STUNNED!

Growing! I know many of you may be SURPRISED to hear from me. Especially since I have not written in a very LONG time. Well, one of my New Years Resolution was to do more writing and communicating what God was and is laying on my heart. Well, as you can note by the date, I have procrastinated for one month. But, lo, and behold, the first blog of the new year. First, I cherish our friendship and do want you to know that I pray regularly for each one of you. I pray that God will richly bless and touch your lives for Him. Life is journey. Many of us go through tough times but also have super mountain top blessings from God. This is the heart of this little email. The story is taken from Luke 8:22-25. It is where Jesus tells His disciples to get in the boat and travel to the other side of the lake. You are probably familiar with this story. As they are sailing Jesus falls asleep. I know that feeling. I love falling asleep in a slow moving and slow rocking boat. Jesus is asleep in this text. While asleep a "fierce gale of wind descended upon the lake". The story tells us that the wind was so strong that the water began to swamp their boat. Where's Jesus? Even with the fierce wind and mightly waves, He is ASLEEP. So His disciples descend on Jesus and woke Him saying, "Master, Master we are perishing!" Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves. Waves and winds stopped and it became calm. Jesus' question to His disciples, "where is your faith?". As it is presented to each of us. If we are not going through storms at the present, I promise storms will come. So, here's a couple principles that we can learn from this story of Jesus calming the winds and the waves. First, Jesus promised to be with us "til the end of the age", Matthew 28:20. Storms come and storms go, but Jesus is with us during those storms and even when we are going through calm periods in our lives with very few storm. Jesus was with his disciples before they got in boat. He was with them in the boat before the storms arrived. He was with them in the midst of the storms and He was with them after the winds and the waves were stilled. Wherever we find ourselves Jesus promised to be with us. No storm - Jesus is with us. Storms - He is with us. Calm seas - He is with us! The question by Jesus in Luke 8:25, "where is your faith" could really be a question of TRUST. Where's our trust? Can we trust the one who made the universe, named the stars, counts the very hairs of our heads to give us the strength and endurance to ride out the storms. Can we trust Him to know what He is doing to help us grow in our spirit walk? Growing is always difficult! Secondly, we always learn best and grow stronger through adversity. Listen to the disciples, "who is this that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?" What did the disciples learn through this adverse situation. TRUST. Yes, they were fearful but they were also AMAZED. They were amazed that Jesus could and did rescue them from this storm (not here in this text but several others throughout the gospels). Isn't that also true with us? When we go through our storms and look back we are amazed at how the Master guided us, direct us, and sustained us. His very presence comforted and strengthened us as we were growing through the adversity. As we look back we too are amazed at what He was able to accomplish through the storm. All because of our TRUST. Our FAITH! Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Him who strengths me". I am praying for you and your families, Leonard check it out: navarreministries.com the second banner takes you to "Your Bible Boost" programs on youtube. also you can sign up for my "Your Bible Boost" newsletter on the front page.