Daily Dose 03/30/2020

Greetings, grace, peace, and love to you in the name of God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am Rev. Reginald Stevens, Pastor of Immanuel Church of Jesus Christ. I thank God for this privilege to share with you today from His word. I will be reading from Matthews 14:22-33). 

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matt 14:22-33).

Lord God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for this wonderful opportunity you have given me to share your word concerning holding on to their faith in diverse times. I ask you Lord to guide my thoughts and lead me to say only that which you would have me communicate, Thank you Lord in Jesus’ name. Amen.

My friends, Storms plays a big part in our lives. There are all types of storms that affect our lives. There are rainstorms, snowstorms, hailstorms, windstorms, solar storms and arctic storms.

These are the storms that we can see. There are also storms that you can’t see, these storms are biological, and are more dangerous because it can’t be seen and by the time it is detected, it has caused thousands to lose their lives.

How we respond to the storm is directly related to its severity. We have as a society learned to be prepared for storms. We have learned to study the weather so we can know how to dress, where we can go, what we need to cancel, maybe we need to board up our houses and so on. There are also those of us who ignore the science and decide what to do contrary to what it reveals. This can be dangerous not only to them, but they could be putting others in danger. Storms no matter what form they are in is revealing as to your spiritual condition. How we react, reveals where we are spiritually, it is God’s desire for you to hold on to your faith.

When the disciples were surrounded by the storm while crossing the sea, Peter saw Jesus and desired to join him as he walked on water in the storm. Peter knew that his request defies logic, even so, He knew that If Jesus allows him, he could. He Had faith in Jesus. We are faced with a raging storm, a viral pestilence. This storm is very deadly and destructive as the storm Peter faced, but because he trusted in Christ, He was able to walk on the water. It was not until He took His focus off Jesus and allowed fear produced by the storm to invade his mind. that is when he began to sink and call out to Jesus, Jesus immediately reached out and took him by the hand and saved him from the storm. God wants you to remember all He has done for you. He wants you to place your trust in Him. When the weather is good, we praise God. When the storm comes, we turn away from God as if He is no longer there. All of our focus is consumed by the storm. God must find it amazing how one minute we praise him, and the next moment we run in fear as if He is not even there. Do you think that God has abandoned us because He is afraid of the storm?  God wants you to keep your focus on Jesus.

You may ask, does God want me to act as if there is no storm?  certainly not, God wants you to be aware of the storm, He wants you to exercise caution in the storm, but He does not want you to fear the storm. God wants you to go through the storm knowing that He is with you. He wants you to trust Him in the midst of the storm, God wants you to know that He will bring you through the storm, all you need to do is trust Jesus. God expects you to exercise caution, and do everything you can, not to be infectious, God expects you to pray for yourself and others these are things you should do. Some Storms are capable of doing damage which is totally devastating. God enables us to weather the storm, He wants us to live and place our trust in Him. David said” though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil. This corona Virus is a storm that is devastating and has already killed thousands. This storm has cast a giant shadow of death across the face of the earth. God doesn’t want you to fear this evil enemy. God wants you to know that with him you can come through this storm unharmed.

God knows that your fear of the storm is intrinsically linked to your believing or disbelieving your salvation to be secure in Christ. This is also related to your accepting the lie that you can be like God, totally dependent on yourself and not on God. It is very difficult to give up on this lie. That would mean that you are not independent like God, but you are totally dependent on God to sustain the life He has given you. God wants you to know that your salvation is secure, do you believe Him? Your very life depends on the answer to this question. If you believe that God sent His Son into this world to die on the cross for your sin you shall not perish but you shall have ever eternal life. if things come to their worse, you will pass from death to life in Jesus Christ.

Do you believe, do you trust God? Choose Jesus Today, tomorrow may be too late. When Jesus stepped onto the boat he commanded the storm to cease, and the storm ceased. The disciples were amazed, they said among themselves what kind of man is this even the storm obeys Him.