7 Attachment(s)
ARTICLE: I FISH BECAUSE GOD SAID... IT IS GOOD - by Special K
Attachment 292244
We all know how our relationship to fishing and fishing's relationship to the beauty, peace and tranquility of the Creation, somehow come together to provide that sweet and--oh so mellow calming affect over us. An affect that somehow magically takes our thoughts to that place where they often become one with our innermost being. It seems to work like some sort of a magical battery charger that we plug into whenever we need to take hold of something, ponder something, or find the handle on anything that may be troubling us.
I read an article the other day that said: According to studies, the main reasons that fishermen seek to ply the waters were to unwind, experience nature and to connect with others. The results reinforce similar findings from other public polls. The studies tended to agree with surveys which, showed that 27.9 % of fishers fished for relaxation; 27.6% fished to get away to nature; 20.6% fished for fun, fellowship or friendship; 19.3% fished for the challenge; and 4.9% didn't really know, didn't really care or didn't fish for certain reason.
I gotta tell ya'—these numbers seem strange to me, unless (of course) the exact survey question was: "If you had to pick only one reason why you go fishing out of only five possible answers, which ONE would you pick? I don't know about you, but I would have a most difficult time choosing any one reason why I love to fish and I may even argue that it's not possible to have only one reason.
I believe this topic to be ripe for discussion because I am satisfied, I have a much different, much deeper perspective about why I fish, which I proudly admit is much deeper and more spiritual than what any of the polls and studies say. Please, let me share my thoughts with you and then you can give me your feedback.
Attachment 292245
The word "meditation" means “the act of focusing one’s thoughts or reflective "ponderings", on a subject to discern its meaning or significance or to forming a subsequent plan of action for decision-making.
The word "communion" means the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, with others, especially when the exchange is on a deep mental or spiritual level. Jesus commanded his disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me..."
The word “revelation” comes from the word “reveal.” Revelation is “something that is revealed.” Biblically, the word “revelation” refers to something revealed to us by a spiritual source, which may be God, the Lord Jesus, the Devil, or demons.
GOD GAVE MAN DOMINION OVER THE EARTH
Genesis 1:26-28 - God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Then God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish ... and over every living creature that moves upon the earth," and GOD SAID IT WAS GOOD.
God had dominion, and He chose to give it to mankind. This is something that is a most foundational and important understanding, before one can hope to understand the point of this thread topic. Psalm 115:16 - The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's; but the earth He has given to the children of men. It's through this one passage of scripture that one should be able to see how God set up a legacy system from the beginning showing, just as He has given these things to man; so it is that man would be charged to pass this legacy on to his children and their children's children, so - I FISH TO ASSURE A LEGACY FOR GENERATIONS TO COME, WHICH IS GOOD.
So, dominion with respect to meditation, communion and revelation, in this regard, is the right to make decisions and to rule and does not mean ownership, but RULERSHIP, which means what happens on earth is determined by mankind, not by God. Otherwise, God lied in saying that man has dominion--God forbid. Therefore, mastery of the Creation surely must begin with each and every one of us walking the dominion walk, so - I FISH TO EXERCISE RULERSHIP OVER THE LAND & THE WATER & ALL CREATURES THEREON & THEREIN, WHICH IS GOOD.
Attachment 292246
We are now entering what the Bible calls the fullness of time, and much is at stake. God is positioning us to advance His kingdom into every realm held captive by the enemy. To successfully walk the dominion walk, we must understand our authority—and what some call "kingdom authority" or "dominion rule." Dominion rule has become a bold and confident confession among many Christians, but sadly an empty one too.
If all we do as Christians is confess it in word only, this goal is only an ideal and nearly impossible to bring into reality. Authority does not come through mere want or confession of the knowledge or belief of the thing, even the devil believes it. The charge of authority is uncompromisingly tied to the affirmative taking of responsibility and it is only one facet of gearing ourselves toward walking the dominion walk, so—I FISH TO EXERCISE THE AUTHORITY GIVEN TO ME BY MY GOD, WHICH IS GOOD.
LEARNING TO KNOW YOUR INNER MAN
God’s creation of man as a three-part vessel was His preliminary preparation for man to receive the Triune God into his being. The Triune God’s entering into our being is His dispensing of Himself into us. Before His dispensing of Himself into us, He made us with a body and a spirit to bring forth a soul. We were prepared in such a way by God. Thus, we as men are a soul with two organs: the body as the outer organ and the spirit as the inner organ. Our spirit, as the inner organ, is suitable to receive and contain God. This is God’s preparation for His dispensing of Himself into man according to His divine economy... For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16. Let's begin to bring it on home now.
