Our story of two storms from Luke 8:22-39 gives us insight into how to deal with our storms of life. It is easy to think that God has left us on our own in adverse times. But that is not true. The early church applied these stories to the persecution they faced, first from the …
The story of Jesus healing the demonic from the Garasenes shows that society can’t fix spiritual problems. Oh, they had tried. Luke 8: 29This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness.[1] …
Jesus’ authority over the demonic is demonstrated multiple times in the Gospels. As Jesus arrived in the region of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee by boat, a demon-possessed man confronted Him. For a long time, this man had lived among the tombs and was homeless and naked. Although many people did not recognize …
What is the character of satan compared to God? There is a comparison between the character of Jesus and satan in Scripture. John 10:10 The thief’s (satan) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. [1] Since satan rebelled, there has been an ongoing battle …
Jesus walks on what we fear. This gives us perspective as we encounter the trials of life. What do you fear? You may be afraid of death. Revelation 1:18I (Jesus) am the living one. I died but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. [1] Children …
Jesus protects us in the storms of life. We may not think about this until a trial is upon us. When we think of the storms of life, we immediately think of physical protection and forget about spiritual protection. We live in a sinful world, and people are injured or killed in storms of life …
Storms of life refine us like sanding a rough surface smoothes it. Storms allow God to transform us into different types of people. When I was a teenager, our family doctor was a young man who struggled to empathize with his patients. Then he experienced a personal health crisis that almost took his life. After …
Trusting God when life is difficult is something we can’t do independently. Some people may have a close relationship with the Lord and cry out immediately with a trusting heart. On the other hand, that may not be true for others. When people hit bottom during difficult times, they finally turn to God. A friend …
There are times when God seems unaware of our problems. Our enemy, satan, loves to whisper this in our ears to discourage us and make us think God does not care. Satan is the master of putting doubt in our minds to break down our relationship with God. I believe, if we are honest, there …
Walking by faith stretches you because you don’t know what is ahead and must trust the Lord. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We live by faith, not by sight.”[1] As people, this isn’t easy because we want to know where we are going and what is around the next bend. Learning to let go …