Winning the Battle of Love- Staying Calm Through the Storm
As a former Motorola Director, I have flown to a lot of places throughout Asia. It can take up 18 to 20 hours on the plane in the air to get there depending on where I was going. I have experienced a lot of turbulence in the air as we cross the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. A long time ago when you flew on the airplane, the airline pilots would just fly through the storm because they did not always know it was ahead. Yet they would remain calm. I never understood how they were able to remain completely calm while the plane was rocking. Today technologies now allow them to see the storms ahead and then enable them to go around most of the storm by resetting their path. There is still some turbulence but the bad stuff for the most part is avoided. I asked myself how is it that the flight crew could remain calm through the storms? I realized it was because they are focus on our final destination not what is happening right now. They now it is most likely that things will end well. Its very rare for a plane to crash due to bad weather, the pilot tries for the most part to fly above the storm like the eagle. But his/her focus is on the final destination. So that is the first key to staying calm.
#1) Focus on your final destination and what you want the outcome to be.
If you are a follower of Christ, your final destination is victory over this present life and then to be with Him in heaven. Everything you do and say during the storm should be focus on this one thing. I will have victory over the things that are trying to "sink" me in life. I will have victory over poverty, disease and sickness or anything else that is trying to destroy me. I will have peace in my house and family. I will run to Jesus and seek his face. Beside your true final destination is heaven. So tell yourself this during the storm, I am going to remain calm because my final destination is to glorify Him always and to end up in His arms. So my actions, my thoughts, my behavior, my work, lifestyle and everything I do is to bring Him glory.
#2) Know Who is in the Boat of life with you and Understand the Power of His Presence.
In Luke 8:23-25; A storm is raging and the disciples are afraid. However, the disciples knew Jesus was in the boat. So when the windstorm came down on the lake, and their boat was filling with water and their lives were in danger they went to Jesus and woke him up, saying “Master, Master we are perishing.” They knew Jesus was present; but they did not understand the Power of His Presence. You see Christ sees the storms before the storm ever comes. He knew the storm was coming and yet He remained calm and so peacefully asleep. All the signs that the storm was ahead was in the Master’s view. He had control of the situation and knew what to do to take care of it. He did not speak to the water filling up in the boat. He spoke to the wind. He does not speak to what you can feel. He speaks to the thing that is causing you to feel it. It gets to what we call in Six Sigma the "root cause" of the problem. He could have had the water in the boat to dry up immediately and that would have still been a miracle. But he needed to take care of what was in the air (the wind) to truly stop the storm. He takes cares of the principalities and darkness of the air (Satan) that rage war against you, not the things you see, but He takes care of the things you cannot see. And He has the authority to do it. The disciples asked themselves this question; “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?"
Who is He? You see He is God the Son. Jesus is not only the Son of God, but He is God – the Son. Meaning He is God, the second person in the Trinity. We serve a Triune God – 3 distinct person in one Godhead. Jesus is God and always has been apart of the Godhead. He was in the beginning with God. My Jewish friend, Eric read the Tanakh to me in the original Hebrew letters. He explained each letter of Genesis 1:1. It reads in the original Hebrew – In the beginning Elohim created the Heavens and the Earth. He explained that Elohim was plural. He said from the Jewish point of view, it meant all that you could ever imagine and need of a god was in the one true God. Elohim is the one true God. Our God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the one True God.
Now Isaiah tells us in his text that before God there was no god and after him there will be no other god. So Christ must and had to be present in the work of Creation making him apart of Elohim. John 1:1 confirms this thought. John text reads. “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was with God, and Word was God. Then John 1: verses 2 and 3, go on to say, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. He created the heavens and the earth.
In other words God the Son had the power to speak to the wind, and command it to be still, because He created the wind. God created us, and he knew us in our mother’s womb. Psalms 139:13, “for you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Your eyes saw my uniformed substance, in your books were written; every one of them, the days that were formed for me.
The God who created you have the power to control the raging storms in your life. He controls our days here on earth. You must believe that Jesus is strong and has all power in His hands. The weight of life that you are feeling around your feet is there to draw you closer to His Presence and strengthen your faith in Him. Whatever you are going through God has the Power of His Presence to speak to that situation and bring restoration, healing, change and rearrange the circumstances of your life. Jesus knows the root cause so take it to Him in prayer. Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
The power of His Presence brings calm and peace to the storms of life, because He is God. He is Omnipresent. He is everywhere and He is involved in every situation if you ask Him to be. The disciples asked him to help them. You must allow Jesus to be present in your life on a regular and daily basis. You must have God’s presence and expect Him to act.
