A Word about Defeating Disease on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about defeating disease on the road to Cross as I comment on John 9. Let’s begin with verses 1-7:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

 Introduction:

We all get sick, and in many ways, it is amazing that we aren’t ill more often.  For example:

Little Johnny sat playing in the garden. When his mother came out to collect him, she saw that he was slowly eating a worm. She turned pale.  "No, Johnny! Stop! That's horrible! You can't eat worms!" 

 

Trying to convince him further she noted, "Now the mother worm is looking all over for her nice baby worm."  "No, she isn't," said Johnny. "How do you know she's not?" said the mother. "Because I ate her first!" answered Little Johnny. 

Of course, after we do get sick, we rely on doctors and nurses and other medical professionals to help us get well.  On the other hand, these good folks are only people, too.  Here are some actual sentences found in patients' hospital charts:

 

• Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
• On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
• The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
• Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
• The patient refused autopsy.
• She is numb from her toes down. 
• The skin was moist and dry.
• Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.
• Patient was alert and unresponsive.
• Skin: somewhat pale but present.
• Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Blank, who felt we should sit on the abdomen, and I agree.
• Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

 

We do fall ill, and we do know that while doctors treat us, there is only one true source of healing.  That source is the Great Physician, the one who defeated disease on the road to the Cross, who we see today in John 9.

 

The Will to Heal:

 

Many have questioned why illness happens. They ask questions like, “If God is good why does pain exist?” Or “When you get sick is God getting even with you?” And “Why does God allow diseases like cancer to exist?”  Even “Why doesn’t God heal?” This is a serious issue, and it has existed from the beginning.

 

Some would answer these questions in ways that are not true to Scripture, such as, “God doesn’t care, or God is evil.” Others, like those who hold to a theology of Deism, believe that God simply does not engage with the world.

 

We must remember that Jesus did not come to be a doctor. He came to save us from our sins by redeeming a lost and dying world and to defeat death and hell. All through His ministry the Gospel was His focus. In fact, the Scriptures reveal that Jesus would eventually leave those places where the people only wanted Him to do physical miracles, because He had more important work to perform and a much greater blessing to offer people. He wanted to offerr a blessing that wasn’t ephemeral, but eternal.

 

Jesus, however, is God and He loves us, and He wants to bless us. He wants to give us abundant life and give us all good things. Therefore, He was willing to heal, and He did so regularly. He never withheld healing when it was sought.

 

Let’s continue by reading verses 8-12:

 

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

The Ability to Heal:

 

Having the willingness to heal is not the same as having the ability to heal. Many people think that God can’t act. They say He is too weak to prevent death and disease. This means that God is good, but hapless, which would be comparing God to Barney Fife! Jesus is no Barney Fife!  

 

From other passages in the Bible, we know that He resisted temptation and brushed off Satan’s best shot. He stilled the wind and waves, and He delivered the demoniac from his demons. He did many other things that we haven’t considered yet, as John 21:25 tells us, 

 

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

 

Of course, Jesus could heal! He healed this man. He healed the woman with the issue of blood.  He healed the Centurion’s servant. He healed the ear of the High Priest’s servant in Gethsemane.

When you have done it, why do you have to prove you can do it?  

This is like the teacher who was asked why she hadn’t taken a particular standardized test for educators.  Her reply was, “I’m a certified teacher who has been teaching for over a decade. Why do I need to take a test to prove that I can do what I do every day that school is in session?”

 

The fact the Jesus could heal should not surprise us, but neither is the fact that His acts were misunderstood. We can see that in verses 13-17:

 

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.  So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

 

They continued to berate the man in verses 28-34:

 

And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

 

The Misunderstanding of Healing:

 

Some of us have gained the wrong idea about disease, thinking that disease or disaster is always the direct result of sin. I once knew a man who thought God was punishing him for his sin after his child became ill. This is not true to the Biblical record. We are all held accountable for our own sin, not someone else’s sin.

 

And, yes, harmful health habits can lead to disease, but this does not explain all cases, like the young girl I knew who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

 

While we usually cannot trace individual diseases or other such tragedies to personal actions or sins, disease did come into the world via human sin. The world was created perfectly to continue in perfection, without disease or death. After Adam and Eve sinned, the world was changed, and after sin came into the world, so did death and disease. If a building’s foundation is damaged, it will eventually fall, and likewise is the effect of human sin on our lives and health.

