Trust Jesus - Storm or No Storm

One day Jesus and His disciples got on a boat and headed across the Sea of Galilee. Several of the disciples were fishermen, so it was likely one of their boats. Jesus fell asleep and when a storm hit, He slept right through it! "Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.' And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him (Luke 8:22-24a).

Again, while crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus fell asleep.  As He was sleeping a "windstorm," referred to as a "tempest" or "squall" in some translations, suddenly came down upon the sea (v. 23). A "tempest" is a very intense and violent wind with heavy rain that would suddenly, and without warning, come down upon the sea. It was a common experience on this sea, because it was an inland sea in a low, shallow basin surrounded by hills. Storms would often hit without warning, which is a frightening thing to experience on the Sea of Galilee even today. The ship could quickly be sunk and all aboard could be drowned!

That is exactly what was happening. The boat was filling with water and it was in jeopardy of sinking (v. 23). I can just imagine the disciples frantically bailing water in fear for their lives! Yet, there was Jesus, sound asleep. And why not? After all, He is the Creator of the universe. With nothing to fear, of course He could sleep through anything. So the disciples came and woke Him, which was the smartest thing they could possibly do (v. 24).

Immediately, Jesus woke up, and He "rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm" (v. 24). Then Jesus turned to His disciples and questioned their faith. "Where is your faith?" He asked them (v. 25). Of course they could only marvel at the miracle they had witnessed, as they said, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" (v. 25)

The disciples, when they woke Jesus from His sleep, did so in trust, as they should, yet their statement to Him was a statement only of fear. "Master, Master, we are perishing!" (v. 24). They woke Him because they feared for their lives in the storm, yet they did not understand His ability to save. They seemed to say, "The situation is impossible, Lord. There is nothing that can be done!" When they should have said, "The situation is impossible for us. That is why we are turning to you. You can do it, Lord. You can save us. We trust you to watch over us!"

That lack of trust on the part of the disciples is why Jesus questioned, "Where is your faith?" (v. 25). Jesus can do it! Trust Him! That is the message. When storms of any kind come into your life, trust Jesus. Then, after the storm is gone and all is calm in your life, trust Jesus. At all times and in all things, trust Jesus. Learn to do that, and you will experience both His love and His power on a daily basis.

Let me illustrate: Some of you know this story, but I take this opportunity to share it because it is a perfect illustration of this Bible Insight. During seminary I served a church part-time as a youth pastor. One summer I took three young men from my youth group on a camping and canoeing trip on the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada. The boundary waters is a wilderness area made up of a series of lakes and streams. Only a limited number of people are allowed in on any given day, and no motor boats are allowed.

After several days of hiking and camping, canoeing and fishing, our final night arrived. Being completely alone in God’s creation, having seen no one in days, we set up camp, ate dinner, and went out on the lake to fish. Having caught several large northern pike, I noticed that a storm was fast approaching, so we left the lake and returned to camp. Having secured everything for the night, we entered the tent as the rain began to fall. We then read Scripture together and prayed. I reminded them of their goal to experience God anew in the midst of His creation, to be drawn closer to Him in their walk with Jesus. Then we settled in for the night and continued to talk for a time.

Realizing this storm had a lot of lightning and thunder, one of the boys suggested counting the time between the lightning and the thunder. As we continued to talk, we began to count. "Seven seconds," one of them said. "Six seconds," someone else said on the next bolt of lightning. "Five seconds." "Four seconds." The lightning came closer with each bolt. "Three seconds," one of the boys said. "Two seconds." Then, suddenly and without warning, the lightning and the thunder was simultaneous. A huge bolt of lightning came right through the door of the tent and struck me on the right side, lifting me off the ground. The tent puffed out like a balloon from the impact and a blue light momentarily filled the tent. The lightning went through me and scattered up Doug’s side. Doug was the youngest at 15. Bob, who would turn eighteen the next day, and Chip, age 17, were rolled into the corners of the tent.

