Author: Allen Forte

The Lord’s insight. A strong believer learns to permit what is not always understood rather than trying to force what they want others to understand.

John 3:15: “But Jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

John 19:11 “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.”

If the Lord asked you to accept some wrong rather than avenge some wrong against you, would you do it?  This is exactly what Paul asks the people of Corinth.  He says to them, “why would you go before the unrighteous to settle things between the righteous?”

He said it is utter failure that believers go to law against one another.  He asks, “why do you not accept wrong?  Why do you not rather allow yourselves to be cheated?”  (1 Corinthians 6:1-9). He is not saying that we should be glad when we are wronged.  That would be foolish. Rather he wants us to permit ourselves to refrain from hitting back when we are hit.

John was baptizing the people in the Jordan river when Jesus came to be baptized.  John thought Jesus should be baptizing him instead.  But Jesus responded by telling John to allow this to happen because it fulfilled the scripture.

This made me realize how I have often resisted something that ultimately could have made me better.

In John 19, Pilate tells Jesus that he has the power to crucify Him or to set Him free.  Jesus responds by telling Pilate he would have no power over Him unless it were given to Pilate from above – that is God. Jesus permitted Pilate to order His death.

We often resist the power or authority of man so we can force man to do right by us. And we live in a world today where most everyone seeks retribution or revenge for the things that happen to us.  Many of us have become advocates for things we believe are right more than we should be committed to the things God wants us to be.

The Lord doesn’t want us to allow ourselves to be wronged so that He can show Himself to be strong.  But we should realize that sometimes the things that we permit to happen to us act as the power needed to cause others to change their ways towards us. Many of us read scripture and see information about what we can do; then some allow the scripture to read them, and they find the transformation that awaits them.

As believers we must remember that the more we fight for what we believe is right for us, the less the Lord fights for us. What things we force usually happen through our own strength; but the things we permit often cause to happen the things we cannot force. The Lord doesn’t need you to be caught in a sin to show the blessing of obedience. This is what glorifies the Lord and what develops our faith.

The Lord doesn’t want you to be slapped, but when it happens, permit yourself not to respond in anger.

The Lord doesn’t want you to be cheated, but when it does happen, permit yourself to respond in grace.

The Lord doesn’t want you to be the tail, but when it happens, permit yourself to lead from the rear.

You have two choices in your life as a believer in how you live before others.  There are things you must learn to permit, and you must keep yourself from trying to force things to happen because you want what is fair and right.

Both Jesus and John permitted the thing that glorified God. When you fight for yourself, you get glory for yourself. But the glory you get is the glory of man more than it is of God. In many ways, with the Lord, it is the act to permit some things to happen that is what glorifies the Lord more than the fact that we correct a wrong done against us.

You should wonder if you are serving the Lord when you have an attitude of retribution more than an attitude of permission. When you learn to permit the work of the Lord to thrive in your life, your attitude of permitting His Lordship is a glorifying act in itself.

The feeling that you will avenge and correct all the wrongs you see is a scary attitude to have. To get what you want you will have to get man to give you what man does not want to give you.  When you force man to do right by you, you lose more than you gain.

When you choose to permit the Lord to work against the evil that comes your way you will gain more than you will gain by simply giving evil what it deserves. If you must have an attitude, let it be that you ask the Lord to help you learn to permit His work in your life to be so.

Live a Delivered Life.

The Lord’s insight.  To learn to be a father you must learn to be a son.

2 Samuel 7:14” “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.”

2 Corinthians 6:18: “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters.  Says the Lord Almighty.”

Today is the day in 2026 that we acknowledge and honor the fathers we have among us.  We include those fathers who were; those who are; and those who will be.  It is fitting to have a day like today because there is probably nothing more important to man than being a believer and being a father.

I have often said, there are some important things we must be that we don’t have a “how to” book written plainly for that.  Being a father is one of those things.  God did not overlook this.  That’s because He made Himself the example all men need on how to be a father.

In 2 Samual 7:14, God is speaking to Samuel about King David and his son Solomon.  God is telling Samuel to tell David that God Himself would be a father to Solomon and that Solomon would be a son to God.