Lastly, stay calm during the storm and know that God is in control of every situation, if you will let him speak to your struggles He will help you fly above the storm like an eagle.
Many Blessings,
Pastor Tricia
#1) Focus on your final destination and what you want the outcome to be.
If you are a follower of Christ, your final destination is victory over this present life and then to be with Him in heaven. Everything you do and say during the storm should be focus on this one thing. I will have victory over the things that are trying to "sink" me in life. I will have victory over poverty, disease and sickness or anything else that is trying to destroy me. I will have peace in my house and family. I will run to Jesus and seek his face. Beside your true final destination is heaven. So tell yourself this during the storm, I am going to remain calm because my final destination is to glorify Him always and to end up in His arms. So my actions, my thoughts, my behavior, my work, lifestyle and everything I do is to bring Him glory.
#2) Know Who is in the Boat of life with you and Understand the Power of His Presence.
In Luke 8:23-25; A storm is raging and the disciples are afraid. However, the disciples knew Jesus was in the boat. So when the windstorm came down on the lake, and their boat was filling with water and their lives were in danger they went to Jesus and woke him up, saying “Master, Master we are perishing.” They knew Jesus was present; but they did not understand the Power of His Presence. You see Christ sees the storms before the storm ever comes. He knew the storm was coming and yet He remained calm and so peacefully asleep. All the signs that the storm was ahead was in the Master’s view. He had control of the situation and knew what to do to take care of it. He did not speak to the water filling up in the boat. He spoke to the wind. He does not speak to what you can feel. He speaks to the thing that is causing you to feel it. It gets to what we call in Six Sigma the "root cause" of the problem. He could have had the water in the boat to dry up immediately and that would have still been a miracle. But he needed to take care of what was in the air (the wind) to truly stop the storm. He takes cares of the principalities and darkness of the air (Satan) that rage war against you, not the things you see, but He takes care of the things you cannot see. And He has the authority to do it. The disciples asked themselves this question; “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?"
Who is He? You see He is God the Son. Jesus is not only the Son of God, but He is God – the Son. Meaning He is God, the second person in the Trinity. We serve a Triune God – 3 distinct person in one Godhead. Jesus is God and always has been apart of the Godhead. He was in the beginning with God. My Jewish friend, Eric read the Tanakh to me in the original Hebrew letters. He explained each letter of Genesis 1:1. It reads in the original Hebrew – In the beginning Elohim created the Heavens and the Earth. He explained that Elohim was plural. He said from the Jewish point of view, it meant all that you could ever imagine and need of a god was in the one true God. Elohim is the one true God. Our God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the one True God.
Now Isaiah tells us in his text that before God there was no god and after him there will be no other god. So Christ must and had to be present in the work of Creation making him apart of Elohim. John 1:1 confirms this thought. John text reads. “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word was with God, and Word was God. Then John 1: verses 2 and 3, go on to say, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. He created the heavens and the earth.
In other words God the Son had the power to speak to the wind, and command it to be still, because He created the wind. God created us, and he knew us in our mother’s womb. Psalms 139:13, “for you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Your eyes saw my uniformed substance, in your books were written; every one of them, the days that were formed for me.
The God who created you have the power to control the raging storms in your life. He controls our days here on earth. You must believe that Jesus is strong and has all power in His hands. The weight of life that you are feeling around your feet is there to draw you closer to His Presence and strengthen your faith in Him. Whatever you are going through God has the Power of His Presence to speak to that situation and bring restoration, healing, change and rearrange the circumstances of your life. Jesus knows the root cause so take it to Him in prayer. Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
The power of His Presence brings calm and peace to the storms of life, because He is God. He is Omnipresent. He is everywhere and He is involved in every situation if you ask Him to be. The disciples asked him to help them. You must allow Jesus to be present in your life on a regular and daily basis. You must have God’s presence and expect Him to act.
Lastly, stay calm during the storm and know that God is in control of every situation, if you will let him speak to your struggles He will help you fly above the storm like an eagle.
Many Blessings,
Pastor Tricia
This is such an awesome sermon! When will you be preaching on this subject? There are hearts out there that really need this one. I thank God for your knowledge and how you are wonderfully connected to display such a great connection with everyday life & the word of God.
ReplyDeleteI will be preaching this a the next Yeshiva's Woman Conference. :-)
ReplyDelete