And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.[Luke 5:1-3 KJV]

”...pressed upon HIM ... to hear ... God"

Jesus stood by the lake. Suddenly and amazingly, men from different corners, who started getting hungry to hear and see God, drew near to Jesus if they could get a glimpse and a touch of God. It was an invisible God they were hungry for, but it was a visible man they approached and pressed upon.

When men were hungry for God, since God Himself is invisible, men simply concentrated their quest for God on a man they knew, who carried God in His bosom. They knew that they could get to an invisible God through a visible life that carries Him. Many men, who are seeking God and want to know or hear Him, DO NOT first independently, approach the altar of God in prayer for a personal diligent search for Him. Many, because they want to know God, do not just arbitrarily carry the Bible, and begin to devour it on their own. They neither go into some seclusion in prayers to seek Him. It does not usually happen. Even if men are going to pray and read Bible to eventually discover God, their quest is FIRST directed to A LIFE somewhere whom they believe carries God that they can see rather than a God in the Bible or in heaven that is invisible. Men will first look for a life in whom the presence of God is visibly seen, who by life can reproduce and reveal God to them.

It was God that these people wanted to hear and see, but because God is not physically present, they need to go through a life that is physically available.

Men will love God. Men will serve and know Him intimately, if only they could find LIVES who can reveal Him unto them. The more visible God appears before men through an available life, the more men want to grab Him.

The reason why it appears that men are lackadaisical about spiritual things, why it looks as if men are unserious and ungodly, why sin appears so sweet to the tastes of many, whereas God is odious and unwanted…, is because there are no available lives that carry a sweet Jesus forceful and glorious enough to attract men unto God.

Actually, everything within man is a gulf that is hungry for God. The heart of man itself is the space God created for Himself. But man, seeing no visible God to fill that space with, simply goes astray, and looks for some rubbish as alternatives to occupy himself. But the day a man discovers God, you will find a hungry man who wants God fully in his life.

The attraction of men towards me is a function of how much of God I carry. What draws men to me is the God they see in me, and the "force of pull" is proportional to the weight/amount of God I have. If two men carry God in their bosoms, and they both attract men to themselves, the gravitational pull of men towards one is stronger than that of the other, because the one who attracts a stronger force has more of God suffused into him than the other.

The manner in which men will come to me is largely determined by how much of God they have seen in me and how much He is beautifully shown. An orange tree with very few ripe oranges on display will attract very scanty men, compared to another orange tree that has countless ripened oranges on display. Many will come to partake in its fruits, and even quarrel with themselves over it, because the tree has something more in quantity and visibility to offer. The attraction of men towards any life is directly proportional to the "amount of God" the life carries. This will also translate into numerical figures. Where God is more visible, there will be more people attracted to that life, and where God is greatly visible and clearly seen in very high degrees, multitudes will throng that man, they will want to eat him up.

...pressed ... HIM...to hear ... God”

Actually, it is God that attracts people to the life of a man. It is Jesus that men are looking for, not human faces, and wherever they see Him (Jesus), be sure, men will come. If I want men to follow me, it is easy, I will simply give up myself so that God can take over, ALL OF GOD, AND NONE OF SELF. Drawing men to God is not by publicity through mechanical means of using megaphones or the media. It may be effective in drawing men to a gathering, but NEVER TO GOD. To draw men, I only need the Magnet that attracts them, and that big MAGNET is not my voice, charisma or presentation, it is God in me. Once God is becoming visible through my life unto men, you do not have to compel men, they will look for you wherever you are, even if you are in the cave.

God is the magnet that attracts men, it is not charisma, eloquence, carriage, presentation or academics. Wherever God is absent, nothing else can replace or mimic Him. It is either God or nothing else. You cannot bamboozle men with pomposity and think that men will be deceived. No! Nothing else can replace or substitute God anywhere, He is either present or absent. Magnet attracts with a powerful pulling force, and when objects have been attracted, it becomes hard for you to sever the object from the magnet. When men see a glory in you, they become so attracted to God in you and you do not need any further gymnastics to keep them abiding. You only need more and more of God in you, and men will consistently remain, they cannot see beyond you.

You suddenly see a man that multitudes are thronging. Some people say that it is because the man carries anointing, well, it may be true, but it is deeper than that. It is the presence of God in that life. Power may attract, but it cannot sustain men with you. Power can subdue, but it cannot transform, but where God is present there is an aura, a beauty you cannot deny, so attractive you want to partake in it.

If I want to draw men to God, I need to point them to the God that is IN ME, not just the God that is in the Bible or the God in heaven. Unless I have enough of Him that men can be attracted to, drawing men to God by other methods is simply a waste of energy, it will not work. If I am 100% man and 0% God, no matter how eloquent and sweet I am, it cannot draw men to God. Attracting men to Jesus, is not by organizing some publicity strategies, cooking up ideas, bringing new methods of church growth, setting up jamborees that will entice people...all those cannot produce men for Jesus, they may draw crowd to a so-called church, but never to God. The only thing I must do is to become less and less of myself. The more I keep reducing my 100% self, the more space is available for God to fill up. If little by little I become more and more selfless and give enough space for Jesus to fill, more of God in me will be seen. And when I become 0% self with 100% Jesus, how great, Jesus ONLY will be seen. Multitudes will come to behold Him, they will be captivated and will never withdraw.