I remember being lifted off the ground as I was hit and everything went into slow motion. I remember my thoughts. "Lord, if its time to go home, I’m ready." But I didn’t go home. Coming to rest back on the ground, I was unconscious for a time. I heard everything that was being said. Chip took charge, as would be expected, and they tried to help Doug, as he was at least partially conscious and moving in pain. They didn’t say it, but they thought I was dead.

As I remained unconscious, I couldn’t feel anything from the waist down and thought my legs had been blown off. I didn’t want to look. Finally, I decided that I had to look. It was then that I woke up and looked. I still couldn’t feel a thing, but I could see that my legs were still there. Doug was also coming around. What I thought was only a couple of minutes, the boys told me was more like 20 or 30 minutes. It was probably that much longer before the feeling returned to my legs and I was able to stand and walk again.

It was then that we joined hands and began to pray, turning to Jesus for help. Doug prayed, "Lord, please calm the storm." Immediately, the lightning ceased and the rain let up to a light sprinkle and all was calm outside. We assessed the damage. Everything metal was destroyed. We knew we could not find our way out in the dark, so we bedded down for the long night ahead.

Every time I tried to go to sleep I relived the whole thing again in my head. I couldn’t sleep. I was sure it was the same for the boys. So I prayed, "Lord, if you could just send someone to reassure us it would help. Anybody will do. Just someone to tell us that all will be fine." Immediately, the lightning started up again. When it did, a canoe got off the lake on our landing! We hadn’t seen anyone in days and now someone was here at our campsite. "Oh, the Lord is good," I thought to myself. I didn’t know how good. Bob went out and explained our situation, and one of the men said he was a doctor from the local hospital. "Oh, how good God is," I added.

The doctor cleaned our wounds, assured us the burns were only superficial and could wait for morning. He also said he could take us out at night if we wanted, because he was up there often and knew the boundary waters "like the back of his hand." He lied! Turned out that he hadn't been up there in several years and our wounds were much worse than he said. But they could wait till morning and he did reassure us; after all, that was what I had prayed for. We said we could wait for morning and gave him our fish for his "tent call," telling him to make up a good fish story, because no one would believe the truth. He then told us how to find a boy scout camp on the next lake, saving us several hours of canoeing the next day.

When we arrived at the hospital, some 15 hours after the lightning strike, the nurse who treated us seemed very shook. When Doug asked her why, she said she cleaned wounds from lightning all the time but never this bad. My burns were second and third degree, just shy of needing skin grafts; obviously a direct hit from the lightning. She said that people who are hit directly and whose wounds are this bad go to the morgue, not the hospital, and they don’t walk in on their own power! This was truly a miracle of God.

Note the difference between this 15 year old, Doug, and the disciples of Jesus. The disciples seemed to fear that there was no hope as they turned to Jesus. Doug knew that there was. The disciples turned to Jesus hoping He could help, and of course they soon found out that He could, yet they feared the worst. Doug turned to Jesus knowing that He could help. It was as though Doug was saying, "Jesus, you can do it. Take care of this for us." That is what Jesus wants you to do each day.

Whenever any kind of storm hits your life, turn to Jesus and say, "Lord, you can do it. Please take care of this for me." Then, on those days that are calm and there is no storm, still turn to Jesus and trust Him. Trust Him on the calm days because of the help He gave you during the storms. Trust Jesus, storm or no storm. Amen.   

A Very Present Help in Trouble

These can be very trying times. When you face the unknown future, or you encounter things in life that are beyond your control, things that are difficult and troubling, what do you do? How do you handle troubled times? Where do you go, or to whom do you turn for help? Where do you find the strength needed to properly deal with times of trouble?

Strength is found in God. It is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Psalm 46 and you will soon see that it is God in whom we must trust. Only through faith in Christ can our hearts truly find guidance in the way to go and strength for the journey. Psalm 46 provides a sense of security for troubled times.