 

The subject of divine healing has also generated significant misunderstanding as well. Some think it doesn’t happen ever, while some think that it should always happen. There was a great deal of misunderstanding going on in this event as well so, as we close, let’s see how Jesus viewed healing from verses 35-41,

 

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?  He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

 

The Depth of Healing:

 

Jesus had more important concerns than physical disease. He was more concerned with eternal health than physical health. He was more concerned with spiritual health than physical health.  He also was more concerned with the global root cause of disease than the symptoms experienced by individuals.

 

So often in life we don’t see the forest for the trees. When we are in pain, we naturally focus on the here and now. Jesus was not limited in the way that we are, and He could see the eternal future. In Mark 8:36, He explained,

 

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

 

Though He proved to be willing and capable of physical healing, Jesus came to give us eternal health. The key to this eternal health offered by Jesus is to know and trust the Great Physician. If we believe in the Son of God, He will open our spiritual eyes. He will help us to escape the judgment, and we will be spiritually well forever!

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Jesus defeated disease on the road to the Cross. He can, and He does, heal your body, but more importantly, He can, and He will, heal your soul.  Turn to Him and you will be made well, well for eternity.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

 

A Word about Maintaining Balance on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about maintaining balance on the road to the Cross as I comment on Matthew 6:9-13. This passage reads,

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Introduction:

It is always hard for people to keep their lives balanced. When we get out of balance, some disastrous things can happen. Let me illustrate that with an example of something I used to experience almost every working day of my life.

The offices of the association of churches that I served in Alabama are located across the road from, and almost even with the end of the runway of, the local airport. Airplanes and helicopters fly in and out of the airport every day that the weather allows, and they are usually quite loud. The traffic pattern for one type of Army helicopter that used that airfield brought the departing aircraft directly overhead of our offices at a low level, which made them hard to ignore.

Like what often happens with people who live near railroad tracks, I had gotten so accustomed to the sound that I really didn’t hear it anymore, until my wife came to the office one day to help me with a project. She asked, “Is it always this loud?” I replied, ruefully, “Yep! Every working day of the year!”

Airplanes of all shapes and sizes land at that airport, but there is one thing that they all have in common: they all have two wings. Balance is a vital factor for aviators, because an airplane that is not in balance from side to side and from front to back will crash. Like I mentioned when we saw Christ controlling creation, the laws of physics are immutable for humans, and the recent crash of an airliner illustrates that point. 

When that airplane touched down on the runway, the right landing gear buckled, and that wing hit the ground, and it was torn from the fuselage. The left wing stayed attached, and it continued to give lift, which caused the airplane to flip over on to its back. Blessedly, there were no fatalities, but it was a very near thing to a massive disaster. All of this was caused by the airplane becoming aerodynamically unbalanced.

The same is true for our spiritual lives and our ministries as well. We must find the right balance. For example, we are reminded often that we must balance outreach and evangelism with discipleship and sanctification. This is true, even if it is hard to do. In the past I believe we have over-emphasized getting people baptized, while at the present time I fear we are over-emphasizing “going deep in our spiritual lives.” We humans are frail and limited, and like Goldilocks, we find it hard to get it “just right.”

Jesus, being God, kept everything in balance as He travelled the road to the Cross, and as He taught His followers to pray, that balance is clearly demonstrated in our focal passage for today.

Balance is Seen in God’s Personality:

In a Roman arch, all the stones are held in place by the keystone at the top. Without it, the other stones have no adhesion, and they fall apart. The keystone, to put it simply is the key, and without it Roman arches aren’t!

In our world, everything is held in place by God. Without God our world falls apart because God is what holds it together. God is the key element in our world, and because He is, our world is.

Since God is the key personality in our world, and since God is the key element in all that exists, we must understand Him. If we get His personality wrong, and if we misunderstand who He is, then we get everything else wrong as well.  f we start from the wrong place with God, we will end at the wrong place with God.

A saying in the US Army is, “The most dangerous thing in the Army is a 2nd Lieutenant with a map and compass.” Once, in training, I proved that to be the case. One question on a practical skills test was to identify the height of a hill at a grid coordinate on a topographical map. I plotted the point wrong, and so I got the question wrong. You can’t give the correct answer when you are in the wrong place!

As Jesus taught His followers to pray, they were reminded that God is our Father. In this case, Jesus was using anthropomorphic language, and so we must remember that God is greater and more loving than any human father that has ever lived. 

James 1:17 reminds us that,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

And Paul, in Galatians 4:4-7 encourages us to approach God in confidence, saying,

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Our God is the Father who closed the door on the Ark with His own hand. At the same time, we must remember that our God is also our Lord. When Peter was preaching on Pentecost he said, 

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)

In 1 Corinthians 15:27-28, Paul also taught the church at Corinth that,

For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.  When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. 

