Never Abandoned...Never Alone...

Bible readings... 
“And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36) 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. 37) And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38) 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? 39) 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. 40) And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41) And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4: 35-41
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Hello everyone and welcome today, to Sunday Inspiration…through the Risen Hope Ministries! Today, you may be unable to attend church, due to illness or maybe you just need an extra word of encouragement…no matter what…I am so glad that you stopped by today! My prayer is that we all will truly experience the loving and powerful presence of God, as we spend these precious moments together with Him!

Before we begin today, I would encourage you to read the Bible reading on this page, which is found  in Mark 4:35-41. As we take a look into this Bible reading today, we see that Jesus is on a boat with His disciples and there is a storm beginning to brew and as the winds become stronger and the waves higher; the disciples start to fear for their lives. Even while all this is taking place and the disciples are falling apart emotionally; there is Jesus…sleeping in the boat, with no thought, for what is taking place around Him. As the disciples begin to cry out to Jesus for help; He awakens and rebukes the wind and says to the sea… “Peace be still.” From there, Jesus turns to His disciples and questions them, as to what happened to their faith.

From what I could see…the disciples not only lost their faith during that storm; but they also questioned Jesus, in verse 41, by saying… “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Here we see men who had chosen to follow Jesus but yet it seemed as though they really didn’t even know Him and the powerful god He truly longed to be for them. There are times, when I am so amazed, as to how these men could journey daily with Jesus and watch the miracles He performed; but yet still doubt Him and question His ways.

You know…I guess we can say today; that we have moments in our own lives, when we react to our problems in a similar way. Let’s look at our problems, as though a huge storm is brewing. The winds of circumstance are tossing us to and fro and there are waves so tall; that it seems as though they are about to take us down for good. While experiencing this storm…here sits a powerful and loving God in the heavens…waiting to hear from us; but instead, we choose to let fear and doubt overtake us…that is, until we can’t take it anymore. From there, we begin to panic and cry out to God. Even as we cry out to Him, we can feel as though He has forgotten us, as the storm continues to rage on.

Don’t we realize how truly powerful Jesus is or are we so caught up in the wind and boisterous waves of circumstance; that we begin to fall apart and lose our faith, just like the disciples did? We must remember that even though Jesus was asleep in the boat with the disciples…He still heard their cries and came to help them…and just as He was faithful in doing this for them…He will do the same for us.
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Today, we need to focus on Jesus and His power, instead of the storm that is raging around us. Don’t we realize…that with just one word; Jesus can speak peace to these troubled moments and cause them to cease no more? Right now…I would encourage you…to take your eyes away from the storm that has brought you low and turn to Jesus and let Him be the master of your troubled sea…the One, who can calm the storm that is raging within you.
Blessings on your Sunday!
It’s Always & Only Because of Him…
Diane
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