Today’s devotional from TD Jakes!
“After spending 3.5 years with Jesus, Peter ultimately denies knowing him, because it became hard to follow Jesus. There is a period of insurrection. Peter rebelled against something that got too hard for him, and he returns to the familiar – fishing. The disciples follow him to his boat. What Peter does not realize is once God calls you out, you cannot go back. God will close a door so that you cannot return to where you came from, and you have to deal with what is in front of you. If you do find a way back, it won’t be easy. Like Peter, when he returned to his boat, you will toil all night. Going back is no longer an option! Sometimes failure is your friend.
Peter had been fishing all night and caught nothing. Jesus shows up in the morning, (Always remember: Power moves in the morning!) and he asks Peter to take inspection; “How’s it going? Have you caught any fish?” You cannot be a leader without taking inspection. In order to get what you expect, you must inspect. An analysis is essential. A report is necessary. Decisions can only be made around inspections and analyses.
Effort does not equate to impact. The fact that a lot of effort is expended does not mean it will result in impact. Some of the busiest people are failures. What do you have left after all of your energy is spent? Most people measure success using the wrong methodology. It is not about the gross; it is about the net. God wants to make us profitable servants. He will always use what we have left; even if it is a handful of meal, or a pot of oil, or two fish and five loaves. The goal should be to measure what is left. There are only two ways to have something left; either increase what is coming in or decrease what is going out. Why would God give you more when you have been so inefficient with what you have had left?
It is better to be rich than to look rich. Bling don’t mean a thing if you don’t have retirement, or annuities, or life and health insurance; if you don’t have a strategy for the future. Have you anything to show for your effort? Did you even bother to count to see if what you’ve done is profitable? Are you satisfied to be on a boat impressing people who have no more than you, or are you hungry to catch something? Don’t be satisfied to float on a boat with people who have caught nothing! Get hungry for success! Get hungry to have appreciating assets and not depreciating ones. Get hungry to think like a champion and not like a fool…Get hungry!”
Bible verses for guidance…
“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus ), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.” ~ John 21:1-12 NIV
“Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.” ~ 1 Kings 17:8-16 NIV
“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” ~ 2 Kings 4:1-7 NIV
