For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Conversations with Jesus were also calls to follow Him into a glorious adventure, strangely wonderful things begin for those that answer His call that cannot be mere coincidence but are part of the life of good deeds I prepared for you in Him in advance that you should walk through life with joy unspeakable filled with glory.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10.
Jesus came to give you a happy heart, a gloriously happy heart! He came to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free, to raise up the oppressed to the glorious freedom of My children. Strangely wonderful things have begun, strangely wonderful from Me and My Son, not in your own might and power but in the power of the Holy Spirit.
“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’” Zechariah 4:6-7.
Get ready for supernatural encounters and happenings, like Philip being transported by the Spirit from preaching in Samaria to encounter a Ethiopian official on the Judean desert road headed back for his county. And that conversation began the conversion of a nation to the truth.
If you will make the determination to answer My call and keep My Word, if you will make Covenant commitment to Me, get ready for amazingly wonderful happenings and miraculous deliverances.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28.
When Jesus called Peter to follow Him, it was after a series of conversations and strangely wonderful encounters. And so it is with all of you if you are listening and paying attention to My call. Like the prophet Jeremiah, I have called you from the womb with a plan for your life. But it is up to you to separate the precious from the vile, the sacred from the profane, and follow My call.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5.
And My apostle Paul confirms the same:
But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Galatians 1:15-17.
There is no one that I do not call. But there are many who do not respond. That is why many are called but few are chosen. I know the kind of people I choose. They have hearts that hear My call and open the door of their hearts to Me. And that is enough. Do you remember? Jesus asked Simon Peter three times if he loved Him and told him to feed His sheep. And that qualified him. Those who love are the ones who are chosen. I am looking to see My image in your heart, and I am love. Until I see My love in your heart, you are not ready to feed My sheep. No malice, deceit, envy, and hypocrisy can be there to become a vessel of honor.
Peter first met Jesus through his brother, Andrew. Andrew and John were disciples of John the Baptist. John had baptized Jesus a couple of days before and had proclaimed of Him, as He approached John to be baptized, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Here John was referring to the prophecy of Abraham that I Myself would supply the Lamb for the burnt offering, which was the first sacrificial offering I set forth in the Book of Leviticus to take away sin. John also went on to declare that he had seen the Holy Spirit descend like a dove out of Heaven and remain upon Jesus and that Jesus was the One who would baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire.
John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:32-34.
Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, Andrew and John, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Andrew and John heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” John 1:35-38.
This is a very profound question, for what you are seeking you will find, whether it be good or evil. And how do I know what you are seeking? By what you focus your attention on and speak about. May I ask you now, what are you seeking in your life? What are you focusing your attention on? What are the desires of your heart? When you delight yourself in Me, I give you the desires of your heart. That is, I direct your heart in the way of what is good, pleasing, and perfect, which is My Will for your life.
Andrew and John thought a moment and spoke out their short term goal for that moment, they wanted to know more about Him for John had just pointed Him out as the Messiah that John came to prepare the way for. So theysaid to Him, “Rabbi, where are You staying?” They referred to Him as a master teacher, skilled in My Word, but at that moment Jesus had not begun preaching and was unknown in the rabbinic circles. They believed John’s testimony.
Jesus said to them, “Come, and you will see.” And that is His invitation to all who would want to get to know Him. When you draw close to Me, I draw close to you and I tell you great and mighty things you could not know. Conversations. They wanted to open up conversation with Jesus and hear what He had to say to them as their long-awaited Messiah.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the 4:00 in the afternoon. After spending the rest of the afternoon and evening with Jesus, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother, found Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” And Andrew then brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter, meaning a “rock”). John 1:40-42.
Peter had now met Jesus and it resulted in a new name. The same was true for Abraham and Jacob. And the same is true for you.
“To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.” Revelation 2:17.
At this time, Peter, Andrew, and John did not leave their trade as fishermen but kept on with their lives as usual. But they knew they had found someone great, someone sent by Me to save them from their sins, in Jesus.
The next time Peter and Jesus have a conversation that I share with you in the Bible is at the Sea of Galilee when Jesus officially calls Peter to follow Him as a preacher of the Gospel, i.e., a “fisher of men.” After His death and resurrection, Jesus called Peter to be a shepherd of His sheep. But he continued also as a fisher of men who then shepherded the sheep. The day Jesus called Peter to be a shepherd of the flock of Christ, He also repeated the miracle of a huge catch of fish, but this time the net did not break.
But back to the day of the encounter with Jesus that changed Peter’s life forever. For My call is forever, precious plans for your life that outnumber the sand. The number of the grains of sand on the earth, though impossible for you to count, I know and it is finite, but eternal life is forever and contains the infinite.
On that day, it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to Him teach My Word, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; which is also called the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberius. The crowd had gotten so dense around Him that it hindered His preaching so noticing two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. He know Simon Peter so he got into his boat, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:1-4.
Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” Luke 5:5.
Simon Peter knew Jesus already from the time Andrew had introduced him to Jesus and he felt very honored that Jesus had chosen to teach from his boat. He called Jesus, “Master,” like the owner and head of his boat and business. So even though his best analysis as a seasoned fisherman was that there would be no fish at that time of day when none had surfaced all night, he did so out of respect for Jesus.
Be like Peter, if My Word is clear with a direction or promise, even if it looks completely impossible under the circumstances as you perceive them, do what I tell you and persevere with it. You will get results, overwhelming results.
“Now it shall be, if you diligently hear and obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you hear and obey the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 28:1-2.
So Peter and Andrew went out into the deep and lowered their nets without much hope for a catch, but at this point they were not acting on their faith but on the faith of Jesus, just as Peter and John did when they raised up the man crippled from birth at the Beautiful Gate after Jesus had been glorified at My right Hand and sent them the Holy Spirit. And the results? Jesus had called in the fish and they enclosed a great quantity of fish, so great that their nets began to break. It was a blessing more than they could contain, so they signaled to their partners, John and James, in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. More than two boats could contain where all night there had been nothing. Faith is a wonderful thing, it connects you to My power and makes things happen that are extraordinary. Faith is the connector to My power by which it was released and Jesus was a man of faith.
But when Simon Peter saw the miracle that had taken place so simply before his eyes, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For awed amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
When you suddenly are aware of the blessing of divine power in your life, the purity and holiness of it causes all that is evil in your to retreat and back off. This is what happened to Adam after he sinned. And it happened to Isaiah when he encountered the vision of My holiness.
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” Isaiah 6:1-5.
And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” That was all Jesus said but it was enough for all four of them. When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
I love you forever. It is not a passing fancy, I teach you to profit and the way you should go. Just listen to My Word and be willing and obey and you will have the best of the land. We will continue with our conversations with Peter as we learn more and more about how to walk by faith and not by sight.