A good fishing reel means a lot to a true fisherman especially those in fishing tournaments. Yes, a rod, bait, line, and some other fishing gear are important, but it’s still not like the reel. That reel is like the heart of the whole fishing rod. So, why is it called the heart of the fishing pole? It has certain features that can identify what that reel can and can’t do to bring in that big trophy bass. These features don’t need to be failing when that trophy size bass is on the line, just as a Christian doesn’t need to be failing in reeling in that new believer. So, what are some of these features in a fishing reel that can be compared to our Christian walk and able to reel in some new believers? Let’s take a look at these features.
 
     We will start with the trigger. The trigger is to what? It’s to releases the line. We as Christians have to have faith and be able to show that faith does work. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” When we press that trigger we’re intending to cast that line out in the water to catch something right? So, we have hope for that big catch, which is our blessings or press that trigger and watch the line drop strait down to the ground and show no hope at all. The big question is can we really cast out that line to bring in a new believer?

     Jesus tells us we can in Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Jesus is saying release your faith and to know that we can be a fisher of men.  We get this kind of faith by getting in the word and know that it’s true. When we establish this faith, we will be able to cast out that line to start bringing in those new believers, which now brings us on how much line is on our reel.
     Let’s talk about the amount of line. The more line we have the better chance of reaching into the areas where the fish are, right? Think of it like this. When we cast along the bank we’re probably going to get a bite, but these bites are the minnows that can’t even swallow the hook. This usually means we’re not going to catch anything. So, the more we know the word the further we can reach out to others’ needs. So, this means we can’t just know one or two scriptures and it always be helpful. No we need to know more than just one or two scriptures. Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”  It’s time to lengthen the line on our reel.  Now, we’ve got our spool full.  How strong and smooth is our reel?

     Some reels have one ball bearing and can go up to 3 or more depending on the cost of the reel. Why is the strength and smooth action of the reel important? A single bearing can wear out and breakdown quicker than 3 or more bearings. Those bearings also make the reel spin nice and gentle.  The same thing can apply to us as a Christian. IF, we only operate on one scripture we may breakdown and appear weak. How can we be a strong Christian? We add more bearings by putting on our armor of God and learning more of the word itself. Ephesians 6:11-20, This passage gives a tremendous testimony of the power of God working inside of us showing strength just as more ball bearings inside a reel testifies the strength of the reel. So, what about the smooth action of those ball bearings?  When we are reeling in that big catch we have be kind, loving and gentle and not frustrated or aggravated. Allowing our temper to get out of control makes the catch harder to reel in. Why? Our line may knot up, our bearing/s break down and causes us to stumble, which breaks that smoothness of bringing in that fish. So, the smoothness would be like giving out the fruit of the Spirit, which can be found in Galatians 5:22-25 and Colossians 3:12-14 which allows us to operate smoother. The opposite side of this lets out examples of the wrong fruit. It breaks the smoothness of the real spirit that inside of us which is in Galatians 5:19-21 and Colossians 3:8-9. Now, let move onto the drag switch.

     The drag switch helps us bring in that trophy catch by making the fight easier. When we catch that good size fish, they like to put up a fight right?  This means while that fish is fighting from being reeled in, it gives us the opportunity to make adjustments to bring in that fish. The same thing has to occur when helping someone who is resisting the word of God. We know this is true, because at one time or another someone had to make adjustments to reel us in while we were    breaking the fleshly ways off of us. Ephesians 2:1-5.  In reality, this is where real ministry begins. It’s during the drag mode. The drag allows us to love our neighbors and don’t let them go right back to that lost ways of the world or the enemy’s traps. During this time we have to be able to crank them in little by little. This is where the handle comes in place.

     The handle is all about cranking that big fish in, right? When the fight is easy, reeling them in is easier and quicker, but if the fight is rough, it takes the drag mode to crank them in little by little. This means we have to let them breakdown to be reeled in too. The same as non-believer's it may take time for them to absorb the truth.  We may have to go to battle for them to help them be in place to get reeled in. Proverbs 3:27-28 “27) Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. 28) Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.” Think about this scripture 1 Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”  It really takes the Jesus inside of us to crank them in little by little.

     It’s time to stand up with a real heart of God and reel in those who need Jesus.