And like that, in 2 Corinthians 6:18 God is talking to His people when He says, “I will be your Father, and you shall be my sons and daughters.” If you are going to be a father to anyone you must first learn how to be a son to your father.

You may not think you have a good example of an earthly father that would make you want to learn how to be a son to him.  But you have a Heavenly Father Who still requires you to be a son.  So lets make Father’s Day 2026 the day we focus on learning how to be sons so that we can learn how to be the fathers we ought to be.

Here are some things God expects from us as His sons. These are things we should give to God the Father and to our earthly fathers.

Respect: Sons respect their fathers no matter what the father does or does not do.

Reflect: Sons reflect the best things about their fathers no matter how great or small those things may be.

Responsible: Sons remain responsible toward their father no matter if they are home or on their own.

Reject: Sons reject their sense of self so that they demonstrate the father’s sense of selflessness.

Repeat: Sons learn from and repeat the things they learn from their fathers so that the father’s training is seen in the sons’ behaviors.

As much as people today want to break from their parents and be their own persons, fathers are never permitted to break away from being sons to their fathers and they are never permitted to stop being fathers to their sons.

God says He will be our father.  This is a commitment to us that will never end.  He will teach each of us how to love and how to deny the self and seek what is best for our sons and daughters.  He will teach us how to be teachable so that we can teach our own.  He will show us how to love so that we learn how to show love to our own.

All that the Father wants from us as fathers is revealed to us in the things He wants from us as sons. If you don’t care about the type of father you are, you are probably not the son you ought to be towards your father.  If you want to be a better father to your children, learn to be a better son to your father.

Scripture tells the father’s children they must honor their parents.  You fathers must be the type of fathers your sons and daughters will find it easy and desiring to give you their honor. Don’t make it difficult for your sons and daughters to be blessed by the Father by honoring you.

God is this way with us; He expects us to be this way with our own.

Have a great Father’s Day today.  And be a greater, better father in all the days to come for you.

Live a Delivered Life.

He Opens Your Understanding

The Lord’s insight. The Word can tell you a lot about you if you allow it to open your understanding.

Acts 8:30: “So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isiah, and said, do you understand what you are reading?”

Luke 24:45: “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”

I had a pastor once who always ended his sermons by asking this question “so what is the holy spirit saying to you?” The pastor was saying don’ tell me what you heard about the Word, tell me you understand about what the Word is saying about you.”

His question was very appropriate because we live in a time where even as believers, we tend to talk more than we listen.  And we tend to speak more about what we hear than by what Holy Spirit is saying to us.  But I took his question a bit further.  I asked myself, “what is the Holy Spirit saying about me.”

We will search the world to find something to share about what we believe about the Word. But will we stop searching the world to understand what the Word says about us.

In the book of Acts, a Eunuch from Ethiopia was traveling as he came across Philip.  The Eunuch was reading scripture.  When Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading he responded, “how can I unless someone guides me?” The Eunuch had the sense to know that his understanding needed to be opened to what he was reading.

In Luke 24:15 two men were traveling talking about the crucifixion of Jesus a few days earlier.  Scripture says Jesus came among them and asked what they were talking about. They told Jesus what they knew. But then Jesus opened their understanding so they could comprehend what they knew.

It was through the Word that I learned I was more judgmental than I thought I was. I saw how quickly I would judge what I thought about others or something others did. Once I allowed the Word to open the door to me so I could learn about me, I asked that I never be allowed to close that door again.

When you learn to hear what is being said about you, it will help you understand what you should know about the things you see daily. When you allow the Lord to speak to you about you, He washes the lens through which you see everything else.

When your understanding is open you speak less and you listen more.

You add quiet to the things that are noisy.

You withhold your opinion until you are asked for your opinion.

You base your thinking about anything on what the Lord has said about you.

You tend to your own mess more than you are in the middle of someone else’s mess.

You gossip about your own foolishness more than about the perceived foolishness of others.

The Lord wants to open our understanding to His Word, but He will not force us into this.  He will wait patiently until we come to Him and say “Lord, how can I understand what goes on with my life unless You teach me about my life.”

