the answer to your crisis…

what’s rocking your boat today?  what’s got you all shook up?  what storm are you sailing through right now?  a financial storm?  a relational storm?  an emotional secret storm inside?  and your heart is aching.  is there a secret storm raging in your life? 

what are the options?  i can be filled with peace or i can be filled with panic.  JESUS CHRIST can calm the restlessness in your heart.

the last verse in this story of the unexpected storm after JESUS had said, “sit down and shut up!” and there was the instant miracle of the storm vanishing it says in matthew 8.27 (niv), the men were amazed and asked, “what kind of man is this?  even the winds and the waves obey him.” the answer is, HE was not a man.  JESUS was GOD. 

GOD came to earth as a man two thousand years ago to show us what GOD is like.  HE was not just a good teacher.  HE was not just a prophet.  all of history was split into a.d. and b.c. when HE came to earth.  what kind of man is this?  HE’s not a man. HE’s GOD and HE will put HIS spirit in your life so that HE will always be close to you and you will always sense HIS care and you’ll know that HE’s in control and you can handle the crises that are inevitably going to come.

you need to put JESUS in your boat. 

what is in your boat?  your boat may be filled with money. that’s not enough security.  you can lose it all.  you boat may be filled with a bunch of friends.  your boat may be filled with dreams and ambitions.  but when the crisis comes, you can lose it all unless you have CHRIST in your boat – in your life.

just a thought from the front porch…

you are going to make it…

another right response to difficulty is to claim a promise. 

there are over 7000 promises in the bible that you can claim when you’re going through tough times.  acts 27.25 (niv), so keep up your courage, men, for i have faith in GOD that it will happen just as HE told me. 

GOD will keep his promises.  GOD did not say the ship will make it.  GOD said, you will make it.  HE even said the ship will crack up and fall apart. 

some of you are going through a storm right now.  your ship may not make it.  you may lose the house.  you may lose the car.  you may lose the career.  GOD has never promised to keep all of your comfortables around you.  HE did say, you will make it. 

acts 27.41-44 (niv), but the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground.  the bow stuck fast and would not move and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.  now the soldiers’ planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.  but the centurion wanted to spare paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan.  he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.  the rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship.  in this way everyone reached land in safety. 

GOD said the ship isn’t going to make it but you are. and it began to break up in little pieces.  some of you are in a storm right now.  you’re going to have to get to shore on a broken piece.  you may have to dog paddle.  but you’re going to make it.  you may have to get there on a broken piece of the ship, but you’re going to make it.  none of us have completely whole lives.  we are all broken individuals.  but you’ll get to shore on a broken piece.  you may have a broken heart but you’ll make it.  you may have a broken home, but you’ll make it.  GOD says, “i will be with you.” 

the interesting thing about this story is that everything was falling apart in this storm except paul.  why wasn’t paul falling apart?  because his confidence was in GOD, not in the ship. 

you’re going through some storms.  if i brought the storm on my own life, i should repent – change.  i admit it and ask GOD to help me change.  if satan brought this problem in my life, i need to resist it – do a little spiritual warfare and resist what he’s trying to do to me.  if GOD brought this problem in my life, i need to just relax.  in fact, i need to relax regardless of what the source is and trust GOD.  ask GOD, “what do YOU want me to learn from this situation?”  put my confidence in HIM. 

just a thought from the front porch…

get you down or lift you up…

it is important to see your storms from a new perspective.

“a fishing fleet left a small harbor in newfoundland and was caught in a terrible storm. when night came, the ships were scheduled to return home, yet none of them did.

all night long the mothers, wives, and children of the fishermen walked the shores looking for some sign of their loved ones, praying tearfully that god would bring them back safely. adding to their anxieties, one of the homes in the village caught fire in the middle of the night. since all of the men were gone, it burned to the ground.

but as the morning dawned, the entire fleet of ships sailed safely back into the harbor. all of the villagers rejoiced when they saw their men safely home, except the woman whose home had burned down. approaching her husband with grief written across her face, she cried out, ‘we are ruined! our home and everything we had was destroyed by fire.’

her husband, however, just shook his head. ‘thank GOD for the fire!’ he exclaimed. ‘it was the light of our burning home that guided the whole fleet into port.’”

listen, that storm that you are going through can be an answer to your pray. it may not be the way you would answer it but the storm can be a beacon to that neighbor, that child, that spouse, that relative that needs to see if what you say you believe really does make a difference in those storms of life that we all are going to go through.  you can say, “we have survived. instead of getting in despair we got on top of the storm and we made it an adventure. and we have some great stories to tell.” and satan now knows that this is not the way that he is going to get you down.

you see, you can either let the storm get you down or lift you up. let GOD have your confidence and your total trust because, those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles. isaiah 40.31 (niv)

just a thought from the front porch…

in or on top of the storm?...

JESUS provides the means for each of us to ride out our storms. storm systems will inevitably move into the life of every disciple. but stormy skies will also eventually blow over.

now JESUS doesn’t promise your life and mine perfect climate control. but HE does promise to stay close beside us no matter how hard the winds blow or how fiercely the rains beat down. HE’s our refuge in the time of storm.

with no air-conditioned, central-heated, insulated, weather-tight homes to dwell in, wild creatures are probably the best meteorologists. their survival from one season to the next, from one day to the next, depends on their ability to accurately “interpret the present time”.

for example, an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks. the majestic bird will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. when the storm hits, the eagle sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. while the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. the majestic eagle embodies the old norwegian saying that proclaims, “remember, above the clouds the sky is always blue.” the eagle does not escape the storm. it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. it rises on the winds that bring the storm.

when the storms of life come upon us—and all of us will experience them—we can rise above them by setting our minds and centering our trust on GOD. the storms do not have to overcome us. we can allow GOD’s power to lift us above them and become over-comers. GOD enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, disappointment, even death into our lives. we can soar above the storm.

remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down. it is how we handle the weights. like the eagle, when we sense storm time, we can use that knowledge to lift us upward and help us soar.

the bible says in isaiah 40.31 (msg), but those who wait upon GOD get fresh strength. they spread their wings and soar like eagles.

just a thought from the front porch…