Tag: Disciples

Posted in FAITH, GOD IS WITH YOU, Safe with Jesus, Uplifting Christ

Your Victory Over Storms

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?

(Mark 4:40, NLT)
  • The Story (Mark 4:35-41)

Jesus told his disciples that “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake”. There was a starting point and a destination. They jumped on a boat with Jesus and started their journey. But soon a fierce storm came up. The scripture says “High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water” v37. And the disciples thought that they were going to be consumed by the fierce storm. The interesting part of the story is that, in the midst of the fierce storm, “Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion” v38.

How could you sleep when we are drowning?

The disciples were overwhelmed by the event so they rushed to Jesus shouting “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” v38. 
In other words (my own) “how could you sleep when we are downing? Don’t you see, feel, sense, etc that we are going to die?”

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we thought “God! where are you? Don’t You see that we are going to drown?”

But in the midst of this, Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”v40.

  • The Lesson

God has promised you a future; that is your vision, dream, aspiration, etc. He placed them in you and equipped you for the task. It looks great at the start and you are excited about it. However, what you have no knowledge about is the kind of storm that awaits you.

The course of life isn’t straight. There are curves, valleys, hills, potholes, thunderstorms, turbulence, high currents, waves, tides, etc along the course. In effect, whichever way or form your course might be, there are obstacles or limitations that would appear to make you feel that your mission is impossible.

One lesson you can learn from the passage is that Jesus Christ didn’t quit. He woke up, and as calm as you could imagine, rebuked the storm and continued the journey.  

The storm you see today is waiting for the demonstration of your Faith to cease. Many times we wait for God to (sort of) appear in the flesh and take us through when in reality God is rather waiting for us to use the tools He has given to us already. His angels are waiting for us to command them to work.

From the passage, while the disciples thought Jesus has got the solution for the storm, Jesus on the other hand thought they could have handled it. Thus “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Could it be that you are the reason why your storms keep staring at (or threatening) you daily? because you are waiting for God? Well, God is with you. He is the reason why you haven’t drowned yet. He is waiting for you to use your Faith.

You may ask; how do I use my Faith?

What can you do now about the situation? Can you fast and pray? can you place the first phone call? can you make the first visit? can you obey the constant voice you are hearing? can you take the first step moving forward? These are acts of Faith. Can you give yourself one more try? Don’t be afraid to act because your miracle is in your obedience to His Word.

Posted in Easter, JESUS, Safe with Jesus, Uplifting Christ

The Story of the Crucified King: The Silent Moment

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

In a season like this, permit me to share a beautiful story about a King who forsook all He had to be a servant in order to win the World for His Papa.  

This King was born in a manger to a beautiful young virgin and a young carpenter. For reasons unknown and still remains a mystery, He lived for 30 years before starting His assignment in this different world. In His Glory, He was served but in the human form, He came to serve.  

Within three years of His Ministry, the world saw unprecedented miracles, signs, and wonders. He spoke with authority and challenged the status quo. And soon, His fame spread throughout the region, so much so that everywhere He went crowd would follow Him.  

During these years, those who believed in Him and the works He did became His friends and desired that He lived forever. After all, who doesn’t want to have bread multiplied and coin being pulled out of a fish mouth? His disciples wanted him to stay for longer because the Miracle Worker was their master and like any servant, they probably would boast about their Master when He was away. There was one disciple who got the opportunity to walk on water. Amazingly and also funny, this person didn’t want His master to leave. They left all they had to follow Him.  

However, these good works also attracted many enemies. There were those who desired every moment that He would just disappear. They tried to arrest him a couple of times and daily sought to trick Him to commit a crime. All these efforts prove futile. He was way smarter than them. If He were in our world today, His IQ couldn’t be measured or tested because He is the idea/knowledge/wisdom behind the invention of IQ test(er).  

One day, He was finally arrested. One of His own betrayed Him. Sad. His enemies thought it was time to end this nuisance in order to return to normalcy. Whereas His enemies jubilated and planned ways to get rid of Him, His friends wept bitterly especially those who left everything to follow Him. They were caught in a dilemma: What would be their future? How would life be once their enemies have their way? How would society accept them back? Etc 

As these two sides think of the way forward, the King knew that He was born to die. He didn’t see death as an end. Instead, He saw it as a moment of transition. He had told them that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it abides alone. In effect, although He was mocked, beaten, spat upon, slapped, knocked, etc. He said nothing and did nothing. He could have resisted and conquered because before these guys were born, He Was. And one servant in His Glory could have destroyed these vulnerable sheep.  

It happened that His enemies had their way and wish granted so they crucified Him. Everything happened just as it had been prophesied. He came to fulfill the scripture. Finally, the moment of transition came but death was afraid to approach him. Before there was pronouncement of death, He was. Therefore in order to make death’s job easier, He Himself yielded His Spirit into the Hands of His Father. Then the moment of Silence began. 

His friends and enemies saw Him being crucified and they thought it was over. The longest day in His friends’ lives was that Saturday. It was the first day they lived without hope of seeing their King again. No bread multiplication. No water into wine. No fishes. No Master. No dead being raised. No Nothing. On the other hand, His enemies thought they had achieved the normalcy they had long waited for. No more crowd gathering. No more hosannas. Nobody would be potent enough to challenge their interpretation of the laws. Etc. It would forever remain the quietest day on earth.  

…to be continued 

Posted in Beyond Comfort Zone, DO NOT WORRY, GOD'S KINGDOM, Uplifting Christ

More than ENOUGH

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

Economics talks about scarcity of resources and the need to prioritize your unlimited needs. The concept of scale of preference plays critical role in affairs of life.

credit: economicsconcepts.com

Let’s talk about scarcity of resources today. The widely acceptable belief is that your resources are limited relative to your needs. You want this, you want that, yet not enough money to buy all. As I pondered on this concept and tried to see the connection it has with God’s Word, I noticed the correlation is negative.

Let’s look at how Mark narrated the miracle of feeding 5000 men and their families with the few loaves of bread. Ref: Mark 6:30-44

When Jesus talked about feeding crowd before dispersing them, the disciples had different view. They thought about how impossible it was to feed the numbers at that moment. It was just impossible to feed such crowd at that remote location. Think about instances when after assessing requirements for a project, job, or something you really wanted to do and just concluded that you don’t qualify. They said what you and I would likely to say that “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” (Mark 6:37, NLT)

Although the disciples were right with their analysis, Jesus had different view. Jesus knew that LITTLE in God’s Hands was more than ENOUGH. He asked them to bring the little bread they had, He prayed over them, and the Miracle happened.

Romans 12:2 (NLT) says “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.“

Maybe all you have at this time of the year is LITTLE. Economics principles will tell you it’s not enough. Human reasoning will tell you that you need time to let it grow, or like the disciples, you are wondering “I’d have to work for months to earn enough money”. Maybe what you seek to achieve this year is beyond reach. Maybe every analysis you have done is true but there is another realm which has different set of rules. The LITTLE you have, when placed in God’s Hands, is more than ENOUGH.