articles Invite Jesus into the Boat I was thinking of the story when the disciples were toiling on a boat, and caught in a storm they quickly found themselves in, and thought they were going to drown for sure. Then to top it all off, they see a ghost, and are now even more freaked out. Then they recognize its Jesus, invite Him into the boat with them, and eventually arrive at their destination. They didn’t drown after all. When we feel like we are drowning in our marriages, in our parenting, in our place of work, in our finances (as this man is feeling), just invite Jesus into the boat with you. And I promise, you will eventually get to the destination He wants to get you to... but it will be in His timing, not your own, but YOU WILL get there. So take heart, we do have a God who has a plan for our life. And that plan isn’t thwarted in our mistakes; our many many mistakes... actually, those mistakes, He allowed in His Plan, and will continue to be a part of His plan as He works His way deeper and deeper in us! There is someone who is close to me, who has been in financial debt for many, many, many years, and is still working at a labour job. He has really bad knees, very much overweight, close to retirement now, but can’t retire because of his debt, and it just totally consumes him and his wife! I finally asked the Lord (when I left their home from a visit), “Why, after all these years of them praying and pleading with you to help them with their handling of money, and finding themselves in all this debt, do you still allow it to be present?” And the Lord spoke this to me, “Everything has a purpose and this husband and wife are no different than anyone else... I do have a plan for them. I have kept the debt there... and this husband’s job there... because it is what keeps them near to me!” We need the contrast, for without it, we don’t stay near to Him, we don’t know our need of Him, and we stop Recognizing Him! We need the negative situation or else we would never ask Him to come and be our Positive in the negative. Why would I ever need to, if I never have any negatives? When the Lord revealed this to me, I knew it was true. The job and the debt are what keeps driving them back into His lap of Love!! The debt and the job, are acting as the sheep dog, nipping at their heels, driving them back into the arms of the Shepherd. Again, without those negatives, they would only forget God in the positives in their life, just as the Israelites did, and just as we all do. It works in this married couple’s favour.. .what they think is pulling them down, God is actually using to bring them up... what they think is bringing them out, God is using to bring them deeper into Him... what they think is making them less than, God is using to show them they are more than... more than conquerors in Christ Jesus... taste and see how good God is... He sure tastes good!! |
We must settle this issue with our problems and sin struggles: Would you rather struggle with debt and be driven to Christ, than not to have debt at all? Would you rather struggle with your job and driven to Christ, than not to be driven to Christ at all? Would you rather have marriage struggles and be driven to Christ, than have no marriage struggles at all? Would you rather struggle with rebellious children and be driven to Christ, than not to be driven to Christ at all? You choose... I choose my weakness for His strength, and know I need those things in my life to keep me falling forward into His Lap of Love!! If we have no problems, no sin issues, no struggles, than we have nothing to drive us back to Him. In the times of blessing, with no problems, no struggles...what happened to the Israelites? They forgot about their God. In times of struggles, problems, issues, sin, persecution... what happened with the Israelites? They remembered their God. Are we any different? Again, we need the contrast, for without it, we don’t stay near to Him, we don’t know our need of Him, and we stop Recognizing Him!! We need the negative or we would never ask Him to come and be our Positive. And life teaches us that where there is a negative a positive will come, for it is only the negative that attracts the positive. We need to be continually reminded that we need God... believing we can’t, and knowing He can. And God ever so brilliantly uses the negatives in our lives, not fighting them, but using them, so we will see our constant, perpetual need of Him. When we Recognize Him in it all, just watch, I dare you to watch and see what He will do, to get you to see what you thought was a negative is really a positive the whole time... if only we would realize so we can recognize... Recognize Him. I know this flies in the face of a lot of teaching, and may be hard for some to swallow, but I believe, with all my heart, that it is true... but it takes His revelation to receive it. This dear brother begins to smile and starts laughing, and then streams of tears run down his face as the Joy of the Lord welled up in him, as he sees very clearly his Positive!! Here is something that has always been true for me: as God speaks to another through me, He is also talking to me, and I learn just as much as the person I am speaking with. I am learning much of the things of Christ and what I have always had ever since the first day He chose me and so I chose Him in return. |
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Invite Jesus into the Boat “God, You Were There in the Morning, But Where Were You in my Day?” |
