Sign Me Up – I’ll Campaign for Him

In my email box yesterday morning was the news that the Democrats' presidential primary debate (last night) was narrowed down to the top twelve who met the polling and fundraising criteria. Now the rest of the candidates who demanded a lot of media attention before, will be overlooked when it comes to presidential consideration this term..

Overlooked means “being unnoticed”. I know that there is someone reading this blog that feels overlooked today. Maybe it is because you aren’t outgoing and prefer it that way. Maybe you were overlooked on a job promotion or overlooked at school because you were the quiet, less-commanding-attention-one.

That’s why, in my blog yesterday and today, I’m campaigning for Jesus. There are many things I love about Him but the thing I notice and love Him for so much is He doesn't overlook anyone. He went out of His way to bring hope to the rejected and outcast. It didn’t matter what others thought. He paid attention to everyone.

Matthew 4:24 says “..and His fame went out”. The cause of His fame is seen in verse 23: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness." When He healed a man of leprosy in Luke 5, “the report about Him went abroad” and as a result more people came to hear Jesus’ message and be healed by Him! Jesus’ fame took Him from obscurity to rock star status. It took Him from being an undiscovered talent to being the most sought after Man in the entire Holy Land, all because people were spreading the news about what He had done for them.“. He didn't even need social media!

So here I am today – actually everyday – being a reporter of His powerful work in me. He made me a survivor. Along with all those in the Bible that He didn’t overlook – He didn’t overlook me. So I MUST spotlight Him.. Has God done anything for you in the past week? Have you told anyone about what He’s done? Who will you tell? Together, we can make Jesus famous.

The first place where you and I can start is in our own little worlds. When we read the Great Commission in the gospels, we are told to make Jesus famous…to all nations and to the entire world (Acts 1:8). But the starting point is Jerusalem, the very place where the disciples are located. He says first make Me famous right where you live. The places we live, learn, work, play, shop. We can make Jesus famous by serving/loving the people around us. We can make Jesus famous through prayer. We can make Jesus famous by relying on the Holy Spirit. And we can make Jesus famous by speaking of His greatness.

Seriously, the world has its eyes on you and me. What is it about those Christians who live out love and only speak about love? Let’s make Jesus famous by consistently shining a spotlight on Him through the lives we live and the people we love.

“It is Jesus we preach, warning every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Colossians1:28).

The Older Teaching the Younger has its Rewards

The last several days, my family and I have been at Beavers Bend in Broken Bow, OK. We’ve had plenty to eat--all the cargo I brought with us and the best of all -- the trout meal we had last night from our big haul of fish. Beer-batter rainbow trout! One of the great rewards of our labors, rather Larry, Staci and Payton’s lab
Alexia and I are two free spirits: fish a little, take care of the meals, and capture lots of sweet moments in photos. We are fair-weather fisher-girls. The others--rain or shine--are after a haul. Patient, diligent, and unrelenting. There are so many things that inspire me on a trip like this. This time I was so impressed by how Larry was an amazing, tender-hearted image of what Jesus must have been like as he kept instructing the disciples in the way they should go.

We learned our best fishing skills years ago from Papa and he learned them from old fishermen. They were happy to tell their favorite fishing tips--the best spots to fish, what to fish with, (the best bait), how to hold the rod and reel that causes the fish to chase after the lure, and how to fillet and cook the fish. The older taught the younger. Now I’m watching Larry and Payton pass it on.

A single mom had her 13-year-old son here from Dallas, spent the night in their van, and was desperately wanting her son to catch at least one fish. He was rigged up for a bass (big hook and big lure). Larry not only told him how to best catch trout, he hooked his line up exactly the way to make it happen. Small hook and small power bait. Immediately he caught a small trout and then a larger one.

Yesterday, again, Larry was showing a man and his son how to rig up their lines. I saw Payton taking a young boy under his wing and showing him step-by-step what to do and how to do it. I can’t help but think about Jesus and His disciples and teaching them.

The fishing they did wasn’t a sport or a fish for a day fishing excursion. Fishing was what they had been trying to do, what they did for a living. So, when Jesus came walking by the seaside and said to them, follow Me and I will show you how to fish for people, why did they go with Him? The Bible doesn’t tell us but I just wonder......

Had the fishing been so lousy that day for Peter, Andrew, James and John that it was a no-brained to give up fishing and follow a man they had never met before? Maybe on this day their nets kept coming up empty, maybe the net-mending was especially monotonous, maybe the heat and humidity were almost unbearable. Were they looking for a good excuse to change occupations — from fishermen to anything-could-be-better-than- this! Had they heard reports about Jesus and His powerful ways enough to pull them away from their nets, their boat, and follow Him?

Why did Andrew, Peter, John and James follow Jesus that day? Did they have any idea that following Him would mean a radical change in their lives? Maybe they thought “Follow Me” simply meant “You deserve a break today.” Maybe they figured they deserved a holiday and tomorrow be back to fishing again. Surely, they couldn’t have guessed what lie I had for them — the excitement, the fun, the grief, and the joy of it all.

We don’t know why they followed Jesus. But we do know that immediately they left their nets and followed Him. To follow Jesus means that we cannot predict what that decision will lead to. Is Jesus calling you to leave your nets? Sometimes the call to follow Jesus Jesus is as loud and clear as a fire siren. Sometimes, His call is more like a still, small voice.

One thing the Bible makes clear is that the call of Christ is the same One who calls us is the strength, the resources, to follow. Maybe, after all, that was the decisive factor for the four fishermen who left their nets and their boats to follow Jesus. Maybe they sensed at some deep, unconscious level, that this was Someone who could be trusted; Someone who, if he asked much, would give even more.

When the disciples followed Jesus instructions (John 20:6), they caught so many fish that the net could not be brought in. That great catch of fish gave the disciples a foretaste of what God was going to do through them as “fishers of men.”

Just imagine the possibilities of what God could do for us if we will faithfully follow Him! Are you ready to do some fishing? Grab your pole. Get your tackle ready. Set some priority time aside. Follow Jesus to the river and expect a great catch! “Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)