To be Lord means to be in charge. It means to be respected, and it means to be venerated. This means that Jesus had the right to tell us in John 14:15,

If you love me, keep my commandments.

This also means that Jesus and God deserve our worship. As Paul taught in Romans 11:33-36,

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

So how does God balance being Father and Lord at the same time? If it was easy, anyone could do it, but it isn’t. It is impossible for us, but God and God alone can be Father and Lord at the same time. We must keep this balance in mind as we worship and serve Him!

Balance is Seen in God’s Purpose:

Even if we can maintain a balance in our understanding of the personality of God, we often lose that balance when we think of God’s purpose in heaven and on earth. We know that, according to the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, a great gulf is fixed between heaven and earth. The people on one side of that boundary exist separately from the people on the other side of it. But is there any difference in God’s purpose or in His will from one side to the other? This is an important issue, and it is one in which people struggle to find balance.

Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. The medieval theologians that debated the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin are one example of this statement. Another example would be the people who spiritualize every issue and every problem. Sometimes a flat tire on a car or a broken toilet don’t have a deeper spiritual meaning.

When my wife and I were serving with the International Mission Board in Europe, another colleague and I had to travel to France by rail to attend an important conference. Multiple delays occurred during our trip, not the least of which were those caused by labor unrest and strikes among French railroad workers. We arrived late, and we missed the van that took most of our fellow attenders to the meeting site. My colleague and I had to negotiate the Paris Metro, which is tough when you don’t speak or read French! 

When we finally arrived, I turned to my friend and said, “I guess the Devil didn’t want us to attend this meeting.” To which he replied, “No, Otis, I think that all that happened to us today was just a sign that we live in a broken and dying world which needs the saving touch of God.” To be honest, I think my colleague was right. Sometimes a bad day is just a bad day!

On the other hand, some people are simply hell-bent. They aren’t trying to avoid eternal damnation, but instead, they seem to work overtime in trying to dig themselves a fiery pit. John Newton was one such person.

Before John Newton, the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace, found Jesus, he was one of the most profane men on earth. He was a sailor on a slave ship, and he was such a vile person that, when the ship reached Africa, his own shipmates sold him into slavery! Newton’s language and deportment had to be extremely bad for the sailors of that era to plot to get rid of him. He must have counted himself blessed that they didn’t throw him overboard.

A third group of people think that what they do in their bodies doesn’t impact their spiritual lives. After all, don’t we believe that once we are saved, we are always saved? Those who have this attitude ignore what the Scriptures say, as for example, in 1 Peter 4:1-7,

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

God’s purpose is the same on earth as it is in heaven.  God’s will is the same on earth as it is in heaven, God’s standards are the same on earth as they are in heaven. Who can keep these in balance? Only those whom God assists!

Balance is Seen in God’s Provision:

We often say that the only two certainties of life are death and taxes, but this overlooks several facts, not the least of which is that God blesses us. God created this world and places us in it so we can enjoy it. Our current bodies are designed for this world, and while human sin has marred God’s perfect creation, it is still a blessing to us. 

Jesus also told us that an important part of His ministry is to bless us. In John 10:10 He proclaimed that, 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

In our cynicism, we overlook God’s blessings in our lives, but Jesus taught us to pray in a way that reminds us of that fact. Another fact we overlook is that God expects us to bless others. This was inherent in God’s covenant with Abraham and that expectation continues until today.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandments in the law were, He replied,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37b-40)

I am a Baptist, and one of our major doctrines is the autonomy of the local church. Each Baptist church is self-governing under the Lordship of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I agree with this position, but I also know that sometimes we Baptists turn inward, becoming insular and isolationist, and that we forget our broader responsibilities to the world.

Often, I see Baptists who seem to think, “As long as everything is going well in our church, then all is right with the world.” Truth be told, we can substitute many different terms for “church” in that statement above, including, “life,” “family,” “school,” “job,” “community,” or even “hobby,”

Our God, however, has a perspective much broader than our own. He is Sovereign over everything, and He has a fatherly concern for all Creation, and for all peoples. While we often have blinders on, God sees everything, and He cares about everything and everyone. Because Jesus is our Lord, good stewardship of our lives and our testimonies for Him dictate that if God cares about something, or someone, we also need to care about them as well.

Jesus’s teaching about prayer showed us the need for balance in our understanding of God’s personality, God’s purpose, and God’s provision. 

Next, we find that we need to seek balance in God’s protection.

