Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

It was dark.  The disciples were on their own in the boat.  The waters around them grew rough.  The winds were blowing. Scripture does not record the disciples praying, crying out to God, in this tumultuous moment.  They simply rowed faster.  They rowed for almost four miles!   They kept trying to find their way out of the storm in their own wits and ways.  It didn't work. They got out of their fix only when Jesus arrived on the scene.  And boy, what an entrance! Jesus walked on water in order to reach His disciples.  This tells us that Jesus will go to great lengths in order to help us. What mess do you find yourself in?  Are you still trying to "row" your way out of it in your own strength?  That does not prove that you are strong or have your wits about you.  It proves that you do not trust Jesus. Unless Jesus is telling you to "row harder," then your rowing is in vain, friend. Jesus got into the boat with the disciples, and immediately they got to where they

We're so capable.  We like doing things ourselves.   But this is no longer a good thing when we elbow out God from the equation. We can only do so much.  God can do anything!  Even the impossible! In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus feeds thousands upon thousands of people from only five loaves of bread and two fish.  It was a true miracle!   His disciples saw things as they supposedly were - their measly amount of food was not enough to even feed themselves, let alone thousands.  So they wanted Jesus to send the people away - let them go get their own food! Jesus saw otherwise. Jesus always sees more than we do (understatement of all time).  He not only sees possibilities but how to do the impossible where there are seemingly no possibilities.   I have no idea how He did it, but He did it!  He took the five loaves and two fish and multiplied them - so much so that not only did He feed the 5,000 (but it was really more, counting women and children - more like 20,000), but there were lefto

When God brought His people out of the wilderness into the land that He promised them, they were in crisis.  Pharaoah's army behind them, the Red Sea in front of them - they were trapped!  They were trapped in the natural , that is.   They were stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place with no way out.   Enter God. Ever feel stuck?  Do you want escape from a situation from which there simply is no escape?   Why did God allow this mess to happen to the Jews?  He led them right into it!  He could have confused the troops and sent them off course, but He didn't.  He could have led the Jews another way out of the desert that didn't bring them to the Red Sea, but He didn't. God had a bigger and better way to reveal Himself to them.  He wanted to show them just how much He could do for them.  He defied the forces of nature because He controls all nature!   God parted the Red Sea for them to cross through into the Promised Land.  That was an act of God! Stuck?  God says

We all do it.  We put God in a box.  We know in our minds that He can do anything, even the impossible. But in real life, we're more inclined to look at ourselves, our resources, our limitations, problems, etc, etc. Taking our eyes off ourselves is step one.  That's enough work for most of us! But beyond that, we admit that He is telling us to do something we cannot do in our own power or resources or strength. God asks us to do the impossible so that we will know that HE is the one behind it, making it happen.  We do not get any credit. God gets all the glory. Moses couldn't part a sea.  No way, no how, never in a million years. But God could!  And He did!  Moses was trapped.  There was no way out, no way to escape the Egyptian army coming after him and his people. But God knew the way out!  He had it all worked out for Moses.  All Moses had to do was obey God! Now we may never see a sea part.   But we all have, or have had, or will have, impossible situations where we are