Who are You, O Lord?

Reading: Matt. 8:27, Mark 4:41 NKJ  

Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt

In yesterday's reading in Luke 5, we saw the change in Peter after they caught the boat loads of fish. He suddenly realized that Jesus was not an ordinary man sitting in his boat. In the next verses we'll see His men overcome with awe in Him once again.

"Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing! But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, and they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, 'Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obeys Him?'" Matt. 8:27, Mark 4:41 NKJ 

Just look at Jesus here... so at rest in the will of God, that He could sleep in a great tempest. At this point, the disciples knew a little more of who He was, because they woke Him up to save them. But still, what they witnessed just blew them away, even more than the wind in the tempest. He arose and rebuked the wind and the enormous waves and instantly... instantly there was a great calm... a calm so great that even the sea obeyed Him!!! Such authority, such power, such majesty... such is Jesus Christ! He has authority over all the natural elements because He created them and set them in motion. Who has that kind of authority, except the maker of the elements?

Over the weekend, I listened to an excellent message by Andrew Strom titled Total Victory Over Sin... the message is about having a Clean Heart, a clear conscience before God, much like Adam before he sinned. This can only be through Christ living in and through us. In this message,  Andrew speaks of John Wesley, one of the great preachers of "The Great Awakening". John Wesley came to America as a missionary and yet was unsaved himself. He just didn't know it. He was an Anglican minister and was a complete failure at this point. In the ship on the way home there were storms. There were people on the ship called Moravians. They were not afraid of the storms... they were true Christians. Wesley said of this experience: "I went to America to save the Indians and the Americans, but 'who, O God is going to save me?" When he got back, he spoke to Peter Boehler, a Moravian who began talking about a Clean Heart Experience. Wesley at this point had never heard of such a thing. He thought you just keep repenting, trying to get right before God... what kind of faith is that? Faith in John Wesley? I can never be perfect. There is only one who can be perfect in me... Jesus Christ. To hear this message click Total Victory Over Sin and scroll down to the video called A Controversial Message.

Our own conversion and transformation in the inner person of the heart can only occur through realizing the glory of God in contrast to our own poverty before Him. Then through deep repentance, faith in power of the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all our sins, we may receive justification, a clean heart and a clear conscience with Christ dwelling in us. Jesus is a faithful high priest who has entered heaven. Because of Him, if we are covered by His righteous robes we may openly come before God.

"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. 

There we will receive His mercy, 
and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." 

Hebrews 4:16 NLT