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?”

-          Mark 4:35-41

I have a hunch that you might be like me. At some point in your life you’ve found yourself asking God: ‘What is this? Don’t you care that I am dying here?’ You see, at some point we made a decision to give Christ control over our lives. On a day of desperation, perhaps, we acknowledged that our way of living only led to more hurt and pain. We cried out, figuratively, if not literally, for Christ to come into our life; to lead our lives. We made a decision; prayed a prayer; got saved; born again; or whatever term you want to attach to it. Then we waited. Turns out that we didn’t go straight to heaven without passing ‘Go,’ but it was okay because now we’d ‘gotten’ Jesus.

Unlike the disciples who physically followed Jesus around for three years, we had to go back into our old lives, albeit with a new outlook and a new nature. Funny thing though, lots of the problems we had before were still there pulling at us. In fact, a whole new crop of problems arose when we tried to bring our behaviors and motives in line with Christ’s teachings. It was okay at first when we thought it was a temporary phase but now it’s starting to look as if these problems are not going away. Our weight is still a problem. The mortgage payment still needs to be paid. Family members still get sick. On top of all that, the sins of our past continue to resurface. It comes to a point where we wonder: ‘is this what I was promised when I accepted Jesus?’ He was supposed to be the great remedy; the ultimate healer. So why am I still sick?

I wonder if the disciples felt this way as their boat was being tossed around. Did they feel bitter that Jesus had healed thousands of others and now here He we was sleeping as they were about to drown? There comes a difficult, confusing, and often painful moment in our lives when we realize that Jesus did not come to prevent us from problems and troubles. If anything, Scripture maintains that we will have even more troubles if we are to follow Christ. After all, if Jesus suffered pain and trouble to the point of death on a cross, what are we to expect? I fear that we have not taken our pursuit of godliness far enough and have been conditioned by the comfortability our lives provided us. But that is not why I write today. I write out of the place of questioning; from the place of one in the boat with Jesus, so to speak, who is forced to answer the question: ‘If being a follower of Jesus isn’t a cure-all for pain and hardship, then what is it?’

I believe the answer comes in Jesus’ response to the disciple’s distress. They awaken their master with their cries. He rebukes the storm and then asks: “Why are you afraid?” Jesus is, in essence, showing who He is and the power He possesses. This is what we need to know. While Jesus doesn’t rid our lives of pain and suffering, He gives us a response to it. He does not take us out of this world, He meets us in it. When we struggle with suffering, persistent sins, or pain, we must remember to focus not on the trouble but rather on the One who is in the boat with us; the One who has the power to heal --- our savior, redeemer, master, and friend --- Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The Spirit of God - Mark 1:4,5

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all of the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

-          Mark 1:4,5

What was it that prompted such a reaction from the residents of Jerusalem and Judea? What was it that brought about such change? There was curiosity, to be sure. After 400 years of prophetic inactivity, to see a prophet the likes of Isaiah or Ezekiel was sure to bring about interest. But curiosity does not bring repentance. At least not to the level they were experiencing there near the Jordan. So what was it that brought the crowds? What was it that made John’s ministry so effective?

It can only be that the Spirit of God brought about such dramatic results. Only the Spirit of God can affect change in a person’s heart. We know this to be true in our own lives and the lives of others. If the Spirit of God is not moving there is no victory, no repentance, and no change.

We put such stock in our efforts; our demographics, our studies, our preparation, our delivery, and all those things have their place, but the pursuit of good reasoning isn’t enough. All of our efforts, as God-pleasing and noble as they may be, cannot save a soul from hell; cannot bring about revival. We should never let ourselves become so haughty and prideful (or, conversely, so despondent) as to believe that our efforts are powerful enough to save or that our weaknesses are enough to ensure failure. Our works are not the end of the story.

I want to ask, as a brother: is there a place in your life for the Spirit of God? Is there a place for a Spirit who defies convention; a Spirit who spoke through a donkey, who brought about repentance in the godless Ninevites despite a reluctant preacher, who built the foundation of the Christian church on eleven unfaithful cowards who abandoned their Messiah? Is there a place for such a Spirit in your life? Or has your faith become too narcissistic?