The men that God is looking for in whom to showcase His glory, are not energetic men who are struggling to please God, rather they are men who have emptied themselves of themselves and have created enough space for God to fill. God is looking for vessels with sufficient space that He can occupy and work in and through them, men emptied of self and personal ability. The secret of victorious Christian living and becoming usable vessels in the hands of God, is not about self determination, it is not about following some 7 steps to breakthrough, it is not legalism, it is not about rules and regulations and hard commitments, no, it is about absolute surrenderedness and personal emptying. The goal of God is CHRIST IN YOU... Christ wants to come in with all His fullness and glory to manifest, operate in and through you, He wants to be the doer and worker IN ME.

...to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: [Colossians 1:27]

This was what happened to Jesus that multitudes were hungry to touch God to the extent that they wanted to throng Him. In verse 3, He had to quickly look for a boat and pushed deeper into the sea lest they overpowered Him

“…and saw two ships ... the fishermen (owners) were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. [verse 2]

Whenever God wants to showcase Himself to reveal His glory, He looks for empty vessels. Before any life can be considered for any divine use, that life must first be emptied. Here were 2 ships originally occupied by their owners, but before they could be considered for usage by Jesus, they FIRST had to be emptied. In verse 1, Jesus was emptied for God to fill, that was why men thronged Him to “eat” God. In like manner, verse 2 seems to point to us that what God did for Christ in verse 1 that made men to see God in Him, the same must be done to the ships (ourselves) so that Christ in us, would ONLY be seen of men.

While the ships were in use by their masters, they were useless to Jesus. There are many lives the fisherman owner still occupies and makes use of for its selfish purpose, yet they want God to use them anyway, it is not possible. God does not struggle for the throne, He does not manage with other occupants, it is either He has all of your heart or He has none of it. The fisherman (self) must relinquish its position, he must wash his net as a show of total surrender before God can consider it for divine use. Jesus does not need the nets, the old net (no matter how useful it was to you), it must be completely discarded in the purpose of God. Of course, Jesus will still ask you to pick that net and let it down for a draught (verse 5), but it will only be after your focus would have shifted from the net to Jesus. It will no more be the old net, but the one which God has taken over. Jesus does not import old tools for His own use. Even if you had skills that could be usable in the kingdom of God, Jesus would need to kill you first before His grace can be seen through your skill when He takes over.

And he entered into one of the ships...and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land… he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. [Luke 5:3]

“...thrust out a little from the land...”

When God finds a man He can use, of course God accepts him just as he is, but God will require him not only to be totally surrendered for divine use, he must at least be a little bit separated away from the company of compromisers among whom he once dwelt. God requires that you draw away from the midst of the world. You cannot be a divine vessel without being sanctified, set apart wholly unto God. So, Jesus asked Peter that he will thrust the boat out a little from the land. The boat containing Jesus should not be contaminated with land, earthly issues, it must be separate, distinct, different from sinners. His language, disposition, lifestyle, behaviour, speech..., everything must be different from sinners. The Amplified Bible uses the word "draw away a little from the land", meaning, “do not allow the world to contaminate the vessel in whom and through whom Christ will reveal His goodness unto men”.

Draw away A LITTLE…”

Jesus does not expect that we go too far away into our cocoons, and our lives are not available before men to radiate Jesus unto them, No! We must not mix with the world, but we must be open enough before men as to live a godly life worth emulating. No matter how beautiful an object is, first, it must not be too close to you in order for you to appreciate its beauty. Objects that are too close to your nose, do not reflect any glory, they become a nuisance. But a little space away gives men a panoramic view of its beauty and grandeur. Secondly, the object also must not be too far away, else, it becomes extinct and unavailable. If Jesus became too far away from these men, I am sure they will get frustrated and the crowd will disperse. Jesus was not too overprotective as to think more about keeping Himself from being thronged than for men to receive God they so desired. God wants me NOT to mix with the world, to be separate from sinners as a divine vessel of His, but I must also be able to dwell in the midst of men so that they will desire the glory of God that has come to rest and abide on me without myself being contaminated.

