What would you have me to do?
Mark 4:35-41 MSG
35-38. Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”
39-40. Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?”
41. They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!”
Last week, I told you that the Lord had impressed to me that something new was on the the horizon, a change was in the air and God was getting ready to do something new.
I believe that God had me share that word with you, to prepare you in advance for what was coming down the road. Jesus up at to this time had been teaching the disciples and preparing them also, for what was to come. He was preparing them, for the next step.
God will never ask you to do something, or to go through something...without making sure the provision to meet whatever lies ahead, is there in advance before you will ever need it.
The thing is, when things start to change and sometimes they will change quickly, God wants you to be prepared with the measure of readiness, He has given to you and know that your Faith, is all you need!
We know, by the prophecy we constantly see happen around us, these are the last days...and we need to be ready, for whatever happens!
Now we know, that the wind is not a living thing, but Jesus addressed it like it was,
He spoke to it, He commanded it, He took authority over it and it obeyed Him.
He spoke to, by what some have been said to say was equal to a hurricane by faith and the storm did what He instructed immediately!
By the way, most of the men in the boat were fisherman, most had surely both seen and weathered a storm or two. I think you know this, but most Christians who have been a Christian very long, have weathered a storm or two! Amen?
Now why do you suppose, Jesus waited to come to the rescue, until they cried out for His help, He could have calmed it hours before, after all He knew they were going to be heading into it, before they ever stepped into the boat.
Why does He wait, to come to your rescue? Your faith level dictates the moment of your rescue! It's true, your self effort postpones your rescue, and your faith summons
your rescue.
Human nature works the same for all of us, because like the disciples...until they realized they couldn't handle the situation, they felt like they were going to have to bother Him, with what was going on!
Illus. By Toby Powers
It is like the man who was stranded all alone on the deserted island who was rescued. His rescuers asked him what the three structures were that he had built on the island. Three buildings seemed perplexing for just one man. He said one was his house, one was his church, and one was where he used to go to church before he got his feelings hurt!
We can't go around, trudging through life. Making life's decisions on what we feel and see, we must live our lives by what God has given to us, and requires from us, by what we know our faith is capable of!
Self effort never builds your faith, only when you cast your complete care on Him, does your faith have an opportunity to grow.
How much do you want from God and how much do you want of God? The answer is, "How much can you believe God for?" Here's a great idea, why not believe Him for everything?
At what point in our walk and relationship with Jesus, our deliverer, do we completely believe and receive every promise God has instructed His Son Jesus, to lavishly distribute to all whosoever will Believe?
Jesus stands ready, God has done his Part. God has continued to give and has never stopped giving. Decision time has come, how much can you believe to receive, of what He has already given? The time has come...to believe “ALL” of it?
Acts 5:12-42 Msg
12-16 Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter’s shadow when he walked by.
They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed. They were all what? Not some or part of them, all of them means every single one, not 98 out of a hundred, not 99 but 100 out of a 100!
Did they, have mountain high faith or mustard size faith capable of moving their mountains? What do you think? More importantly, what kind of faith does the Bible say is required? TBS all that is required, is mustard size faith! Which is pulled from and supplied by, the measure of faith God has already given to you!!
Acts 5:17-20 Provoked mightily by all this, the Chief Priest and those on his side, mainly the sect of Sadducees, went into action, arrested the apostles and put them in the town jail. But during the night an angel of God opened the jailhouse door and led them out. He said, “Go to the Temple and take your stand. Tell the people everything there is to say about this Life.” Promptly obedient, they entered the Temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.
21-23 Meanwhile, the Chief Priest and his cronies convened the High Council, Israel’s senate, and sent to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. When the police got there, they couldn’t find them anywhere in the jail. They went back and reported, “We found the jail locked tight as a drum and the guards posted at the doors, but when we went inside we didn’t find a soul.”
24 The chief of the Temple police and the high priests were puzzled. “What’s going on here anyway?”
25-26 Just then someone showed up and said, “Did you know that the men you put in jail are back in the Temple teaching the people?” The chief and his police went and got them, but they handled them gently, fearful that the people would riot and turn on them.