Psalm 46:1-2a says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.” When you rest in God and Christ Jesus His Son, you will not fear. When you trust in the Lord, He is always there when you need Him. He will never fail you. He is our refuge! He is our strength!

We don't know exactly to what the psalmist was responding when he wrote these words. Some powerful force obviously made him feel very weak and afraid. Whatever it was, the force was so powerful that he spoke of the mountains being carried into the sea, the waters roaring, and the earth trembling (vs. 2b-3). Yet we are told that he “will not fear” (v. 2a).

The psalmist felt helpless on his own strength. It may be that during these past days you have identified with his sense of helplessness. You would do anything to change the course of events, and yet there appears to be little, if anything, you can do to redirect the inevitable.

The psalmist evidently knew the feeling well. Some have thought that there was a foreign army invading the land, destroying as it went. Others have felt that it was some catastrophic event of nature, perhaps a flood or an earthquake, and lives were taken. Whatever the problem may have been, the psalmist had found the presence of God’s splendor, even in the midst of terror and heartache.

Yet in the midst of his heartache, his faith allowed him to stand strong and, even above all of the noise, he was able to hear the still, quiet voice of God. There was no doubt in his mind that God was still in control of the world and that He was indeed the source of refuge and strength.

Perhaps there are questions in your mind about God’s control of our world; questions as to what is happening in your life right now. In order to hear, the psalmist had to first be still: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (v. 10)

There are no mountains being visibly carried into the sea, but in a very strange way, the earth is trembling and we find ourselves under the influence of a very powerful force, a force that creates sadness and even fear. But when you know Christ, there need be no fear.

We too can hear the quiet voice of God, if we only allow ourselves to be still and listen. He is here with us right now. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (v. 11). This same God of whom the psalmist speaks is here with us right now. He only asks that we trust in Him as the psalmist did. He is our source of refuge and strength. He is our “present help” (v. 1b). And He is waiting for you to respond to Him in faith and trust. Give yourself to Him right now and begin to experience His love and assurance.

God sent His Son to die on the cross for you, so that through faith in Him, you would have forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ. If you receive Jesus Christ by faith, you will receive eternal life. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Confess your sin and ask Jesus into your life right now, and you will begin a relationship with the Son of God that allows you to experience His refuge and strength each day. All who know Jesus as Savior and Lord can fully experience that grace and peace from God. Let Him in and let Him give you that peace. Amen.

Hope Does Not Disappoint

One of the greatest things God has given us as believers is hope. According to the Scriptures, hope for the believer speaks of a salvation that is certain because of the grace of God in our lives and because of our faith in Christ. We need not fear because of our hope in Jesus Christ.

What is especially exciting about the hope we have in Christ is that it does not depend on any particular ability we have. It is dependent solely upon our faith. When we have faith, we have hope. No matter who you are or where you are, you have hope through faith in Jesus.

When you have faith in Jesus, by the grace of God you are saved and guaranteed to spend eternity with Him in heaven. That is our great hope in Christ. Romans 5:1-5 speaks of our hope in Christ and assures us of God’s great love for us.

Being justified before God through our faith in Jesus brings a wealth of blessings into our lives. God rewards those who have faith in Him. God’s promises are sure. He is faithful and will do everything He promised in His Word. The first promise He fulfills in us when we trust Christ as our Savior is peace with God.

Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The verb “we have” is in the present tense indicating something that is already present. As a believer you already possess “peace with God.” “Peace” here does not refer to a simple “feeling” of peace within you. It refers to harmony with God. You were once an enemy of God, but now through faith in Jesus Christ you are at “peace with God.” This is called reconciliation. You have been reconciled to God and are now at peace with Him.

Romans 5:2a continues: “Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” “Through whom” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have eternal peace with God and through Him we have access to God. “Access” can also mean “approach” or “introduction” (NASB), and speaks of the believer’s access to God through Jesus Christ. We approach the Father through the Son. “Grace” refers to the free gift God gave us in Christ and “stand” refers to the idea of permanence or standing firm. By faith we stand firm in the grace of God. Therefore we can approach the throne of God by prayer.

