Hooked on Jesus
My grandson recently got hooked on fishing. He just loves it. His enthusiasm has also ignited a desire in his parents and in my wife and I for fishing too. It’s become a fun and relaxing time that we enjoy together as a family.
On one of our fishing expeditions I caught a live duck. Don’t ask me how. But my fishing hook got caught on its wing. The duck tired desperately to fly away, but no matter how much he tried the hook would not let him go. Eventually I was able to reel him in and my dear friend Luis helped me to set him free.
Do you have a hook in you for a particular piece of God’s kingdom work which He would have you to do? Are you driven by conviction or consumerism? Are you living for self or to fulfill the call of God which is connected to a transcendent purpose that helps to make the lives of others better?
In the scriptures and throughout Church history, those who are mightily use of God to advance His kingdom are hooked by the Spirit for a particular work of God. And when they yield to it, they experience the freedom of Christ’s resurrection power to fulfill His will with the joy of the Lord.
Although Jesus was God in the flesh, in His humanity He subjected Himself to God the Father in all things, including the exercising of His divine attributes.
Jesus operated with kingdom authority because He aligned with His Father’s authority in private and in public. He sought to know the heart of His Father in silence and solitude and to carry out God’s call with power and precision.
After a night of healing many who were sick and casting out demons, Luke records:
Again, because of His divine nature as the Son of God, Jesus had unlimited power and authority in Himself. But in His humanity, as the Son of man, Jesus submitted to His Father, who determined the limits of His divine authority.
Therefore, Jesus regularly withdrew to solitary places where He prayed and communed with His Father. One clear example of this is found in Luke 6:13-14 where we read that Jesus spent all night on a mountain in prayer with His father before choosing the twelve apostles.
We see that although there were so many desperate people vying for His attention, Jesus valued alone time with God the Father above all. And in that quiet place where He listened to the voice of His Father, He submitted to His authority.
If spending time with the Father in solitude was essential for Jesus, how much more essential is it for us?
Let me remind you of this vital kingdom principle: “You’ll never be over what God has placed under you until you are under what God has placed over you.”
Notice also that the time that Jesus spent alone with His Father also kept Him focused on His main mission. Luke records that while He was spending time alone with His Father in solitude, many came to Him and would have kept Him from leaving, “but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” Luke 4:43-44
Jesus didn’t lose sight of His main mission, namely to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus was driven by the call of God upon His life. He said, “I MUST preach the good news of the kingdom of God.” And because He was under the authority of His Father, He received all the strength He needed in His humanity to fulfill His Father’s plan to set the captives free.
The resolve and conviction that drove Jesus to do His Father's will came not only from His communion and submission to the Father, but from the power of the Spirit upon Him. (Luke 4:14-19)
The prophet Jeremiah also demonstrated the convictional ministry that is ignited by the work of God in our hearts as we seek Him and submit to His Lordship. Because of the intense opposition to His ministry of proclaiming God’s prophetic word to his people, there were times when Jeremiah felt like he could not go on. During one of these times he wrote:
Although there might be obstacles and opposition to overcome, as the great prophet Daniel declared: “…but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Daniel 11:32b
How do we come to know the particular will of the Father with conviction? We must spend time alone with God in prayer with an open Bible so that we can hear His voice. We must spend time in His presence so that we can be transformed by His glory. We must pray not to bend God’s will to ours but to bend our will to His. And as we obey the obvious will of God revealed in the word of God, we will come to know the obscure will of God, like His specific plan and purpose—His call upon our lives.
The good news of the kingdom that Jesus preached and that He gave His life for, so that it can be realized in our lives, is that all who trust Him as Savior and Lord are set free from the domain of darkness so that we can know the freedom of Kingdom authority.
Strength comes from surrender. Don’t be deceived into thinking that surrendering to Christ means captivity. Surrendering to Him gives us freedom which is the power (hook) of kingdom authority to do what we ought to do.
There is actually no person who is as free as the one who is under the rule of King Jesus. To attempt to save our own lives is to lose it. But to give our lives fully to Him is to save it. A wise man said, “The slave to the compass has the freedom of the seas. The rest must sail close to the shore.” Surrender all to Jesus, let His Spirit drive you, and be victoriously free.
In His service,
Pastor Marco
On one of our fishing expeditions I caught a live duck. Don’t ask me how. But my fishing hook got caught on its wing. The duck tired desperately to fly away, but no matter how much he tried the hook would not let him go. Eventually I was able to reel him in and my dear friend Luis helped me to set him free.
