With this harvest season of souls, opportunities in business, and new assignments, do you have your structure in place to retain this harvest? What do I mean by structure in place of the old net? After the death and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles were not sure what to do. Their whole world was turned upside down. The kingdom of God was not setup like they planned. The disciples went back to the old way of doing things and went fishing. After fishing all night, they caught no fish. Then Jesus appeared on the shore and told them to fish on the other side of the boat. When they did this, they got so many fish it was hard to pull them in. New wine skins for new wine are another way the Word of God expresses how building new nets. Let me give you some examples.
I kept feeling like I needed to have my electronics set up for the next four years. This meant investing in an Apple iPhone and upgrading my computer. It wasn’t an expense I wanted at this time but that is why I knew it was the Spirit of God, who was nudging me to do this. I gave up my vacation to follow God’s leading to buy these items.
Around the same time my church set up new altar prayer teams. It was one person on each side of the stage at the prayer tables. Now we have a team of two people, one male and one female (not set in stone), who are at the prayer tables. They placed sanctuary teams to walk among the seats to be available for prayer and greeting people. This change allows those who are unable to walk down front or were fearful to go down front to be able receive prayer. The teams are ready to pray in the hallways or to head down to the altar if the speaker calls for people to come for prayer. Our church has their net ready for the harvest.
Creating New Nets!
The old ways of doing things can become a hindrance. Good things aren’t necessary God’s things. Telephone booths were very productive in the 1970’s. Cell phones created freedom to roam almost anywhere and keep you connected to others. Here are some ways of creating room for the new and letting go of the old or good things.
Cleaning out your closets of good clothes that aren’t you in this season. Just because they are good doesn’t mean they are who you are now. When I retired, I didn’t need the dress clothes I had for work. My shoes changed to tennis shoes, and I now have one pair of black semi-dress shoes.
A young mother, a mother of college kids, and a grandmother are in different seasons with diverse needs. Ask God if you are holding onto things that no longer fit what he has for you.
A husband and wife with grown children may need to rethink their relationship. The first years of marriage were focused on provision and children. Now you may need to change your priorities that involve building a new relationship with each other and not around the children.
A business might need to upgrade their computers. This one newspaper company is still using Apple computers from early 2000. These old computers caused the employees to spend more time printing and retyping because they couldn’t cut and paste articles. Billing is harder to track and the downtime from the machines freezes up is stealing time for the employees to get advertising dollars. If the company had invested $10,000 to upgrade few computers a year, it would have increased sales and customer satisfaction.
In new seasons of life, we need new ways of doing things. It causes us to move outside of our comfort zone and puts faith in action. God has a plan for you. Ask him what you need to do. You may not hear a voice or have a vision, but you will get checks, nudges that won’t leave or ideas that solve problems. This is all the leading of the Holy Spirit.
God had to have an old generation die off for the new generation to enter the promise land. The exception is Joshua and Caleb who were in their 80’s and faithfully waited for God’s time. God has many Joshua and Caleb people. Make the shift and let go of the old. It is time to take the land and build new nets.
Prayer
Father God,
Help! I want to let go of the old and press into the new season. Show me where I am fishing on the wrong side of the boat. Help me to see and step into the new lifestyle. I ask for your boldness, love, and faith to launch me into this next season of my life. It is never too late! I ask for your wisdom and grace to accomplish all you have for me. Because of Jesus, amen!
Scriptures
Luke 5:37-39, John 21:6, Numbers 13, and Proverbs 3:3-5
Outhouse Ministries 
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