BBD 11.10.14 Fish or Cut Bait (New)

#1 · November 10, 2014, 1:08 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on November 10, 2014, 1:08 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at www.theburningbush.net for the “Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional there.

The Burning
Bush Devotional

11.10.14

Fish or Cut Bait

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. - Matthew 7:13
NKJV.

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were
on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you
dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:15 NKJV.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth. - Acts 1:8 NKJV.

Fish or cut bait is an old colloquial expression dating from at
least the mid-1800s in the United States; although, even then the meaning was
not entirely understood by some. What does it mean? Yesterday, as I was talking
about this at our church we found that all of us had heard the term used by our
parents when we were growing up, and there were two apparent uses. One use of
the term was to decide whether to continue fishing or cut the fishing line with
the bait and go home. The other apparent use would be to decide between whether
to continue cutting up bait to use in fishing or to begin to actually start
fishing. So, it appears that the term is used in relation to decision making. I
liked the definition I found in Wiktionary, “To make a decision, especially after a period of delay; to either take action now or forgo the opportunity.” Wiktionary gives the following as a use of the term, “It's time to fish or cut bait: either we
buy this house now, or we must start looking for another one.”

Why am
I writing about this term, fish or cut bait? Because, I believe that God has
been bringing it to my attention over the last couple of weeks. Am I really
giving my all in service to my Lord? If not, God is calling me to a time of
decision and commitment.

Jesus
warns of the “broad” way as compared to the “narrow gate” in Matthew 7:13.
This is a fish or cut bait kind of decision. Will a person enter the “narrow gate” through receiving Jesus as their Savior
or will they instead continue down the “broad”
way that leads to destruction? Joshua called the Israelites to a fish or cut
bait kind of decision, would they worship false gods or follow the one true
God? Joshua made his decision, and commitment very clear, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The
disciples had followed Jesus for three years and then they fled for their lives
when Jesus was arrested and crucified. When the resurrected Christ Jesus
appears to His disciples He once again calls them to a fish or cut bait kind of
moment. In Acts 1:4, “And being assembled together with
them, He (Jesus) commanded them not to depart
from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said,
‘you have heard from Me.’” The disciples confronted with the truth of
the resurrection are obedient as they wait in the upper room for power from on
high to come upon them (Acts 1:8).

God is
continuously calling us daily (Luke 9:23) to
either fish or cut bait. Our part is to make the decision to follow, to make
the commitment. God’s part is that He does not throw us to the sharks, but
provides us with the empowerment (Acts 1:8) as
we see demonstrated with Peter becoming the awesome preacher of Pentecost. God
is still calling, will we fish or cut bait today?

Copyright © 2014. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather
began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 years online since
January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading
the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000 subscribers across the world.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top left hand corner of all of the pages.

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Please pray for
Justin Lewis who is battling cancer. He is a young Christian man with a wife
and two children. Unless God intervenes there is little hope for him. Please
pray to for Shane Hall pastor of First Southern in Oklahoma City/Del City who
also has cancer. Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on
the Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there (Of
course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).

Praise Report: Jeanie, my wife, had her
chemo port removed Thursday! It will be three years ago in December that she
had the large atypical ovarian tumor removed, chemo port installed, and then
began chemo in January 2012. We know that we are blessed to have arrived at
this point in our journey and know that God led us through each step of the
way!! Thank you for the many prayers you said on our behalf!!

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the
burningbushdevo devotional group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html
text group (Because of time constraints the devotional is only being sent now
in html format) by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org
and you may unsubscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.
If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

If for
some reason you do not receive your email version of the devotional please
check the Burning Bush website at http://www.theburningbush.net for the “Devotional of the Day” and read the devotional there.

The Burning
Bush Devotional

11.10.14

Fish or Cut Bait

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. - Matthew 7:13
NKJV.

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were
on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you
dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:15 NKJV.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth. - Acts 1:8 NKJV.

Fish or cut bait is an old colloquial expression dating from at
least the mid-1800s in the United States; although, even then the meaning was
not entirely understood by some. What does it mean? Yesterday, as I was talking
about this at our church we found that all of us had heard the term used by our
parents when we were growing up, and there were two apparent uses. One use of
the term was to decide whether to continue fishing or cut the fishing line with
the bait and go home. The other apparent use would be to decide between whether
to continue cutting up bait to use in fishing or to begin to actually start
fishing. So, it appears that the term is used in relation to decision making. I
liked the definition I found in Wiktionary, “To make a decision, especially after a period of delay; to either take action now or forgo the opportunity.” Wiktionary gives the following as a use of the term, “It's time to fish or cut bait: either we
buy this house now, or we must start looking for another one.”

Why am
I writing about this term, fish or cut bait? Because, I believe that God has
been bringing it to my attention over the last couple of weeks. Am I really
giving my all in service to my Lord? If not, God is calling me to a time of
decision and commitment.

Jesus
warns of the “broad” way as compared to the “narrow gate” in Matthew 7:13.
This is a fish or cut bait kind of decision. Will a person enter the “narrow gate” through receiving Jesus as their Savior
or will they instead continue down the “broad”
way that leads to destruction? Joshua called the Israelites to a fish or cut
bait kind of decision, would they worship false gods or follow the one true
God? Joshua made his decision, and commitment very clear, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The
disciples had followed Jesus for three years and then they fled for their lives
when Jesus was arrested and crucified. When the resurrected Christ Jesus
appears to His disciples He once again calls them to a fish or cut bait kind of
moment. In Acts 1:4, “And being assembled together with
them, He (Jesus) commanded them not to depart
from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said,
‘you have heard from Me.’” The disciples confronted with the truth of
the resurrection are obedient as they wait in the upper room for power from on
high to come upon them (Acts 1:8).

God is
continuously calling us daily (Luke 9:23) to
either fish or cut bait. Our part is to make the decision to follow, to make
the commitment. God’s part is that He does not throw us to the sharks, but
provides us with the empowerment (Acts 1:8) as
we see demonstrated with Peter becoming the awesome preacher of Pentecost. God
is still calling, will we fish or cut bait today?

Copyright © 2014. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather
began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites have
received visits from more than 170 countries. Celebrating 15 years online since
January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading
the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000 subscribers across the world.

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top left hand corner of all of the pages.

Ed Wrather has retired from
pastoring full-time and has more time to pursue other ministry opportunities.
You can make contact at edwrather@yahoo.com or theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

Prayer Requests: Please pray for
Justin Lewis who is battling cancer. He is a young Christian man with a wife
and two children. Unless God intervenes there is little hope for him. Please
pray to for Shane Hall pastor of First Southern in Oklahoma City/Del City who
also has cancer. Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on
the Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there (Of
course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me.).

Praise Report: Jeanie, my wife, had her
chemo port removed Thursday! It will be three years ago in December that she
had the large atypical ovarian tumor removed, chemo port installed, and then
began chemo in January 2012. We know that we are blessed to have arrived at
this point in our journey and know that God led us through each step of the
way!! Thank you for the many prayers you said on our behalf!!

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the
burningbushdevo devotional group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html
text group (Because of time constraints the devotional is only being sent now
in html format) by sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org
and you may unsubscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond to the confirmation email.
If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org