“Suddenly a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.”
— Matthew 8:24

Since their name in Greek means “students,” the disciples spent time with Jesus learning from Him. If you will, they had been enrolled in the school of Christ. But they were slow learners. One time when they were on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples were overwhelmed by a sudden storm. Jesus was asleep. Matthew 8 tells us: “His disciples went to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ He replied, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’”(Matthew 8:25-26a). He solved that problem instantly by rebuking the wind and the waves, which obeyed Him.

The disciples had been through Storms 101. But it was in the daytime, then, when they went out to sea, and Jesus was with them. Being weary, He was asleep in the stern when a great storm arose. But now in this more advanced class (Storms 201) Jesus was absent, and it was darkest night. They indeed were filled with distress—and well might they be.

But Mark would have us understand that Jesus, though high in a mountain miles away, was praying for them, as the Great Intercessor. He was watching them in the midst of the lake in their distress in rowing.

They had already been through Storms 101, as described above, and they didn’t do well. In fact, they came close to flunking altogether. At best they might have gotten a C minus. How are you doing in the School of Christ’s Discipleship? He has proven that we can trust Him in all things.

Jesus Christ, Lord even of the storms, pilot me over the tempestuous seas of life. Though the waves roll and there are treacherous rocks below, Jesus Savior, pilot me…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE MAKE IT
THROUGH THE STORMS OF LIFE.

“Cast all your care upon Him, because He cares for you.”
— 1 Peter 5:7

A man once discovered the lesson that it is important to trust in the Lord in all circumstances. He was in great distress. He had done everything he could, but nothing was working out right. At length he said that in prayer he climbed the great marble staircase that ascended up through the clouds. When he finally arrived at the very throne room of God, he found that the huge brass doors were closed and locked. Though he beat upon them until his knuckles were raw, he sank to his knees, exhausted, at which time he heard a whisper that seemed to seep under the door saying, “Trust Me. Trust Me.”

There is the lesson, my friends. God is simply saying to us in every different course in life, “Trust Me.” Whether we are talking about the schools of this world, whether we are talking about business or ministry or relationships. Whatever it may be, God is saying, “Trust Me.”

Many modern unbelievers look out into the vastness of the universe and ask the question: Is the universe friendly? I can’t vouch for the universe. Surely the jungle is red in tooth and claw and there are many dangerous things in this fallen universe, but one thing I know beyond any peradventure of a doubt, and that is that He who created it is far beyond friendly. He loves us with an everlasting love, and He has promised He will take care of us.

Lord, my Shepherd, give me strength for today to trust in You with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. Thank You for guiding, leading, and loving me. On the sad and difficult days, let me remember what You have done for me in the past…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND LOVE,
WE CAN BE ASSURED OF HIS CARE.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…”
— Proverbs 3:5

Recently, a church staff member and I were walking down one of the back halls of the church when he spotted something unusual on the floor. He picked up a rather strange looking object and said, “What in the world is this?” As we turned it over and over, he finally realized what it was and what to do with it.

Life is like that. Before we can really know what we ought to do with it, we need to know what it is and what it is for. A lot of people don’t really know. In fact, I checked, and probably could give you seventy-five to a hundred definitions by different writers of what life is:

“Life is a bowl of cherries,” said one—until you get to the pits.

Or, “Life,” said Shakespeare, “is a stage [a theater] and every man and woman merely players, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

Life is . . . How would you finish that sentence?

I believe the Bible teaches that life is a school. Some of you might be a little unhappy to hear that because you didn’t care much for school; you would rather think of it as a seventy-year recess. But the Bible teaches, I am confident, that life is a school. In fact, we are told in the Great Commission of Christ—the central command as to what we are to do—to go out and make disciples of all nations. And the ultimate lesson is that we learn to trust Him.

Lord, give me strength for today that I might learn to trust You more. Thank You for Your patience with me and Your steadfast love. Help me to pass the test in Your school, as You teach me to trust You more…

IN GOD’S STRENGTH AND LOVE,
OUR TRUST IN HIM GROWS.

“But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18

One thing about the leading of God’s Spirit to grasp is that it isn’t always easy or comfortable. What Paul experienced was running into one wall after another, one obstacle after another as God led him, so he could later say, “For the love of Christ constrains us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

I know that certainly in my life it hasn’t been a matter of being carried on a wave of happy circumstances, but it has been confronting one obstacle after another in an effort to transcend the limitations which circumstances seem to place on my life, because I have had the deep conviction that God has been leading me all along.

