripture suggests a progressive work and walk towards attainment of the exemplary Christian personality. It starts with the foundation of faith towards a purposeful and progressive addition of other virtues

Question: Why would the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted?
Find out more….

John 7:1-9 provides an intriguing and exciting expository on Jesus’ family life and how much this affected His ministry-if at all. So if you have ever wondered what kind of family relationship Jesus had, look no further, John 7:1-9 got it.

A strong family support system is invaluable in the successful execution of a big project.  When Jesus left Heaven to come save humanity on earth, He embarked on a major project.

As someone who blogs on the Bible, I get all sorts of feedback. Most are positive and encouraging, a few critic my write-ups and it’s always nice to receive these, but there are a few that I prefer to categorize as distracting.  Like the feedback Jesus got from His siblings….

John 7:1-9 reads;

“After this, Jesus traveled around the country of Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish leaders there wanted to kill him. It was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters. So his brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to the festival in Judea. Then your followers there can see the miracles you do. If you want to be well known, you must not hide what you do. So, if you can do such amazing things, let the whole world see you do them.” Jesus’ brothers said this because even they did not believe in him. Jesus said to them, “The right time for me has not yet come, but any time is right for you to go. The world cannot hate you. But the world hates me, because I tell the people in the world that they do evil things. So you go to the festival. I will not go now, because the right time for me has not yet come.” John 7:1‭-‬9 ERV

Some Jewish leaders often frowned at Christ’s confidence and skill (expertise) with teaching the Word of God, which many times was at variance with regular Jewish teachings and interpretations. Some other person’s however, did more than frown.  For instance, Herod wouldn’t stop looking out for ‘The King of the Jews’ (an obvious threat to his throne), to quietly eliminate him.

If you ask me, it’s probably ‘okay’ to think about hatred towards Jesus coming from Herod and some selfish Jewish hypocrites, but not from Jesus’ own brothers!

According to John 7:1, Jesus had decided it was best to keep away from Judea. He knew he’d be killed there and it just wasn’t the right time.  Needless testing God’s ability to protect Him by walking into an obvious trap, which was what attending the  upcoming Feast of Tabernacles (FoTs) would mean. But His brothers wouldn’t let Him be….

“So his brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to the festival in Judea. Then your followers there can see the miracles you do. If you want to be well known, you must not hide what you do. So, if you can do such amazing things, let the whole world see you do them.” John 7:2-4 ERV 

As harmless as Jesus’ brothers’ proposition may seem, they meant nothing of the words they spewed. If anything, they were being sarcastic, clearly ridiculing Jesus’ ministry.  In fact, they didn’t want Jesus anywhere around them, His presence seemed a threat.

They were taunting Jesus; mockingly informing him that ‘his miracles’ were at best, only seen in Galilee. They were saying Jesus is not widely known and he’s not making impact (verses 2-4). He is not popular. The world isn’t feeling what he’s feeling. He’s in his own cocoon!

Yes the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand, but was it their place to impress it on Jesus to attend? Did they understand that Judea could mean death for Jesus? Were they intentionally pushing him into danger? Or was this Satan at work again?

We are told, explicitly, in John 7: 5 that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in His ministry……

“Jesus’ brothers said this because even they did not believe in him” 

Why is this so? Could they not see His miracles?

My thoughts….

They may have been struggling with some inferiority complex.

It would be much safer if Jesus would simply remain their big brother and nothing special or supernaturally gifted. Being supernaturally gifted would mean Jesus was different and maybe superior.  Isn’t this the same Jesus they grew up with, ate with, played with, bathed with, etc?  Familiarity!

Reminds me of Jacob’s 12 sons and how they sold off Joseph out of hatred.

As a Christian, sometimes, people abhor your presence. They make it very clear that they don’t like you. And if you care to check, you wouldn’t find explanations for their stance. In this kind of scenario, it may be safe to keep your distance, but should you give back hate?

Last night, an older friend of mine called, sounding really sad. Some young folks have spread negative tales about her and as a Christian, these were troubling. This is my response; ‘This may be an opportunity to re-evaluate oneself or somehow, Satan is uncomfortable‘.