If you can’t be taught, you can’t be heard by those who are taught.  If you can’t hold your tongue, you can’t be heard by those who hold their tongues. And if you cannot stand the conviction and revelation of the Holy Spirit about you, people will reject your conviction and accusation of them.

Pray the Lord open your understanding about you today. When our understanding is opened, we don’t just hear what others say, we hear more about what makes others say the things they say.

You will better understand God’s Word, when you learn to receive what the Word says about you. Pray that what people hear about you reflects a person who has listened to what the Holy Spirit has said about them.

Live a Delivered Life.

The Lord’s insight. No person before us has lived a perfect life, but many persons before us have lived God- pleasing lives.

Matthew 3:17: “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 6:31-32: “Therefore do not worry, saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

There are many things about life and God that just do not make any sense to me.  I want to live right and be obedient to the Lord but I’m sinful. There always seems to be something in me that makes me stumble and do something I know does not please the Lord.

I don’t want to use being sinful as an excuse for my actions, but I have learned, if I don’t understand where my actions come from or what causes them, I am bound to repeat them, especially the things I don’t want to repeat. I am sure I speak to many of us when I say this; we are trapped by our own ways.

God wants us to do good for sure, even if we are not as good as we should be. And even though all the things we do will never be pleasing to the Lord, we know we can always give more of ourselves to live a God-pleasing life.  He wants us to do right before Him and others.  But just as much, He wants us to live like we are in bondage to His Word more than to our sin. This is the type of life that is pleasing to Him.

In Matthew 6:31-32, Jesus speaks to the Jews.  He tells them not to worry about basic stuff and basic needs. He goes on to tell them that the Gentiles worry about the same things. He encourages them to do what the Gentiles could not do yet because the Word came first to the Jew.

He told the Jews they should seek first the Kingdon of God.  When they did this, He assured them God would supply all their basic needs. A life that seeks after the things of God first is a God-pleasing life.  The gentiles did not know the Lord so they could not seek after Him in this way at this time.

The Gentiles chased after their basic needs apart from Jesus. They looked to man and to their own efforts for the things they needed and desired. We have the same needs as do the gentiles but a God-pleasing life will not live and pursue those needs like the gentiles.

Jesus told the Jews then and you and I now, don’t be like the gentiles because we know Him.

Do good for it is better than doing anything else.  But for the believer, we should do our good because it comes in a life that is chasing after God for all the good He has for us. This is God-pleasing.

Pray a lot for it is better than to not praying at all.  But for the believer, we should pray because we live more than because we want to keep living.  This is God-pleasing.

Work with your hands and with your talents.  But work to store up and use your God given treasures more than to acquire earthly treasures. The best of you is the most valuable treasure you have. Lay up your best in the storehouse of heaven.  This is God-pleasing.

Man can never give you what God alone wants to give you.  Man can never give you anything of greater value than what God can give you.  The gentiles sought what man had. The believer seeks what God has. Gentile living is carnal living.  God-pleasing living is believing living.

God knows you have need for food, water and shelter. But the God-pleasing man does not live by bread alone but by the Word of God.  It is through the Word our bread is provided. The gentiles took care to protect themselves from others. But the man living a God-pleasing life knows that his protection comes through God.

A God-pleasing life is one that seeks everything it needs through a life that spends every moment chasing after God. It is in the chase for God that Jesus provides us with the things we need in this life. If it is a position you want, a status you seek, a relationship you desire, or even a child you long to have, you will find these things more easily when you chase after the Lord for the things He has reserved for you.

A God-pleasing life is a life in which God will be well pleased.

The Lord’s insight.  God is Love.  He doesn’t just do loving things.

1 John 4:16: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.  God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

When Moses asked God what to say to the people who would ask God’s name.  God responded by describing Himself by something inherent to being God.  He simply said, tell the people “I am sent you.”  The description I am it not a name.  It is an inherent description of who God is.

Perhaps God wanted the people to know Him for Who He is more than by what He is called.  He is the God Who Is.  That is His most inherent quality. There are some things about man that inherently make them men and women. Men have the sperm needed to fertilize a woman’s egg. Women have the egg that needs fertilization by man. These things are inherent to men and women.

