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Who Can This Be? – Week 39 / September 23rd
Luke 8:22-25
The passage in Luke referred to above records the story of Jesus, obviously very tired, crossing the Sea of Galilee in a small fishing boat with His Disciples. Soon after they set out a storm comes up with a lashing wind that threatens the safety of the boat. Jesus is fast asleep and it’s not too long before the boat begins to take on water. Quite obviously, since the Disciples were seasoned fisherman and knew these conditions well, this must have been a serious storm as the Disciples, fearing that the possibility of sinking was not a remote reality, begin to panic. They therefore awaken Jesus and cry out, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
Consequently Jesus then rises and calms the storm and then rebukes the Disciples by saying, ” Where is your faith?” The response of His Disciples is, “Who can this be?” It strikes me that we have an important lesson here that we all need to learn. Life is filled with many challenges and we have to face them appropriately as Christ followers. So, we should know:
1. That we all have a unique destination.
The Disciples were going from one side of the lake to the other. We are doing the same. Indeed to be in the will of God is the most important thing in your life. This gives your life meaning and significance and this is life’s big and important issue. Are you living in the perfect will of God for your life.
2. That we must have Jesus with us in the “boat”.
Living in close fellowship with Christ is our chief joy. There is no joy greater joy than this and our boat may well be something else but the lesson remains the same; we travel with Jesus and do everything possible to have a clean and vital relationship with Him. Holy living attracts a Holy Savior! In short, being saved is one thing but living in true fellowship with Christ is another.
3. That we must have true faith.
Jesus asked them, “Where is your faith?” Good question! We have so much crazy teaching about faith in the church today that this question requires a fresh answer. Obviously, though Jesus was sleeping, His presence was their security. Because He was with them they should have kept their eyes on Him and not on the storm. As you go on your way, on your God given journey, you will encounter challenges that will appear to overwhelm you. Part of true faith is to be confident about the fact that Jesus is indeed with you. To use the words of Paul, “If God be with us who can be against us?”
The second aspect to true faith is to know who Jesus is. If we do not know who He is we will panic like the Disciples and believe that all is lost. Many Christians do this because they have no faith only because they have no certain idea about the greatness of Jesus. He is the One that has power over creation and therefore He is all powerful and is well able to handle your challenge. Faith is rooted in knowing that Jesus is God and we can only feed our minds and hearts on this truth if we “wash” ourselves in the word of God. The Bible states that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of a God.” We buckle and panic under pressure because we have not had our hearts and souls anchored in truth. Truth is the soil out of which the flower of faith grows. If we do not have a high view of Jesus we will end up like the Disciples shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing” and asking, “Who is this?”
So then, in the final analysis there is no mystery to exercising true faith; it amounts to trust in a Person and your estimation of that Person will determine how you will cross your Sea of Galilee. May your journey, though filled with storms, be victorious!
Malcolm Hedding.
©Malcolm Hedding Ministries
2014Devotional