Heb 5:12-14
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Luke 8:22-25
Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another,
What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
Our God is an awesome God!
He is incredible!
He is a deliverer!
He is a way maker!
He is more than the "man upstairs" or all the other generic terms that the secular world uses to describe Him!
The world has a politically correct way of putting it:
"A supreme power, as you perceive it!"
• He is not just energy or force, power or personality,
• He is a functioning, intelligent, vibrant, effective God.
• He has no birthdays, no beginning or ending of days!
One prophet tried to search Him out and looked all the way to the end of time and could not find the origin of God.
In fact, it said, "In the beginning....., at the very origin, at the very optimum of destiny, at the very moment that time ticked it’s first tick, at that very moment, God was already somewhere behind all that! "In the beginning.......God created....!"
Everything burst out of Him!
He was there before everything!
He says, "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, I am the first and the last, I am He which is and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty!"
David said, "From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God!"
• He is immutable,
• Unchangeable,
• Everlasting,
• Eternal,
• Sovereign and auspicious!
He is complete within Himself and is lacking nothing!
When He says I am one, He is saying I am whole, I am complete, I am not fractionated, I don’t need anything to make me complete, I alone am God!
"Beside me there is no other!"
He said, "I looked behind me and there was no God, I looked before me and there was no God, I alone am your God, behold O Israel, the Lord thy God is one.....!"
There is but, ".....One Lord, One faith, and One baptism, One God and father who is above all, through all, and in you all!"
Make no mistake about it, He is more than just energy or electricity.
He is a sovereign auspicious God who sits on the circle of the earth!
One of the tenets that He wants us to understand in the book of Genesis when he first begins to mention Himself, known as the Law of first Mention, He does not introduce His spirit as if it were just energy, force, or just a warm feeling, or good will toward men!
The very first thing that He says about His spirit, is that the spirit of God "MOVED!"
Whenever you see that from that point onward, from the very Book of Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, all the way to the summarization of the Book of Revelation, where it says, "Even so, come Lord Jesus....," there are constant repetitions of
• God coming,
• Moving,
• Touching,
• Blowing like wind!
• If he is water, then He is living water!
• If He is wind, then He is rushing wind!
• He is God on the move!
• He is God, functioning, moving, stirring!
Your God is not dead, He is alive!
If you walk with Him, expect to hear a rustling in the tops of the trees!
If you are going to walk with Him, expect Him to be a pillar and a cloud!
There is always a furthering, a moving higher and higher!
If you walk with Him, expect to have some steps!
"The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord!"
"He delighteth in His way, for they that walk in the spirit shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh!"
The word "walk" in the Greek means to be synchronized!
It doesn’t mean to just casually stroll long with God haphazardly!
But it means to march as if you heard the same timing, and the same step!
God says, "If you are going to walk with Me, then you are going to have to pick up My beat!"
You have to move when He moves, and step when He steps, and stop when He stops, because He is taking you somewhere, and you can’t just meander like a child playing in a department store! You got to be in step with Him!
Touch somebody and say, "You gotta get the rhythm!"
"You are going to have to get His rhythm if you are going to walk with him!"
"Get the beat!"
"Get the beat!"
If we are to be truly effective in walking with God, we must be a mobile people!
• We must be nomadic!
• We must be ready to move at a moments notice!
• We must live packed up and ready to pass over!
You cannot walk with God if you are to territorial, if you have to have sublimity and quiet, if you have to have order and structure, and everything has to be regulated and routine!
You don’t want to get with God, because He has a way of disrupting things, and moving you from here to there, from this level to that level, and the moment that you get comfortable here, he says,
"We are going to do something else!"
The moment that you think you know what you are doing, He says, "Now I am going to put you where you don’t know what you are doing, so you will look to Me!"
He does not intend for you to get to confident in your own ability, "For it is not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."
So just about the time you think that you have got your life all worked out and you think that you know everything,
He will relocate you, and put you in a state of dependency where you have got to;
• Pray, seek, and Ask questions, and you say,
• "Lord, if you don’t help me, I won’t be able to do this!"
• "Lord if you don’t guide me, I won’t be able to do it!"
• He will teach you how to pray!
His challenge is always progressive.
He is not a monument, He is a movement!
Whenever He challenges us, He challenges us to be packed and prepared to take the next step!
He says to us what He says to the disciples in the text, "Let us cross over to the other side!"
That meant that they had done all they could do on that side! It is time for us to cross over to the other side!
I feel like somebody is about to cross over!
You been on one level, and you did real good, you passed the test, now you are about to cross over to the other side! Let us cross over; from the familiar to the unfamiliar,
• from what you know, to what you don’t know;
• cross over to a state of vulnerability,
• thrust out from the shore! Let’s go on a voyage!
Has the Lord ever spoken to you to cross over, and you said,
"Well Lord, that will be fine!
I can handle it, as long as You go with me, I’ll go anywhere!"
The Bible said, "Jesus got on the ship with the disciples..!"
It’s a good thing, to have Him with you!
Not on His way, not coming, God is never on His way!
I know the old folks say, "He is on His way."
God is not on His way, He is there!
