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Are You in a Position to be Blessed? |
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By Curtis C. Mosley © 2003
When I was a boy growing up in the
Deep South, I occasionally went fresh water fishing in the bayous near
my home. As directed by the more experienced fishermen,
I learned to cast a top water fly close to the appropriate
target in the hopes of attracting a large mouth bass; likely
under a low hanging branch or fallen tree. Over the years,
I was as successful as my companions and considered myself
an able fly fisherman.
Many years later, I moved to Georgia, near the Florida
border. As I met new people, I noticed that many of my
friends had large stuffed bass on their walls, much larger
than those I had caught in my home state. Soon I had the
opportunity to go fishing with a friend from church. This
older gentleman, an experienced and successful angler, used
an entirely different method than I had learned. Rather
than casting flies on top of the water, he used sinking
lures that he cast near the bank and retrieved rhythmically,
raising and lowering the lure in the water as he reeled it
in. Sure enough, that morning he caught a prize bass.
What I discovered was that, despite years of fishing, I
didn’t know much about catching the big ones. And to
top it off, I had not been fishing in the best place! Let’s
just say that, in Georgia and Florida, five to ten pound bass are
much more common than where I come from.
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I am reminded of the story of a young man who needed a job
badly. Day after day, he prayed for something to show up
in the mail, but no offer came. He was just about flat broke
when he cried out to God in anguish, pleading for a job.
Suddenly, he heard a voice, clearly and distinctly: “Fill
out an application and send it in.”
My point is that we need to put ourselves in a position
where God can bless us. The scriptures offer numerous
examples of saints whom God instructed to move to a place
of receiving.
If you visit any warehouse, you’ll notice that there
is both a receiving dock for incoming freight and a shipping dock for
outgoing packages. Why? Simply because the receiving dock
is organized and prepared to receive goods and then process
them. If inbound cargo were to arrive at the shipping dock,
it would disrupt the flow of materials.
Are you expecting goods but working some place other than the “Receiving
Dock?” And, if so, have you thought about
relocating to a place where God is more likely to bless
you? God’s children need to be prepared to receive.
If you are a gifted mathematician, shouldn’t you attend
MIT, Stanford, or a similar place where the instruction you need
is offered? If you want to learn Italian, shouldn’t you
consider a semester in Italy, where the finer points of the
language are used? To carry the point to the obvious, if
you want to swim, find a pool and jump in.
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The scriptures contain many examples of God instructing His
children to go to a place of blessing. In 2 Timothy 3:16,
The Lord tells the thirsty Israelites to “Make this valley
full of ditches.” In other words, prepare to receive
what you want: water. If they had not prepared, what would they
do when the water arrived?
In John 21:1-6, Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, and John
had been fishing all night without anything to show for it.
In the morning, Jesus told them to “Throw out your net
on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get plenty
of them!” (Living Bible) They simply needed to obediently
put themselves in a position to be blessed. If you have a fear
of failure, just remember that you’re not responsible
for the outcome, you’re just responsible for obeying.
Acts 1:4 tells us that the apostles were to wait in a
particular place, Jerusalem, for the blessing of the Holy
Spirit. “And, being assembled together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise ….”
You may feel that where you are is really not where God
wants you to be. A good indicator of being in the wrong
place would be an unhealthy emotional climate, where your
skills are not used fully. You may decide that you would
be better off elsewhere, perhaps in a place more fitting
with Christian values.
As the bride of Christ, you should “fit in with your
husband's plans.” (1 Peter 3:1, The Living Bible)
Accept that God wants to fulfill His purposes in your life,
including giving you the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Then, actively cooperate with the Lord about getting to
the place of blessing. Like Paul, Timothy, Mark, and many
others, be a fellow laborer with Christ.
“And if you do as I say in this letter, then you, too,
will be full of joy, and so will we.” (1 John 1:4, The Living Bible.)
==============<><><><><><><><>=================
Curtis Mosley is an independent business owner,
college faculty member, and founder of Christians
In Business. Additionally, he is the author of
RainCatcher, Help from Above for Entrepreneurs.
http://www.raincatcherbook.com/files/raincatcher.html
==============<><><><><><><><>=================
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout
the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved. |
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ACTS 1:4
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On one occasion, while he was
eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not
leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard me speak about."
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(NIV)
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