Feeding a Hungry Soul: The Promise, Presence and Power of Jesus

Last night our church was blessed with a message from the pulpit by Pastor Fred Luter of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans. His message was one of personal experience, having lived through hurricane Katrina.

He spoke from this passage:

And the same day, when the evening was come, Jesus saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Mark 4:35-41 (KJV)

And so, he shared what he learned as he experienced that great storm of New Orleans and watched his church be destroyed, his flock scattered across the country, (many never to come back), his home and the homes of his flock destroyed as well as seeing the people of New Orleans suffer and die in the wake of the storm. He shared how his faith was shaken but God sent him to this passage. From this passage, God reminded him not to focus on the storm and the affects of the storm, but to focus on this one question:

What to do when the storm comes?

1. Remember the Promises of Jesus.

Upon entering the ship, Jesus told the men "let's go to the other side", and then fell asleep. When the storm came, the men forgot that Jesus promised them they would go to the other side. After He calmed the storm and the sea, he rebuked them for not having faith...for not remember the promises He had made. So too, when the storms overtake our lives, we are not to focus on our fear, but focus on our faith. Focus on the promises God has made to each of us. Promises we can find throughout His word.

2. Remember the Presense of Jesus.

Just as Jesus was in the ship riding out the storm with the men, as a Christian, we too have the presence of Jesus. He is in the storm with us. Whether your storm is one of relationships falling apart, marriages in distress, financial disaster, wayward children, lost jobs, or any other storm you could be caught up in, remember Jesus is there with you.

3. Remember the Power of Jesus.

Just as the men of the ship cried out to Jesus for help, we too must remember to cry out to God in the name of Jesus. In prayer, there is great power. We have chatted about this in a past post that you may want to revisit, but never forget that we have the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God.

Pastor Luter reminded us that we are all either in a storm, coming out of a storm or about to go into a storm at any time in our lives. So this is a good word for us all.

What storm are you in, coming out of or about to enter?