Dear Friends & Co-Laborers,
I would like to take the time to reect on a certain passage of scripture as it reveals an important truth for our lives today:Luke 5:1”NOW IT occurred that while the people pressed uponJesus to hear the message of God, He was standing by theLake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee). 2And He saw two boatsdrawn up by the lake, but the shermen had gone down fromthem and were washing their nets. 3And getting into one of theboats, [the one] that belonged to Simon (Peter), He requestedhim to draw away a little from the shore. Then He sat down andcontinued to teach the crowd [of people] from the boat. 4WhenHe had stopped speaking, He said to Simon (Peter), Put out intothe deep [water], and lower your nets for a haul.5And Simon(Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [[a]exhaustingly]and caught nothing [in our nets]. But [b]on the ground of Yourword, I will lower the nets [again].6And when they had donethis, they caught a great number of sh; and as their nets were[[c]at the point of] breaking.7They signaled to their partners inthe other boat to come and take hold with them. And they cameand lled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”We see here that Jesus had a need: He needed to reach thethrongs of people with the message of the Gospel. He couldhave stayed where He was at on the dry ground, but only ahandful of people would have heard Him speak. He needed a“vehicle” that would enable Him to project His message to theentire crowd. Peter’s boat was that “vehicle”. However, Peterhad to release it to Jesus. You see, Peter’s boat represented hislivelihood because he was a sherman; a sherman must havea boat to produce his daily sustenance. When Jesus asked toborrow Peter’s boat, He was requesting Him to surrender Hislivelihood and trust Him completely. As we read, Peter willinglygave up His livelihood in order for the Gospel to go forth and, asa result, the multitude of people heard the Words of Jesus!In addition, we read that Jesus asked Peter to do the ridiculousby going out further to sea and to let down his nets in a placethat had produced nothing just hours before. Once again, Peterobeyed in faith and saw the hand of God move on His behalf!Where there were no sh, there was now such an abundantoverow that he could literally not contain!Friends, today Jesus is asking for our boat; He is askingif you will allow Him to use you- to use your livelihood, yourresources, your “vehicle”! He needs you hands, your prayers,your nances to spread the Gospel to the multitudes of peoplewaiting to be set free by the Truth. We have a choice to yieldour “boat” to Him; it’s a choice we must make willingly becauseHe will never force us into obedience. Peter thought He was just letting Jesus use his boat; but in reality, Jesus was settingPeter up for a miracle. His miracle took place on a day whenthe “sh economy” wasn’t looking so good! The favor and theabundance of God will surpass the worldly circumstances andsystem of economics. He is calling us to surrender our tools forHis kingdom so that He can unlock a ood of blessing into ourlives!In the next few months we will be traveling to many nations toproclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ! On our itinerary arethe countries of Brazil, Canada, Portugal, Honduras and manystateside locations as well. We ask you on behalf of the Gospelto surrender your “vehicle” to release theWord of God to the lost. Your “vehicle” maybe nances; it may be intercession; it maybe to join us on a trip. Let me encourageyou not to stay close to shore, but to launchinto the deep and see how God will useyour “vehicle” and multiply your seed back to you! When we release His Ministry, Hereleases our breakthrough! We love youand keep you in our prayers!God bless you,Doug & Janet Rowland | www.graceandglory.net
M I N I S T R I E S I N T E R N A T I O N A L
grace& glory
February 2009
Grace & Glory Ministries Int’l | 2804 Coastal Range Way | Lutz, FL 33559 | (813) 909-9184 | www.graceandglory.net
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