David said, "The Lord is a very present help in times of trouble."
Jacob called Him "Jehovah Shammah," meaning the Lord who is there!
• The paramedic may have to come,
• your neighbor may have to come,
• your mama or daddy may have to come,
• your friends may have to come,
But God doesn’t have to come, He is Shammah! He is there!
Whenever you get in trouble He is there!
While you are getting ready to call for help, He is already there!
While you are trying to figure out who you can talk to, Jehovah Shammah is there!
If you are going through a test right now,
If you are going through a storm right now,
You don’t know how you are going to make it,
I have but one thing to say to you and that is "Jehovah Shammah!" "He is there!"
Touch somebody right now and say, "Shammah!" He wouldn’t send you and not go with you!
He wouldn’t tell you and not help you!
Jehovah Shammah, He is there!
Go with me Jesus!
• If you will go with me, I can go anywhere!
• I can face anything,
• the board,
• the committee,
• the problem,
• Just go with me Jesus!
Jesus was there, taking His little students on a extra-curricular activity,taking them out of the classroom setting so that they might go into a learning experience in the field.
What do you mean preacher?
I mean that ministry cannot be applied in the classroom, it must be executed on the sea of life itself!
It is in the groveling to get the footage and the equilibrium, to withstand the turbulence of the storm, that’s when the ministry begins to work in your life!
It is there in the turbulence that you learn how to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
You will never know how much faith you got, and how much word you got as long as stay on the land where it is safe!
You got to get out on the water and go with God! "Let us cross over to the other side!"
The church is getting in motion!
Don’t get seasick!
The church is going somewhere!
You people who have to have normalcy might get a little seasick!
People who have to have like it was ten years ago might get a little seasick, because the church is going somewhere!
Don’t expect to sing the song you always sang, the church is going somewhere!
You may not always get to sit in your seat, the church is going somewhere!
Some folk cannot stand the turbulence of movement, but if you are going to go with God, you have got to be prepared for change!
Now here is Jesus in the ship with them, one writer said that He was in the hindmost parts of the ship, and He is there and they are crossing over to the other side, and Peter, who is an experienced fisherman, and being that they were experienced it would seem like they could navigate correctly through the storm,
"I got it God."
"There are a few clouds out there, but, I got it God."
"The wind is getting stronger, but, I got it."
"Lightening is flashing, but, I got it God."
"Thunder is rolling, but, I got it God."
"It’s getting kind of dark, but, I got it."
"I think I got it."
"I hope I got it."
All of a sudden it got so bad that the fisherman has lost his confidence in his ability to navigate the ship through the storm!
Now whenever I look at the ship, I always see a type of the church.
When I look at the sea, I see a type of the world.
For all the earth, tangible substances came out of the sea, and yet I see the church, from Noah’s ark forward being represented as that instrument that was built to sail on top of the world.
When you are really in the church, you can ride over the top of what other folk sink into!
Some of you right now are sailing over the top of things, that other people are drowning in.
If it had not been for the Lord that was on your side, you would have been swallowed up too!
But thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Touch somebody and tell them, "I’m still sailing!"
There are people who have been through what you have been through that have lost their mind!
There are people who have dealt with what you have dealt with who had a nervous breakdown!
There are people who have dealt with what you have dealt with and they are alcoholics!
But in the midst of the storm, He didn’t stop the storm, but He gave you the grace and the mercy and the power to be ride the waves!
That’s why I have to praise Him, He rides on every storm!
Whenever you have done that, and you look up, and you look around and you see there are some of the people that you went to school with in trouble,
• some of the people that you grew up with are in trouble,
• Some of them are dead,
• Some of them are in jail,
• Some of them have lost their minds,
When you look around and observe that, you have to praise God!
You may not praise Him like I praise Him, but somehow you are going to praise God!
• You are blessed!
• Even in the midst of the storm, you are blessed!
• In spite of the lightening and the thunder, you are blessed!
• In the darkness, in the crisis, in trouble financially, but you
are still blessed!
• A lump where there shouldn’t be no lump but you are still
blessed!
• High blood pressure, but you are still blessed!
When you see the Holy Ghost giving you buoyancy, giving you the ability to ride on top of it, then just ride it out!
If it doesn’t stop some things, then ride it out!
You don’t know what He is trying to teach you, but you are going to ride it out!
You don’t know how long the course is going to be, but you are going to ride it out!
You don’t know how long it’s going to be before you get your deliverance, but you are going to ride it out!
Going back is not an option; you got to ride it out!
You are in to deep to go back now!
I want to serve notice to the devil,
"Devil you should have got me while I was still on the shore, but
• I’ve gone to far,
• I’ve gone to deep now,
• I’ve got to much invested,
• I’ve sold out to much!"
There they are , in the storm, with Jesus, trying to do all that they know to how to do to steady the ship in the storm.
Trying to use all the skills that they have to cope with the storm, but sometimes you can use all of your
• expertise,
• training,
• will-power,
• intellectual ability,
• academic prowess,
All of that can be activated, and still it isn’t enough!
They begin to become afraid.
One writer said that they became afraid and begin to cry one to the other!
