WWW.QUESTCOMMMUNITY.COM  If you can't make it to church, you can watch mine today.  Jeff

Key Passage: Luke 8:22-25

Topic: Doubt/Fear; Faith/Trust

And they went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. (Luke 8:24, ESV)  

What a scary situation! Imagine sailing in the middle of a stormy lake, watching your boat fill up with water, wondering if this is it--and all the while the guy who suggested you take this little cruise is sleeping like a baby in the back of the boat?   

These guys turned to Jesus for help when they realized they could soon become fish food! It's hard to tell if the disciples woke Him up to warn Him that death was imminent, or if they thought He might be able to do something to help. Either way, they went to the right Person--the One who had the power to stop the storm with a word. 

And He did. Jesus spoke, the raging winds quieted, and the water became calm. 

You know, you may never step foot on a boat, but chances are good you're going to weather some stormy seas in your life. 

All of us have things that crash into our lives and wreak havoc on our peace and quiet. Maybe an important relationship ends. Someone we love dies. A health issue comes up, or financial difficulties overwhelm us.  

Did you know that the Jesus who calmed the storm for His disciples can do the same thing for you? With a word, Jesus can calm your heart when it feels like you're drowning in grief, sorrow, worry or anxiety.

He was, and still is, the One to go to when the winds howl and the waves crash.

Read Exodus 15:22--27

As we consider Israel's first days in the wilderness, perhaps we should remind ourselves of where the Hebrew nation is in Exodus 15. They began their journey in the land of Goshen. If you have a map of that area handy, you might want to glance over it as you pinpoint their location. The Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds) is north of the Gulf of Suez. They crossed that sea, then began a south-southeasterly journey toward Mount Sinai. But before they arrived at the mount of God, they reached the wilderness of Shur in the northernmost section of the Sinai Peninsula. That's where the cloud and fire led Israel into the wilderness, with the shepherd Moses out in front of the flock. It was a vast expanse of desolation stretching south to the wilderness of Etham.

So that's where the Hebrews were. But why were they there? If God took the people through the Red Sea, couldn't He take them immediately to the lush land of Canaan? Of course! If He was able to part the waters, and enable them to walk on dry land, and deliver them from the Egyptians, wasn't He also able to move them swiftly to the borders of milk-and-honey-land? Absolutely! God can do anything. If He can take you and me through our conversion, He can hasten our journey across this earthly desert and swiftly deposit us into heaven. No problem . . . but He doesn't.

Why does God put us through wilderness experiences before Canaan? For one thing, He wants to test us. That's why God led Israel into the wilderness, according to Deuteronomy 8:2: "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." (Read that again . . . only this time, slowly.)
 
God puts us in the wilderness to humble us, to test us, to stretch our spiritual muscles. Our earthly wilderness experiences are designed to develop us into men and women of faith. Let's face it, our spiritual roots grow deep only when the winds around us are strong. Take away the tests, and we become shallow-rooted, spiritual wimps. But bring on the wilderness winds, and it's remarkable how we grow as our roots dig deeply into faith.

Key Passage: Luke 8:19-21

Topic: Jesus; Obedience/Discipleship

But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." (Luke 8:21, ESV)  

A lot of questions have been asked lately about Jesus and whether or not He had a family. While the Bible never tells us that He married and had children, we do know He has a family.

 In fact, He has two of them. 

These verses talk about Jesus' biological family on earth. His mother, Mary, and his half-brothers who were born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus.

But there's a second family here too. Not linked by biology and bloodlines, but in spirit. Jesus says those who hear the message of God and obey it are His brothers and mother (and sisters too).

This is the family you belong to when you hear God's Word and obey it. Don't miss the two parts: hearing and obeying.

It's easy to hear God's Word, to read it once in awhile or listen to a pastor speak, or even pick up something on-line like this. But when you take the next step and follow the message of God or obey it--that makes all the difference. 

In James 1:22-25 it says "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing" (ESV). 

Guess what part of that blessing is? Belonging to His family.

Can Jesus count you in His family because you know the message and obey it?

Read Exodus 14:15--22

Had we been in charge of the Red Sea project, we would have handled it differently. Our group of engineers would have pushed back that water a week in advance. We would have installed great, massive fans to dry out the land. We would have erected huge neon signs. Somebody would have brought in concession stands to handle the hot dogs and drinks. You see, when people do it, the project takes on all the trademarks of market-driven hotshots. The supernatural is easily eclipsed by human ingenuity.

That's not God's plan. When He wants you cornered, outnumbered. And there are no signs. There is no slick ad campaign. There are no great human resources to trust in. There's just an uncrossable Red Sea and an encroaching army of impossibilities. So you wait. And time passes. He will fight His way at His time. Bite your nails all you want to---He's in no hurry.

Do you feel cornered right now? Up against it? Overwhelmed? Listen, child of God, your predicament is by His design. It takes those dark and dreary streets of heartache and those dead-end feelings of intimidation to prepare you for the glorious days of deliverance.

Perhaps you're a single adult. Those can be frustrating, hard years and lonely times. More than anything you'd like to find a spouse.

Or maybe you're married. You can be so involved in making a living that you fail to make a life, and then the time is gone.

Or perhaps you feel backed into some physical cul-de-sac, where you've languished for weeks, months, maybe years . . . still in that wheelchair.

Listen carefully. Read this slowly. Coming to the Red Sea is just as much a part of His plan as crossing it. It may well be that the Lord is breaking a habit born in Egypt, a habit that has no business living in Canaan. Those habits are tough to break. The tears flow as God works in His time. But in the burning of those tears, God becomes very significant and real. And we realize, at last, that a predicament in God's hands finally leads to a highway to the Promised Land.