ONLY DEAD FISH FLOAT

From the title of this message, you could probably preach your own message and would not need any assistance!

We all know that in the real world of all things fishy....only the fish that are alive are swimming and they are not always going with the flow. They work their way in and out of the current, always searching for just that right tidbit of food or just that right shady spot to keep away from the summer's hot sun. Maybe, even more importantly, evading the enemy above the water who is using a well concealed hook to catch them and end their life.

Using this analogy representling the life of the Followers of Christ, we can see that we must be continually on the move, looking, searching for that purpose we were created for and continually executing that purpose, being aware of the tricks of the enemy who would like to lure us into a place we do not want to go and even ending our purpose here on earth if he can.

If we are sitting by, just waiting for a special move of God before we get out there and do what we are called to do from the moment of conception, we are actually operating in disobedience and are in danger of getting hooked by one of the tricks of the enemy that cause us to just sit idly by while he is free to move about, looking and searching for whom he may devour.

This is our opportunity to shine for Jesus, using every opportunity afforded us to pray, comfort, encourage, strengthen, restore and rebuild and help the Body stay focused on our mission and our homecoming. It may never be convenient for us to fulfull this calling, but neither was the cruel death that Jesus submitted to convenient for Him.

This is the time that we need to empty our schedules and make sure that things of Christ and the souls of men are our priority. If we are otherwise occupied, it's only a matter of time before we will no longer have the option to do so.

What bait is the enemy using on you? Is he luring you into slothfulness, apathy, hardened heart? What is it that stops you from fulfilling God's call upon your life, that stands between you and a heart that breaks for those who do not yet know how much He loves them?

Only dead fish float!

HOW PRECIOUS ARE THE CONVERSATIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUS!

Sometimes we, as Followers of Christ, tend to think in terms of our life here on earth as separate from the life to come, but recently, I have discovered that God has, perhaps, a different opinion.

We have many conversations throughout any given day: with other Followers; with family members; with people in the market place; with people on the internet; with ourselves in our heart of hearts, and hopefully, with our Heavenly Father.

We all know that God knows everything about us. He knows our deepest secrets, nothing is hidden from Him. He knows every motive behind everything we do and in that final Day of Judgment, all that we have done, thought or said will be tried by fire, some to be burned up, others to be rewarded.

God is so with us, even now, on this earth that He keeps an account of our conversation: "Then those who feared the Lord, talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A book of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. "They will be mine", says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." (Malachi 3:16-18)

Those conversations that we have had between ourselves, lifting Him up and expressing our devotion for Him to each other, He will remember. When we stand before Him, He will recall the times when we have reminded another of His faithfulness even in the dark hours we have faced. The times we have spoken just that Word that lifted our faith and the faith of others to trust and believe that all His Word has spoken is true and that through it all, He is faithfull and full of mercy and grace. The times we have spoken that warning, in love, that turned a wandering one around and back to Him. He will remember the comfort that we received as one or the other spoke of the Life to come.

What is your conversation?