That is why we can “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (v. 2b). You are to be jubilant because God in Christ guarantees your “hope” that one day you will partake “of the glory of God.” Genuine faith in Christ guarantees your eternity with Him in His eternal kingdom where His glory will fill you forever.

God will complete the good work He began in you! Note verses 3-4: “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” In the midst of hard times rest assured that God is there. Because you stand in the grace of God, by faith you can face all sorts of “sufferings” (NIV) or “tribulations” (KJV).

“Tribulations” (v. 3) refers to the idea of “being under pressure.” It carries the idea of squeezing olives in a press to extract the oil or of squeezing grapes to produce juice. No matter how tough things may be in your life, God is there. Rest in Him and He will help you. He will bring you through the hard times, producing in you “perseverance,” the ability to endure. By faith your steadfast endurance builds “character,” or “tested value.” In turn, God gives you a “hope” which endures. God will complete the work He began in you. He will build your character and He will make you more like Christ each day.

“Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (v. 5). “Poured out” refers to the “inexhaustible abundance of the supply” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan, 1976, 58). Our future hope is certain because God’s love is “poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” God’s love flows through us in abundance because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

The key phrase here is “the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (v. 5b). By God’s grace, when you believe in Christ you are not only saved from sin, but God sends His Spirit to indwell you. He lives right inside of you and He is the one who empowers you to live a godly life. He is the one who makes you more like Jesus each day. He is the one who gives you God’s strength for the day. He gives you the desire to pray and worship and study God’s Word. He is the one who pours out God’s blessings in your life.

The message is to trust daily in Jesus. Trust Him for forgiveness and trust Him to empower you for each day. Let me simply encourage you to look to God each day for whatever you need and He will take care of you. Amen.

How Should I Then Live?

A few years back, I was a counselor for Dr. David Jeremiah at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Following his message on faith, I had the opportunity to speak with a young man who was struggling with living out his life as a Christian. He had trusted Christ as his Savior, but his life had not changed. He was the same now as he was before. He knew about the new life, but he wasn’t experiencing it. That points out the problem so many believers experience: Having received Christ, how should I then live?

Too often, believers try to live by man-made rules instead of letting the Spirit within lead us, guide us, and empower us. Paul speaks to this in Colossians chapter two. Then in chapter three he points us in the right direction. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). “If” denotes reality and is better translated “since.” “(Since) then you were raised with Christ.” As a believer, you have been “raised with Christ.” That truth is not in doubt. It is an accomplished fact. Spiritually, all who believe have entered into Christ’s death and resurrection at the very moment of their salvation.

Let that truth soak in for a moment. Set your mind on Jesus. Focus on Christ. Two actions will help you along the way to becoming more Christ-like and to living faithfully in Christ.

First, focus on living in Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 delivered Himself up for me.” In other words, the believer is united with Christ in such a way that he has a shared life. Through this union with Christ, believers have died and been buried, and they have risen with Him spiritually. Through saving faith you have entered into a new dimension of life. You possess both divine and eternal life, which is not merely an endless existence, but a heavenly, or divine quality of life brought to you by the indwelling Christ. He now lives in and through you.

This new life is real and powerful, but so is sin. Though sin is no longer master over you, it can still overpower you if you do not present yourself to God as a servant of righteousness every day. That is why Paul reminds us that we are raised with Christ. This is the path to holiness. You are no longer living the old life that you lived before your salvation, but you possess the eternal life of Christ and you have been raised to live on another plane. Do not forget who you are and how you are to live. All sinful passion is controlled and conquered by the power of the indwelling Christ and your union with Him.

Second, focus on the things of Christ. The second phrase in verse one can be translated, “keep seeking the things above” (NASB). “Keep seeking” is a present participle and indicates continuous action. You are to “keep seeking the things above,” or things that are heavenly. You are to seek after the spiritual values that characterize Christ, such as tenderness, kindness, meekness, patience, wisdom, forgiveness, strength, purity, and love. When you focus on the realities of heaven, then you can truly enjoy the world our heavenly Father has created.