I worry, friends that we have gone too far in synchronizing our faith with reason. I fear that we have reduced the power of God into something we can manage with our own hands; something we can observe and control; into what our surveys tell us is possible. In short --- we have reduced the power of God into what seems reasonable in our earthly wisdom. The Lord only knows that I have been the guiltiest in this regard; that I have confined God to what I can touch, see, and hear.

But the Spirit cannot be contained by reason. He cannot be quantified by the analysis of experts. He cannot be measured by the limited efforts of man. His Spirit is capable of all things. His Spirit is capable of the miraculous; the illogical. And only through His Spirit can the miraculous occur. In obedience we do our part but the change belongs to the Lord. We need to understand that what we need is not more knowledge, bigger budgets, a more persuasive personality, or more eloquent sermons. We need the Spirit of God to move. We need to trust in the Lord better; deeper, and to ask Him to move, to stir hearts, to bring revival, for only He is able. We must beg Him to transform the lives of our communities, of our family and friends; those people and places that are the most lost and desolate. Only He can bring change. Only He can bring revival. Wind of God, come blow upon us.

Our Allegiance

“choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your father’s served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

-          Joshua 24:15

This oft-repeated verse reminds us that we have a choice: to obey the world with its multitude of competing deities or to obey the Lord. There is no neutral. Often we think the world to be innocuous; that we are not compromising ourselves when we indulge in the pleasures of it. Yet we must remember that the philosophies that rule culture are gods in themselves and that as long as we are here on this earth, we will have to choose between these earthly gods and the One God.

I do not mean to say that we should disengage culture or try to live as if it didn’t exist; we are called to be ambassadors to it after all. However, just as ambassadors must remember the interests of their home country, we must ever be mindful of whom we are serving and never blindly or unthinkingly swear allegiance to the passing ideologies and philosophies of this world.

We must test our actions and analyze our motives. Joshua’s exhortation is not a statement to be issued or a plaque to be placed on the door of a house (not that there is anything wrong with those things) but it is a continual command to search each action, thought, and motive and test whether we are doing it for the Lord. It is not merely a mantra or a slogan, but a way of life that emphasizes continual introspection and self-awareness towards the goal of serving the Lord with every ounce of our being. We must continually dedicate ourselves to the Lord’s service and be wary lest we regress into the empty and destructive patterns of this world; into the service of this world’s gods.

Humility in Prayer

Also, keep back your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

-          Psalm 19:13,14

This is the attitude of the true Christ-follower. The Christian is not haughty, assuming that he is beyond anything. No sin is beyond conception. Our sin-addictions still pull upon us even though we have a new nature. There is no sin that we are beyond falling again into. It is a type of religious pride that rejoices in the apparent strength we now possess. In truth, it is only by the grace of God that we stand. It is only by the strength of the Lord that we are able to have victory over any sin. We must continually go before the Lord in prayerful petition for the strength to endure and emerge victorious.

The true Christ-follower does not assume that any of his words merit hearing before the Lord. Just as it is by His strength that we endure temptation, it is also by the grace of God that we can approach the Holy One. We must never delude ourselves into thinking that our prayers (or the prayers of others) are worthy of the Most High God lest we become like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable who pridefully praised himself in his self-righteous prayer. Rather we must humbly ask, as the tax-collector did, that our prayers, as weak and sin-stained as they are, would be an acceptable sacrifice to the Holy God. The most eloquent words can be wholly unworthy while the weakest sinner may approach boldly if his hope rests upon Jesus Christ.

In everything, we stand before the Lord on Christ’s merit --- not our own. All our thoughts, our deeds, and our prayers must be laid bare before Christ as an offering or they will fall away, being unworthy. It is only on Christ we live, breathe, work, and pray.

Thankfulness - Joshua 10:32

The Lord gave Lachish into the hands of Israel

-          Joshua 10:32

“The Lord gave ___ into the hands of Israel.” This simple phrase is repeated time after time as the Lord’s chosen people claimed victory over the inhabitants of Canaan. While this phrase is small, it speaks volumes about how the author perceived what was happening. The author correctly states the situation. It is not the might of Israel that is bringing victory but rather the Lord delivering it.