It took one You Tube Video and the Lord said “This can minister my true Agape Love to many.” This video had a strong story to tell; it’s all about a Husky and a Duck who became friends. There are more similar stories. They are completely from  two different worlds. No they can’t talk as humans do, but the most amazing thing is they truly bonded and adapted to each other’s culture. Humans are no different. What do I mean by this? We have our friends who we bond with don’t we? We’re talking about friends hanging out, doing things together, and just simply understanding each other. No exchanges about anything, nothing but a true solid friendship. The same kind of Love our Father in Heaven is looking for with his children. Jesus is also looking forward to calling us friend. We will look at friendship from beginning to end. Now, we’re going to search out some scriptures how a true genuine friendship turns out to be true agape love.
 
True friendship begins by accepting someone and allowing them into our world.  Leviticus 19:33-34 “33) And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. 34) But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” We need to understand the meaning of the word “vex” from verse 33, it means to hurt.  Now go back and add “shall not” before it. We “shall not hurt” someone because they crossed our path. In verse 34 we can see why.  Just like the dog and the duck were complete strangers and were different no harm was done to each other. They learned in their way to adapt and understand each other.  They overcame issues about being different. God does the same and so does Jesus. The difference is we adapt to the truth, strength, and warmth of what God’s word provides in our life. Until we have reached that point we’re strangers of the things of God. Always remember we don’t make God adjust to us.  We adjust to the heavenly Father’s ways for his ways are always right and lead us to righteousness. That righteousness will help us attract friends as they come along our path. So, how can we do the same thing?
 
We saw above in Leviticus 19:33-34 we’re strangers in each other’s world. Now, let’s take time out and remember our starting point Ephesians 2:1-5 “1) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us    together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”. This should be an absolute reminder of where we not only started at, but also struggled in the area of new friendships we needed in our lives. Wow!  What a passage! Let’s don’t forget!  We need to build new friendships. What happens after we build that new friendship(s)?
 
Acts 2:44; 46-47 shows a wonderful illustration of a growing friendship. When the husky and duck were no longer strangers and accepted each other.  They took the next big step. They begin to eat with each other and somehow by the grace of God their friendship grew even more.  Let’s take a look at Acts 2:44:46-47 “44) And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 46) And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and  singleness of heart, 47) Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”  The story actually makes a profound statement of adding daily. How?  Their story drew our attention and we got enjoyment. That attention caused people to share that video and it added viewers daily. They showed a special bond or true friendship towards each other that also drew us to their loving story. Can you see the parallel? When we truly take time and get to know each other, we not only eat together, but we draw others in to join us. The Lord wants us to dine with him. Revelation 19:9 “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Hallelujah!
 
Closing out with these two scriptures from John: 15:4; 15 “4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 15) Henceforth I call you not   servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” These two scriptures were used to get our attention. When we develop a true friendship with our Lord we are united together. We don’t change God but he changes us.  Good friends show us the truth and a right way of being true to others. That’s what Jesus did for us.

Praise God!

Homing Pigeons were high classified messengers during the war.  They sent messages from one person to another on the same team. It was done so other teams couldn’t find out what was going on. Why?   Because the enemy had found ways to intercept the good guys messages. They would tap into the phones, radio frequencies, or even use a spy that would end up being a double agent. So, during war time the  homing pigeons had become a special communicator for the good guys. We thank you Lord for the special communicator for the good guys in war time by creating the homing pigeon.
 
There’s GOOD NEWS for us! Jesus sent us our special communicator.  He’s called the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit we communicate with the   Father in “Jesus” name. The Holy Spirit is just like the homing pigeon, but even better. The Holy Spirit receives our request and sends it to the Father. The Father then sends a response back to us. The only thing is most of the time the communication only works one way. Why is this? Usually the sender (us) sends out our message but never seems to be patient enough to wait and receive a return message.  Today, we enter into our throne (war) room and give our petition to the Lord but we never allow time for us to stay there long enough to receive our returned message on what to do. Just like the war time when communication was good from sender to receiver and back to sender things got done and it was done right but when communications got broken up it went bad and things got very chaotic.  The same goes for all of those who follow the Lord. When we communicate well our blessings start coming to us. When we default and forget to wait on a return, we get jumpy and do things on our own and chaos begins to take place. Let’s get ourselves back into position with our messenger Jesus has sent us again.
 
