"YOUR FAITH WILL CARRY YOU"

Posted on March 1,2011 @ focusontheheart.org
Hope for the Heart page archives

Have you ever had a really great day when everything went better than you had planned? You had your time alone with God and your day was productive from the standpoint of accomplishing your goals; you felt so good that you couldn't help humming or singing a tune in the car on the way home. Then it happened!


Suddenly out of the blue, you get a phone call with bad news or you suddenly realize you've lost something very important; or someone dear to you gets hurt; or someone you care about disappoints you! This is a really good time to do a faith check! It is at this moment that we will usually either panic or stay calm. The faith that you have in Christ will make the difference at a time like this!

The disciples found themselves in just one of those moments in chapter four of Mark when their ship had filled with water in verse thirty-seven.

"And there arose a great storm of wind,(like a hurricane) and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full."

I could see in this passage that the ship is now full of water and Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the back part of the ship. The disciples had ran around in a panic before they went and woke Him up from His rest. Jesus had been teaching and healing people all day long and the disciples needed Him to do something to save them. Let's take a look at what they said to Him.

"And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, "Master, care thou not that we perish?" ~ Mark 4:38

We see in this verse that they addressed Jesus as their Master, which in the Greek means "teacher". Those guys were afraid that their end was near and they would soon be sucked up by the sea! They needed someone to give them a plan of action; a "master" plan, so to speak.

Yes, I believe that these men were pretty much in a state of panic and they wanted Jesus to either come up with a solution or to at least, panic with them!

They asked Him, "Don't you care that we are going to die?". Their understanding was blurred by the circumstances and they were past the reasoning and understanding that they were on a ship in a storm with the Son of God! The same One who had spent days and weeks teaching them about the power of faith and exercising this faith in many different ways.

Can you imagine a team of men in a large ship and the waves are crashing over the deck and filling the ship up faster than they can bail it out? Imagine the wind tossing their boat in every direction and the rain beating down on them as they bail faster and faster to keep the boat afloat.
They have been battling this storm for maybe an hour or more and they're loosing the battle. The boat is quickly sinking under the added weight of the water on board. They probably could hear the boards of the ship beginning to creak and move under the stress and they felt as though there was no hope for survival.

Finally, in this moment of total despair, I imagine someone shouted out,"Wake up Jesus!".

When we read what happens next, it is very clear to me that they didn't wake Jesus up for the purpose of stopping the storm. They didn't wake Him with the purpose of delivering them from the circumstances either, as they believed that they were going to die. I believe they were really upset that Jesus was sleeping and they were all bailing water and they just couldn't stand to let Jesus rest so peacefully while they were fighting for their lives! They acted as though they felt that the calm, peaceful sleep that Jesus was experiencing was a sign that He didn't care about them. They had forgotten all the lessons that Jesus had taught them about the battles and struggles of life's difficulties and they were acting purely on human instinct!

How many times do we do this very thing when something catches us by surprise? Do we feel we should battle our way through it and wait until we are about to sink before we run to get help from our Lord? Why do we wait? Some people will tell us that we should do all we can and that God expects that from us, but I believe that too many times we wait until our boat is full of water before we will call out in prayer!
What do you think would have happened if the disciples had woke Jesus when the storm began? Would this have been a good sign that their faith in Him was strong? Would Jesus have responded to their faith earlier in the storm? I feel sure He would have and we see this in the next passages that follow. Let's look at the next two verses together,


And He(Jesus) arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still". And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" ~ Mark 4:39,40

The same power and authority that we see displayed here when Jesus spoke to the wind and the sea was also available to those pitiful, scared disciples already! Earlier in this passage written by Mark, the disciples were given the power to perform miracles by faith. Jesus had taken them up onto a mountain and ordained them to preach the gospel and to heal the sick and to cast out devils! Jesus had told them that they could ask anything if they had faith. (Even moving mountains!) Faith is a powerful thing to have and to understand! We excuse our lack of the power of faith in our lives many times by counting ourselves weak and vulnerable as humans. That isn't what Jesus wanted for His children as messengers to the rest of the world.
To Be Continued....

