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Luke 8:23-24 - But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.
They go to Him and say, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" In other words, they are telling Him, we are all going to die. They were frightened by this storm. They were in a panic.
When Jesus is in your life you must never forget that storms are going to come and threaten you. Some storms may be so severe your thought process says, "Jesus has abandoned you." There isn't anything further from the truth. Once you accept Jesus into your life the devil declares war against you. He is now determined to destroy your faith. One way he does this is by trying to make you believe Jesus doesn't care about you. Jesus not only cares about you. He died for you.
If He wants your cancer to be gone, it will be gone. The doctors may say, "We can't explain it. This x-ray shows cancer very clearly and this one shows no cancer." Jesus can calm the storms in your life if you will let Him.
As a Christian, it will be your faith in Jesus that will get you through the storms of life. As a Christian, don't forget Jesus is the One who can rebuke any storm in your life. Think About These: Feed your faith and doubt will starve to death. All men need a faith that will not shrink when washed in the waters of affliction and adversity. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Go To www.SeragosPumpUps.com
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1 Thes. 5:18 - "…in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." NASU
Tomorrow is the day that has been set aside for us to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given by God. I am sure we do not wait until this one day of the year to give thanks.
When people say to me they want the "Will of God" to be done in their lives I say to them be "thankful" and you will be doing the Will of God. They always got this strange look on their face and would say, "I am thankful, but you know, I really want to do the Will of God." I tell them, according to the Apostle Paul, if you are "thankful" in everything you will be doing the Will of God.
Instead of me answering that question since I have never had one of my children die I quote a man who was familiar with the death of a child. In fact, he lost 10 children in one disastrous day. Job's wife even wanted him to curse God for what had happened to their family. Job 2:9-10 - Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. NASU Job had lost his 10 children, all his animals, his herds or in other words, his wealth, but Job's ATTITUDE guides his BEHAVIOR. He didn't sin by saying things that he would later regret. Job wasn't "thankful" for the death of his children or the loss of his wealth, but his attitude was he would accept good from God, and now that adversity had come into his life he would accept it as well. Many times in life we have to accept things that we don't like.
We must wait upon the Lord and in time once the pain has decreased some we will start to allow God to give us the answers to the trials we face. Job's attitude guided his behavior. The scripture says, "In all of this Job did not sin with his lips." In other words, he didn't curse God and ask to die.
If you do a little inspection of your life you will find you have more to give thanks for then you might realize. Develop an attitude of thankfulness and you will never regret it. Think About This: It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Sam. 17:37 - And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." NASU
In the above passage, David is talking with King Saul about going out to fight Goliath. David was outraged by what he heard Goliath say to the Army of God. He makes it very clear God has delivered him before when he fought a lion and a bear. He now proclaims very emphatically his belief in God and God will deliver him from Goliath. I am pretty sure we all know the story's outcome. David goes out and he defeats Goliath, but it all started with David's faith in God's deliverance and protection.
1 Sam. 26.24 - Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress." King Saul becomes jealous of David and tries unsuccessfully to kill him. One night as David was being hunted by King Saul David sneaks into Saul's camp while the king was sleeping and stole his spear and water jug. Once he is safely outside the camp he yells and wakes up the king and his men. He lets Saul know if he had wanted to he could have killed him minutes ago. The reason David didn't kill the king was he highly valued his life. He finishes his communication with the king by saying, "…so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress." It has been years since David killed Goliath and he is still displaying his faith and trust in God here in his communication with king Saul when he says, "and may He (The Lord) deliver me from all distress."
1 Sam. 27:1 - Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand." Really! Are you kidding me? Is this the same David that went after Goliath, killed him because he knew God would deliver him, and now he is afraid of King Saul? What is going on in David's life? David was losing his trust in God's protection and starting to fear for the safety of his life. He had grown weary from the trials of life. He forgot God had Samuel anoint him as the next king after Saul. This is a clear sign your faith is faltering when you are losing your trust in God's protection and you're forgetting His promises. What is the solution to this problem? The solution is doing what David did when going to fight Goliath remember what God has already done for you. David remembered the victories over the lion and the bear. You must remember the victories God has already given you and He will deliver you as He has done in the past. God is FAITHFUL. You must continue to read His Word. Think About This: God promises a safe landing but not a calm voyage. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Sam. 23:26-28 - Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them. But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land." So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape. NASU
King Saul was jealous of David and was doing everything he could to kill him. In the text above, Saul has 3,000 soldiers and they are about to surround David's little band of 600 men an annihilate them. When all of a sudden a messenger comes to the king and informs him the Philistines have invaded our land. Was this a coincidence or was this Philistine invasion from God? Well, I guess to really know for sure we will have to get to heaven and ask God, but from where I sit this has Divine Intervention written all over it. David was God's man. God was going to use David as the king of Israel in a few short years and He needed him alive. So, God, had the Philistines invade Israel and King Saul hurries back to defend his land. That place became known as the Rock of Escape. I would venture to say we all have a place in our mind we could call our Rock of Escape. It was there where God delivered us from our own personal Saul's and by that, I mean someone who wanted to personally harm us physically, mentally or both.
Can you recall any situations in your life when you believed everything was about to come crashing down on you? Then out of nowhere, a break in the storm came and you were out of danger. This would probably be a good time to stop, recall how God has intervened in your life, give Him thanks, and praise for all He has done for you. The time that comes to my mind was Dec. 2011, when I was on a mission trip to Liberia. I will not elaborate on the details here but trust me when I say God's intervention came at the right time and I was extremely happy for His help.
I really don't believe in coincidences, but I do believe in the Divine Providence of God. Think About This: When we let God guide, He will provide. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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