“...taught the people out of the ship…”

Jesus wants to speak, He wants to manifest Himself, He wants to be seen, but He must find a life emptied that He can fill, from whom He, Jesus will reach the world. Jesus taught the people OUT OF THE SHIP. This does not just mean that myself as a surrendered ship will go out and speak the words of Christ unto men. It does not just mean that I will be a preacher of the gospel, it is deeper than that. It means that wherever Christ has found an abode to dwell, He will manifest Himself through that life just by the mere surrender of the life. In my normal daily duties, as I move among men, there will be a note of the divine presence that men cannot deny about me. It is an abiding presence, an abiding glory ON me that speaks volumes to the world. Jesus will convict men when He is seated in my life. Whether I am greeting people, while I am living my normal life, in my relationship with others, in my normal activities, Christ will speak and touch men. I may be a teacher in the school, teaching Geography, I may not be shouting JESUS, JESUS, but as I open my mouth to teach, Christ will be seen. There will be a Divineness about me, a glory that Christ beams forth by Himself because He has found a comfortable dwelling place.

If I say I am a carrier of the divine presence, then I must be very conscious everyday to make sure that I allow Jesus to reveal Himself through my life unto men. When men come to provoke me, I must allow Jesus to respond from within. When sin and temptation knock at the door, I must allow Jesus to answer, I must completely be emptied while only Christ is present, seated in my spirit. Whenever I allow myself to act and respond, Christ will be obscured, He will not speak through me. Therefore, the ministry I have received is that of being a Vessel, containing Christ, bearing Him everywhere, not just in Church. I must surrender to Him to manifest and operate. He must be free to express Himself, but out of me.

THE CRITICAL ISSUE: THE SHIP.

For anything divine to happen, Jesus needs a ship, a life, a headquarters where He can first come to dwell, from where He can manifest Himself to the world. There is no limit to what God can achieve or do once He can find a life, emptied, in whom He can sit and from whom He can reach men. Imagine if Jesus never found this ship, or if available ships were still occupied, leaving no space for Christ to dwell, would there be a platform for Christ to operate from? Would there be a pulpit for Jesus where His words would sound forth? Would there be a point of attraction for the fishes of the sea to come where net-breaking miracles of provision can occur?
Many times we cry out to God to come and manifest Himself, and it appears as if God is the One holding Himself back from supernaturally manifesting His greatness. We are sick and tired of the evil and iniquities of our days and we ask, "why is God so quiet?, why does He hide His face from us?", The truth of the matter is that God is more willing to reveal Himself than we can ever desire. But, He does not manifest Himself in oblivion, He can only operate from within a life (a headquarter) that has been surrendered unto Him.

Many have never made Jesus their Lord. Even though they may see Jesus, recognise Him, they read Him in books, in the Bible, they heard about His wondrous works, they believe He is great and can do all things. BUT, no man would ever break down in His presence and surrender all to Him as Lord except they see HIM exalted, glorified and visible UPON A PHYSICAL LIFE THAT MEN CAN SEE AND APPRECIATE. So when men are asking, “why is God not coming down?” God simply says, "yes, I want to come, but "WHERE" have you prepared for Me to show up? Which space have you made available for me to occupy?, I do not show up just anywhere, My ONLY dwelling place is the heart of prepared men willing to give their all.”
Our willingness, prayer and passion for God to show up must not just be a mere desire and wishes in the head. If God will ever show up, somebody somewhere must be willing, ready and prepared to sacrifice himself as a worthy abode for God, a space to fill, a throne from where God can speak and operate.

To cry endlessly for divine visitation, to fast with consecration for the return of the Saviour, to earnestly cry for the outburst of revival… without repairing and putting in place the "living altar" where God will show up, and getting our heart-throne ready, an headquarter for Gods manifestations, is to engage in a futile work that will never yield a result.

As multitudes desired so much of God, God could not be revealed and released unto them, without Jesus finding His ship a yielded and emptied life, where His voice, glory, wonders, miracles... will go forth unto hungry men. Men could get hungry and even die of hunger if there are no vessels ready in whom God can sit, and from whom God can pour Himself out to feed hungry hearts.
Do not ever think that a day will come that men will suddenly burst into tears of loud praises unto God and will have a consuming passion and hunger for Him, if there has been no life in whom God had tabernacled. The God that is not revealed through men who already have Him deeply seated in them is a God that will never last, if at all He shows up. Do not ever think that men will suddenly shout “the Lord, He is the God” arbitrarily in revival outburst, unless a living altar (a life) has been fully consecrated where Jesus can find a base. Human lives are a platform through which God will manifest Himself and convict men. Revival tarries because there are many men praying, crying and hungry for it, but who themselves are not ready to be the containers containing God, and through whom the revival will move.

We may not see the move of God in our days inasmuch as we are only expecting Him to come without us consciously preparing a dwelling place a ship for Him when He arrives. The revival fire that came in the days of Elijah that brought revival, came upon a prepared altar. The fire from heaven had a destination address solely prepared for it. It is as men see fire coming upon THIS ALTAR that they will cry out, "the Lord is the God".

Friend, do you want God to come? If yes, then, The critical question to address is "where do you want to host Him?". Remember He is not looking for a physical mansion or a building. His home and dwelling place is the heart of men, consecrated and yielded for Him alone.