The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus to everyone. Yes, Everyone! This means the Holy Spirit is drawing everybody to Jesus for Salvation. How do we know this look at John 15:26-27 “26) But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27) And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. Look at the two underlined sections. This clearly says the he is testifying Jesus to everyone. We just need to be open to receive that message from the Holy Spirit or those who the Holy Spirit is working through for us to hear that message of truth. Remember Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”. God created everyone. This means God loves everyone and wants them to be a part of his family.
 
The Father and Jesus made certain we had a way for an open communication. So Jesus said the Father would send us the comforter which is the Holy Spirit for us to receive. So, today we have the Holy Spirit for our communication. Look at 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, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Now, we can see that the Holy Spirit is a  messenger for us today.
 
How do we begin our communication with the Lord? Let’s take a strong look at Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Can you see it? We have to go to him in prayer. This starts the communication gap. The real problem is we don’t stay long enough to receive an  answer even though it’s real easy for us to send a message. We need to look at 1Peter 5:7 it talks about casting all of our cares on him. This very scripture starts when we enter into our throne (war) room. It also refers to sending a message. The ending of that verse says God cares about us. That means we need to listen because he really wants to give us an answer.  Remember what John 14:26 says. God does have a plan for our life whether we are a minister or not. How do we know? Look at Habakkuk 2:1-3 “1) I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. 2) And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3) For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” these scriptures tell us we need to wait and receive our message from him. It also tells us to be patient. So, now we can see a full cycle of communication through these scriptures.
 
How can the communication be broken? Remember the beginning of John 10:10. Our enemy comes and what? He comes to steal, kill and destroy. Now, don’t forget the ending The Holy Spirit reminds us Jesus gave us life and our blessings. So, let’s not forget to wait. The enemy already has does enough damage. Let’s get back to waiting for a response from the Lord.
 
Closing with this John 16:7 says this “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” This is the time we have to believe by faith that our communication gap does work and Jesus truly sent the Holy Spirit to be our messenger.
 

Today, we don’t use our weapons appropriately to take care of our attacks against us. In this message, the Lord shows a unique way using a shotgun when we go hunting and applying it to his word. The shotgun itself just looks scary, right!  The reality is a shotgun shell is the most important part when using that shotgun. Why?  That shotgun shell causes the damage to any danger being present to us in that moment. The real question is our shotgun loaded or unloaded, when we’re ready to use it. What’s so important about this?  God’s word is handled the same way.  How do we compare a loaded gun to an unloaded one?  When a animal attack occurs, sometimes all we have to do is pull out that gun all though it’s not loaded and sometimes it will scare whatever is attacking away.  The problem is, generally whatever is attacking us won’t back down and trouble has risen.  Now, let’s talk about that loaded gun.  When we pull out our shotgun it startles what’s attacking us.  Now, our shotgun is loaded and a warning shot was given. Whatever is about to attack us has now been warned and left with a decision.  The attacker can either retreat or be taken care of.  Let’s take it from a Christian point of view now.

Christians usually stand on Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.  Which is good, but notice there are two attacks taking place: one “no weapon” and two “every tongue”.  What’s the difference?  What weapons can be used against us?  These weapons are like bear claws, bobcat’s teeth, porcupine hair (needles), or even a spray from a skunk. Get the point. In the spiritual sense it can be sickness (rabies or other animal sickness), money (doctor visits or medication bills), or any other type of spiritual attacks (emotional thoughts or physical like showing our weakness) from the attack.  The tongue is something verbal and it attacks us by coming out of the animal’s mouth.  It could be a bears growl (I am bigger than you), a wildcat screech (enjoy taunting you), or a snakes hiss (I am double tongued and enjoy making up lies and being sneaking about my real personality).  That animal is testifying by mouth and it’s not in our favor.  The good news from this verse is we can put a stop to it.  We can now pull out our shotgun and stop this attack. How? Our shotgun becomes the Bible and the shells become scriptures.  How come?  Read the end of that verse “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”  Wow!  Now, that is total protection.  Let’s take this a step further.

