Do you Look For Jesus

Mark 4:37-39 (King James Version)
37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38And 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?
39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Seems the Disciples learned a lesson early in their travels with Jesus that few of us learn in life.
Seems that they were on the Sea of Galilee traveling across when a storm arose.

I'm not sure what they would have done in a storm before they started following Jesus. Scripture doesn't tell us how they could have reacted.

I know I have seen people, in storms I mean, scatter.

I've ssen them run helter skelter. I've seen them panick.

I've seen them have nervous breakdowns.

I've seen people wring their hands.

I know people who have almost collapsed with grief.

I don't know what the disciples would have done before Jesus entered their lives, but I know what they did once they came in contact with the master of the winds and the waves.

The Bible doesn't say they weren't afraid.

In fact, I believe they were.

"Master, carest thou not that we perish?"

That was their question.

Jesus presence didn't remove every fear from thier carnal nature.

Jesus mere presence on the ship in the storm didn't necessarily calm every fear.

But nobody jumped overboard.

After setting at the feet of the Master, after seeing Jesus in action, after noticing that the Master of the Sea could sleep through a storm, they woke him and called on him in the midst of their storm.

And He calmed it.

39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

In the midst of our storms, we need to wake the Master.

He can rebuke the tempestuos winds that blow in our lives,

He can speak and bring a great calm.

It has been said, "His voice can calm a storm."

What do we do in storms?

When storms rise in our lives, do we look for the Master?

When storms arise in my life, I look for Jesus in the bottom of the boat...........

The Real Problem With Self-Righteousness

I learned something else again today.
And....................I learned this while riding my lawn mower, just like the other day.
Perhaps I should cut the grass more often.
I like to cut grass.
I cram my head phones in my ears, turn on my MP3 player and I'm all alone.
Most days, it's just me and God, all alone for about an hour and a half.
You may think I'm a nut, but here's what He told me today about the real problem with self-righteousness.

The real problem with self righteousness is that mine is worse than yours.

I believe that is true.

Yours won't take me to hell, mine will.
Yours won't poison my spirit, mine will.

Here's what the scripture says........
Isaiah 64:6 (King James Version)
6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah said "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"
He said, ours, not theirs.

The real problem with self-righteousness is I never see mine, I only see yours.

Yours never hurts me, mine will destoy me.

The real problem with self-righteousness is that self righteousness is my problem, not yours.

Maybe you should mow your yard a little more often, it sure has helped me the past two weeks...............

What I have learned

I learned a lot today.
Marshall, my grandson rode the mower with me a little today. I learned that even a one year old likes to grab the controls and steer the mower. I learned everyone wants to be in charge. But I know few are willing to pay the price to be a leader.

I built a closet today in the bonus room upstairs. We are converting it to a bedroom for Amber, she's a college girl now and needs some space. the bonus room has enough room in it to be a bedroom/sitting room/study room. It needed a closet to be a bedroom. I learned today that you can never build a cloet big enough to satisfy ANY woman. But I already knew people are hard to please.

Bro Andy helped me today. I needed a trailer and don't have a hitch on my vehicles, so I called him and asked him if he would help me. I can't remember ever asking Andy to do anything that he wasn't willing to do. Andy is a friend, and Andy is loyal. Andy calls me Pastor, but he is my friend. I learned today that friendship doesn't discern ethnic and vocabulary barriers. But I knew a friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.

And as I cut the grass, I thought about something I read somewhere, some time back. Obedience most often precedes understanding. And I thought, I have learned that. Often people become frustrated today because we live in a society that says "Before you accept something, you must first understand it." We disect things, we break them down, we feel we must understand before we can ever obey.

Teachers tell our children that they don't have to obey if parents are overbearing and demanding. Parents shouldn't force their religion on their children. Our elected leaders try daily to get us to understand that they are looking out for us, government knows better than we do.
We should understand the plight of less fortunate people, we should understand that we are not all the same, and we should be willing to overlook our diferences and accept people for who they are. We believe that understanding should come, then acceptance will follow.

But I have learned that sometimes, in fact often, obedience precedes understanding.
I'm no worse for obeying Mom and Dad, even though I never understood why they wouldn't let me go. Now that I have children, I understand. But I didn't when I was told to just obey.

I would like to drive faster. I have always wanted to drive faster. Above the speed limit, that's where I like to drive. I have, on occasion......ok......several times, been pulled over by the police and on occasion, I have been ticketed. I have been told to slow down, take my time, not get in a hurry. I was forced to obey, now that I have driven for a few years, I know why. I have driven by accidents. I have seen death caused by wrecklesss, speeding drivers. I have slowed down, but my obedience had to precede my understanding,

So what's my point?
Man am I glad you asked...... Sometimes, we just have to obey. Even before we understand. God never promised that we would understand every command, every step He told us to take.
He just said if we would, then He would. I've found out that if I will obey Him, even when I don't understand I will recieve my promise. My family has been tested this past year. My wife's father, our immediate family, and we haven't gotten answers to the questions we have asked. I'll be honest. I don't understand. I haven't doubted, but there have been times when I have questioned, "Why God?"

You know what, I still haven't gotten answers to some of my questions, but I've never doubted. And in my trust I have continued to obey. And you know what, I have found a secret. I don't have to understand to reap blessings. I just have to obey. Obedience precedes understanding. And Obedience precedes blessing. Some folks are always complaining that they aren't blessed like somebody else, but the real issue is not that they aren't blessed, it is that they aren't obedient. If you are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. Doesn't make sense sometimes, but obedience precedes understanding.

So today, I have learned a lot. But long before I ever understood it, I obeyed it.

Obey God, Serve God, Be Faithful to God........