Do you have a hook in you for a particular piece of God’s kingdom work which He would have you to do? Are you driven by conviction or consumerism? Are you living for self or to fulfill the call of God which is connected to a transcendent purpose that helps to make the lives of others better?
In the scriptures and throughout Church history, those who are mightily use of God to advance His kingdom are hooked by the Spirit for a particular work of God. And when they yield to it, they experience the freedom of Christ’s resurrection power to fulfill His will with the joy of the Lord.
Although Jesus was God in the flesh, in His humanity He subjected Himself to God the Father in all things, including the exercising of His divine attributes.
Jesus operated with kingdom authority because He aligned with His Father’s authority in private and in public. He sought to know the heart of His Father in silence and solitude and to carry out God’s call with power and precision.
After a night of healing many who were sick and casting out demons, Luke records:
“And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” Luke 4:42-43
Again, because of His divine nature as the Son of God, Jesus had unlimited power and authority in Himself. But in His humanity, as the Son of man, Jesus submitted to His Father, who determined the limits of His divine authority.
Therefore, Jesus regularly withdrew to solitary places where He prayed and communed with His Father. One clear example of this is found in Luke 6:13-14 where we read that Jesus spent all night on a mountain in prayer with His father before choosing the twelve apostles.
We see that although there were so many desperate people vying for His attention, Jesus valued alone time with God the Father above all. And in that quiet place where He listened to the voice of His Father, He submitted to His authority.
“The great work that Jesus did in His ministry did not draw on the resource of His divine nature, but on His constant communion with God the Father and His empowering by God the Holy Spirit. The time in a desolate place was essential for that” (Guzik).
If spending time with the Father in solitude was essential for Jesus, how much more essential is it for us?
“When we teach our teenagers to drive” said Adrian Rogers, “where do we begin? The steering wheel? No, always with the brakes! If you can’t get your teen interested in the brake, then you aren’t interested in showing him the accelerator. In the same way, you will never know the release of the Spirit until you yield to the restraint of the Spirit. We must first master our spiritual brakes. We must learn that strength comes through surrender.”
Let me remind you of this vital kingdom principle: “You’ll never be over what God has placed under you until you are under what God has placed over you.”
Notice also that the time that Jesus spent alone with His Father also kept Him focused on His main mission. Luke records that while He was spending time alone with His Father in solitude, many came to Him and would have kept Him from leaving, “but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” Luke 4:43-44
Jesus didn’t lose sight of His main mission, namely to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus was driven by the call of God upon His life. He said, “I MUST preach the good news of the kingdom of God.” And because He was under the authority of His Father, He received all the strength He needed in His humanity to fulfill His Father’s plan to set the captives free.
The resolve and conviction that drove Jesus to do His Father's will came not only from His communion and submission to the Father, but from the power of the Spirit upon Him. (Luke 4:14-19)
The prophet Jeremiah also demonstrated the convictional ministry that is ignited by the work of God in our hearts as we seek Him and submit to His Lordship. Because of the intense opposition to His ministry of proclaiming God’s prophetic word to his people, there were times when Jeremiah felt like he could not go on. During one of these times he wrote:
“If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” Jeremiah 20:9
Although there might be obstacles and opposition to overcome, as the great prophet Daniel declared: “…but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Daniel 11:32b
How do we come to know the particular will of the Father with conviction? We must spend time alone with God in prayer with an open Bible so that we can hear His voice. We must spend time in His presence so that we can be transformed by His glory. We must pray not to bend God’s will to ours but to bend our will to His. And as we obey the obvious will of God revealed in the word of God, we will come to know the obscure will of God, like His specific plan and purpose—His call upon our lives.
“When you are willing to be to Jesus what Jesus was in His humanity to the Father, then Jesus will be to your humanity what the Father was to Him.” Adrian Rogers
The good news of the kingdom that Jesus preached and that He gave His life for, so that it can be realized in our lives, is that all who trust Him as Savior and Lord are set free from the domain of darkness so that we can know the freedom of Kingdom authority.
Strength comes from surrender. Don’t be deceived into thinking that surrendering to Christ means captivity. Surrendering to Him gives us freedom which is the power (hook) of kingdom authority to do what we ought to do.
There is actually no person who is as free as the one who is under the rule of King Jesus. To attempt to save our own lives is to lose it. But to give our lives fully to Him is to save it. A wise man said, “The slave to the compass has the freedom of the seas. The rest must sail close to the shore.” Surrender all to Jesus, let His Spirit drive you, and be victoriously free.
In His service,
Pastor Marco