Read John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  What’s so valuable to understand in this verse?  There is more than one type of attack.  The wildcat will be used as our thief.  A wildcat can prowl around silently just like a thief.  We know this by how they get so close to the object they are ready to attack.  Our thief (satan) moves in quietly to steal things from us.  Now, go a little step further.  When that wildcat decides not to taunt or toy with us (like stealing) anymore, then that wildcat begins to start making a full attack on us.  The wildcat’s objective is to begin killing us.  The wildcat begins to pounce on us and uses its claws and its teeth to cause damage to come upon us.  Our thief (satan) doesn’t just stop from stealing from us.  He’s ready to kill any vision or plans that God has in store for us.  Right!  Here at this point that wildcat is all about serious business.  We now have noticed that this wildcat is ready to attack us.  We haven’t even pulled out our shotgun to even attempt to scare him away or stop from stealing our peace, let alone put a shell inside of the gun.  It’s time to get that shotgun out, put a shell in, give a warning shot, and say “hey get out of here or else face your consequences.”  Why?  That third attack is the worse one of all.  Destroyed means that wildcat has totally gotten to us.  The thief (satan) is saying the same thing to us.  How?  The thief has 100% taken away our vision and plans that our Lord had for us.  Again, this is a very bad outcome for us as well.  The Good news is just like Isaiah 54:17 says, the outcome of God’s protection is there for us.  Let’s use our shotgun (the bible), a shell (the word), and totally destroy the enemies plans before he destroys ours.

Closing:
Don’t walk around with a shotgun (the bible) only.  Make certain we have shells (the word) available to use when being fully attacked.  “BLANKS” will not stop an all out attack.

     The Lord has shown a unique way of spiritual growth compared to leaves changing colors into the fall seasons.  The Lord wants us to understand we are responsible for our spiritual growth. He wants us to know that our growth in responsibility means becoming a good Christian role model.  Our role should be showing the true image of Jesus working inside of us.  How can the changes of colors of an autumn leaf be so similar to our Christian growth?  Can this motivate us to look and act more like Jesus? Can our changes be seen well enough to change others?  This message will show us going from a new born Christian to a mature Christian.  The goal of this message is to help us become more responsible with our Christian walk and to represent the Jesus working inside of us, so others can obtain the blessing of the Lord as well.  There are two phrases out there we need to know about.  One is good and the other one we don’t want to become.  These will be mentioned last. This comes from Colossians 2:6-7 “This comes from Colossians 2:6-7 “6) As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7) Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Let’s look at the changing effects of a leaf:
     A leaf begins when the winter starts leaving and spring comes into play.  They start off as a bud and begin to sprout out into a leaf.  The color of that leaf is green. This is the start of the new life for that leaf.  When we chose to start a new life in our Christian walk we are green as well.  Just like a leaf, it will stay green from spring throughout summer into the fall months.  The new Christian is similar.  They will be at a lot of beginning new stages throughout their walk.  During the spring, the tree roots draw water from the spring rains and the leaves absorb that water from those tree roots.  This is what happens to us when we bond to Jesus.  We get watered with the word.  When the leaf begins to consume the rain it’s like breathing the air it needs and other nutrients it gets fertilized, it slowly becomes larger and larger and even brighter and brighter green.  This happens to us when we allow the word to convict us and it begins changing us.  We get stronger and stronger with the word. Then the people begin to see the changes in us when we start shining brighter and brighter like Jesus.  By the end of summer, we should be showing great strides of growth.  We also should be showing great signs of beginning our maturity level.  Then fall comes around.  Temperature starts getting cooler, less sun light, and water supply or any other seasonal factors that come into play will affect how the leaf starts changing colors.  The Lord said when this happens the leaf has come to its maturity.  Believe it or not!  We should be now be showing a responsibility and mature growth in the word by the time our fall season comes around.

Let’s talk about the colors:
     Let’s start from the bud. Some trees buds are a red to purple color.  These colors can say a lot to us.  The red says we’re covered by the blood of Jesus when we accept him.  Purple is representing Jesus is placing us into a royal family, the family of God after our acceptance.  Going from a bud and turning into a green sprout.  Well now that we have accepted Jesus and placed into the family of God, our new beginning starts as well.  Then after some growing time, from absorbing the word of God and starting to mature, we enter into our fall season.  We should now be showing the colors of the leaf as well. Yellow to a gold color says our Faith and the Glory of God should be shining through us.  Our righteousness should be glowing to others.  Orange the Fire of God should be working inside of us to do more of his will and not ours.  We should be  using this fire to help draw others to our Lord.  Then we see the red and purple again in the leaf when it’s in the fall.  This should say that our love for others should be a lot stronger and our attitude, responsibility, integrity of being a good role model should be well noticed. This is saying we are starting to walk in the image of Jesus.  There are other colors in those leaves that can be mentioned but this gives us an idea how our growth should be seen in our Christian walk.