You remember the two caterpillars that were crawling in the muck and the mud, talking about whatever caterpillars talk to each other about in the muck and the mud. All of a sudden a large gorgeous butterfly came flitting down out of the sky right over their heads and went on up and up and up and disappeared altogether. And one of the caterpillars turned to the other one and said, “Boy, you’d never get me up in one of those things.” And what do you know, a short time later he is one!

And so it is with the Christian life. What looks so threatening from below is glorious when you experience it through obedience. He created us that we may come to the measure of the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, I do want to soar and to be right in the center of Your will. Increase my trust in You, for I often wonder how much Your best is going to hurt. Free me from my earth-boundedness.

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
LIVE FROM GLORY TO GLORY.

“What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has no works?”
— James 2:14

Jesus is Lord, and if you’re submitted to Him, He should be Lord of all your life. Are you willing to obey the Lord in all sorts of areas, but one particular one? It may be that because we are holding back in this area, we have reached a spiritual plateau, a limit to our growth in Christ.

We grow in grace by our obedience, because as God tells us various things that He wants us to do, we are confronted with a decision, and it is a decision either to be obedient or to be disobedient. And if we obey God, then He pours out grace upon grace and blesses us yet more abundantly. If we disobey Him, we have the experience of a person rising up and hitting the ceiling and coming back down, then trying to rise again and hitting the ceiling and coming back down because of those acts of disobedience.

May I ask you this: What is it that God has told you to do in His Word that you have refused to do? That is as far as you will grow spiritually. That is your ceiling. That determines the size of your room for growth and improvement. So obedience to what we already know works a tremendous blessing. We don’t necessarily understand what that blessing is until we obey. Sometimes obedience precedes understanding. But in retrospect, we realize what a glorious, wonderful adventure to which Christ has called us.

Abba Father, I ask You today to show me any area in which I am not obeying You. Bring to my attention anything that hinders my growth and short-circuits any blessing You have for me…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
OVERCOME ANY OBSTACLE TO OUR GROWTH.

“Nor do I count my life of value to myself, so that I may joyfully finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.”
— Acts 20:24

I once heard about an unstoppable evangelist from Africa. In order for him to not be able to spread the Gospel, the Muslims cut off his feet just about at the ankle bone. He is not able to walk at all. An African missionary showed me a picture of this man, which I showed to my family.

He was sitting on a donkey, and I asked the question, “Does this man walk on those stubs?” “No, he can’t do that. He crawls.” And then I focused my attention on his knees. If you have ever seen a big, old oak tree, with thick bark with crevices all over. That is what that man’s knees looked like.

I remember a number of weeks later it was raining on one Thursday night when our family goes out and shares the Gospel with others. It was raining, and I said to my daughter, “Are you going out tonight in this rain?”

And she said, “If that man can crawl on his knees, I can go out in my car in the rain.”

We should not allow obstacles to prevent our service for Christ.

Often when people don’t want to do something, they will offer up any number of excuses to try to wriggle out of their responsibilities. But when we consider that Jesus voluntarily suffered so horribly for us, then we should pray for the ability to follow through on our obligations.

May God give us grace to be sold out for Him—like the man with no feet.

Lord, give me strength for today to spread Your Word. Forgive me for allowing petty obstacles to keep me from doing what You have called me to do. Please, bless richly those who suffer for You who never shrink back from their Christian duty…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH WE CAN
SERVE HIM DESPITE SETBACKS.

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:1

What is a marriage based upon? Many erroneously think that love is the foundation of any true marriage. Furthermore, they erroneously define love as a feeling. It is there, mysteriously, and then, some months later it is gone and the plaintive cry goes up: “Alas, I don’t love him (or her) anymore.” So, what is there to do, but get a divorce?

A marriage is not based on any feeling of love. This feeling of love is like a mysterious bird of paradise. We do not know where it comes from, why it comes to some, and why it leaves. But this mysterious bird of paradise flaps its wings, floats down on two people and they are “in love.” It is a glorious, marvelous wonderful thing. And so they get married. Two years later, they wake up one morning and decide that the bird has flown away. No one knows why. It is utterly mysterious. But it is gone. So, they must get divorced and then wander through life, waiting and hoping that once more that bird will descend from the skies upon their hearts. That is the secular view of marriage. The consequences have been devastating.

A marriage is actually built upon commitment. Feelings come and go. Feelings of love can proceed from that commitment. But feelings are not the foundation of a stable marriage. Until we understand this, there is little chance that our marriage will succeed. Marriage is a lifetime commitment to another person: “‘til death do us part.”

