Loave'n Around

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear. Fear is a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. Instead, faith is championed as allegiance to God. The story of Jesus walking on water is discussed, highlighting the disciples' fear and Jesus' immediate response to their cries for help. The importance of calling out to God and believing in His immediate answers is emphasized. The disciples' lack of understanding and hardened hearts are mentioned, reminding us not to limit God or harden our own hearts. We are encouraged to believe in God's love and the power of being used by Him. The affirmation of God's love is mentioned, along with the reminder of how incredible it is that God chose us to be part of His family. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of His word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to His perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Mark 6.50-51 For they all saw him and were troubled, but he immediately spoke with them and said to them, Cheer up, I am, don't be afraid. He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased, and they were very amazed among themselves and marveled. This is a great verse in the midst of a great event. Here in the middle of a great storm, Jesus walks on the water. They cry out. Jesus answers. He gets into the boat. The storm ceases. They sit amazed and marveling. They had already seen him calm the storm. The time Jesus was asleep in the boat. They knew what Jesus was capable of when it came to the weather. Calling himself, I am. Declaring himself to be Almighty God. The great I am has been declaring himself since Moses' time. That would be something astonishing. Especially since he was literally walking on the surface of the water. I can imagine my reaction to most of the miracles Jesus did. But this one, I'm not sure how I would have reacted. And can 100% understand why the disciples were scared when they saw him. They were struggling with the storm when Jesus appeared. Seeing them distressed and rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them. Verse 48. God was watching over them. Jesus could see that they were in trouble from the hill where he had been praying. The goal was for them to cross the sea. So off Jesus went to that goal. That's when they saw him. As he was going to pass them by on the way to their goal. Because they were floundering. You know, just give him a wave. Hey boy, see when you get there. First, I just think that's awesome. That he would have passed them. That if they hadn't done something, he would have walked right on and arrived where they were supposed to be. And been waiting there for them. Jesus had his eye on the goal. The storm and their plight within it didn't distract him. But he wasn't avoiding them. He was available to them. He'd gone out of his way to walk near them. He was within sight. But he was also within hearing during a fierce storm. He was not far from them. What a great reminder. God is never far from us. Even when we're going in circles. But they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost. And cried out. Verse 49 Now that must have been something to see. A man walking on the water. Coming out of nowhere. And appearing beside them. Within shouting distance in the midst of a noisy, roiling storm. How would you react? How do you react when God shows up beside you? I mean, sure, probably isn't in the physical form. But he's there nonetheless. Talking to us. Showing us things. How do we react? Notice that he immediately answered. As soon as they cried out, Verse 50 tells us he spoke with them and declared who he was. He told them not to fear and who he was. More than that, he got into the boat. Jesus would have passed them. But they cried out. He immediately answered and got into their boat. God does that. He is there. But he has given us free will. We don't have to cry out. He will let us flounder if that is what we're choosing to do. But his heart is to save us. When we choose to call out, he immediately answers us and meets us where we are. Every time. If we believe that he exists and move toward him, he moves towards us. Hebrews 11.6 and James 4.8. That is a heck of a promise. But that isn't what happens, you say. I call out and he doesn't answer. I have to yell and yell and yell and get someone to pray with me and yell some more. I am positive that is your experience. That is what you are seeing. And that is what you are feeling. But it isn't the truth. It is your perception of what is happening. The truth is that God answered you immediately when you called out. Holy Spirit is inside the believer. He spoke as soon as you spoke. But Holy Spirit isn't a violent wind when he is inside you. He isn't an earthquake. He isn't a roaring fire. He is a still, small voice. 