In It With Us, Our Savior Is

In It With Us, Our Savior Is
by David Brenneman

"When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.  And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”  He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.  The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”  When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”  Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them.  The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”  And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.  The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region." Matthew 8:23-34.

Was reading last night in my studies about the anxieties and adversities we can and will face in this life.

It was an interesting read this morning to see that playing out in the passages that my daily morning Bible reading was taking me. 

My current situation honestly had me crying out to Jesus yesterday.  Almost a week ago I did something to the ribs on my left side and while not necessarily painful, it's annoyance level makes it extremely difficult to sleep let alone get around.  Not to be outdone my left knee is acting up.  In all this it amazes me that God so orchestrated my devotional readings that much of them applied to my life's struggles right now.

Jesus is right here in the boat with me.  He's in your boat as well. 

I have been made to lay down in green pastures.  You might be too.

From as little as a few months or years old we struggle with being made to rest.  To lie down as it were.

I was in 1 Kings 19-20 this morning too.  Even Elijah missed what was obvious as well as to the things that the Lord was doing.   The Disciples had Jesus right there with them and missed it.  The people who had learned how to put up or even accept two demon possessed men missed it. 

Don't miss the truth that Jesus's promise to never leave us or forsake us still holds true today.  In my situation and yours.  That's the truth that God's enemy wants people to forget. 

Jesus Christ is always there with us.  In our good times and our not so good times.

I know that my tears were not missed nor have they been forgotten by my Savior.  Healing will come in due time.  My new job will come in due time.  Nor the most important thing...He will come in due time.

He wants people who are doers of the word and not just hearers only who delude themselves.

It's easy to walk with Jesus when everything is going well.  When there's nothing to complain about or Heaven forbid that we have nothing to talk to Jesus about.

That too is a crafty tactic of the great deceiver.   Leaving Christian's alone to their own devices to cause them to not seek the Lord. 

To forget that He is always there, always near. 

It also dawned on me the two times that the Apostle Paul spoke about fighting the good fight.  To Timothy at the onset of 1st Timothy telling him to do just that and then at the end of 2nd Timothy.  When he tells his son in the faith that he's fought the good fight. 

We have to learn how to fight by our adversities.  A tree doesn't grow big and strong by having only sunny and calm days.  Days of light rain.  A tree grows big and strong by the severe storms of life.

We grow in the same way.

Jesus is in it with us.  Embrace that.  Hold onto that.  Never let go of that.

All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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