We could stand a shift in our thinking. We revel in our successes be they professional, academic, or personal. We reflect upon the work we put in (or didn’t put in) that brought about victory. Yet our eyes are clouded by this world’s shadows. It is not our might or guile that brings success but rather the Lord who has prepared good works that we would walk in them. If we claim our victories as our own, we are denying the power of God and putting too much stock in ourselves, as if we were capable of anything on our own. We must not let this prideful thinking into our lives but rather when success and victory come, boast not in ourselves but in the Lord who created and arranged all things for His glory and our benefit. In everything we should be thankful for what has been provided. Let us be overcome by a spirit of thankfulness to God for all that He has provided for us; that we have a Father who does not forget His children.

In ourselves we are nothing but our heavenly Father is powerful and gives good gifts. In ourselves we are capable of nothing but the Lord is capable of anything. We are weak but He is power. We are strong only because He gives us strength. Glory to the Lord Most High.

The Presence of the Lord

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God

-          Psalm 42:1

There are many things we need --- simple things, good things, but blessed is the man who realizes what he needs most is the presence of God. To be sure, we need the basic necessities of life: food, air, water, shelter, but before all those we need the presence of God. As believers, we need to cultivate our faith through prayer, reading the Word, and Christian fellowship, but before all these we need the presence of the Lord. All of these are empty if we are not encountering the magnificence and power of Christ. If we possess all the trappings of life; if we possess all the trappings of faith but are not experiencing the presence of Christ, we are merely religious puppets --- moving, but lifeless and wooden. It is only in encountering the Holy One that gives us life; that sparks lasting change in our behavior. Anything less is merely window dressing and will not persevere over time. Let us beg the Lord to show Himself to us. Let us pray that He would convince us that He is all we need. Let us go out into our day yearning to encounter Christ --- to revel in the presence of the Lord.

Lessons from Caleb

“Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”

-          Joshua 14:12

Forty-five years after he and Joshua spied out the land of Canaan and dutifully reported that while the peoples there were great, the Lord of Israel was greater, trust in the Lord still burned in Caleb. The confidence in the Lord’s power and faithfulness still drove his actions. From that faithfulness, Caleb recounts the vision the Lord had shown him and with confidence goes off to take what the Lord had promised him.

The life of Caleb should stand for us as a monument to faithfulness, trust, and confidence. It is the ultimate heroic story which ends with the eighty year old Caleb setting off to do battle and claim what was promised him.

In his youth he held firm to the Lord when his contemporaries were abandoning faith in fear. For forty years, as all of his contemporaries died, he held firm in his faith in the Lord and the promise. Now in his senior years his faith remained and he set out to take the Lord at His word, undaunted by the race of giants standing in the way.

I fear too many of us possess a weak, middling faith, one which we turn to as a last resort when all ‘rational’ attempts have failed; or one that serves as the ‘foundation’ for our character but is so weak and ineffective that it cannot affect change in our lives; or a compartmentalized faith that takes a back-seat to reason, one that needs to be instilled in the young but is ignored by the mature.

There are things we can learn from Caleb’s example. We can learn to take the Lord at His word. When the Lord told Moses that He would deliver the Promised Land to the people of Israel, all of Israel doubted save Joshua and Caleb. All save Joshua and Caleb, died with their dreams unfulfilled due to their doubt. Yet even after a lifetime of wandering in the desert Caleb maintained his resolve. He knew the power and faithfulness of the Lord deep in his soul. He knew that through the strength of the Lord he could accomplish impossible things. He knew it as a young man and he knew it when he was old. The Lord’s power knows no bounds and what those who trust in Him can accomplish knows no bounds. So let us stand, in youth or in age, and let us take the Lord at His word. Let us ask the Lord for a deeper, prevailing faith rooted in His goodness rather than the perceived odds of victory. Let us set out to fight the battles He has prepared for us.