Balance is Seen in God’s Protection:

This world is a dangerous place. The year that my wife and I moved to New Orleans to attend seminary, that city was experiencing a wave of criminal violence. At one point a murder a day was being committed there. After we arrived there, we learned that there had even been a suspicious death on campus a few years before. Some of my fellow students had moved there from very rural areas, and they were very frightened by such news. Frankly, however, I never felt like I was in danger during our time there.

Although New Orleans clearly had a crime problem, news reports revealed that most of the violence was occurring among people who were involved in a criminal lifestyle. Almost all the rest stemmed from relationships that had gone wrong. Although it was never proven, the on-campus death probably fell into that latter category. So, since my wife and I were not criminals, and since we had been taught by our home church about how to develop a strong marital relationship, we were never in any real danger. 

As Jesus taught us to pray, He reminded us that God leads us in the paths of righteousness. If we ask Him how to live our lives to the fullest and the best, He is eager to tell us. This was true under the Old Covenant, and it is true under the New Covenant as well.

In Psalm 23 we clearly see God leading us into righteousness, and thus into a secure and abundant life:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Likewise, James 1:5 and James 3:17-18 say,

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him . . . But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

So, God leads us with His wisdom, and when we follow it, we are blessed with protection. But what happens when we don’t follow His direction? Well, as a fictional but famous Alabamian, Forest Gump, said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”  When we color outside the lines, we pay the price, and we suffer the consequences. What does God do then? Does He abandon us?

No! Never! As we see time and time again in the Scriptures, God hates our sin, but He loves us! When we repent and turn to Him, God rescues us from our recklessness. 

By far, the best approach to avoid trouble is like something my father often said, “If you had done it the way I told you to do it in the first place you wouldn’t have had a problem.” Of course, my father, like God, would also help me out of the problems that I caused myself!

We’ve seen that balance involves knowing what things to do and what things to avoid. What about knowing what things to prioritize?

Balance is Seen in God’s Priorities:

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others, has been quoted as advocating that we should “do all things in moderation.” However, balance is not the equivalent of doing all things in moderation, and in fact, what Emerson said was, "moderation in all things, especially moderation.” In other words, as Ecclesiastes 3 tells us,

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

We have noted before that Jesus came to seek and save the spiritually lost, but because He was God, He was also powerful and compassionate. The Gospels are replete with examples of Jesus healing the sick, making the lame to walk, and making the blind to see. This was particularly true when He ministered in Galilee, but this happened in other places as well.

Sometimes, however, we find Jesus withdrawing from the crowds, as in Matthew 12:12-16,

While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Jesus did not do all the same things all the time, but He did what was necessary to fulfill His ministry. He always followed God’s priorities for Him. Clearly, we, like Jesus, must follow the guidance of our Father in Heaven, and that is shown by the two halves of the prayer that Jesus taught the people. 

The first half, and the one which has the priority, instructs us to honor God, to worship Him, and to obey Him. The second half, which is about our earthly lives, is essential, but it is built upon the first. And, in case this fact was not apparent to people, Jesus went on to declare in Matthew 6:33,

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

So, instead of doing all things in moderation, we need to seek God’s face and ask Him what His priorities for us are. God wants us to jump in with both feet about some things, but, conversely, there are other things which He wants us to avoid like the plague. So, we stay in balance by knowing God’s priorities in our lives and pursuing them with all our heart. 

Conclusion:

This prayer is called the Lord’s Prayer, but it really isn’t that. Jesus was already managing all these issues expertly and perfectly. He didn’t need to pray this prayer, but His followers did. He didn’t need help in staying in spiritual balance, but the people around Him did. These facts are as true for us today, as they were for those who were with Jesus as He walked the road to the Cross.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Spiritual Warfare on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about spiritual warfare on the road to the cross as I comment on Mark 5. Let’s begin by reading Mark 5:1-5. 

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Introduction:

Sometimes we lose what pilots call situational awareness.  That is, we just forget the situation we are in and lose sight of reality.  That was the way it was for a man who owned five dogs, and who had installed an “invisible fence” to keep them in his yard.  

An invisible fence is a wire buried in the ground around the boundaries of a property.  This wire emits a signal that can be received by a collar worn by a dog.  When the dog crosses the wire, it receives a painful shock. Following the principles of pavlovian conditioning, the dog is taught to stay at home and not to wander.

This invisible fence proved very effective, except when the man lost situational awareness.  Once when he was taking his dogs to the vet, he forgot to turn the fence off before he backed out of his driveway.  The dogs found that to be a shocking experience!

They say, “what goes around comes around,” and so it proved for this dog owner the next time he lost situational awareness.  He had a dog groomer to come to his house to groom his five dogs.  To do this the man had to take the shock collars off the dogs, and while he was holding them in his hand, he thought he’d go check his mailbox. The five shock collars activated the second he crossed the wire and reminded him of his mistake!