You can always tell when people are up under pressure by how they cry out one to another!
Some of the frustrations you are having right now in your relationships is because when you are in trouble we have a tendency to cry out one to another, and then when the other person doesn’t come through for you, you get bitter!
• "I thought you were going to be there for me!"
• "I needed you and you didn’t help me!"
• "I was in trouble and you didn’t bring me through!"
• "I thought you were my companion, my partner!"
• "I thought God sent you into my life to help me and now I am in
the middle of trouble, you are ignoring me!"
• "You don’t even listen to me!"
• "You don’t understand!"
There are some storms that can’t nobody help you but Jesus!
You might as well forgive them, drop the charges, and let them go,
This is a job for Jesus!
If He doesn’t do it, it cannot be done!
Besides, what the real problem is, as long as the ship was sailing, and the wind blowing, the lightening flashing, the thunder rolling, none of that would cause the ship to go under!
Ships only sink when the things that are on the outside, start getting on the inside!
I don’t know who I came to preach to this morning, but whoever it is, you got to go through the storm without letting the storm go through and get in you!
You got to go through it without letting it get in your spirit, and get on your nerves, and overwhelm you!
You will never sink if you will just keep the storm out of you!
Look at someone and say,
"Just keep it out!"
"Don’t let it in!"
"Upset you!"
"Overwhelm you!"
"Depress you!"
Don’t get hysterical, don’t get moody, fight the good fight of faith, seal the windows, keep out the storm, lock the doors, putty all the cracks, keep it out!
You can go through it without letting it infiltrate your spirit!
Keep it out of your praise!
Out of your prayer life!
Out of your consecration!
Seal all the windows, shut all the doors, putty all the cracks, and tell the devil,
"I hear you knockin’ but you can’t come in!"
Somehow the storm which was on the outside, began to infiltrate the planks, and break into the inner perimeters of the ship until suddenly there was a spirit of terror and confusion that was loose on the ship.
• Whenever people get confused, it begins to affect interpersonal
relationships.
• How we deal with one another.
• Up under pressure, husbands start yelling at wives, wives start
yelling at husbands.
• Up under pressure, mama comes home and kicks the dog and slaps
the cat, spits in the fish tank!
Oh I know you never had that kind of pressure that got you out of sorts!
Under pressure, they started crying to one another!
Maybe you are here this morning, not even yourself because of being up under pressure, suffering mood swings, out of sorts, going through changes, and it’s not even like you to say some of the things you been saying, but the enemy has got you in the middle of a storm and he is trying to disorient you!
But I command you in the name of the Lord to rebuke that devil, take authority over your mind and your peace, over your spirit,
"....For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations,........"
He is using that storm to destroy your marriage, Cast it down!
He is using that storm to destroy you, cast it down,
steady yourself, calm your nerves, speak peace to yourself, lay hands on your own head, rebuke the devil and tell him he is a liar!
Touch somebody and tell them, "Something is going to happen here today!"
Up under pressure they cried one to another, and all of a sudden, I believe it was Peter, says, "I got to go get Jesus!"
There is no need in me expecting you to save me, this crying to one another has got to stop, I gotta go get Jesus!
Now Jesus was sleeping!
You see, when He told me that He would be with me, He didn’t tell me that He would be sleeping!
"But Lord, I am in trouble and you are sleeping!"
"You could have stopped the storm, but you are asleep!" (snore) I am amazed, impressed, that He could sleep!
The whole boat is rocking! (snore)
The Lightening is flashing! (snore)
The thunder is rolling! (snore)
And Jesus is asleep!
He must have been comfortable in the storm!
Real faith will make you comfortable in a storm.
Everybody else will be hysterical, but you will be comfortable in a storm!
You’ll end up comforting them because you have faith for the storm!
Does anybody know what it is to have faith for the storm?
This is not natural peace.
There are three types of peace.
• There is peace with God; that means that me and God are no
longer at odds, we are at peace, we are in step.
• Then there is peace in God, "...My God, in Him will I
trust..." "In Him I move and have my being..." "......He shall
hide me in His pavilion, in the secret of His tabernacle..."
• But this is not peace with God, nor is it peace in God, this is
the peace of God!
This is God’s peace!
Anytime you can go through a storm and sleep, that’s not your peace, that’s God’s peace!
The Bible said, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving make your request known unto God....
• " don’t be nervous about it, anxious about, or have a fit about
it, just make me know it!
• Just tell Him what you want! "......And the peace of God that
passeth all understanding.....
• " That means a crazy peace, a peace that doesn’t make any
sense, a delirious peace! "
• .......Let it fill your heart and mind!"
That’s not your peace, that’s the peace of God!
No matter what, it is the peace of God that passeth all understanding!
Everybody is disturbed!
No wonder He would later wake up and speak peace, when nobody else could speak peace, because they couldn’t speak out what they didn’t have in!
Where is your faith?
The faith that it is going to take to speak to your circumstances?
Jesus was cool!
He was chillin’.
The wind didn’t wake Him!
Not the rocking boat, nor the thunder, nor the lightening,
But when one of His children calls His name He wakes up!
My faith tells me to just call on His name!
Where is your faith!
