BBD 05.13.15 Stormy Seas (Classic)
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
Classic
from 2007
05.13.15
Stormy
Seas
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him
to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the
multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when
evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the
sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of
the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw
Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they
cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good
cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if
it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when
Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But
when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink
he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His
hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you
doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were
in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” -
Matthew 14:22-33 NKJV.
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. - Revelation 21:1 NKJV.
I was listening to a song by the Christian group Selah yesterday (2007) about walking on stormy
waters. I don't believe that I had ever comprehended what they were saying
before. Here are a few of the lyrics:
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
(To read more of the lyrics or to find out more about Selah - go to
Selahonline.com.)
Many of us have been struggling in the stormy seas for a
long time. We are not walking on the waters, instead; we are struggling to keep
our heads above water. The stormy seas we sail are not the Atlantic or the
Pacific, but instead are the seas of health issues, relational problems,
financial needs and more.
John Ortberg’s book “If You Want to Walk on Water You
have to get out of the Boat” is a classic. For the apostle Peter to walk on
water he had to get out of the boat. What faith that must have taken! How did
He do it? He did it by faith. He did it by having his eyes on Jesus. What
happened that made Peter begin to sink into the sea? It was when Peter took his
eyes, his focus off of Jesus, and began to look at the waves tossed about by
the wind that he stopped walking and started sinking.
We have our own seas to walk upon, or for many of us, not
walking, but just trying to keep our heads above the waves. The wind is blowing
us this way and that way. There are problems to the right, and there are
problems to the left. There seems to be no end, with another phone call, an
email, or the next day’s mail that brings an increase in the velocity of the
storm.
How can we do more than keep our heads above the waves,
above the water? We have to put those stormy seas into their proper
perspective. They should not be the focus of our lives. We know that they are
there, and they have to be dealt with, but it does not have to consume us.
There is still life, real life to be lived. We walk on top of those stormy seas
and live life by keeping our focus upon our Lord Jesus Christ. We maintain that
focus through prayer, reading the Bible, being active in church, and serving
Him; no matter how high the waves around us may be. At times, we may begin to
sink like Peter. When that happens, do what Peter did. Cry out to Jesus, and He
will lift you up to walk on those stormy seas once again.
As the Bible closes out in the last pages of the book of
Revelation, we have a great promise that some great wonderful day there will be
“no more sea.” Someday the stormy waters of life will be gone, there
will be a new Heaven, and a new Earth filled only with joy.
Copyright © 2007-2015. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
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Please pray for Justin Lewis who
is battling cancer. He is a 35-year-old Christian with a wife and four
children. Unless God intervenes there is little hope for him. He has recently been at MD
Anderson in Houston for about ten days with super chemo and needs to go back
soon for another super chemo treatment. They found new places of cancer on his
last scan. He is very weak and needs to gain some weight and strength prior to
the next treatment. Thank you for all of your prayers for Justin and his wife
and four children!! (Update: Justin has now completed two super chemo
treatments and is currently undergoing a third. He will have another scan at
the end of this treatment. The great news is that he was able to work four days
before going back for his third treatment!! Thanks for all of your prayer for
him, they are making a difference!!) Please also pray for Justin Lewis' sister
Tammy. Tammy has been in the hospital in New Jersey for about a week. She has
Guillian-Barre Syndrome and when she is released from the hospital she will
have to go to rehab and learn to walk again. She has three young children at
home that her husband is carrying for.
Prayer Requests: Please pray for
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hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Please also
pray for Shane Hall who is a young pastor who has cancer and for all those
afflicted with this terrible disease. My sister, Reta’s surgery for removal of
kidney and cancerous tumor went better than expected. She will now have targeted
chemo by pill or injection for nodules in her lungs. Please pray too for
Beverly who has been recently diagnosed with cancer. Many prayer needs are
posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer -
please pray for me.).
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