We, too, make a mistake when we forget that we are at war. I’m not referring to the war on terrorism or in Iraq. There has been a war raging since before time began. It is a spiritual war.  As Paul said in Ephesians 6:10-13:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

When we discussed how Christ controlled creation on the road to the cross, we observed that humans struggle to overcome even natural challenges, and therefore it is obvious that we are unequipped to fight in the supernatural realm. We are blessed, however, to know someone who not only can fight supernatural battles, but who also can win them, every time!

A Fearsome Spirit:

In the beginning of Mark 5, Jesus and His disciples were confronted by a fearsome spirit. This man was being used of Satan to strike fear in the hearts of people. People are afraid of Satan’s power as a supernatural being, and we are also afraid of his evil nature. Because we can’t see him, we are all the more afraid of him.

Truth be told, much of this fear is unnecessary for Christians. We regularly confuse fact with fiction. We have been conditioned by Hollywood horror productions. We have been deceived by hyped stories of Satan worship. Most of these tales are false and misleading.

At the same time, we should not discount Satan’s existence. He does exist, and he is evil and powerful. We ignore that reality at our own risk, and neither should we make light of evil, the way people do during Halloween and other cultural events which seem to celebrate evil. 

If we look at the subject of this story, we’ll see Satan at work. Satan had totally destroyed this man’s life! His existence was a living hell!

A Freeing Spirit:

Let’s continue by reading verses 6-13:

And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

What happened when the man saw Jesus? He immediately ran to Jesus and worshipped him, and he begged Jesus for help. This is an object lesson for us as well. When we are tempted or oppressed by the Devil, we should do the same!

Jesus, of course, knew exactly with whom He was dealing. The spiritual world is not hidden to Jesus. Satan has opposed God to His face on many occasions, and Jesus Himself had recently been confronted by Satan. The demons also knew who Jesus was, and they reacted with fear. But, how did Jesus react to this confrontation? Jesus acted to free the man from this horrendous situation:

• Satan oppressed him.
• Jesus released him.
• Jesus prevented the spirits from going into another person.
• The man ended up dressed and in his right mind.

This was a complete job! No plea bargain was accepted! The guilty were prevented from hurting anyone else and a complete restoration of the man was realized. In this way, Jesus showed His complete mastery over the demons and spiritual forces of evil!

A Fearful Spirit:

As we read in verses 14-17, this dynamic event caused a mixture of reactions:

The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

No one who meets with Jesus goes away unchanged. The townspeople reacted one way. The former demoniac reacted in an entirely different manner.

The townspeople reacted with a fearful spirit. They seemed to believe in the saying, “Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.” They did not know this Jesus and they rejected His power because of their fear. They would rather have the devil that they knew.

Even today, people are afraid of the power of Jesus in their lives:

• They are afraid to attend church because they might be challenged by God’s Word.
• They are afraid to release control of their lives to Jesus. 
• They are afraid to take risks on the behalf of God. 
• They give Jesus their broken lives to mend, but then they try to snatch then back.

Contrast that spirit of fear, with the new spirit possessed by the man who was formerly possessed by demons.

A Follower’s Spirit:

As mentioned before no one who meets with Jesus goes away unchanged. Finally, let’s see how the newly redeemed man’s spirit was transformed:

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.  And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

The Bible tells us of many people whose lives were transformed by meeting Christ. This man was released from demons. Others were released from physical illness. Lazarus was released from death. Many, many others have been released from sin.

When our lives are changed by Christ, how should we respond? Our best response is gratefulness! We should be grateful about what Jesus has done for us. Sometimes this does not happen; Jesus once healed ten lepers but only one returned to Him, but it always should happen.

Although we can’t ever repay Jesus, we should be grateful to Him, and the best way to show that we are grateful is to follow Him. This is exactly what the former demoniac did, and this story ends with an example of what happens when we develop a follower’s spirit. People hear about Jesus and the power of God impacts people’s lives. People’s lives are changed, and abundant life in Christ happens!

Conclusion:

When Jesus sent out the twelve and then the seventy, they came back to Him proclaiming that “Even the demons were subject to us!” Because they followed Him and ministered in His Name, they saw first-hand that Jesus was the victor in spiritual warfare on the road to the Cross. He still is today.

If you are beset by spiritual oppression you can turn to Him and He will release you! Then, when you are released by the power of God, then you have the privilege and responsibility to help others be released.

