Sep 22, 2022
Jesus ordered his disciples into a boat that was headed for a collision. “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away” (Matthew 14:22, NKJV). The Old King James says he “constrained [them] to get into a ship…” that was headed for troubled waters where it would be tossed about like a bobbing cork. The disciples would be thrust into a mini-Titanic experience, and Jesus knew it all the time.
Where was Jesus? He was up in the mountains overlooking that sea. He was there probably praying for them not to fail the test he knew they must go through. The boat trip, the storm, tossing waves and winds were all a part of a trial the Father had planned. They were about to learn the greatest lesson they would ever learn: how to recognize Jesus in the storm.
At this point, the disciples recognized him as the miracle worker who turned loaves and fishes into miracle food. They recognized him as the friend of sinners, the one who brought salvation to every kind of humanity. They knew him as the supplier of all their needs, even paying their taxes with money from a fish’s mouth.
They recognized Jesus as “the Christ, the very Son of God.” They knew he had the words of eternal life. They knew he had power over all the works of the devil. They knew him as a teacher, teaching them how to pray, forgive, bind and loose. However, they hadn’t yet learned to recognize Jesus in the storm.
This is the root of much of our trouble today. We trust Jesus for miracles and healing. We believe him for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. We trust him to bring us into glory one day. When a sudden storm falls upon us and it seems like everything is falling apart, though, we find it difficult to see Jesus anywhere near. We can’t believe he allows storms to teach us how to trust.
This is not some deep, mystical, earth-shattering lesson. Jesus simply wants to be trusted as our Lord in every storm of life. He wants his disciples to maintain cheer and confidence even in the blackest hours of trial.
Sep 21, 2022
Sep 20, 2022
My dear friend, never limit God’s forgiveness to you. There is no limit to his forgiveness and longsuffering. Jesus told his disciples, “If he [your brother] sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:4, NKJV).
Can you believe such a thing? Seven times a day this person willfully sins before my very eyes then says, “I’m sorry,” and I am to forgive him continuously. Jesus did not say, “Forgive your brother once or twice, then tell him to go and sin no more. Tell him that if he ever does it again he will be cut off. Tell him he is an habitual sinner.” No. Jesus called for unlimited, no-strings-attached forgiveness. How much more will our heavenly Father forgive his children who come in repentance to him! Don’t stop to reason it out, and don’t ask how or why he forgives so freely. Simply accept it.
It is God’s nature to forgive. David said, “For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you” (Psalm 86:5). God is waiting right now to flood your being with the joy of forgiveness. You need to open up all the windows of your soul and allow his Spirit to flood you with forgiveness.
John, speaking as a Christian, wrote, “He himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). According to John, the goal of every Christian is to “sin not.” That means the Christian is not bent toward sin but instead leans toward God.
What happens, though, when that God-leaning child sins? Scripture assures us, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1), and “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Lay down your guilt, my friend. You don’t need to carry that load another minute. If you ask, if you repent, you are forgiven. God forgives you over and over again, and this knowledge should unlock a graciousness in our own hearts towards our brothers in Christ. As forgiven saints, we are called to forgive over and over again.
Sep 19, 2022
It’s not your job to qualify yourself for heaven. Jesus delivered us from the power of darkness at the cross. He has invited us to an inheritance of the saints and the light.
All the same, it can be difficult to walk with God in the culture that surrounds us. Imagine what the world was like 2,000 years before Christ; that was where Abraham lived. He had no Bible to read; he had no church to attend. Nevertheless, he was called the father of faith, and the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:5-7, ESV).
We are in a culture where Christians are no longer the majority anymore. If you think we live in a Christian nation, I’m sorry to break it to you but that day has passed. Our culture is actively going against the God of heaven.
Here’s the thing; God did not just save you to be a good person in the world. He called you to be a man and woman of faith. He’s called you to a revelation of who he is. When the Lord of heaven and earth touches our lives, that changes us from a ‘good Christian’ into someone who has an impact on the world around us. God wants to awaken our souls!
No doubt this was in Paul’s heart for believers when he wrote, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:9-11, ESV).
We are the offspring of Abraham because Abraham is the father of faith. We have been saved by grace which is God’s unmerited favor. Our uncertain future belongs to God whom we can trust. God has qualified us by his righteousness, and that should transform our hearts, minds and lives.
Sep 16, 2022
Guilt is dangerous because it destroys faith. The enemy of our soul is not at all interested in making Christians into adulterers, addicts or prostitutes. He is interested in one thing only: turning Christians into unbelievers. He uses the lusts of the body to bind the mind.
Satan wants you to be so crushed with guilt so you let go of your faith. He wants you to doubt God’s faithfulness and think that nobody really cares, that you will live in misery and heartbreak, that you will always be a slave to your lust, that God’s holiness is unreachable, that you are left alone to work out your own problems, that God no longer cares about your needs and feelings. If he can get you to the point of despair, he can flood you with unbelief, and then he has succeeded in his mission. The three simple steps toward atheism are guilt, doubt and unbelief.
Guilt can eat away at the spiritual vitality of a Christian like a raging cancer. It causes a person to lose control of life; it leads to a desire to quit or retire from spiritual activity; and, finally, it brings on physical pain and disease. Like cancer, guilt feeds upon itself until all spiritual life is gone, and the end result is weakness and a sense of shame and failure.
The way to get rid of guilt is to get rid of sin, which sounds simple, but it is not. You don’t just make up your mind to “drop” that third party that has entered your life. Many have tried and found it didn’t work. You don’t just walk away from things that bind your heart.
The most important move you will ever make in your life is the move you make right after you fail God. Will you believe the accuser’s lies and give up in despair, or will you allow yourself to receive the forgiving flow of God’s love?
Do you fear asking his forgiveness because you are not really sure you want to be free from that thing that binds you? Do you want the Lord yet secretly long for something that is not lawfully yours? God is able to answer sincere prayer, to make you want to do his perfect will. Ask him to make you want to fulfill his will.
Sep 15, 2022
Millions have been converted because one man waited to hear the voice of God. Peter allowed the Savior’s voice to come to him. “Peter went up upon the housetop to pray…and a voice came to him” (Acts 10:9, 13, NKJV).
The entire Gentile race was welcomed into the kingdom, along with the house of Cornelius, because a man obeyed a voice. We are living in the same New Testament times as Paul and Peter, and we too must allow his voice to come to us. Instead of waiting for his voice to come to us, though, we run to counselors and Christian psychologists, read books and listen to tapes. We seek a clear word of direction for our lives and want pastors to tell us what is right and wrong. We desire a leader to follow, a diagram for the future.
Few know how to go to the Lord and hear his voice. The writers of scripture warn us, though, saying, “See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’” (Hebrews 12:25-26).
God has promised, “Once again my voice will be heard. Those who hear will shake the earth, and heaven and earth will be moved. By the hearing of my voice, whatsoever is loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
To the last church, the Laodicean church, the Lord cries, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Our Savior is telling us, “I’m asking to be heard. Open up. Let me into your secret closet. Let me talk with you, and you talk with me. Let’s commune. That’s how I will keep you from the hour of temptation that is coming on all the world.”
