HE
STILL STILLS STORMY WATERS
BREAD
23 Then
he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Without warning, a furious
storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was
sleeping. 25 The
disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We're going to drown!” 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he
got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked,
“What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV)
28 Then they
cried out to the Lord in their
trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29 He stilled the storm to a
whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalms 107:28-29 (NIV)
1 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the
Lord is robed in majesty and is
armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. 2 Your throne was established
long ago; you are from all eternity. 3 The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have
lifted up their pounding waves. 4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea-- the Lord
on high is mighty. 5 Your
statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord. Psalms 93:1-5 (NIV)
1 God is
our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and
foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah Psalms 46:1-3 (NIV)
15 The
valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at
your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast
of breath from your nostrils. 16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he
drew me out of deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes,
who were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. 19 He brought me out into a
spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalms 18:15-19 (NIV)
4 Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident
to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Never
dread any consequence resulting from absolute obedience to His command. Never fear the rough waters ahead, which
through their proud contempt impede your progress. God is greater than the roar of raging water
and the mighty waves of the sea. ‘The
Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever’
(Psalm 29:10). A storm is simply the hem
of His robe, the sign of His coming, and the evidence of His presence. Dare to trust Him! Dare to follow Him! Then discover that the forces that blocked
your progress and threatened your life become at His command the very materials
He uses to build your street of freedom.” F. B.
Meyer
“Blessed storm
that wrecks you on the rock of ages! Glorious billow that washes you upon this
heavenly shore! And now you have nothing but your God to trust to, what are you
going to do? To fret? To whine? O, I pray you, do not thus dishonour your Lord
and Master! Now, play the man, play the man of God. Show the world that your
God is worth ten thousand worlds to you.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
“Faith in God conquers fear every time. The God who has
redeemed us and cares for us is trustworthy. Our Creator God will never abandon
us, and He has our best interests at heart.”
Michael Youssef
“Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be
an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an
inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no 'baseless fabric of a vision,'
but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire which shall
consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May
your convictions be deep, your love real, your desire earnest. May your whole
life be so firm and strong, that all the blasts of hell and the storms of earth
shall never be able to remove you.” Charles
Spurgeon
“However, faith has its trials, as well as its answers. It is not to be imagined that the man of faith, having pushed out from the shore of circumstances, finds it all smooth and easy sailing. By no means. Again and again, he is called to encounter rough sea and stormy skies; but it is all graciously designed to lead him into deeper and more matured experience of what God is to the heart that confides in Him. Were the sky always without a cloud and the ocean without a ripple, the believer would not know so well that God with Whom he has to do; for alas, we know how prone that heart is to mistake the peace of circumstances for the peace of God. When everything is going on smoothly and pleasantly—our property safe, our business prosperous, our children carrying themselves agreeably, our residence comfortable, our health excellent—everything in short, just to our mind, how apt we are to mistake the peace which reposes upon such circumstances for that peace which flows from the realized presence of Christ.” C.H. Mackintosh
“The winds hushed by his finger uplifted,
the waves calmed by his voice, so that they became solid as marble beneath his
tread; the tempest, cowering at his feet, as before a conqueror whom it knew
and obeyed; these things, these stormy elements, the wind, the tempest, and the
water, gave full proof of his abundant power. The lame man leaping, the deaf
man hearing, the dumb man singing, the dead rising, these, again, were proofs
that he was the “power of God.” When the voice of Jesus startled the shades of
Hades, and rent the bonds of death, with “Lazarus come forth!” and when the
carcase rotten in the tomb woke up to life, there was proof of his divine power
and godhead. A thousand other proofs he afforded; but we need not stay to
mention them to you who have Bibles in your houses, and who can read them every
day. At last he yielded up his life, and was buried in the tomb. Not long,
however, did he sleep; for he gave another proof of his divine power and
godhead, when starting from his slumber, he affrighted the guards with the
majesty of his grandeur, not being held by the bonds of death, they being like
green twigs before our conquering Samson, who had meanwhile pulled up the gates
of hell, and carried them on his shoulders far away.” Charles
H. Spurgeon“However, faith has its trials, as well as its answers. It is not to be imagined that the man of faith, having pushed out from the shore of circumstances, finds it all smooth and easy sailing. By no means. Again and again, he is called to encounter rough sea and stormy skies; but it is all graciously designed to lead him into deeper and more matured experience of what God is to the heart that confides in Him. Were the sky always without a cloud and the ocean without a ripple, the believer would not know so well that God with Whom he has to do; for alas, we know how prone that heart is to mistake the peace of circumstances for the peace of God. When everything is going on smoothly and pleasantly—our property safe, our business prosperous, our children carrying themselves agreeably, our residence comfortable, our health excellent—everything in short, just to our mind, how apt we are to mistake the peace which reposes upon such circumstances for that peace which flows from the realized presence of Christ.” C.H. Mackintosh
HEART SAVOR
·
God calms
the stormy waters of our hearts.
·
I am to
lean on Him and not on my own understanding – acknowledging Him in all my ways
and He will make my path straight.
·
I am to
be anxious for nothing.