Have you experienced the spiritual power of Jesus?  If not, you can today, if you will seek it!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Teaching on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about teaching on the road to the cross as I comment on Mark 4. Let’s begin by reading verses 1-9. 

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Introduction:

My wife is a retired educator, and she disagrees with the idea that teaching is an easy profession. She strongly disagrees with the saying, “Those who can do, and those who can’t teach.”  That, as anyone who has ever taught knows, is a false statement.  Teaching isn’t all that easy.  Let me give you a couple of examples:

In every introductory psychology course in college, the students must participate in a laboratory experience where they train a white rat. In my school, we had to train the rat to react to a light by pressing a lever to get a treat.  You would think that training a dumb beast like a rat would be easy for intelligent humans, but that isn’t always the case. Every semester someone, often several students, trained the rat to grab the light instead of pressing the lever.  It isn’t all that easy to be a teacher.

Besides being a hard task, a teacher must be sure to teach the right things.  We often say that “practice makes perfect,” but in truth, “practice makes permanent.”  If you teach the wrong things, you will cause major problems for the students!  For example: A child’s aunt was trying to encourage the boy to learn his times tables. She told him, “You need to just rattle the answers off like snapping your fingers.  Like, you should be able to spit out 8 times 8 equals 72!”

If you didn’t understand that last part, remedial classes will be available soon!

It is not easy to be a teacher, but as we continue walk with Jesus on the road to the Cross, we will find that one of those things that He did well was to teach.  Today we will see Him demonstrating this craft, so we need to watch Him and learn. Let’s begin by looking at the ministry of the Teacher.

 The Ministry of the Teacher:

Jesus spent much of His ministry teaching, so much so that, in fact, He was often called “Rabbi,” which literally means, “teacher.” He taught from the beginning of His ministry until the end, and He took every opportunity He had to teach. Jesus taught in many different situations:

Jesus taught in the synagogue, among religious Jews.

• He taught as He walked and lived day by day with His disciples.
• He taught large crowds who came to see Him.
• He taught people in their homes at meals.
• He taught in the temple, and the scholars were amazed.
• He taught sinners as He showed them God’s love.
• He taught as He healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind.

He has now passed on the ministry of teaching to us. The Great Commission instructed us to make disciples and to do that, we must teach them all that we ourselves have been taught. 

We are blessed that the Holy Spirit has given the gift of teaching to certain people, and those who have it must use it, but all of us are teachers, either intentionally in a class or with some we are mentoring, or organically, by the way we live our lives. Remember, Jesus told us in Acts 1:8 that we will be His witnesses, whether we choose to be or not!

As we teach, others learn about the love of God, and we learn more and more ourselves. In fact, the best way to learn is to teach.  The teacher always learns more than the students.

Next, let’s see the methods of the Teacher.

The Methods of the Teacher:

Mark 4:10-13 tells us:

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Different people learn through different techniques. Some people are visual learners, while others learn through hearing. Some are tactile learners, and almost everyone learns through doing. In His ministry, Jesus used the full range of teaching techniques.

He taught didactically, like in the Sermon on the Mount. He taught by example, like when He healed the paralytic. He taught through experience, by sending out His followers to do ministry two by two. Much of His teaching, however, was through parables.

The basic structure of most sermons includes exposition, explanation, illustration, and application, but a parable is an illustrated sermon. It is not a sermon illustration, but an illustrated sermon. We remember stories when we don’t remember the sermon, so a parable uses a story to teach a truth.

I remember very clearly the time my pastor was preaching a sermon and wound up a rift about the consequences of sin by proclaiming, “Be careful, for your sins will find you out, just like how God drowned the Israelites in the Red Sea!” For the record, it was the Egyptians who drowned in the Red Sea, but I will never forget what my pastor said that day about the consequences of sin, even though I don’t remember the rest of his message!

A less frivolous lesson was taught in the fabled “Footprints in the Sand” poem by Mary Stevenson. Many people have learned about God’s care and concern for them through that short, but powerful parable in the form of a poem.

For Jesus, there was a method to this perceived madness. Some people were not ready to hear the truth. and others were actively working against the truth. Using parables was the way that Jesus could teach them best. 

His method is an example to all of us as we teach God’s truth. For example, missionaries in a country which was closed to the Gospel learned to use the technique of Chronological Bible Storying in their missionary efforts. They were able to continue to teach after the local authorities were informed of their presence. These government officials did not feel threatened because, “They are just telling stories.”

Next, let’s see the message of the Teacher.

The Message of the Teacher: 

Mark 4:14-20 tells us:

The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Jesus did many things in His ministry: He fed people and turned water into wine. He healed people and he revived the dead. He radically opposed the powers that oversaw Israel. He ate with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus did many things in His ministry, but He had one purpose, to “seek and save that which was lost” through spreading the Gospel message.