As verse 2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” When we begin to live in the heavenlies, we will live out our heavenly values in this world to the glory of God. “Set your mind” means to “think” or “focus,” and again it indicates continuous action. Let your thoughts always be heavenward, on the things of God. Think on the things of Christ and you will follow in His steps. That requires being in the Word on a regular basis, because the way you get to know Christ better is through the Word.

Spend time reading and studying the Word every day. Get to know Christ better, and you will experience the new life in Him. Amen.

Feeding on the Word

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). These are the opening words of the prophecy of End Times. They speak of the urgency of following the commands of Christ, “for the time is near.”

There are three participles here that are translated “reads,” “hear,” and “keep.” All three participles are in the present tense. Reading, hearing, and keeping the truths taught in the book of Revelation (and in the rest of Scripture) are to be a way of life for believers.

In Luke 11:28 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Not only in the book of Revelation, but in the Scriptures as a whole we are commanded to read, hear, and “keep those things which are written in it.” Reading the Word, listening to what it says, truly hearing it, doing what it tells you to do, and living it in your life every day, brings God’s blessing into your life. As a Christian that is what you must do.

Let’s look at our main text: Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” When you are called by His name, when you are called “Christian,” your life will be one of joy and rejoicing because of His Word. Your life will be lived out daily in keeping with His commands. In fact, your life will be one of feeding on the Word of God. It will be your very life-source.

To know God’s Word involves three stages according to both the Revelation and the Jeremiah passages. Revelation 1:3 refers to “he who reads” the Word, and “those who hear” the Word, and those who “keep those things which are written in” God's Word. Jeremiah 15:16 speaks of finding God’s Word, eating God’s Word, and rejoicing in God’s Word.

Before we can take God’s Word into our souls and digest it and live by it, we must know what it says. We must find it. And to find it we must seek diligently for it. There is a certain amount of searching involved. Before we can obey God’s Word we must discover just what His Word says. We must read it and study it.

To walk with God, you need to know Him. To obey His commands, you need to know what He says. Both involve spending time reading the Word, studying it, taking it in. The Lord reveals Himself in His Word, so the best way to get to know Him is to read His Word. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Search the Word “with all your heart” and you will find God, you will find the Lord Jesus.

As you read and study the Word, you begin to discover what God says. As you discover what He says, you need to digest it, get it inside of you, and make it a part of you. Only then can you begin to truly live it. That is what Jeremiah means when he speaks of eating the Word of God. Meditate on the Word and let it soak in. Get to know the Word thoroughly and it will become part of you. Then seek to live according to God’s Word. Only when it becomes so much a part of us that our whole life begins to change and we find ourselves living by that Word, can we declare with Jeremiah the prophet, “Your words were found, and I ate them” (Jer. 15:16).

Take a small portion of God’s Word each day—a verse or two, a promise, a command, a duty of the new life—receive it into your heart, yielding all of yourself to its rule, making up your mind in the power of Jesus to perform it; then obey it. That is eating God’s Word; taking His Word into your innermost being, so that it becomes an integral part of your life.

When you “read” God’s Word and study it, when you “hear” God’s Word and listen to it intently, making it a part of your life, when you “keep those things which are written in it” (Rev. 1:3), then you can say with Jeremiah, “Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16b).

To live God’s Word, to live by all of its commands, is what the Christian life is all about. To live God’s Word, to live by all of its commands, is what your life should be all about. You must diligently seek after Christ, to follow Him and to become like Him. Living God’s Word in such a way will always give cause for rejoicing.

When you let God’s Word dwell in you and become a part of you, you will be blessed. You will truly experience Christ in your life and your heart will rejoice, and all because you are called by His name—you are called “Christian”—one who follows Christ and lives for Him. Do not settle for anything less. Amen.