Attachment 292247
We’re not the latest model of the Darwinian theory of evolution, as some would insist that we are; nor are we just a cog in the evolutionary wheel, the way the evolutionists insist we are. No, not at all--but, we’re actually made in the image of God, who I feel sure does not, (or never did), look anything like a monkey. Nor did God say, mankind will eventually evolve to look like us.
We have an inside, a soul, an essence and a spiritual core to our personalities that (innately) seeks to connect us to the things of truth. This begins to explain how people are drawn to truth by nature and by the Word of God. I know I feel this sensation of being drawn to this truth all the time while fishing--and there is no mistaking this feeling from anything else I have felt in this body, so—I FISH TO RENEW & STRENGTHEN MY INNER MAN, WHICH IS GOOD.
The word "quicken" is used in the King James Version of the Bible, and it means “revive or make alive.” If something is living, it is “quick”; to “quicken” something is to bring it to life or restore it to a former flourishing condition.
GOD CANNOT OVERRULE OR INTERVENE AGAINST THE CHOICES MADE BY MAN UNLESS HE IS INVITED TO DO SO.
By way of God's Covenant with man, God honors the choices made by people because, He created mankind to have a free will of their own. By that, God allows us to have a free will and to make choices--because mankind is made from the clay--and a man is little more than a clay vessel for spiritual entities--who require a body in order to affect their goals, regardless of whether they are good or evil spirits. Unfortunately, it is man's poor choices that open the door to the evil one.
The Old Testament story of Job is a classic example of how God sometimes allows Satan to bring calamities. Job lost his cattle, his crops, and his family to vicious attacks, a killer hurricane, and firestorm. Job’s friends said these disasters came from God, but a careful reading of the book of Job reveals that it was Satan who brought these evils (see Job 1:1-12).
This brings us to the very reason the bible teaches us, Ephesians 6:12, "... For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. I think everyone on this forum would agree that the world is in a choke hold right now and it's these evil forces that have everyone's life and safety in the state of very real and present jeopardy.
Surely, the Bible does teach that God is Almighty, that his power is not limited by anyone other than himself. (Job 37:23; Isaiah 40:26) However, he does not use his power to control everything. For example, the Bible says that God was “exercising self-control” toward ancient Babylon, an enemy of his people. (Isaiah 42:14) Similarly, in the present day, He chooses to tolerate those who misuse their free will to harm others. But God will not do so indefinitely.—Psalm 37:10, 11. Anyway, let's get back to the inner man.
Attachment 292248
Psalm 103:1 calls this our “inmost being.” In 2 Corinthians 4:16, the apostle Paul refers to our “inner self.” Peter also speaks of our “inner self,” which, he says, is “of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4). In multiple references the Bible speaks of our “spirits” and “souls” over and over again. Many people live out their entire existence and never know of this inner man.
Biblically speaking, God’s command to subdue the earth; is a command and an affirmative calling to have the mastery over all of it and a primary tenet of exercising dominion is the law that mastery can never happen without (first) having an understanding of the thing to be mastered. So, it could be said that this mastery begins with our first mastering our own heart or inner spirit man. Once we better understand this order of things, we will then understand that there exists certain fundamental truths, which are by God's design.
One of the most life-changing things I have learned—beyond what I have already shared with you, is that on earth, all things—both good and bad outcomes—begin within the inner man as a seed, which falls upon what the Bible frequently calls “the heart” or the "soil". The sower in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13:1-23) uses the broadcast method—throwing lots of seed everywhere. As predictable, many of these seeds do not produce. Some get eaten by birds. Some sprout but, then wither. Some seedlings get choked out by weeds. Finally a few find their way to good soil and yield varying amounts of grain. At the end of the story, Jesus says “they who have ears, let them hear.” In other words, he wants us to learn something and take some action steps to become receivers of the word and not just hearers.
God’s creation of man as a three-part vessel was His preliminary preparation for man to receive the Triune God into his being. The Triune God entering into our being is His dispensing of Himself into us--hence the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Before His dispensing of Himself into us, He made us with a body and a spirit to bring forth a soul. We were prepared in such a way by God and His wonderful prevision of all things to come, so—I FISH TO UNDERSTAND THE FISH & THE ART OF FISHING, WHICH IS GOOD.