Churches and Christians also do many things in our ministry: Some churches are like a kicked-over ant hill, and we have devised all kinds of programs from sports to scrap-booking. Activity for its own sake is not ministry, however. Believers must focus what they do in the way Jesus did. Sadly, purpose, vision, mission, are often all missing. 

The lesson we must learn from the parable is to focus on teaching the Gospel. This is what Jesus did, and it was what Paul did in his ministry as well as told the church at Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul also taught,

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.

Therefore, as Paul taught us, we should imitate him as he imitated Jesus. As we do, we must be careful about what we are teaching. Are we teaching the little lab rat to grab the light? Or are we teaching it to press the lever and get food?

What I mean by that is, are we teaching lost people that we are nice people and that they should love us? Or are we teaching lost people that we are harsh, judgmental people whom they should avoid? 

Remember, people can misunderstand our mission. Our teaching must find a way you focus on God, not us. That means, if we aren’t teaching the Gospel, then all we are doing is just making noise and wasting time!

Finally, we see the majesty of the Teacher.

The Majesty of the Teacher: 

Mark 4:21-29 says:

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Teaching is hard, unheralded work. Few teachers accrue any fame or glory. In fact, the glory in teaching is seeing the lives of your students changed. Teachers want to see that they are having an impact. They want to see growth occur. They want to see their students be able to do what they couldn’t do before.

Jesus wanted to see lives transformed by the Gospel, and He still does. He wants our lives to shine out lamps. He wants our lives to be open books for God. He wants us to be growing daily in the Gospel.

Are we instruments of transformation in our home? In our workplaces? In our churches? In our communities? If not, we should be and we should do this by teaching the Gospel because when the Gospel changes lives, it is a glorious thing! Paul described this effect in Philippians 4:1 saying 

“Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”

Conclusion:

Jesus is the Master Teacher, but have we been diligent students? 

We need to dedicate ourselves to learning from Him, and if we do, we will have the abundant life He has promised!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about Controlling Creation on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about controlling creation on the road to the cross as I comment on Luke 5 and Matthew 8 and 14. Let’s begin by reading Luke 5:1-11. 

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Introduction:

Today, we will go sailing. We’re going to spend some time in boats today, and small boats at that.  As with many subjects, boats can cause people to have some strong emotions.  For example:

A man put an ad in an online dating site to try to meet a new girlfriend.  The ad said, “Looking for adventurous, out-doors oriented lady with boat and motor.  Send photo of boat and motor.” Of course, from the opposite perspective, one wife’s definition of a boat is “a hole in the water into which you pour money.”

All joking aside, one emotion that boats can cause is fear. This fear does not come from the boat itself, but from the way sailing is so dominated by the weather.  Even a minor storm can seem big in a small boat, and even the biggest ships are vulnerable to the overwhelming forces of nature. 

When the Great Lakes ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in 1958 it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, and it remained so until 1971.  She weighed 13,632 tons empty and was 729 feet long.  Called “Big Fitz,” she regularly carried twice her own weight of iron ore to steel mills in the US.  She was so big and powerful she seemed to shrug off the forces of nature, that is, until November 1975. On the 9th day of that month, while bound for Detroit, MI with 26,000 tons of iron, Edmund Fitzgerald was overcome by a winter storm and disappeared with the loss of all 29 crew members.

If anyone has any doubts about the power of nature, they should go to the Mississippi gulf shore.  At the sea front they have a pole on which they have marked the height of the storm surge of the many large hurricanes that have come ashore there.  I had always heard about Hurricane Camille, and I was disappointed that the storm surge for that hurricane wasn’t marked, but I was wrong. Up near the top of the pole I finally spotted a mark that showed a wave of nearly thirty feet in height had crashed ashore there during that terrible storm.

The forces of nature are far beyond we mere mortals, but we will see today that they don’t even compare to the powers of Christ as He demonstrated the control of creation on the road to the Cross.

On the Road to the Cross Christ Controlled Creatures:

In our passage from Luke 5, we see Jesus as the Master of Creatures. 

No one likes it when people butt into their business. As the old saying goes, “Those of you who think they know it all really irritate those of us who do!” The truth is that some people think they know more than the experts. Just as often, these folks act on their “knowledge.” Usually when they do, disaster strikes. 

An example of this is a police department which took it upon themselves to install a temporary traffic light at an intersection without properly consulting traffic engineers. A fatal traffic accident was the result.

