Hello Brothers and Sisters!  If the Lord wills, this will be the first of many messages He has laid on my heart to share with the Internet community.  I pray that you may receive encouragement and comfort from these messages, but also that they may challenge you to strive for a closer walk with Jesus.

  Let’s begin by examining a few passages of Scripture, starting with Genesis 1:26-27(KJV, of course) ”And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”  So we see clearly here that when God says “Let Us“, create man, in the very next verse it comes to pass.                                          

   Now let’s go to Genesis 11:6-8 “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.  Go to, let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.”   Once again, the Lord declares His plans, and carries them out exactly as stated.  He never fails to live up to what He says He will do.  Men make promises all the time.  Some keep them, some don’t, but when God reveals His intentions, it is fact before it even takes place.        

   Now let’s jump to Mark 4:35-41  “And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.   And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.   And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  Jesus asks a very intriguing question after calming the storm.  “How is it that ye have no faith?”  No faith?  It is a perfectly logical reaction to think you stand a pretty good chance of dying when you’re in a ship full of water in the middle of a violent storm, right?  Under normal circumstances, yes.  However, you’ll notice in verse 35, two little words that change everything–“Let us”.  If they had only known that the same voice that said “Let us make man” and “Let us go down, and there confound their language” was the same voice that said previously “Let us pass over unto the other side”, they would have realized that there wasn’t a storm fierce enough, not a wind strong enough, not a wave high enough to keep those words from coming to pass.  When God has promised you something, just because a trial or a hardship happens to come up between the promise given and the promise fulfilled doesn’t diminish the fact that God’s Word is sure.  Let God be true and every man a liar.  If you’re waiting on the fulfillment of a promise God has given you, let me assure you that no trial, temptation, hardship or tragedy is big enough or powerful enough to thwart the plan God has for you.  As Christians, it’s time we recognized just what manner of man we have riding in our boat!  We’re so quick to give up, to assume that God has forgotten His promises just because a little wind and rain has interrupted our perfect day.  

  This reminds me of what happened a few weeks ago when I took my family to COSI in Columbus.  There was an exhibit there called “Face Your Fears”, in which different common fears were tested on visitors.  One was the fear of animals, in which different creepy crawlys were in terrariums above, connected to a tube which led to a chamber below.  Guests were asked to “face their fears” by putting their hand in the chamber.  The first terrarium contained a small snake, the second a scorpion, the third a hissing cockroach, and the fourth a tarantula.  My wife started with the snake chamber.  Cautiously putting her hand in, she felt nothing.  Makes sense, I thought, since one could imagine the lawsuit potential of letting guests come into contact with dangerous animals, and besides, you could see the snake crawling around up in the terrarium.  Coming to the second, and using a little less caution, she reached inside.  Still nothing.  The third was almost a nonchalant reach-in.  Nothing.  You couldn’t see the spider in the fourth terrarium, but by now it was seeming to be quite a lame exhibit, so my wife casually thrust her hand into the chamber, expecting the same result, and almost came out of her shoes.  She jumped back with a shriek!  After some prodding from her, I slowly and carefully reached into the chamber and felt….a plastic toy spider.  The trick is getting people used to feeling nothing in the chambers, and then the last one just being a little more interesting causes a wild reaction.  This is so true in everyday life.  A lot of people complain, but living in America, there is quite a bit going right in your life at any given moment.  After going through periods of great calm and receiving daily blessings from God, we become nonchalant and casually stroll through our day.  Then when the slightest trial, the tiniest bump in the road pops up, we react as if we’d just touched a giant spider in a dark hole.

    Just remember that whatever storm comes your way, if you’ve got that Carpenter from Galilee riding in the back of your boat, you are truly unsinkable.  Just give Him a little nudge and that storm will be a beautiful sunset before you know it.  If you haven’t taken Jesus into your ship, He’s waiting on the shore, asking to ride along with you.  In a world filled with lightning, thunder, wind and rain, He is the only One who can make your ship unsinkable.  Take Him along.  Let Him be your captain.  You never know how big the next storm may be, but if He climbs into your boat and says “Let us…….”, you can rest assured you’ll make it to the other side.

Now may the LORD Jesus Bless you and Keep you,
May the LORD Jesus make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you,  May the Lord Jesus lift up His countenance upon you, and Give you peace.  In the Name of Jesus Christ, the One True and Eternal God, both now and forever, Amen.

 

P.S.  If you would like more information about making Jesus the Lord of your life, please leave a comment.