Thus, we as man are a soul with two dimensions: the body (as the outer dimension) and the spirit as the (inner dimension). Our spirit is specifically made by God to receive and contain the Spirit of God. This is God’s preparation for His dispensing of Himself into man according to His divine economy that was first established in the beginning of days--and IT WAS GOOD sayeth the Lord.
It is also the mechanism through which we have meditation, communion and revelation through the Holy Spirit. Phillipians 4:8, "Therefore, ... whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things, so—I FISH TO MEDITATE ON THAT WHICH IS TRUE, NOBLE, PURE, LOVELY & OF GOOD REPORT, WHICH IS GOOD.
This divine economy is the mystery of God’s will, finally to be revealed to man, a mystery which, from the ages, has been hidden in God, who created all things (Eph. 1:9; 3:9). It was a mystery because it was not revealed to any human being in past ages. It's always been, however, that man could see the creation, but they could not understand the purpose of the creation. You still see this spiritual blindness frequently among those who place all of their trust and understanding in the outer man, which is a form of blasphamy--because the mystery has now been revealed to us through Jesus Christ and the Word of Truth, so—I FISH TO ENJOY THE CREATION & GIVING THANKS FOR ALL OF GOD'S LOVE & PROVISION, WHICH IS GOOD.
Sometimes I find myself drifting off to a time and remembering a saying that my late great daddy used to say to me in my younger years that somehow seemed to summarize everything, so well:
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Surely this divine economy is according to God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11) which He made in Christ and to head up all things in Christ. Regardless, of how many bites it takes to get this into your inner man—God’s intention is to head up all Christians in Christ to be one, so—I FISH TO SEEK OUT GOD'S PEACE OF THE MIND, BODY, SOUL & SPIRIT & SHARE IT WITH OTHERS, WHICH IS GOOD.
I'm sure I could go and on about all of wonderful provisions of God to man, but I really do need to wrap this up for now. In closing: I would say that out of His vast reserves, God strengthens us daily in our inner being by blessing us with such awesome wonders as the spectacular sunrises and sunsets--that we so often witness over the lakes. It's His hand painted message to us in the clouds which, are always there, always different and always magnificent--next even more magnificent than the one before. If these sights do not assure you that He is with us--I certainly don't think there's anything else I can say or do for you.
Clearly it's Satan’s intention to divide and conquer us—and any division, regardless of the reason, must be condemned by us as believers because—any division that’s against God’s plan is sin. Therefore, it also our charge to have dominion over every creeping thing on the earth--including placing Satan's minions in their place--and that's under our feet, so—I FISH TO TAKE AUTHORITY OVER ALL OF THE CREEPING THINGS ON THE EARTH, WHICH IS GOOD.
The enemy of the Christian is the devil, referred to by Paul as “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The Bible teaches that the devil is real and his objective is to defeat the will of God in the world, in the very creation which God gave to mankind. He is the unceasing enemy of the soul. He must be met head on and he must be overcome. Thank God, through the victory of Jesus Christ on the cross, this mighty enemy has been fully and finally vanquished, so—I FISH TO TAKE AUTHORITY OVER ALL OF THE CREEPING THINGS ON THE EARTH, WHICH IS GOOD.
Attachment 292250
A more summary approach is to affirm that life itself is the fundamental gift, with all its delights. For us, the gift of life includes the wondrous gift of being human, finding ourselves—and basking in the midst of the larger gift of the creation. This is the foundation of grace—creation, life and being the type of man that God intended for us to be. As humans, we are given a unique place in the created order, as I attempted to say as I have stumbled my through this message and this post. The creation stories in Genesis are ways of celebrating this original grace, which IS GOOD and is FULL OF GOD'S GRACE.
If you think you understand the meaning of all of this, give it shout out amen, or if you have something to add to this very worthy thread topic--whether it be to agree or disagree, as you see fit--but at least make a post to share what you think and why. After all, sharing is much like any other seed that is sown--in that what comes of it by way of fellowship, discussion and spiritual growth--can only bring forth fruit when it (first) lands on good soil (open hearts) and when by working (growing) to open more eyes to the importance of these things NOW, and in making NOW the most important time of the rest of our lives. Amen
P.S. When one learns to have and expect this kind of church; when you're fishing right in the middle of God's awesome Creation; and you're doing His will--believe me... the fish will naturally want to be a part of it too... so they will always come, WHICH IS GOD'S PROMISE OF BLESSING & PROSPERITY TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE, WHICH IS GOOD.
Thank You & May God Bless You & Yours
Wayne, aka Special K