Lord, give us strength to live out (if so called) a Christ-centered marriage and to champion monogamy in this twisted and perverse generation…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN SHOW
THE WORLD WHAT MARRIAGE SHOULD BE.

“Now you are the body of Christ and members individually.”
— 1 Corinthians 12:27

One of the great means of growth is Christian fellowship. We ought to know people who are holier than we are, and we ought to fellowship with them, and our life will be blessed by their presence.

And I hope that you get into a congregation where you can really get to know some other Christians. Remember the old axiom that birds of a feather flock together? This is true in the spiritual realm of spiritual birds as well. They flock together also. And I want to ask you who are the people with whom you spend time fellowshipping? Are they Christians or non-Christians? Whoever they are, they are saying a lot about you and what you are.

If they are Christians, are they more spiritual than you are? You know, sometimes people say, “Well, I can’t stand this holier-than-thou attitude.” Well, nobody likes a holier-than-thou attitude, but what most of these people know is that though that is repugnant, there is such a thing as a holier-than-thou fact. In case you don’t know it, there are a whole lot of people in some of our churches that are “holier-than-thou.”

Now you may think I am talking about you. I am talking about any one of us. Holier-than-I. Holier-than-thou fact is true, because sanctification is different in all. Some of us are at this stage. Some of us are at that stage. Do you have friends that you fellowship with that are more holy than you are? You should have. They will draw you upward and encourage you and build you up.

Lord, give me strength for today to build stronger relationships with those in the Body of Christ. Thank You for adopting me into the world’s largest family. Thank You that as iron sharpens iron, so we can learn from our brothers and sisters in You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ALL PLAY
A PART IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.

“Therefore, everything you would like men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
— Matthew 7:12

Abraham Lincoln is everlasting in the memory of his countrymen. He was greatly influenced by the Scriptures. Read any of his speeches, and they virtually drip with the Word of God.

Many Americans actually think the quote, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” was Lincoln’s. Not so. Lincoln was simply quoting a Bible verse (Matthew 12:25), which his audience probably recognized. In the 19th century, Americans were far more biblically literate than we are today, unfortunately. Lincoln often studied the Bible and used Cruden’s Concordance as a study aid.

John G. Nicolay, Lincoln’s private secretary, said: “He praised the simplicity of the Gospels. He often declared that the Sermon on the Mount contained the essence of all law and justice, and that the Lord’s Prayer was the sublimest composition in human language.”

Earlier in his life, Lincoln was not a Christian. But later, after coping with the death of his son, it is reported that Lincoln came to believe in Jesus. He was planning to join the church on Easter Sunday 1865, but was shot on Good Friday.

Lincoln once received a cherished gift—the Holy Bible—given to him by a delegation of black Americans, on September 7, 1864. This is what he said at the time: “In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong.”

Oh Lord, raise up Christian statesmen and women in our time. Help us to elect good and righteous leaders to rule over us that we might dwell in liberty and peace…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE PRAY THAT
HE MAY TURN THIS LAND BACK TO HIM.

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
— Psalm 119:11

God’s purpose is that we might grow into the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ. First, we need to regularly read, study, and meditate on God’s Word. When we memorize His Word, when we hide it in our heart, that is the best defense against the onslaught of temptation. When was the last time you memorized a verse or passage of Scripture?

Secondly, there is the matter of prayer, as we go to God each day and confess our sins to Christ and ask for His forgiveness and express to Him our gratitude and love, to bring our petitions for whatever our needs may be, to intercede for other people. Such prayers as this should be on the lips of Christians every day.

Thirdly, God has given us the Church. God doesn’t need it. I hope you know that. God doesn’t need you. He doesn’t need me. We desperately need Him. He provided all of this for us, not for Himself (but for us), that we might be taught, and that we might grow and mature in the Christian faith. We will grow more in Christ if we avail ourselves of those special times when we really study the meat of God’s Word, e.g., Sunday night services, in-depth Bible studies, and on-line courses in the Word.

God wants us to progress in His Word. Then we will be “like a tree planted by the waters,” as described so well in Psalm 1. Our roots will grow deep. The vicissitudes of life will not upset us.

Lord, give me strength for today to spend time hiding Your Word in my heart. I praise You that You are the one who sanctifies me. Thank You that I’m not in charge of my own sanctification. Help me daily to seek You and study Your Word…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND BY HIS SPIRIT,
WE ARE SANCTIFIED.