There is one other thing that is or should be inherent to our humanity. That is love. There can be no world without love because God is love. Love is inherent to Who God is.  It is not something that God does because He cares.  Love is who God is and it is the reason He does the loving things He does.

1 Corinthians 13, says, there will be many things in life that will come and go.  Many things that will start and end.  Many talents we will have today but lose tomorrow. Talent and skills do not make us more or better people.  Love that is does that for us.

Believers should want all the gifts God has for us.  We should want the talents and skills He has for us.  But more than that, we should want more of the essence of Who He is. That essence is Love.

Scripture reminds us we will lose our talents and skills, but we should want the thing that will live forever. It says there are three things to desire that abide and can never be lost. They are faith, hope and love.  And of these three things, Love is the greatest.

Love that is, is love that will go a long way and will endure much along the way and it is kind all the while.

Love that is, is love that is selfless as it does not want what you have, it does not want to stand out before you and it does not say “look at me.”  Love that is, is all about others, never itself.

Love that is, is love that thinks about how it behaves so that it never behaves rudely.  It is unshakable and can never be provoked by anything.  It never thinks evil of anyone even of those who are evil.  This is because love that is, is love that does not rejoice when you are down.

So, no matter what your gift or talents may be, you should want faith, hope and love because they are part of your essence as a child of God.  And of these three things, love is the greatest because we are fashioned by Love in love to be love.

Our hopes are the dreams and desires that live in our lives. Faith lives in each of us as the essence of the way we live out all of what we hope for.  But even faith and hope are not enough for us to be known by. Faith and hope may be the reason that we are joyful, but Love that is, is the reason for our faith and hope.

Love lives because God lives and He gives us the part of His essence that lives. Our love will never fail to exist. If you want to live long and if you want to live in love toward others, become love that is.

You may want to compare Love that is, to love that describes how we feel and are made to feel for others and for our children and for the things we cherish.  Love that is cannot be compared to our love for things and by things.  It does not need to redefine what love is; it defines clearly what love should be.

Live a Delivered Life.

Be Steadfast

The Lord’s insight.  The deeper you go into the Word, the more the Word will grow in you.

1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Many of you know that I coach people, mostly business executives. I am often asked where do great people hang out?  We assume great people live, work and play at the same things we do but just in different ways.  Well, they do not.  Great people do not “hang out.”  You do not find them in groups like you find others. Great people are like eagles.  You find them alone, standing and living above the very things other people live in.

Great people do not gather together and protest like others do. They do not spend their time commenting and sharing their views over social media as others do. They keep their opinions to themselves when others run to share something with people they don’t know about things they don’t understand.

Great people are this way because they are steadfast about their growth and development.  They stand alone because they will not stand in the places we stand and they will not do the things we do. They see life as a place of constant and continued growth.

Believers should be this way. But we are steadfast about the thing that is not the most productive. We believe in coming together in fellowship and sharing with one another and with others. This is right because we are called to fellowship. But these things are always ready to do because doing many things is easy. But often times, we are ready to do before the work of the Word is finished preparing us to abound in the things we do.

1 Corinthians 15:58 encourages us to abound in our work in the Lord. To abound is to be lavish and to almost have no limit to the things we do. But that is just one part of our work.  1 Peter 3:18 tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Many of us may think this means having more of the Lord’s grace and knowledge.

But for me, while it means to have more grace and knowledge, it also means that the grace and the knowledge about the Lord has more of me.  It grows in me so I am able to grow in how much I can have of it.

When the believer grows in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, he can be steadfast and abound in the work of the Lord. When we are diligent in our growth it will show up in the work others see that has been done in us.

Believers are in many ways like the eagle. The hard work in us is done as we stand apart and alone with just us and the Lord. We must understand that growth in the Lord is work that is done in the soil of the Word of God.  It is work that is below the surface of our lives.  It is work that grows deep down into the Word so that the Word can grow deep into the roots of our lives.  This way, the Word becomes our firm foundation to which we are anchored.

Eagles and great people don’t hang out because this work is always being done in them. We must allow the work of the Word to be engaged into our lives when we are in the dark. We don’t grow in our knowledge as much as the Word grows into our lives and it reveals itself in us in the form of grace and knowledge unknown to others.

