Sea or Lake, Storms are Storms

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith in God. It discusses the story of Paul in a boat during a storm and how God protected him and everyone on the ship. It also talks about Paul's transformation from a persecutor of Christians to a devoted follower of Jesus. The message encourages Christians to live for Jesus, even in the face of persecution, and reminds them that God's love is always with them. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of His word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to His perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Acts 27.23-24 For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Don't be afraid, Paul, you must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. Talk about being in a boat in a storm. From Crete to Italy, stopped by a storm. Three days of fighting with the storm, everything overboard, and an unknown number of days in the storm, unable to see sun or stars, and a long time without food. That's pretty dire. As bad as being in a boat on a large lake in a big storm is, I'd take that over a storm on the sea. It was bad enough that an angel appeared to Paul to let him know he didn't have to worry, which implies he was beginning to. He was told not to fear. He wasn't told not to doubt, so Paul had faith. But it's reasonable to conclude that he was starting to wonder what the plan was. Not about himself, necessarily. Paul had a heart for others. He cared. He had real concern. You can infer that from these verses, too, because he is told specifically that God has given the lives of all those with Paul into Paul's bubble of protection. How good was that bubble? I will say of Yahweh, he is my refuge in my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart. You shall not be afraid of the terror of night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in the darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. Psalm 91, 3-6 That's a pretty good bubble. God put every life on that ship into Paul's bubble. Paul was told not to fear for himself or for them. The cargo wasn't saved. The ship wasn't saved. They ended up shipwrecked for a while, but they lived, every last one of them. And Paul continued on to Rome, and he did stand before Caesar. Paul's love for believers and for unbelievers, his heart for the unsaved, was immense. He put himself in boats, literal and not, all over his world to preach the good news, to tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ, to help shepherd the believers, to fulfill his instructions from Jesus, to preach the word, to be a witness. Paul put his trust in the Lord. But this is not where he started. Paul started his psalm, A Pharisee among Pharisees from a line of Pharisees. Acts 23, 6 He studied under Gamaliel, probably the most Pharisaical teacher at the time. Acts 23, 3 And he was zealous for the way of the law, really zealous. He tells us himself that, I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God even as you all are today. I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom I also received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also, who were there, to Jerusalem in bonds, to be punished. Acts 22, 3-5 This isn't someone who was all that caring for others. Definitely not for others who were against the law, as he understood it. Acts 8, 1 says, Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles. The he in that verse is Stephen, first martyr. Saul was right there from the beginning. He didn't just persecute them by punishing them in the courts. He dragged them out of their homes. Acts 8, 3 And the word that verse uses is ravaged. He ravaged the Christian community. But Jesus came and met Saul where he was. Acts 9 Saul was breathing threats and slaughter. But Jesus spoke life. Jesus humbled Saul, and he was changed. He got the heart of God. He was born again into a new creature, Paul. And Paul knew what love was. He demonstrated it. He knew how much Jesus has done for him. He knew that Jesus did it for all of us. And he was desperate for everyone to know it along with him, to know it and to come into the kingdom of God. Paul wanted it so much that he put everything on the line to achieve it. He was willing to live for Jesus and to die for Jesus. How willing? He worked hard for the Lord, went to prison, beaten with rods three times, flogged five times, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, lost at sea for a day and a night, in danger while traveling, hungry, cold, and hunted by those who wanted to silence him. 2 Corinthians 11, 21-27 That's pretty willing. He says, For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always. Now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit for my work, yet I don't know what I will choose. Philippians 1, 19-22 We today are probably not going to have to go through all these things, but we may have to go through some of them. In the chaos of the modern world, it is hard to predict where the ground will shift to. But if you look past mainstream media, you'll see that there are rumblings out there. Christians are being treated in a way that won't really surprise you, or shouldn't. But it may. So do not yourself be surprised if you have to suffer in some way for Christ. We are warned by Jesus himself that being a disciple isn't without cost. But Paul's attitude is the silver standard, Jesus himself being the goal. Live your best life under submission to the will of the Lord, and look forward to life in heaven. Be happy to do the work. Talk Jesus to whomever Jesus asks you to. Live a life that models Jesus to all whom you don't talk to. And be ready to walk away from all of it when it's time to head to heaven. You win either way. On the one side, we're introducing people to Christ Jesus. On the other, we're with Christ Jesus, face to face. That is the best win-win that there is, or ever could be. But what about all those troubles? What if they happen where you live? What if they happen to you? The Bible tells us again and again that God has us. The storm very well might be around you. A city-sized storm, lake-sized, or sea-sized. Maybe even ocean-sized. It makes no difference to the Lord. He still speaks. He still guides. He still protects. If you acknowledge your Lord and Savior, if you set your love on the Father, the Father will deliver you unto life or unto heaven. Delivered you will be, without fear, with peace. Philippians 4.7 Peace you can't even understand will flood you, and everything will be fine. You will be set on high. You will be answered. You will be delivered and honored. You will be in God's hands. Psalm 91, 14-16 The size of boat doesn't matter. The size of storm doesn't matter. Get under God's wings, and God's wings will enfold you. Period. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Matthew 18, 11-14. The Father wants every human on this planet who has ever and will ever breathe saved. He made each and every one of us, and He wants each and every one of us safe in heaven, living life the way He designed it to be lived. That's why Jesus came to earth, to redeem us, to reset things back to where they should be by seizing back the authority that man threw into the devil's hands. He searches and stretches out to the lost. Every person not saved has Jesus on their doorstep, knocking and inviting them into freedom. Each and every one. He loves us so much. He really does. There is nothing He didn't do to get us where we could be saved. And He does everything He can to get us in. But we have a choice. He doesn't violate free will. The choice is ours. But boy, is it an easy one. Everlasting life with love personified? Sign me up. What about you? Are you into? As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love. And no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you. Just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us. That God has sent His only born Son into the world. That we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we love God. But that He loved us. And sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.