I am glad you asked. I definitely do not want the wrong idea getting out. That whole "determine what fish you are fishing for, show you where to cast, baited the hook, just catch-em, let Him put them in the hold, clean em up, and prepare them" is a fishing anology thing and can be explained like this:

We each have our own personalities given to us by God Himself. We each have our own likes & dislikes, we are drawn to certain things naturally and certain things are drawn to us naturally because of our personalities, likes, dislikes, character, etc....

God will use us, as He made us, to attract us to people and people to us, based upon the characteristics, personality, likes & dislikes. This is typically referred to as our sphere of influence and that is our area in which His ministry through us will be the most successful (that is not to say that He can't and won't use us else where or in different ways).

The bait on the hook is whatever it is that has drawn the believer and unbeliever together....it can be anything but it will usually revolved around the characteristics, likes, dislikes & personalities. When you allow the Lord to use you to show His Love, His Life, His Light, His Saving Grace & Mercy the others will be drawn not to you but to CHRIST and CHRIST has used whatever it is that drew you together in the first place to help make the connection.

Once a person is drawn by the Holy Spirit to you because of the CHRIST they see in you they are caught! They really may never come out and say it but they are drawn to the CHRIST in you because deep down they know you have something they don't and they want what you've got in CHRIST. It may be Peace, it may be Joy, it may be any of the attributes and characteristics of CHRIST that He is displaying in your life.

"Place them in the hold" is what happens when fishing from a boat when after you catch the fish you want it kept but kept in a safe place which will keep it alive, fresh. "The Hold" is the Holy Spirit working in that area of the other persons life which responded to the bait and was continually drawn in by CHRIST which you allowed to be displayed in your life. As the unbeliever begins to understand who CHRIST is the Holy Spirit begins to open up other areas which will draw them in to a closer, deeper understanding ultimately resulting in an incredible relationship with CHIRST.

"Clean em up" is God's job, He and He alone knows everything about you. His ultimate goal is for each individual that is drawn to be more like His son CHRIST. This process is sometimes referred to as going through the wine press or through the refiners fire for believers.

"Prepare them" is very similar to "Clean em up" we are to be witnesses unto all around us and it takes the "Clean up and Preparation" for us to be able to be seen as CHRIST to everyone around us. This is done as Rom 12 says "Renewing our minds with God's Word".

We are never trapped, we have a free will to do what we wish. I have followed His ways and I have done as I wished. As for myself I have found that every time I do things my way I end up miserable because I have made such a mess of things, and usually the mess is so bad it is hopeless and I will never get it straightened out.

After many times of going through this process "Cleaning em Up" or "The Wine Press" or "The Refiners Fire" I have decided it is much simpler, easier, more joyous, fruitful and much more fullfilling to follow God and His ways. They may not always make sense to me and my finite brain but they always, always, always work so much better than I could have even imagined.




David



————- Original Message—————————————

"Don't throw the line until after He has determined what fish you are fishing for showed you where to cast and has baited the hook. Then just catch-em, let Him put them in the hold, clean em up and prepare them."

This is my question/concern/what needs to be clarified;

I do not understand this... to me it sounds as if the lord is choosing and I am catching and then the lord is holding... not letting go.

I assume this mode of thought comes from my backgound. But reading that gave me an overwhleming sence of being trapped and confined with no way out... and I do not think that is what you really meant.