(Prayer 18:45 – Message – 28:00)  Luke 5: 1-11)

Relating to God’s Word, the Bible, as a portal into His Presence is vital before you decide to accept what it has to say. It is a matter of coming to it with the right heart, the right mind. Expectingly. And with the resolve to make it mean something in your life, a unreserved readiness to do whatever He says.
Will you actually hear what He says?  Preconceptions completely change what He is truly saying. What is already in your head when you read His Word? What are the cultural ‘earbuds’ saying instead of what is truly intended? The cultural soundtrack has presented values and perspectives shaping our perceptions for justice, mercy, compassion, parenting, discipline, morality. Are we hearing His Voice or the world’s voice?
There’s an album in our culture called, “Miy Rights” You have the right to… is what the world says but what does God say? And how often do we blame God when our rights are not met? Another album is called “Who I Am is Who I Should Be”. And when our expectations are not happening, and God is supposed to make them happen; and when they are not happening it is OK to be made at God. This is not God’s voice, but the world’s.
When Jesus called Peter, it was a radical break with Peter’s passions and life. It is about Jesus, not Peter. It’s not about Peter (or us) telling Jesus what following Him looks like. The goal is not fulfillment, having self-worth, living in peace–those are RESULTS. The goal is seeking what Jesus wants–His Kingdom–then the results are His blessings.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24