27-28 Bringing them back, they stood them before the High Council. The Chief Priest said, “Didn’t we give you strict orders not to teach in Jesus’ name?
And here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are trying your best to blame us for the death of this man.”
The priests, for lack of better explanation, wouldn’t let go of the religious way things had always been. They were fighting for their relevancy, and wanted nothing to do with grace.
However what was going on wasn't about them, God through Jesus, had delivered a “New Covenant” and the apostles believed everything, about the way of relationship and benefits Jesus had delivered!
God, even after all this time is still doing a new miracles in our midst, day after day, after day! New, new new, God is not bound by yesterday! He is still in the business of doing something new, if we only can believe and be willing to receive!
If you want to see the new God longs for and desires to give us, then believe what you already know to be true!
Acts 5:29-32 Peter and the apostles answered, “It’s necessary to obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging him on a cross. God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven. And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey him, corroborates every detail.”
33-37 When they heard that, they were furious and wanted to kill them on the spot. But one of the council members stood up, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of God’s Law who was honored by everyone. He ordered the men taken out of the room for a short time, then said,
“Fellow Israelites, be careful what you do to these men. Not long ago Theudas made something of a splash, claiming to be somebody, and got about four hundred men to join him. He was killed, his followers dispersed, and nothing came of it. A little later, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and acquired a following. He also fizzled out and the people following him were scattered to the four winds.
38-39 “So I am telling you: Hands off these men! Let them alone. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!”
Isn't that great advice for anyone...”if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!”
That was some good advice, because the only thing more scandalous than believing God can do everything, is fighting against God when He is doing what He said He would do!
Did you know, there were some who said we would never build this building? Even after God had told us time and time again, He would make a way, where there seem to be no way!
And there were plenty of times, there seemed to be no way, but God said He would make a way, so we "BELIEVED" and here we are today! It's sad to say, but they never saw or walked into the promise God made to us.
TBS. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!
God is about to do something new again, it's time to embrace what God is getting ready to do. Don't be the one who misses the bus, It's time to get on the bus and seek God as to what your part is going to be!
40-42 That convinced them. They called the apostles back in. After giving them a thorough whipping, they warned them not to speak in Jesus’ name and sent them off. The apostles went out of the High Council overjoyed because, they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name. Every day they were in the Temple and homes, teaching and preaching Christ Jesus, not letting up for a minute.
It's time to step into a brand new level of commitment and relationship with Jesus, and the scandalous “mustard size faith believing produces,” Faith caused amazing things to happen that day! Guess what friend? Believing God’s promises still delivers the same amazing results today.
If we can believe and receive what we believe;
We can see souls saved for the Kingdom,
We can see lives changed forever,
We can see the miracle of healing, not only in our lives but in others lives as well!
We can see the brand new thing God wants to do!
The question is, how much are we willing to get involved to see those things happen.
Are we willing to pray and tarry until it happens, like those present on the the day of Pentecost did?
The absolute fact is, if we put God first and believe, nothing will be impossible (and this should be every Christians prayer, "Nothing is impossible with God!") the best is truly yet to come. For there are so many prepared blessings all along the journey, eagerly waiting for us to arrive at.
If you will give Him your all, He will give you His all. You see the amazing truth is, He already did! He's not only a Good God part of the time, “He's a Great God and He deserves ALL of our Praise, ALL of the Time!”
Text Illustration: DECIDING TO JUMP
A boy told his father, "Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a limb that hung over a pool, and one frog decided to jump off into the pool, how many frogs would be left on the limb?"
The dad replied, "Two."
"No," the son replied. "There’s three frogs and one decides to jump, how many are left?"
The dad said, "Oh, I get it, if one decides to jump, the others would too. So there are none left."
The boy said, "No dad, the answer is three. The frog only DECIDED to jump, he didn't actually jump."
We can hear how God is wanting to do something new, and we can even see, be convinced and decide it's going to happen. But until we decide to jump into whatever God has planned and make the commitment to be involved, we will never be a part...or have a part in the miracle of what He has planned!
Let's pray!
