A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Chris Musgrove of Future Now)
Scripture for the Day – July 27, 2020
Luke 8:22-24: Now it happened, on a certain day, that Jesus got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “‘Master, Master, we are… perishing!”
Now, there are some key things we need to see about these verses. The last thing Jesus said, after he got into the boat and before he fell asleep was, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake”. He didn’t say let us go out to the middle of the lake and drown.
John 1:14 is speaking of Jesus when it says, “And the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.” So the Word of God was spoken when Jesus said let us cross over to the other side. But instead of focusing on the Word of God, they got their eyes on the storm (their circumstances).
Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” But they were not displaying faith, as we can see as we continue reading this story. “He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And theywere afraid, and marveled.”
We can see from this that they obviously didn’t have faith because Jesus said, “Where is your faith?” Then the next verse says they were afraid. Fear is the opposite of faith. Faith comes from the Word, while fear comes from circumstances. One last thing we need to see here is that Jesus rebuked the storm. The reason He rebuked it was because it was of the devil.
John 10:10 says that the devil comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. Jesus rebuked the storm — just like He rebuked demons — and the storm ceased. Also, if you notice in that same story, after they crossed over to the other side, Jesus cast the demons out of the man from the Gadarenes. Clearly the devil did not want Jesus getting to the other side of the lake, because he doesn’t want people set free. He wants to keep them in bondage.
Stay focused on the Word of God, and you’ll get to the other side.
