The Word This Week – EVERY MIRACLE COMES WITH AN INSTRUCTION

17 March 2014 by Rev Dr Jai Kumar –

Luke 5:3

Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

The multitude was pressing Jesus and therefore Jesus had to get into a place where everybody could hear the preaching of the Word loud and clear.

Jesus knew the Word of God is powerful, sharper than a two edged sword and therefore He wanted to get to a place where everybody could see Him and hear His Word.

The Bible says He entered into Simon Peter’s boat and requested him to move his boat a little out from the land so that everybody could see Him. So Simon Peter did according to instruction.

Here is a principle you need to pick up.

No.1, Simon Peter was willing to accommodate the presence of Jesus in his boat

No 2, I believe he was listening to the Word of God.

You know what? When you accommodate the presence of God in your life, when you accommodate the Word of God in your environment, the atmosphere begins to change. The atmosphere gets transformed and charged with the power of God.

And when the power of God is present, the anointing to break yokes starts to flow! How many of you know? When God speaks, you bet, dead things come to life.

The Bible says: And when He had finished preaching, Jesus instructed Simon Peter, “put down your net for a catch.”

EVERY MIRACLE COMES WITH AN INSTRUCTION AND OUR OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S VOICE DURING THIS TIME WILL DETERMINE YOUR BREAKTHROUGH.

THE INSTRUCTIONS YOU FOLLOW WILL PRODUCE A MIRACLE IN YOUR SITUATION

But unfortunately Simon Peter was unable to connect to the spiritual temperature that was present for a miracle. Peter had no clue of what is happening here because of a fixed religious mentality.

Have you been in a situation like that where you were unable to see beyond the natural for God to move in your life? When we don’t have a spiritual ear to hear and a spiritual eye to see God, you will miss out on some significant things that God wants to do in your life.

WE HAVE OFTEN LIMITED THE POWER OF GOD

You know what was the problem there? Simon Peter was operating on human wisdom and knowledge, human clever idea, carnal thinking and by doing so he limited God.

Paul says, 1 Cor.2:14

“But the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually blind.”

Therefore Simon answered in Verse 5, and said, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets’.

You see Simon Peter was reluctant to do what Jesus was instructing him to do. Let’s tell the truth!

Simon Peter was initially ignorant of the supernatural power of God. I believe he had a faith that was only religious. I believe he had a faith based on his own strength. He had a fixed mindset about God.

He did not realise that he was talking to a God of miracles in his midst. He did not realise that there was a God out there who has promised nothing is impossible if you believe.

I believe he must have been thinking, I have been fishing all through my life and with all my experience and skill I can tell you just by looking at the water there is absolutely no fish. You see, Simon Peter was trying to display his human smartness to Jesus in a very subtle manner.

But you know what? Simon Peter missed the whole point. He was unfortunately unaware that he was dealing with a God who says my ways are different from your ways. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

How many of you know that a human clever idea is not necessarily a God idea?

YOUR GODLESS THINKING IN A CERTAIN CRUCIAL SITUATION CAN PREVENT YOU FROM RECEIVING GOD’S BEST FOR YOU IN YOUR LIFE.

Although Peter agreed to please what the master told him to do finally, he nevertheless did it grudgingly. He made his displeasure known by telling the Lord we have tried all night and we have caught nothing. What does that convey to you?

If I have understood the underlining attitude of Simon Peter’s thoughts, I can boldly say, Simon Peter was subtly pushing home the point to Jesus. Peter was thinking we know the best time to fish is during the night, now you are asking us to catch fish during the day which does not make any sense as a professional fishermen to me!

You know what?

SOMETIMES WHAT GOD INSTRUCTS US TO DO MAY SOUND RIDICULOUS TO THE HUMAN MIND.

However,I believe because of an ingredient of respect for his Master, he submitted to throwing his net for a catch.

Verse 6, says,

‘And when they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking.

‘ 7) And they beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

Verse 6: This was a mind blowing catch! This was an absolutely abnormal catch. This was a supernatural catch. Can you imagine, the catch was so huge that they couldn’t handle it. They had to ask their colleagues from the other boat to come over to help them. The scripture says the nets were breaking. Their boat was sinking because the load of fish was too heavy.

YOU BECOME HUMBLED WHEN YOU REALISE HOW BIG GOD IS

8) But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

I believe Simon Peter felt so guilty because he had an attitude towards Jesus. He truly felt so small and unworthy in the presence of such a great God. He was truly humbled. I believe Simon Peter became so afraid because never in his fishing life, never in his fishing career, had he had such a miraculous encounter that blew his analytical mind off.

This encounter moved him from the natural man to a spiritual man. I believe he came to understand that all things are possible with God if only you believed that He is a miracle working God.

11) Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

The worse tragedy in life is to be successful in everything we do without Jesus in the picture.

What is God telling you today? When God brings about a miracle in your life, He is not just going to give you enough to meet your bare necessities. He is not just going to give you enough to feed you for a day! HE IS NOT A GOD OF ENOUGH! HE IS A GOD OF MORE THAN ENOUGH!!! The question is, are you able to connect to the spiritual temperature that is present for a miracle to take place in your life?

Note: Rev Dr Jai Kumar is an ordained & licensed minister of Covenant Ministries International N.J. USA. He is also the representative of Faith International Bible School for Malaysia & Singapore. He is the founder and senior pastor of Full Gospel Outreach Ministry KL, a member of ECCM, Spiritual Adviser & overseer of Full Gospel Christian Church KL. Co-founder and adviser of Kingdom Christian Fellowship, Subang Jaya, he is also the author of a book entitled, ‘God’s Time Clock.’