Fall Creek

"Feed Your Faith" A Daily Devotional From Fall Creek
John
Chapter 21:5
An Encounter With the Risen Lord
"Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No."
The question asked by Jesus was probably hard for the disciples to answer. They had been toiling all night trying to catch fish. No fisherman when asked, "Have you caught any fish?" wants to answer "no". Notice the brief answer given by the disciples. It is as though they just didn't want to talk about not catching any fish after toiling all night. Yet, they gave an honest answer. This question asked by Jesus was not to gain information. Jesus already knew that the disciples had been fishing all night. He knows all things. God never asks questions for the sake of gaining information. The questions asked by our Lord are designed to call us to a proper response before Him; to get us to think; to cause us to examine ourselves. For example, when God asked Adam, after he had sinned, "Where art thou?" did He not know where Adam was? Of course, God knew exactly where Adam was. God was asking a question to draw Adam into a proper response in confession to his sin.
Jesus asked this particular question in our text today for the same purpose of getting his disciples to respond. When they responded negatively, they were confessing their failure to accomplish what they had set out to do. Jesus may have intended to remind them of His words He shared with them before His crucifixion. He said to them, "Without me you can do nothing." We all need to be reminded of this truth from time to time. Peter was a fisherman by trade. He knew how to catch fish. The other disciples with Peter were fisherman also. We can be sure as they toiled all night they did all they knew to do to catch fish but all their efforts failed. When Jesus said to them, "Cast your nets on the other side.", the disciples did so without hesitation even though it did not seem logical. The result of heeding the instruction of Jesus resulted in an abundant catch of fish. Our resurrected Savior comes to our rescue in times when we do not recognize Him until we have received the blessing He brings to us. Obey Him!
Have a grace day!
Pastor Tommy Haynes

"Feed Your Faith" A Daily Devotional From Fall Creek
John
Chapter 16:13
The Spirit of Truth
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."
Many people talk about the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of truth today. Yet, it is obvious that there is a great misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches about him. For example, if you listen to a religious program on the radio or watch one on television chances are you will hear mention of the Holy Spirit, but unfortunately, much of what you will hear about the Spirit of God is false.
Who is the Holy Spirit? What does he do? What does the Bible teach about him? Why is he so misunderstood? What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? The Bible answers all of these questions and more. Jesus refers to the third person of the trinity as the Spirit of truth indicating to us the fact that the Holy Spirit is to aid and guide us into all truth.
In the Old Testament the Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of the Lord. He empowered the prophets in preaching. He gave Sampson great strength. David the king knew of his presence when he said in Psalm 51: 11, “…take not thy holy spirit from me.” The Spirit of God has always been active in performing the work of God in history from the time before creation and will continue on into eternity future. He is active in the world and the church today ministering in oneness with the Father and the Son. There are three areas of Bible teaching that will give insight into the person and work of the Spirit of God in the world and church today. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit possesses personality, deity, and performs a particular ministry to the believer. His personality is proven by His intellect. He teaches us. Jesus made this clear in John 14: 26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things…”. Also, the Holy Spirit possesses equality with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19). The Spirit of truth is working in us daily guiding us into the word of God.
Have a grace day!
Pastor Tommy Haynes

"Feed Your Faith" A Daily Devotional From Fall Creek
John
Chapter 15:5
Bearing Fruit for Christ
”I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Christ uses the analogy of a vine and its branches to describe the way Christians are to bear fruit for Him as citizens of His kingdom. This is the instruction Jesus gave to His disciples as He was nearing the appointed time of fulfilling His Fathers plan of redemption.
There are valuable lessons for us to learn from our Savior as we listen to the words He spoke to His disciples at this important time in their lives. We are to understand that before we can bear fruit for our Savior, we too, must take heed to the instruction given to His disciples two thousand years ago.
From this instruction we learn that Christ is our source of life. Christ states that no one can bear fruit unless they are united with Him. Also, we learn that there must be a cleansing of our lives. Jesus declares to His disciples. "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." Also, the believer is called upon to obey the commandments of Christ before we can be fruit bearers for Him. What Christ is saying here is that true believers will practice sanctification and be obedient to Him and the outcome will be manifest in bearing the fruit of faith. A grape vine cannot bear grapes unless it is connected to the vine, which supplies the nourishment necessary for producing grapes. Likewise, true Christians will be fruit producers as they are connected to and abiding in Christ who is the source of life and spiritual nourishment for all abiding in Him. What is the fruit believers are to bear as we abide in Christ? Paul writes concerning the fruit of the Spirit produced in our lives in Galatians 5:22 where he states, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. May we submit to the Spirit daily and bear the fruit of Christ in our lives. The fruit we bear gives forth the evidence of our genuine connection with Christ.
Have a grace day!
Pastor Tommy Haynes