So, learn to be steadfast and immovable in your growth and in your development.  Make sure you allow the work of the Word to happen in the quiet and in the unseen soil of your life.  If you do this, what people see in the light of your life will be the manifestation of the work that has been done in the darkest areas of your life.

We must grow deeper before we can grow higher. A believer must grow down in the soil of things as much as he grows up into the light of things. We are naturally drawn to light, but the hard work is to make it natural for us to be drawn to the dark hard work in the soil of life.

If you find a strong believer you will probably find someone who is seemingly slower to speak, who listens more than they share, who stands behind more than they stand out front, and who seeks more understanding than they seek to be understood.

They are steadfast in these ways. If you are steadfast in allowing the Work of the Word to do its work in the soil of your life, He will make you abound in grace and in knowledge so that the things you do in the light are a reflection of the work of the Word done the dark.

Live a Delivered Life.

I’ve Witnessed It

Hi everyone, this is Allen Forte.

I’ve witnessed it.  That’s my message for today.

John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins.  They were born just a few months apart – John being a few months older.  I think we all know John was set apart to go out ahead of Jesus and to proclaim to the people the coming of the Lord.

I imagine those two grew up together as little kids.  Perhaps they even played together.  But at some point, John took to his calling and started his ministry.  And after that, Jesus when He was around 30 years old started His work as the Lord.

John probably got to witness a lot of stuff with Jesus that is not written anywhere.  Imagine playing a game of baseball when Jesus is the pitcher.  Or imagine trying to beat Jesus running home from school.  Yes, John probably witnessed a lot of stuff.

But, even with that, John had his questions.  He had his doubts.  Not questions about Who Jesus was, but questions about if Jesus was?  John knew Who Jesus was, but he didn’t know if Jesus was the One, he was proclaiming to come.  How on earth could that be?

In the book of Luke 7:22-23, John has been put in prison by Herod.  He sent some of his disciples to Jesus to inquire if Jesus was the One.  So, the disciples came to Jesus and said this to Him.  “John is wondering if You are the One Who is coming or should they look for another.”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard.  That the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

John had a moment where he forgot all that he had witnessed in his life and in the life of Jesus.  He was in prison for proclaiming the Coming One, but he let his circumstances move him to doubt if Jesus was the One. 

Sometimes, we are like that today.  We are so busy with doing the work of the Lord that we forget sometimes to let the work of the Lord do its stuff with us.  Jesus’ response to John was a reminder to John of the things done in life that only the Lord could do.

Sometimes we need a gentle reminder of the amazing things the Lord is and has done in our lives and in the life of the things around us.  Jesus told John’s disciples to go tell him what they had witnessed.  Sight restored to the blind.  Lame people walking again.  People healed of leprosy.  Deaf people hearing.

Like John’s disciples, we need to remember to be witnesses to the things we see and hear.  I have never seen sight restored to the blind or hearing restored to the deaf.  But here are some things we can all be witness of:

God is the only one who can tell the sun where to go and sit for the night.

He tells the wind where to come from and where to go.

He causes the ocean tides to come and go.

He causes oxygen to give and to sustain the humanity of our lives.

He keeps the stars above from falling down upon us.

He tells the clouds to stay put and then to move on.

He decided we didn’t need an ocean in the atmosphere, but it is from there rain falls to sustain us.

He tells the day where to go when night comes.

And though we cannot see love, He makes sure we can know it because He is love.

We are a witness to a lot more than we think or know.  We just have to open our eyes to the wonder of the things around us.

So, let this be your time.  Go and tell someone what you have seen and heard and witnessed.  And when they question you on these things just let them know you’ve witnessed it all because we serve a living God and Lord who doesn’t live in a stone.

No, God is not a stone or a carved figure.  He is not the result of our imagination.  He is a living God.

Jesus lives in a place called anywhere.  And He operates in a time call anytime.  And He can be found in a place called any place because He is a living God.

Let people know you’ve witnessed that for yourself.  It’s there for them to see and hear for themselves.

Live a Delivered Life. 

Mother’s Day 2026

Hi everyone, this is Allen Forte

This is my message for Mother’s Day 2026.