The two phrase:
     The two phrases represent the brown and when the leaves fall off the trees.  The first phrase is sometimes we need to let the old fall off so we can accept some new revelations that we need.  These new revelations will help us overcome our circumstances when we are stuck.  Sometimes the old revelations were a good starting point until the new revelation comes out.  The second phrase is an old saying especially in the south.  They would say green to brown and on the ground.  We don’t want to be caught in this phrase.  Why?  This means we started off good and then have reverted back to our old ways and it destroys our true image of Jesus working in us.  This is not growing, being responsible, or showing a good Christian image.  We need to do what it takes to prevent this from coming upon us.

​Fish are like people. So!  How do we become fisher of men?  Fish like something different and new too. Ever notice when we go fishing it might be with worms for the first few times and we catch something with no problems. Then the very next time they don’t take the bait at all. We do the same right! We don’t like eating the same thing every day either. Fishes feed depending on the weather, time of day and other things. Our eating habits vary by whether it’s hot or cold out, eat early or late, or even by our mood sick or healthy, or even on how it looks outside sunny, cloudy, or wet. The list can go on and on. Well fish like different types of baits or lures just as well depending on some of the above things just like us.  We have to use different types of baits and lures to be able to hook the fish. On people we have to use different kinds of scriptures or passages to get them to accept the word. Our problem is how do we get them to take the bite (word)?
 
 You Have to Bait the Line First!
 
First, we have to be more like Jesus remember the scripture Mark 1:17 “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” What does these mean? For us to catch a fish we have to study and read all the ways to be able to use our bait or lures properly to catch that fish. RIGHT!  Well then! We have to study God’s word and walk in his ways to get their attention. Why? Now the word of God becomes attractive to whom we are trying to reach. It’s the same as the bait or lures. We can use plain bait or add some attracting sprays to them. Lures are made different: by colors, have shiny or colored spinners; they float on top, middle or bottom of the water, even look real and etc. When we   accomplish this then the people (fish) become attracted to the word (bait).
 
Which Bait or Lure Do We Need?
 
Let’s take a deeper look! We use weather, temperature, and the other situations to see which bait or lure; we might need to use to hook the fish.  We need to use the scriptures pertaining to the situation at hand.  The person whom we are trying to help do they need joy in their life, forgiveness, healing, undecided on which way to go, some financial help, completely lost (needing salvation) or whatever the need is. To help us decide which scripture or passage would be the most appropriate we need to seek God. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
 
Now it’s Time to Cast out the Line!
 
Now, that we got things in order to which bait or lure to use; let’s cast it out.  When we get ready to cast it out; our hearts are pounding for that big catch. We want to catch that fish based on the bait or lure we have chosen. Well! The same should be with whom were trying to attract to the kingdom of heaven. This means we care at this moment on catching that big catch. Let’s do the same for whoever we’re trying to catch for Jesus by using 1Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Why this scripture? Because this not only showing Jesus loves us (“for he careth for you”). It also shows we care for someone as well (“Casting all your care upon him;”) because of the Jesus inside of us.
 
Jerk the Line and Hook Them!
 
Now that fish has nibbled on the bait it’s time to hook them and reel them in.  Right! The same things should be required of us. That is to recognize if they are taking hold of the word we are ministering to them. Then we should hook them. We can now lead them with the basics by guiding them to Jesus loves them with John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Then go from there.
 
Closing with Patience
 
We have to remember just as fishing we got to be patience. Not every time! We go the fish want to bite right away or even at all.  People are the same way. They have all different reasons why they are not responding to the word. Take time out and think about what Paul said to the Ephesians.  Ephesians: 2:2-3 2) “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others”. So this means! We need to be just as calm and patient with them as trying to catch that big catch.