Author: Lori Casto

For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” NKJV

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing NIV

 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.  Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. Message

For it was through reading the Scripture that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favor by trying—and failing—to obey the laws. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.  I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I am not one of those who treats Christ’s death as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping Jewish laws, then there was no need for Christ to die. Living

* For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

* It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

* We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. The person who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:6

* You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

When He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Luke 5:4-6

Simon Peter made it seem easy. Jesus told him to do something, so he did it. He and the other (soon to be) disciples didn’t argue, give reasons why they couldn’t, or hesitate until later. Simon simply said, “Because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Even though They had toiled all night with no results, they still obeyed. Even though they were certainly tired, they still obeyed. Even though they may have doubted, they still obeyed. They didn’t do it partially their way.

They did exactly what Jesus said to do.

I can imagine the nay sayers telling them it was a waste of time or that they might as well quit for now and get some rest. Afterall, why should they bother to go into deeper water and let down the nets after such a long, exhausting, night?

How many times in our own lives have we labored over a thing? How many times have we worked so hard to figure things out and been left completely exhausted after working “all night”? How many times have we tried our way only to lift the net to find it empty?

Jesus is right here, though, giving us simple instructions. “Put out into deeper water and let down the nets.” His instructions are clear. Sometimes we may have to read and re-read his instructions (The Bible) over and over again and be tuned in to The Holy Spirit until we see it clearly, but it’s right here for us to search, to seek, to find, to meditate.

Then, when breakthrough occurs, as we keep our eyes focused on Him and not the nay sayers, we will find our net full of fish.

When He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Luke 5:4-6