1 Kings 19, 11-13. As soon as we call out, he answers. We will have words spoken to us. There is sometimes a time factor in situations resolving. I mean, remember, Jesus spoke with him. Then he had to come closer. Then he got into the boat. And then the storm was stilled. But the answering of our call, the conversation, that is started immediately. We call, he answers. This is one of the blessings of the believer. This is one of the benefits of the new covenant. We don't have to wait on angelic messengers. He still uses them. But we are not waiting for them to appear. We can have communion immediately in our spirits if we're listening. Now, going back to our boys in the boat, here's my real question. Did Jesus even need to storm or to get in that boat? My answer is no. This miracle was superfluous, unnecessary. But Jesus was there anyway, ready for their doing and for their not doing. God is always ready and with us no matter what. But Jesus did not have to do anything here but continue his storm. What does verse 52 say? For they hadn't understood about the loaves. Back in verses 30 to 44 of this chapter, Jesus and the disciples had gone into the wilderness and people followed. Five thousand men plus families and extras followed. They got hungry. And verse 37 says, He answered them, You give them something to eat. They didn't understand how they could afford to buy the multitude food, even though they had about two-thirds of a year's wages on them. In verse 38, he said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go see. They had five loaves and two fish. Jesus gave thanks to his Father for the food, broke the bread, and divided the fish among the disciples. Then the disciples gave out the food, replicating the miracle that Jesus just did, because of their firm faith that there would be enough because Jesus said so. The disciples gave out bread and fish beyond what physically could have been there in the natural. Just like when Jesus sent them out to heal the sick, they were allowing God to work through them because of their faith and the ability of God to use them. In that boat that night, having seen Jesus calm the storm previously, they could have chosen not to fear. They could have remembered they had a clear command to cross over. They could have chosen to let God use them. They could have chosen to believe that God could calm the storm and use them to do it like the Father had through Jesus, like the Father did through Jesus once Jesus was in the boat, like the Father had done through them with the loaves. In full, verse 52 says, For they hadn't understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. That doesn't say whether their hearts had been hardened by God for a reason, or if the disciples had chosen to harden their own hearts, but how often do we limit God by hardening our hearts, by deciding God can't use us, or that he can't do anything about the problem in front of us? Too often. But as with us, Jesus was right there in the moment of need, ready to answer, ready to intervene, ready to help bolster us up when we choose not to faith it out. Remember the lessons of this verse. God sees us and knows what is happening to us. God is near to us so we can call out to him. Remember, your prayers aren't going from you up through the ceiling and reaching to heaven. They just need to go as far as your chest, where your heart is, because that is where Jesus dwells. God immediately answers us and meets us where we are with his words. Also, God wants to use us. We are allowed to be used of God. We don't need God to do everything all by himself. Jesus said, with God, nothing was impossible. Matthew 19, 26. If God wanted to do it all by himself, Jesus would have said nothing is impossible for God. He used the word with for a very good reason. We have Holy Spirit and the word so that when God wants to use us, we can be used by humbling ourselves, being instructed, being obedient, being broken before him, being corrected. No ego. No, look at me, God. Look what I'm doing. By abiding in Jesus as he abides in his father, if we let ourselves be directed and believe that he can do what he says he can do, just like the disciples with the loaves, we can be a part of signs and wonders. Not us doing the work, but the father doing the work through us. We don't have to be scared in a boat. Jesus lets us be victorious in him because he has all the victories that any of us are ever going to need. 1 Corinthians 15 57 and 1 John 5 4 to 5. Believe it, receive it, and walk in it. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Psalm 8. The Lord God Almighty is majestic. He really is so far above all that we know and understand. It breaks logic when we consider how much he loves us, all that he has done with and for us, the partnership, the fellowship, the love he showers us with, with all that there is in the universe, the wonders that exist out there, and everything that populates it, in the physical and in the spiritual. We are the ones he chose to have as part of his family, human beings. No matter how lovely, incredible, or valuable something in creation is, you are more. You are amazing, incredible, and valuable to the God who lives and created all that is around you. You have real worth. You are something special, and he loves you. As we close, remember that you have worth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love, and no end to the things about you that he loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you, just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only-born Son into the world, that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin, and it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because he first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.