Today is Mother’s Day.  It’s the one day of each year we set aside so that we can acknowledge the blessings we have in our mother’s.  No matter who you are or where you are from, each of us has a mother.

To my knowledge, there is no day set aside in the Word of God called Mother’s Day. But there is in the Word, encouragement from the Lord that we should all honor our parents.

Ephesians 6:1-2 says it this way.  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”

So, Mother’s Day is a tradition of man, but a good tradition to have because in a way, it is man’s way to say to the Lord, “we will honor our parents because You have asked us to do that.” I say today is a good tradition to have because in many ways, people have come to reject traditions, especially when it comes to parents and parenting, so that we can live our own ways.

Jesus and Mary, His mother, are our best examples of what is means to be the child who honors the mother. Mary stood at the foot of the cross while Jesus died.  She was mother from His birth, and she was mother to Him at the moment of His death.  John 19:25-27.

Jesus was the Son of His mother from His birth, and He was the Son of His mother at the moment of His death.  He honored His mother by how He lived and He honored His mother in the way He died.

Being a mother is one of the most selfless things a mom is required to be for as long as she lives. Honoring your mother is one of the most selfless things you are required to be for as long as you live. Jesus and Mary should be the example of what an honoring relationship should be between Mother and Child.

So, today, whether your earthly example of mother and child is great or not, fulfilling the desire of the Lord to honor your mother remains Truth.  It is His Word and desire for us, and we should make it a tradition of ours to follow no matter our circumstances.

In the book of Ruth, we have the example of a loving honoring relationship between mother and child, Naomi and Ruth. These two ladies had endured a difficult life, with famine and death of husbands and sons. On earth, they had each other only.

They could have given up and given in to anything to find a way to get by. Naomi actually wanted Ruth to depart and find how own life.  She thought Ruth would find something better than what she would have living with her. But Ruth wouldn’t leave her.  Ruth honored her mother by honoring her.

Ruth knew they had one another and they had the Lord.  This kept them together and moving forward in eternal hope.  As Naomi tried to encourage Ruth to find how own path, Ruth simply said “mom, I will not leave you.”

Ruth speaks to Naomie in chapter 1:16-17 saying this:

Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you.

For wherever you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

Where you die, I will die, and where there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also.  If anything but death parts you and me.”

So, today and each day hereafter, let something like this be your cry and the way you honor your mother and the Lord. No matter if your mother is living or has died already, make sure she knows you will always follow after her no matter her example in your life. Make sure she knows where she lives, you will live. Make sure she knows you will never reject her or her people.  And make sure she knows the Lord God almighty Who has carried her will be your Lord and God and He will carry you also.

Finally, make sure your mother knows you will let nothing short of death separate you from her. If this is not you right now, you’ve got work you can still do.  If this is you today, you’ve got work you must continue to do.

Honor your mother today with your life and how you live it towards the Lord and toward Her.  This is a great tradition to have.

Live a Delivered Life.  Love you.    

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Why the right side and not the left?

Luke 5:5: But Simon answered and said to Him, Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at Your Word, I will let down the net.”

John 21:5-6: “Then Jesus said to them, children, have you any food? They answered Him, no. And He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So, they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.”

The disciples needed food for their families. They needed fish to sell to make money. They had toiled all night doing what they had to do and had not caught a single fish. Then as they are washing their nets, Jesus tells them to cast the net out again on the right side of the boat. He said they would catch something this way.

They didn’t know it was Jesus asking them to do this. But they needed fish; they needed food, so they were willing to cast one more time on the request of a man they didn’t know. Maybe they thought this person was an expert fisherman. He was specifically telling them to cast their net on the right side of the boat. Maybe he knew something they didn’t know.

Maybe that’s the case and maybe not. Whatever the case, they did and they caught so many fish till they had to toil to bring them all into the boat. It was then they recognized it was Jesus who had asked them to cast their net out again but this time on the right side of the boat.

Sometimes, we toil at things that are important to us, but we do not get the results we want. Sometimes, all we need to do to see a change in things is to go to the right side of things where the change is. We work hard at our marriages, but we don’t make ourselves good spouses. We work hard at parenting, but we are not parents at heart.  We want a good high paying job, but we are lazy and do the work of a lazy employee.

