Come In The Midst Of The Storm

 Come in the midst of the storm and uncertainty...take a step of faith

Matthew 14:26-32 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. ²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. ²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. ²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. ³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? ³² And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

Sometimes the call of God requires a great step of faith.  In the midst of the stormy seas Jesus was standing on the water and called for Peter to “Come.” 

We often don’t give Peter any credit for responding to that call to “come.” We just focus on him sinking.  I remember a speaker talking about being in Israel in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, at or near where the above incident took place.  He said he was thinking about it being the place where Peter sank after he got out of the boat.  Immediately the Lord corrected him reminding him that this was where Peter walked on the water.  Peter may have had little faith and began to doubt once he took His focus off the Lord and focused on the surroundings, but Peter did walk on the water in response to Jesus’ call to “come.”

Peter’s experience is a good reminder to keep our focus on the Lord in the midst of difficult circumstances.  When our focus gets on the circumstances is when we begin to sink. Even when our faith wavers, Jesus will reach out and pull us up and walk us back to the boat.  He won’t let us sink and drown when we call out to Him. 

Peter’s experience is also a good reminder to respond to the call of the Lord to “come,” even when the circumstances around us look rather precarious, in the midst of a storm and uncertainty.  When we step out on His Word, with what faith we have and He will meet us there. 

Come Ye After Me

Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Mark 3:13-15 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. ¹⁴ And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, ¹⁵ And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

Song of Songs 7:10-13 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. ¹¹ Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. ¹² Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. ¹³ The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The first call of Yeshua is to come and be with Him.  The relationship with Him is the most important part of our Christian life and ministry.  Without relationship with Him, we really have nothing to offer.  He is the vine we are the branches.  We must stay connected into the vine as the source of life and sustenance to have anything of lasting value to share. 

We see in the verses in Mark that Yeshua called the disciples to come and be with Him. Then He sent them forth.  He called for them to come after Him and He would make them to become fishers of men.  The onus was on Yeshua to prepare them for the work of sharing the Kingdom of God as kingdom ambassadors. That preparation came in time spent with Yeshua in everyday life, as well as watching Him minister, and participating with Him in ministry. Then he sent them out. 

In the passage from the Song of Songs we see that the call is also to come. Actually much of that book is about coming to Yeshua and growing in an intimate relationship with Him.  As already stated that is the relationship with Yeshua is essential.  Then going forth is done together. The going forth is into the harvest field of the unsaved.  The going forth is also to the villages, the places where there are believers dwell in fellowship.  In the villages there is ministry to the needs of those who are already believers. All ministry is done co-laboring with the Godhead. Yeshua only did what He saw the Father doing.  We need to learn to operate in the same way to be effective.  We function in this earth realm as ambassadors of the Kingdom realm.

It all has to start with “come” and then being sent out. Being sent is another key.  To just go of our own accord is not good.  We must look to Yeshua to send us in the right time to the right place.  As we are being sent we are going out to co-labor with Yeshua under the direction and anointing of Father and Holy Spirit. 

Come Let Us Reason Together

Isaiah 1:18-19 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ¹⁹ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

God’s first call to us is to come.  His desire is for us to come to Him, not allowing anyone anything to stand between us.  God created us for relationship with Him. It grieves His heart when there is something in the way of that relationship.  When God was inquiring of where Adam and Eve were, after they had partaken of the forbidden fruit, it was not as an angry God looking for vengeance.  But it was a broken hearted God feeling the loss in the relationship. 

When we stray from God, His desire is always for restoration.  His call is to come as you are.  He doesn’t ask us to clean ourselves up or jump through a bunch of hoops first.  His call is to “come.” He will do the cleansing.  He has made the way of restoration available to us.  The remedy was made in Christ before the foundation of the world. 

The blood of Jesus Christ is like an eraser.  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)

Psalm 103:8-14 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. ⁹ He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. ¹⁰ He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. ¹² As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. ¹³ Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. ¹⁴ For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Once our sins are cleansed there is no record of it in God’s book. They are put far from us, never to be found again.  One time a number of years ago, I was confessing a sin before God that I had long ago repented of, but was remembering for some reason. I heard the Lord say, “I keep no record of wrongs. Neither should you.” Initially I was a little puzzled. As He repeated His statement I realized what He was saying.  In 1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV one of the characteristics of love is to keep no record of wrongs. God, who is love, keeps no record of wrongs once they have been confessed and repented of.  His blood erases the record of that sin. 

Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. ¹⁹ He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

I am so thankful I serve a God who delights in mercy.  His call is always to come to Him and reason together with Him.  He is a very reasonable God who has made the way for us to be forgiven of all our sins and to be able to daily walk in intimate fellowship with Him.

Things Aren't Always What They Seem To Be

Testimony:

A couple years ago as I was finishing up my doctorate, God told me someone was going to provide for me to go away for a week or so to work on writing my thesis. Some months later a friend offered for me to come to her house and stay in the upstairs apartment that was going to be empty for the week.  (When she offered that to me she did not know what God had spoken to me.)  So I made plans to go.

About a week before I was supposed to go, my computer developed a severe problem and I was unable to use it.  I took to the store where I had bought it.  After some diagnostics the verdict was that it had to be sent back to the manufacturer to be fixed.  I was not happy.  In just a few days I was to be leaving to go to NH to write and needed my computer.  But it was unusable and was sent off to the manufacturer. It was going to take some time to get fixed.

