Ever Been on a Boat?

“Ever Been on a Boat?”

“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?” 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?” Mark 4:35-40 (The Message)

At the last Families for Christ weekend that I attended I was introduced to the teachings of Pastor Dave Rittinger of the Whiting Bible Church. He had some great insights on the issue of Marriage and stuck around with us after his last session of teaching to enjoy the Christmas party that Stan and DeEtta Marsh put together for us every year. As a matter of fact because of Stan’s unusual way of doing the traditional gift exchange, Pastor Dave and I got the chance to trade off our gifts. I believe I got the better end of the stick but it was all God’s doing anyway. And I get the feeling that Pastor Dave is a competitor since he is an avid golfer. So I look forward to the day when the game can be played as a full contact sport. Then the playing field will be leveled enough for me to play and that little white ball turns into an oval shape and brown. Hmmmm….?

Anyway it was his Friday night teaching that had me. The men who participate in the FFC ministries get together on the first night of the weekend in the Colony chapel. And his message that night was aimed right at us. “Come with me to the Book of Mark, chapter four, verse thirty five” he says and then he asks us, “Can we trust Jesus?” Since I am one of those note taking kind of guy’s I wrote down the three one word reasons he gave us to trust Jesus.

The first reason is promise. Jesus got into the boat and said, “Let’s go across to the other side.” He didn’t say “Let’s try to get to the other side.” or “I wonder if this boat can make to the other side so let’s give it a go.” No, His statement is clear, “Let’s go across to the other side.” The next reason was presence. He might have been on the boat asleep but he was on the boat. Pastor Dave gave an analogy of what might happen when a storm comes and a boat gets full of water. In this case the disciples might have been throwing everything overboard until they finally got to Jesus. Then they say, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?” Now it will be after this question where the third reason comes in “the power of God”.

In 1 Peter 1:5 Peter writes “(you) who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”Jesus rebukes the disciples by basically saying “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?” after He calm’s the wind and the sea. Maybe it took this moment for Peter to understand who he was with before he wrote his epistle. There are some of us who seem to need an actual demonstration of the power of God. I have been one of them. That has changed over time.

So it is the promise of, the presence of and the power of God that are three great reasons to trust Jesus. But, as Pastor Dave went on, DO we trust Jesus? If you have read about my adventures on my boat, diligently named “It’ll Do”, the opportunity to trust Jesus came up not once but twice. And the slavery to addiction came to end when I cried, “Jesus, save me.” My faith gets rocked at times but that rocking serves to strengthen my faith. Does being in a rocking boat strengthen yours? I hope so. -- Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a frequent contributor to Freedom Fighter

God's WORD for US: Proverbs 19; Obadiah; Revelation 9

Great Quote: “Anyone whose determined purpose is to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him cannot retain the rights to his own position or place…or be anxiously preoccupied with working out the details of his own life. There must be complete and unqualified reliance on the Living Lord. In other words, one must develop the discipline of surrender.”
Intimacy with the Almighty Charles R. Swindoll