Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”
Michael writes this week: Jesus
took three years of his precious life to disciple twelve men – the Apostles. They
had the honor of walking with Him to witness up close and personally the way,
the truth and the life. You're most like the ones with whom you spend time
... the ones with whom you associate. The Lord had the twelve apostles,
but Peter, James and John were His “inner circle”. Who are your three and who
are your twelve? With whom are you doing
life? What I mean is, with whom do you spend time hanging out and talking about
the deepest things of life?
When Jesus taught his
disciples, he asked them the hard questions ... penetrating questions to see if
they understood “the walk” and “the talk” of being a dedicated and devoted Follower. The
lesson of Matthew Chapter 8 is that
when the crisis comes, and courage is required, God expects His disciples to be
His reliable ones, who stand strong in the Lord, in the face of the storms of
life. This is the essence of life in a “fallen” world. The crisis reveals
our character and our faith. The crisis is our training to test our faith
so that our faith may grow. Adversity and failure prepare us to trust not
in the power of our own might, but rather in His strength alone. The child of
God is the one who is faithful to rise to the challenge and to learn from the
lessons of adversity.
The account of the storm in Matthew 28 occurs after Jesus healed
the Centurion's servant. Jesus marveled at the faith of the Centurion because
he said to Jesus, “you don't need to come
minister to my servant, just say the Word, and he will be healed.” In
Matthew 8:23 Jesus was asleep in the
boat while the storm raged across the Sea of Galilee .
The disciples were terrified and awoke Jesus. Jesus said, "why are you so afraid, O ye of little
faith?" Is the storm you confront, bigger than the God whom you
profess to believe? God always proves Himself in the midst of the storms of
life. Don't tell God how big your storm is, rather, tell the storm how big your
God is. The more helpless we are, the more God's grace and mercy covers for our
weakness. We must become child-like in our believing: Jesus said,
"Suffer the little children to come
unto me for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." On our own there is
no way that we can approach the mark of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. Turning from my own strength unto his strength is the meaning of
repentance. I must decrease that he may increase.
We’ll pick up right here
tomorrow with the remainder of Michael's through-provoking message: Tough
Questions / Tough Answers.
In Christ, Brian
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