Rhema Ehiemere - The Breaking Point

God doesn’t need to change your location to change your situation. He is a specialist at turning problems into platforms. In the same place you went through pain, heartaches and disappointments, He knows how to turn it into a testimony. In Luke 5, Peter toiled all night and caught nothing. But when Peter obeyed Jesus and launched his net again, he experienced a net-breaking abundance of fish in the same place he previously caught nothing. Sometimes, all we need to do to experience success is to believe and have faith in God. Faith is not the absence of experience but the presence of obedience. Your life may seem empty today, but if you have the courage to still wash your net and believe God, your sacrifice will be turned into surplus.

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On your way to you, say, «Look at your neighbor and tell them it’s your breaking point, the breaking point, the breaking point.» One of the primary purposes of Jesus’s ministry, one of His assignments, is to actually break down every wall of division. Jesus’s assignment is to break down the walls of privilege, break down the walls of prejudice, of sin, of entitlement, so that those who are outside can come inside. It’s important to realize that Jesus is not part of a clique. Jesus doesn’t belong to any fraternity; Jesus doesn’t have special groups. Jesus came to the world; Jesus came for the world, and Jesus died for the world. So, when we see Jesus throughout the Scriptures, we see Him relating to the least and the lost. We see Jesus relating to the weakest and the lowest. We see Jesus relating to the sinners and the struggling. We see Jesus relating to all of these people because He came for the outsiders. Somebody say «outsiders.» The word «outsiders» in the Bible represents sinners or Gentiles. Now the question is, who is a Gentile? A Gentile is any person or group of persons not from Israel or of Jewish origin. Now, you have to understand that the Jewish people have always thought that they were more special than any other race of people, and that was true until Jesus came. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:14 that Jesus brought peace between the Jews and the Gentiles, and He made us one people. Why is this important? Well, I’m glad you asked, because this text is in the Book of Luke, and Luke is the only Gospel that was written to the Gentiles. Out of those four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—only the Book of Luke was addressed to the Gentiles. In fact, Luke was the only Gentile writer in the New Testament. Why am I talking about this? This is important because God has a way of bringing outsiders inside, and God has a way of giving outsiders inside information. Did you know that Physician Luke didn’t necessarily see Jesus eye to eye, but he was the one who wrote the Acts of the Apostles and also this Book of Luke? So, without Luke, we would not know about the ascension of Jesus. Without Luke, we would not know about the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the upper room. Without Luke, we would not have known about the growth of the early Church. Without Luke, we would not have known how the Gospel spread to the Gentiles, and you and I would not be here. You can call Luke an outsider, but Luke had inside information. Somebody say «inside information.» So, it doesn’t matter what you call Luke; it doesn’t matter what people call you. What they call you cannot stop God’s calling for your life. People can label you, but they cannot limit you. I’m going to repeat that for those in the back so you can hear it: I said people can label you, but people cannot limit you. In fact, before they put a label on you, God put His price tag on you. He slapped His price tag on you, and guess what? You were bought with a price, with the precious blood of Jesus. You are blessed and highly favored. You are made in His image; you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Look at your neighbor with an attitude and tell them, «I’m special.» No, no! I said with an attitude! Come on, guys, listen, we’re in church! Look at the other neighbor with an attitude and tell them, «I’m special.» Look at the other neighbor, the one who has been looking at you because you’ve been shouting and praising God, and just tell them, «I know I’m extra! Extra means I’m extraordinary!» Just tell them, «I’m extra, and that’s okay!» The Bible says you are the apple of God’s eye. It’s not my fault; just make sure you don’t take me for granted because God’s hand is upon my life. Come on, God’s hand is upon my life! I love Luke so much because he has, and he pays attention to details. Do you know this text actually recounts Jesus’s first encounter with Peter? If you look at the other Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and John—they just say, «And Jesus saw Peter and said, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’» I said, «Come on! What happened to Peter toiling all night and catching nothing?» That’s why I like Luke. Maybe because he was a physician, he gives us the color; he gives us the context of what was truly happening in this text where Peter toiled all night and caught nothing. Luke actually tells us what was going on in Peter’s life. He gives us the situation report. Everybody say «the situation.» Can I talk about the situation at the Sea of Galilee for a second? The situation here is very important because we have two actors: we have Jesus on one hand, and we have Peter on the other. We have Jesus with the multitudes, and we have Peter in solitude. We have Peter toiling all night and washing his nets, and we have Jesus with the crowd pressing on Him. How is it possible that Jesus was experiencing success while Peter was experiencing shortage? How is it possible that Jesus was experiencing surplus while Peter was experiencing scarcity? How is it that Jesus was experiencing blessings and breakthroughs?