— To uplift, inform and Challenge —

Dear Christian,

One must wade through layers of today’s teachings to find substance regarding a deeper walk with God.  When found, many are disappointed because, instead of something super spiritual, they’re confronted with the basics: repentance, forgiveness, love, faith and of course — obedience.  Moreover, most deep-water teachers don’t even discuss obedience in major matters.  Instead, the focus is rightly on the little, everyday things in light of the ever-glaring question: “Should I or should I not obey?”

This article might give long-term readers just cause to claim we’re up on our “obedience soapbox” again.  Frankly, I hope we never leave it!  It’s just that important.  We pray it will challenge and encourage you to walk more obediently to God and not just for the rewards — but because it pleases Him.

Into Deeper Water

Rewards of obedience

Jesus told Simon, the soon-to-be “Apostle Peter” to take his boat into deeper water and lower the nets for a catch — to which he responded: "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything."  We can only imagine the outcome had Simon followed his reasoning.  Fortunately for all, that’s not what happened.  Defying fisherman’s wisdom, he then said, "Because you say so, I will let down the nets" (Lk 5:4,5).

Scripture records what happened as a result of still unconverted Simon’s simple act of obedience.  "When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break" (vs 6).  To say this surprised Simon would be a great understatement.  As a professional fisherman who’d worked all night, he KNEW as a certainty it would be another wasted effort.  But in this instance, "he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken ... they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink" (vss 9,7).  Simon’s obedience led to an immediate reward, and more — profoundly impacting those around him.

Of the many times Diane and I have faced the obedience test, one jumps to the fore which turned out to be a matter of eternal life or death.  Having independently prayed about where to go when preparing to leave Florida, the Spirit clearly indicated that we should head up the east coast, “North, as the ducks fly” and were to “Go quickly”.  Not liking the sound of either directive, I balked.  Frankly, I wanted to flee to the high, dry and cool mountains of New Mexico!  Instead, like Simon, obedience won out and we were soon barreling up I-95 to some unknown destination ... “North, as the ducks fly.”

If you’ve been trying to live the Spirit-led life for any length of time, you’ve no-doubt learned for yourself that not all of the Spirit’s leadings seem to make sense.  Note that I said, seem to.  Having another supportive believer is a blessing because they can often confirm the direction — in this case, a husband and wife.  The persistent challenges all we believers face are to hear, trust and obey God.  Fortunately, wisdom, guidance and encouragement can be gained from the scriptures; ie: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" — Jn 10:27.  "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" — Prov 3:5.  "To obey is better than sacrifice" —1Sam 15:22b. (Emphasis added.)

While trailering up I-95, we knew we were “launching into the deep” because we had nothing going for us in that whole area (forgive me Holy Spirit!).  That’s to say, we had no ties with churches, no friends and nothing scheduled — worse yet, neither of us wanted to go.  We were heading into the Washington-Philadelphia-New York corridor out of obedience.  Even as I recount this, my attitude back then still disappoints me — but that’s the way it was.  (Come to think of it, I was even worse when the Holy Spirit directed us into the heart of Atlanta.  I had a crummy attitude!)  But the good news is, we did go as an act of obedience.

Have you ever been in that situation?  Your heart wants to go with God but wretched flesh wants to do its own thing.  That’s what Paul was struggling with (in Romans) when he said "... nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.  Crying out in anguish, he pleads; What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (7: 18,19,24).  At this point I can almost hear thundering hoof- beats as our white-steed-mounted Rescuer, Jesus, comes galloping onto the scene with — “I’ll save you fair maiden!”; or maybe, “loyal servant”.  Instead of Jesus on a white horse, it’s the same wonderful Holy Spirit that He promised would comfort, deliver and empower us (plus much more!).  It’s the same Spirit Who originally draws each of us into situations which then can make us so jittery.  Mentally stepping back from immediate circumstances can sometimes aid in seeing what’s going on.  It’s helped us understand something of what “walking in the Spirit” means.

Like Simon, we call Jesus Master — and rightly so.  He then tests us by giving  simple directives.  Rarely are they something too hard to do and often are ridiculously simple, such as, “forgive”, “love” or in our case, “Go north ...”.  The command to walk on water is rare, but common is the directive to obey.  He told Simon; "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."  Now, how hard was that for Simon to do?  It wasn’t; the battle was in his mind.  Simon’s budding faith in the Lord and God’s Spirit persuaded him to make the right decision.  He rowed into deeper waters in obedience to Jesus’ words alone — not because he really wanted to.  But look at the immediate reward; boatloads of fish!  Get it?  Obedience pays off!  Obedience to God is better than 19 college degrees, zillions in the bank and umtine years of theological studies.  Obedience is in the same high category as faith and love.

“Launching into the deep” often entails nothing more than obeying the clear instructions of scripture and/or whisperings of the Spirit.  It’s not, as some think, doing a heroic Kingdom deed.  Typically, it’s only after a simple act of obedience that its significance can be understood (if at all).  God may then let us see that it was a profound part of His plan.

For instance; we didn’t know WHY the Spirit would so cryptically send us roaring 1250 miles up the east coast, “North, as the ducks fly.”  All we knew was that it was His voice and that our role was to obey; simple, huh?  Please understand; this required nothing more of us than obedience born of trust in the Lord.  He provided the agenda, the money, equipment — everything.  Though not sure of the destination, we did know the direction; “North, as the ducks fly.”  All we had to do was obey and it did not require bravery.  The only sacrifice was that of self will.  Self will??  A-ha!  That’s it; the key that fits NO Kingdom doors.

Have we stumbled upon the reason why believers often wade only in the shallows: SELF?  We’re well tutored and addicted to serving the big “I”, in opposition to God’s will.  Please don’t be deceived about this!  We can rationalize to SELF and one another as to why we didn’t obey a certain Spirit-directive — but it won’t wash when we each stand before Jesus, our Saviour, Lord and Judge (2Cor 5:10).  As a “born-again coward”, I fear damnable SELF and want to hide and abide under God’s wings as a refuge from it’s tyranny.  (Oh God, help us in our yoke-bondage to self!)

Simon’s obedience to the Lord’s command netted 2 boatloads of fish but that’s not all.  It’s fair to assume it was instrumental in Jesus selecting 4 of His Apostles — 1/3 of them.  You see, Simon’s fishing partners were the brothers James and John who later, like Simon, were named Apostles — as was Simon’s brother Andrew (Lk 6:14).  His obedience brought with it temporal benefit plus monumental eternal consequences.

In less than 24 hours we exited I-95, “as the ducks fly” and shortly thereafter were directed to a “not very ill” hospital patient — Dottie.  To our surprise and delight, she was ready to accept Jesus as Saviour and was born-again.  We were thrilled for her and for having been thus used, but didn’t realize the importance of the Spirit’s “Go quickly” instruction until 2-weeks later.  That’s when we learned she had died ... “about 2 weeks ago”!  It was indeed sobering to consider consequences of delayed obedience or outright disobedience.

One’s commitment to obedience must always be decided beforehand. Every believer has the ability, power, opportunity and responsibility to do as Simon did — obey the Lord.  Only God knows how much deeper it will take us in our walk with Him.

ABOUT US:  Founded in 1993, Hallelujah Living Ministries is a donation-based, non-denominational Christian outreach to uplift, inform and challenge followers of Jesus Christ.  For more information or a copy of our always-free print newsletter, please include a  postal mail address along with your comments and prayer requests. Thank you for visiting  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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