"FAITH DOES NOT DOUBT - PART 2

Go in peace, thy faith has made you whole!

None the less, the woman who is not named, enters the room. She has been listening to Jesus teaching and has seen His miracles performed and has come to the realization that this must be who they say He is; the Messiah, sent by God to save His people from their sin.

She stands behind Him now, maybe trying to control herself, but it is impossible! The tears are flowing uncontrollably as she stands at His feet! She wipes her eyes and sees that she has soaked His feet with her tears and kneels to wipe the wet dust from His feet with her most adorned apparel, her hair. She continues to cry as she thinks about her past and how many times she has felt the guilt of her sins; avoiding conversation with those who would dare to mention God or anything related to worship. This would normally have only made her feel worse about herself and the life she had chosen to live long ago. Now though, she was sitting at the feet of this One they called the Messiah, the Savior of His people! At His feet, where typically the servants would stay, she began to clean His feet with her hair and her tears. As she washed them she also began to kiss His feet, which was an act of adoration and respect for Jesus. But she didn't just kiss them once, but over and over again in love for her new found Lord! She felt so blessed to be able to show Him her love and belief in Him in such a way as this.
Then she took out the alabaster container of ointment, a bottle of perfume; a perfume that some theologians believe she had used to attract the attention of others and most likely her most treasured possession. Ointment was a very expensive product in this day and was used much like our cologne and deodorant today. You see, the Greek translation for the word that describes her as a sinner means one living in sin or a whore. Now how do we feel about this whole picture? What would we have been thinking if we had been sitting in that room, knowing that she had this reputation?

Wait! Let's bring it up to our day and time! Ok? What if she was a woman who was known as a Playboy centerfold and stripper who had been on public TV and the latest Yahoo News sites all over the world? Now, how does that make us feel? Maybe we can understand a little better about what happens next!
The Pharisee, whose name was Simon, was thinking within himself,"If this man was a prophet, he would have know what kind of woman was touching Him and that she was a sinner (whore)". That's when Jesus shared something with Simon. Jesus asked him,"If one man owed $50 and another man owed $500 and they didn't have anything to pay and the creditor told them that he wasn't going to make them pay. Which one of the men would love him more?". Simon answered and said that he supposed that the one that owed the creditor more money. Then Jesus said that he judged right!

Jesus told Simon to look at the woman, but Jesus also looked at her, according to this passage. Jesus had no problem giving her His attention because he saw her through different eyes; His eyes didn't judge her. Jesus told Simon, "See thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gave me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gave me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."

In Simon's eyes, he had few sins, so he had little love for the Lord. Do you think that if we feel this way about ourselves, it will also have an impact on how much we love our Savior. If Jesus walked into the room right now, how would you honestly react? Would you drop to your knees? Would you just stare at Him in amazement and wait forHim to recognize YOU? Do we think that we are going to be His focus when we get to heaven? Are we really that great in our own eyes? I hear this dangerous doctrine taught all across America today and it is teaching people to love God less, just as we see in the attitude of the Pharisee with Jesus!"How are we to feel the love that this woman had for Jesus?", you may ask, just as I did when I first read this passage.

We must look long and hard at what we believe! This passage has brought me to realize two very important things. I took the time to search my heart and see how I saw myself and what I felt about my past and what God had truly done for me. This brought me to a deeper appreciation of what Jesus meant to me. He was the one who forgave us all as He hung on the cross. He forgave us even before this, just as He had forgiven the woman that day so long ago. He forgave her for all of her past sins and her choice of lifestyles that had given her such a bad reputation. Let's look at what Jesus says to her next,

And he said unto her, "Thy sins are forgiven." ~ Luke 7:48

But why do you think Jesus make mention of this that day? I believe that He was making a point to each of those sitting at the table that day; also to each of us reading this passage today. Jesus knew that the question would come up in their hearts, "Who is this that forgives sins also?". This has become the question of the century by many a Muslim and other religions across the world and many of them deny it! They can't believe that a man named Jesus can pardon the sins of wicked men!