We have little results from the things we toil at doing because the work we do requires something greater and better than that which we want to give. We toil because we do not know how to work from the right side of things.

The disciples were cleaning their nets after a whole night toiling to catch fish but caught nothing. Many of us will go to work with a poor attitude but we will never think of cleaning up our attitude so we can get the promotion we want.

Jesus calls us to go to the right side of things and not the left side because He wants us to know that the left the side is the side that comforts us and makes us accept ourselves just as we are. He wants us to learn we must move to the side that is right for those who would receive the blessing of who we are and what we do.

Right and left are more than directions with the Lord. They are positions of our hearts and minds.  When our hearts are right and when our minds are right, we will always see what we left to get to what we now have. If you want something for yourself, there will be very little left of you when you do not get what you want.

If you want something for the Lord and for others, there will be many blessings for you right in the place you are today.  With the Lord at your side, you will learn to work from the right side of your heart and your thinking.  When you do this, you will not toil at the things you do. And if you do toil it will be to toil at the abundance of the blessing He will cause you to have.

If you are on the left side of life. Move to the right. If you are on the left side of your marriage, move to the right.  If you are on the left side of your employment, move to the right.

It is on the right side that you will find the catch the Lord has waiting for you.

Live a Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. As the world goes, let it go.

Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

1 Corinthians 9:22: “To the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

The Pope and the President got into a little spat a few weeks ago.  This made me wonder.  Who is winning the battle for the world?  Is the church winning the people or are the people winning the church?  Is the message of the church transforming people or are the ways of the people transforming the church?

Romans 12:2 is telling us that as believers we should not run as the world runs. We should not turn as the world turns. We should not go as the world goes. But we should be transformed in who we are.  In this way, the world has a chance to see the thing of God that is different and that can save us from ourselves.

So, I ask?  Are the minds of the believers being transformed by the world or are believers by their transformation, sticking with the Word of God and by doing so, we are proof of the good, acceptable and perfect Will of God? 

God means us no harm. God wants to keep us from harm. This is one reason He wants us to change our thinking. He doesn’t want us running on our own thinking trying to change the world around us from what He says to what we say.

Yet, in 1 Corinthians 9:22, some believers will say Paul is saying he decided to be like the people of the world so that he can win some to Christ.  But is that what Paul means? The scripture on the surface makes no sense. If I am a drunkard, I don’t think Paul is saying he would become a drunkard so that he could win me to Christ and to sobriety.

If I am a drunkard, why would I believe you, another drunkard, about anything but having another drink? Clearly, we must look deeper. Paul is not saying he would affirm sin so that he could win you to repentance. That would make no sense. If we affirm sin as normal, people will never accept that their behavior is sin.

Paul wrote both these scriptures. Is there a conflict then? No there is not. Perhaps when we look to Romans a little deeper, we will find that Paul is saying if you are poor and in need, he would come to you as being poor and in need himself so that he could win you by showing you how to depend on the Lord.

Believers ought never to turn as the world turns, believing that as we do this will lead some people to change their ways. The church doesn’t need to get a tattoo so that those who have tattoos will feel accepted in the church. The church doesn’t need to wear tight fitting leggings so that those who want to wear leggings to church will feel comfortable doing that at the church.

We cannot go as the world goes. We must let the things of the world go their way and we must stand for and represent God’s way. We can say and demonstrate that we are like the world in that we have things we want to hold onto, but we are unlike the world in that we know we can let go of those things so we can take hold of all the good acceptable things the Will of God has waiting for us.

So, if the world is unbelieving in some ways, don’t affirm that unbelief in yourself thinking you can change the world. Affirm what the Lord has asked us to affirm.  Stand as an example of one who was weak but now you are strong.  As one who was poor but now you are rich.  As one who dressed to please themselves, but now as one who dresses so as not to be a distraction to others.

What is this but now?  Now that you know the Love of God and that His will for us is always good and pleasing and acceptable. The believer and the church do not need to look like the people of the community. The believer and the church should look like people from the community, transformed by the Love of God into something that is good for the community.

As the world goes, let it go. As the Lord leads, let’s be quick to follow.

Live a Delivered Life.