Mark 4:35-41, “On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Are you in the night time, a gale of winds, strong waves, water filling in? You will not perish, guaranteed!

Do you know you will not perish, guaranteed, even if are faced with gales of wind, strong waves and your boat are being filled with water all over? Now imagine, you are in a small boat and your small boat is tossed to and from by the gale of winds, strong waves and the boat is being filled with water by the waves. What is going to happen? Of course, naturally, alarms go off and you think you will be perishing pretty soon. This was the same scared imagination the disciples had on that night.

But there is a big difference. They had Jesus in their boat. That made all the difference. Bible says Jesus was sleeping in the stern in their boat. They came to Jesus and woke him up and said, “save us Lord; we are perishing.” They thought they were perishing. But do you know the truth is this – they can not and will  not  perish if Jesus, the living God, is in their boat. Jesus said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” Amazing He just said ‘hush’ or in other words, ‘stop’ and then said, ‘be still’. Immediately the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

I have dog and cat. Sometimes my dog starts rolling on the floor rug by making weird sounds. I know either she is trying to clean herself or she is playful and got excited. But when I say, ‘stop’, she immediately stops and comes and sit next to my feet. My kitten is so happy when she sees me. She starts climbing on the chairs and then plastic trees inside my home and starts jumping up and down. When she doesn’t stop, I will say, ‘stop, Lilly’, She stops and sits down calmly on the chair.
Are you in a night time of your life? Are you facing a gale of winds in your life? Are the waves too strong for you? Wind and waves – are they causing the boat to be filled with water? Are you terrified and scared? Are you afraid you are going to perish?

 

[bctt tweet=”Night time and gale of winds? You will not perish, if He is in your life” username=”sam2017insights”]

The power of Jesus over nature.

You see, the Lord Jesus has full power and authority over nature is what this incident teach us. When Jesus said, ‘Hush, be still’. The wind died down and there was perfect calm -Mark, Mathew, and Luke reported this incident in the Bible.

The most important one billion dollar question! Do you have Jesus in your lifeboat? If you have Jesus in your life, you will not perish, period! I want you to know this fact. A person who placed his or her faith in Christ will never perish. Don’t be afraid and don’t get scared.
Did you notice even in the midst of all this dangerous situation, Jesus was sleeping in the stern? This tells me we may feel like Jesus doesn’t care about us in the midst of our problems, right? I felt the same way in my life. He seemed to be far away. Where is Jesus? Why Doesn’t He help?
But the truth was this -Jesus was not far away. He was right there near them in their dangerous moments. The disciples had to wake Him up though. They could reach out to Him with their requests. Bible teaches us a lesson about God and that is this – God transcends and near at the same time. God is very near to our problems.

Bible says in Psalms 34:17-18, “When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.”

The Lord wants you and me to seek him and go to Him in prayer. A proud individual won’t do it. A humble individual will do it and will receive the deliverance and salvation of the Lord. This is why Bible says in Psalm 34:6, “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.” If you and I call upon the name of Jesus Christ, He answers and helps in the times of our deepest troubles.

The most pivotal question you will ever answer is ‘Who is Jesus’?

When the disciple witnessed the power of Jesus Christ on nature, they were marvelous and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

My dear friend, this is the most pivotal question that each human being should answer when they have the brain power to think about. A dead body or a body that lost brain power won’t be able to think and analyze. But please make a decision about Christ before that day. Bible reminds us the seriousness of seeking and calling upon Him in this way, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
“Who is Jesus Christ? An ordinary person like you and me do not have the power over nature, do we? Only God has the power over the wind and sea. Even the wind and sea obey the God because He is the creator and nature and all things on this planet earth and in the whole universe in His creation.

Bible says who Jesus Christ is. It says, “ He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead .” (Colossians 1:15-18).
Jesus Christ:
• Is the exact image of the invisible God. Those who know Jesus know God intimately. Do you want to know God? Then get to know Jesus. Then you will know who God is.
• The firstborn of all creation. This means Jesus is preeminent in all creation. It does not mean Jesus was the first created one. Why? The next verse says “For by Him all things were created. Because He (Jesus) created all things, He is not a creation. The original Greek word used for the first born can be used in two different ways- (1) preeminent, first in rank or first important or (2) first born in the sense of first child born. But obviously, here the meaning is preeminent or first in rank when we study the context and other parts of the Bible.
• By Him (Jesus) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, all thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities
• He (Jesus) hold all these things together
• He (Jesus Christ) is also the head of the Christian church

In the case of Lazarus, the one whom Jesus loves is sick and going to die. Although Lazarus’s sisters informed Jesus about his severe sickness, Jesus didn’t go to their house. He went to their house only after the death of Lazarus, after 4 days of his burial. This tells me some times, Jesus has a bigger plan for your troubles and problems. You will discover His plan only later in your life. Even though Jesus didn’t come on time to heal Lazarus, He said this to Martha, “Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God.” Surely enough, Martha, Mary, Lazarus and the people, all of theme, witnessed the glory of God when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus revealed His glory in the midst of their impossibilities. (John 11). Remember the words of Jesus. “If you believe, you will see the glory of God” (John 11:40).
In both situations, if your prayers are answered immediately or the Lord has another bigger plan for your life, one thing is sure- an individual who placed his faith in Christ will not perish. Bible assures this fact in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Are you safe and secure?

Is your future safe and secure? Bible promises you will be safe and secure if you come to Jesus and call upon Him. At the end, keep in mind, nobody else can save you. Only Jesus can, period! You will face many heartbreaking incidents in this world. Who is going to help you in your humanly impossible painful situations? No one can deliver you like Lord Jesus. He is a friend who sticks closer than your brother (Proverbs 18:24). He will never leave nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5),
One day like many other people, you will also get sick and die or will meet with an accident and die. Do you know where you will spend your eternity after death? I know you want to go to heaven and spend eternity there with God, don’t you? Bible declares heaven is not for ‘good people’ who does ‘good works’. People have a notion that heaven is for people who did lot of good deeds. But heaven is for the ‘forgiven’ people like Greg Lowry repeatedly says in his radio show. There will be good and bad people who received forgiveness from Jesus Christ. You will be accepted in heaven if you were granted forgiveness of all your sins by the blood of Christ who died in your place for your sins. There is no other way to go to heaven. Only one way – that is by placing your trust in Christ who came to this world as the Son of God in fulfillment of hundreds of old testament prophecies, lived a sinless life and finally paid for your sin completely on the cross. Bible says God, the father, placed all our sins on His Son (Christ) who died on the cross to pay fully for all your sins. Your good works won’t make you eligible to go to heaven. Only the sinless blood that is shed for you will make you eligible to go to heaven. Now you can go to heaven with no effort of your own. Listen what God says in the Bible, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
In short, you will be safe and secure now here on this earth and later after death, if you would come to Christ and accept Him as your savior now. You will be a forgiven person fully eligible and qualified to enter in to heaven -the most holy place to spend your eternity. Not because of anything you  have done, but because of what God had already done for you in and through the person of His son, Lord Jesus Christ.

Please make that decision today as the Lord is speaking to your heart. I will help you to make that most important decision.

You can do this by a small prayer.
Pray after me.
“God, I come to you in prayer. I need you in my life. I know I am a sinner and I feel sorry about my sins. Now thank you for talking to me and  I believe Jesus died and paid for all my sins. I accept Him as my savior and Lord. Please save me. Amen”