I believe what Jesus says next will help us to realize the awesome power of Jesus as the Messiah when we believe! And he said to the woman, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." ~ Luke 7:50
It was the sincere belief in God and the message of the Messiah Jesus that caused this woman to change. Her faith was made alive and that seed of faith which had been dead began to grow in her heart, her mind and then became evident in her body. She changed the way she felt; she changed the way she thought and she changed the way she loved! She went from doubting, bondage and oppression to having faith, pardoned and peace.
Finally, let's take a look at the word "peace" in the Greek translation and what it means to those who have faith!

In the Greek the word "peace" is eirēnē
It is pronounced i-rah'-nay (go ahead, try to pronounce it one time)
Peace (used literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.

Let's take a few minutes to kneel at Jesus feet and adore Him as we grasp the fact that He has forgiven ALL of our sins! Let's love Him more and more each day and remember the words of Jesus, "Thy faith has saved you; go in peace."

"GOT PEACE?"

Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

What is the most peaceful place you've ever been?

Many times we think of some place in the mountains, the islands or the coast line of our beautiful country. Is it any wonder that people buy second homes way up in the mountains overlooking beautiful lakes? Then there are those who prefer the home built right on the beach front! We often think of going to those places to either enjoy the serenity and quiet or the roar of the surf as the waves crash into the beach over and over. Well, I have been blessed to have enjoyed allot of both the mountains and the beach and never even had to buy the first piece of real estate. My friends would ask me how it's possible to do that and my only answer to them was, "God totally provided my hearts desire!" and they wanted to know, "How did He do that?" as if it was a great secret that I had found and possessed.

The secret is not at all a secret that I possess, but is actually available to us all! The places I stayed in the mountains and on the beach were made available to me and my children because of something called "peace". You see, I had found a peace inside of me and that's when I understood the freedom that I had to care about others and reach out to do something to help them! When my desires changed towards people and their needs, that's when God began to provide all the other things that I found peaceful about this earth. How did I find that inner peace?
That's what was talked about in today's RU Sunday School class! But the lesson was about something that will take away our peace every single day, if we let it! The thing that steals our inner peace is "fear" and that comes from our adversary, satan himself. When you become afraid, you lose your strength. Your hands and feet get cold; you begin to perspire and you become weak physically, mentally and spiritually.

What gives us the power to not be afraid? Answer these three questions honestly!

Did Jesus overcome satan?

Did Jesus overcome the world?

Did Jesus overcome death?

We all know that He did and that is why only Jesus can offer total inner peace. Satan wants to cripple you with fear! Satan wants to take you away from Christ! He knows that you are healthy and strong in the presence of Jesus Christ, so he tries to pull you away from Christ. If he does this, he can begin to create fear in your life and your soul. How would satan try to pull you away today?

Satan has a mismanagement plan for your life today! Satan loves to see us distracted from our walk with Christ. Every minute not spent in communion with Christ or not accomplishing His purpose for our lives, is time available for satan to distract us and cause us to begin to worry. We learned in the RU class that worry is a soft form of fear. Worry is something we do when we become unsure of ourselves and our future. Worry makes us feel like we have lost control of something in our life and it is that need for control that can become an addiction if we don't turn to Christ for our strength.

Remember who overcame satan, the world and death? Yes, it is Jesus! It is with this assurance that we can face anything without fear! I know the grammar professors may not like the way this sounds, but the next time you see a "NO FEAR" sign or sticker, let it remind you, that with Jesus Christ you've "GOT PEACE!"

God's management plan puts the Spirit in control and our souls ought to give up control to the Spirit of God. That's where real inner "Peace" is found! That's My big SECRET!

Philippians 4:6-8 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.