I decided to go to NH anyway, I wasn't going to take a week off from writing.  I would just write the old fashioned way with pen and paper if necessary.  When I got to NH, my friend loaned me her laptop to use since she had access to another one.  I was very thankful for the use of the laptop.

So I started to work.  But it wasn't long until I was a bit frustrated. Although I could find the Scriptures and some of the other things I needed on the internet, it wasn't as easy to find or use as the Bible software that I had on my computer.  With the Bible software I have I can get to scriptures and other info really fast. And can copy and paste into my document easily.  It even puts  the footnote in for me. That wasn't the case with what was available on the internet. It was difficult and time consuming.

At the end of the first day I began to wonder if perhaps I could load my Bible software onto my friend's computer for the week.  So I called the software company and asked.  Much to my surprise, they said, "Yes,"  and told me how to download it on to the computer.  It made my work so much easier.

When my computer stopped working I thought it was the absolute worst time for that to happen.  But it turned out to be the best time for it to happen.  Had I not been going to NH for that period of time I would have been at home without a computer to write or the Bible software to use.  God's provision of a place, a computer, and favor with the software company made it all perfect. It wasn't at all what it seemed to be at first.

By Many Or By Few

1 Samuel 14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.

Will God save by many or by few?  In this case it was just Jonathan and his armor bearer.  There came a day when Jonathan was tired of the stand-off with the enemy.  So he took his armor bearer and started out to see what he could do to deal with the enemy.  He and his armor bearer began to move forward and sought a word from the Lord as to whether to continue moving forward.  Once the confirmation came they scaled the very steep incline up from the valley to the high country where the enemy was camped.  The enemy was confident that they could not be reached.  But Jonathan was confident in the Lord and the confirmation that he had been given.  He was confident in the Lord God Jehovah with whom he had a covenant relationship.  The enemy was uncircumcised, not in covenant with Jehovah. 

God gave Jonathan and his armor bearer victory. As they began to slaughter the enemy, God sent an earthquake. In the confusion it caused the enemy forces to begin to fight against each other.  By the time Saul rallied the rest of the army, what they witnessed was the enemy in disarray.  Then the Israelites pursued the enemy chasing them from their land.

Because of the victory won by the forward movement of Jonathan and his armor bearer, the rest of the army was encouraged and rose to go after the enemy to finish off the battle.  Even those who had given up and gone home or even defected to the enemy side were encouraged and rejoined the army of Saul.

As we go forward in victory, it will bring encouragement to others that they too can have a victory over the enemy in their lives.  Once we have one victory under our belt it encourages us and others to move forward to take more territory from the enemy.

This land belonged to Israel, but the enemy had it in his possession at that time.  What land in our own lives does the enemy now have possession of that really belongs to us?  We need to take it back.  What land in the lives of those around us needs to be recovered?  Where has the enemy been camped that he needs to be removed from? 

God please show us your plan for taking back that which is ours.  Please let our victories be an encouragement to others to join the battle and win the victory over the enemy in their lives.  God will give victory whether it be by many or by few. 

Fierce Love

Song of Songs 2:4  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary “A banner is a flag, ensign, streamer, or emblem attached to the end of a standard. Banners served as rallying points for military, national, or religious purposes……The most common use of banners was for military campaigns. A large signal flag usually was erected on a hill or other high place.”

God is raising up a warrior bride/army. The banner over God’s warrior bride/army is a banner of love.  This warrior bride will have a fierce love for God and for each other.    

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

You may wonder about my choice of the word “fierce.”  That is the word I heard from the Lord.  I looked up the word in the dictionary.   Here are some definitions of “fierce” from Webster’s Dictionary:   “marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence, furiously active or determined, having or showing a lot of strong emotion : very strong or intense.”

I think that could describe the love that will characterize the bride of Christ in these last days.  It will be necessary to have that kind of love.  That kind of love comes from God.  It is not something we can find within ourselves.  God is love.  His love shines forth to us, then through us back to Him and to each other.

Song of Songs 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. ⁷ Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

Agreement With God

Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

A few years ago I had an experience where I saw a vague picture of the back of a person that I believed to be the Lord Jesus.  I heard, “Come, walk with Me.”  Then I saw myself step up beside the person and put my hand in His.  At that moment I heard, “How can two walk together, except they be agreed?”  With that I found myself on the floor with my face planted in the carpet repenting concerning the many ways I was not in agreement or alignment with Jesus. I really thought I had been doing ok with God, but I was soon well aware that it was the little things that were out of agreement or alignment with God.  It is the little foxes that spoil the vine.   

Song of Solomon 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

The dictionary defines agreement as harmony of opinion, action, or character.  Alignment is defined as the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts in relation to each other.   

FOREVERNESS

At times I have been impressed and touched by the "foreverness" of God and my relationship with Him.  Some time ago I woke up one morning with a joy in my heart in relation to being with my God, Savior, and King FOREVER.  I will get to worship Him forever and ever and ever.  I will get to experience His love and glory forever and ever.  Forever is beyond the ability of my mind to comprehend.  Yet the thought of being with Him forever stirs my heart.  I will be with the one who loves me unconditionally forever.  Hallelujah!!!

Revelation 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 4:9-11 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, ¹⁰ The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.   ­­­­­

Revelation 5:13-14 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. ¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.