Earlier today, another older woman forwarded a post to me on social media which read: “Life is short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don’t“.  I immediately forwarded Matthew 5:44 to her and I knew I needed to tidy this blog-post and share (been on it for weeks!).

Jesus tells us as Christians, to expect to be hated by the world and that is not difficult to understand. Do not expect to be accepted by the world if you are a constant reminder of its evil works.

But hey! that’s the WORLD.  What happens when you feel hatred from within the family? I mean God’s family….from Believers. How should you react?

Jesus’ brothers were not Believers right, but they were family. So how did Jesus handle them? How did He handle treacherous Judas?

Jesus died for one and all. He loved everyone the same. It is unlikely that Jesus would let His brothers in on all His thoughts and plans (except they were His disciples), but He didn’t hate them, neither did He write them off completely.

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate  you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  Matthew 5:44 NKJV

So when you feel hated,  Love.  When you feel used unfairly, Love. When you feel persecuted, Love.  When the world mocks you, Love. When brethren ‘laugh’ at your calling, Love.

Be like Jehovah your Father, who does not discriminate between evil and good people.

Be wise, realize that it is important to understand people’s mindset before you can successfully help them.  LOVE.

Be humble, remember that he that must win a soul must be wise.

My love ALWAYs

Remember you can leave your comment in the comment box, and if you’d like to continue receiving every new publication from this box, simply Check the box that says ‘notify me of new posts’ by email’. You may also wish to reach me privately by email via; talkwithgraceobomanu@gmail.com. 

Yes, you are absolutely right, I am writing once more on Luke chapter 5. So let’s call this, blog post 3 of Peter’s meeting with Jesus; a divine connection that changed Peter’s life forever.  The assumption here is that ‘Men after God’s Heart‘ and ‘10 Things about Peter that made for a net-breaking Increase‘  occupy blog posts 1 & 2 positions respectively.  I strongly recommend you read ‘10 Things about Peter that made for a net-breaking Increase‘.

Today, I focus only on verse 4 of Luke chapter 5;

“ When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch”

Simple dictionary definitions of ‘launch out‘ means; “to make a start on a new and challenging enterprise, to throw or propel with force, to hurl, to set or thrust, a self-propelled craft or projectile”

And Deep means; “extending far down from the top or surface, very intense, very extreme, far down in”

So Jesus said to Peter; Make a start on a new and challenging enterprise thrusting forward against any resistance, propelling yourself forward to reach well beyond the top or surface.

To quickly create a contextual background, Peter and his fellow fishermen had toiled all night without any catch of fish. They pulled their boats to shore in despair and disappointment. It was a difficult, tough, challenging and seemingly unproductive night of fishing without fish.

That’s where your net-breaking miracle is; …..in that challenging, seemingly difficult task. It is a road less traveled that’s why you’re not likely to find many people on it.They do not have the vision, they do not have the passion, they cannot reach deep, they cannot press hard by faith against all odds (their feelings, experience and natural knowledge).

An experience of a heavy, weighty and overflowing miracle like Peter’s comes when we look beyond apparent difficulties associated with a trade, business, job or task and say like Peter; ‘nevertheless Lord, at thy word’ (Luke 5:5) when we know we got His word.

The winning strategy is to reach deep, well beyond the top or surface.

The Second thing I want to point out from Luke 5:4 is the part that says ‘let down your nets’ as it raises a few questions…What nets? How many nets?

Nets for a fisherman represents the tool of trade. What is yours? What tools do you need for that God-given vision, business, trade or project.  And how many do you need to use to become extremely and overwhelmingly successful?

I believe that at the point Peter and his men started packing up the fishes from the deep end, the choice of how many nets to let down was absolutely theirs. They were the determinants of how much increase they gathered. And assuming there were many more partners and nets around, the fish wouldn’t run out from source. So to directly answer the question of ‘how many nets?’ ….I say, as many as you can provide and carry.

Finally, (for today 🙂 ), Jesus was specific about the exact place to let down the nets….at the deep. So we’ve said that ‘deep’ relates to something that is far down in, extreme, intense. That speaks of going the extra mile and it also indicates specificity of location.

There is a specific place where your trade, business, job, project would yield a miraculous turnover, and The Lord knows the exact spot.

My love always.