Jesus should not have known about fishing. Jesus was a trained carpenter and a religious teacher. This kind of fishing was not done by just anyone.

These fishermen were highly skilled and had long training. Catching fish with a net isn’t easy; it is an industrial process. Yet, Jesus did know more about these creatures than these expert fishermen did.

Jesus could control creatures because He is the Creator as we read in John 1:1-4:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Because Jesus is the Creator, we need to honor His knowledge.  We need to follow His instructions to have dominion over His world and to be good stewards of His world. If we violate His guidance we risk losing out on His abundance.

Next, let’s see how Christ controlled storms on the road to the Cross.

On the Road to the Cross Christ Controlled Storms:

Let’s continue by reading Matthew 8:23-27:

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

In this passage we find our expert mariners and our supposedly landlubber carpenter on the Sea of Galilee, which was actually a very large lake. It was a lake, but that didn’t make it less dangerous. 

The terrain surrounding the Sea of Galilee is such that a funnel effect is created that causes very strong winds that can create severe storms, like the one which sank the Edmund Fitzgerald on another large lake. Though the dangers were real, the Sea of Galilee was key element in the economy and culture of northern Israel.  Without the Sea, it would not have been the same place.

The Sea of Galilee was a major transportation route, and Jesus and His disciples had sailed upon it to reach the other side, where Jesus had an appointment to meet with the Gadarene Demoniac, though the disciples did not know that yet. 

While on the way, a typical storm of great violence descended upon them. The disciples, who knew boats and the lake, were deathly afraid. Jesus, of course, was sleeping. Do you think Jesus didn’t know what was happening? Of course, He did, but He was not worried because He is the Creator of weather. 

When He was awakened, Jesus rebuked the Disciples for their fear. He then rebuked the wind and waves, and calm came over the sea. The disciples marveled the same way we marvel at a magician, but then being surprised by how simple the solution was, after it has been revealed to us.

In our next passage, we see Christ controlling physics on the road to the Cross.

On the Road to the Cross Christ Controlled Physics:

For experienced fishermen, it seems that the disciples had a tendency to get caught at sea in severe storms. The next time this happened, in Matthew 14:24-33, we learn that Jesus was the Master of Physics:

. . . but the boat by this time was a long way from the land beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night[d] he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

God created our world, and He designed it to run in certain ways:

• He created the laws of biology. 
• He created the laws of chemistry. 
• He created the laws of oceanography.
• He created the laws of physics. 

Our belief in an intelligent creator prompted us to systematically study nature, because if there was a design behind the creation, we could discover it and discover how creation works. Even though some scientists now often seem to despise our faith, in truth, science came out of our faith!

God’s design was perfect, and it was only marred by human sin. The Laws of Physics are immutable for humans. They work the same way every time. We can use them for our own purposes, but we can’t alter them.  When we use the laws of physics properly, we can do wonderful things, like fly an airplane. When you do violate the laws of physics you pay the price. 

People often perpetuate the myth that bumble bees violate the laws of physics.  Nothing that flies can violate the laws of physics; however, if you jump off a building with an open umbrella you will violate them, and the results will be painful!

Jesus showed us in these verses that He is the Creator of physics. A man cannot walk on water, but Jesus could. And not only could Jesus walk on water, but He could also empower Peter to do so as well!

Jesus controlled creation on the road to the Cross in many different ways. These were historical events, and they did, in fact, occur. So, what does that mean for us today? It means Christ is in control of everything that can cause us fear.

As We Walk our Road Today Christ can Control our Fears: 

Because human sin has marred God’s perfect creation, the world is a dangerous place. This causes people to experience fear. 

People are often afraid of four-footed creatures, like the young lady who, when she was a child, had been knocked down by a dog who stole her graham cracker. Years later she ran away from a German Shepherd only to fall and hurt herself. 

People are also afraid of two-footed creatures, like the mother who would always call her daughter when a convict had escaped, or if the local police were looking for a fugitive. 

Jesus, of course, showed He can control creatures, and we need to give Him control of our fears about creatures as well.

People are often afraid of storms, too. Storms are violent and can cause destruction and death. I know a family whose home was once hit by lightning and caught fire. They never left their house totally empty again. Someone was always at home just in case lightning might strike in the same place twice.  Jesus, of course, showed He can control storms, and we need to give Him control of our fears about storms as well.

People also have what is called on social media FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. Like children who don’t want to nap to go to bed at night because they are afraid that they are going to miss out on something:

• We often think that God’s way is not the best way.
• We try to find ways around the rules of creation. 
• We try to find pleasure in ways God didn’t intend.
• We try to find power in ways that God didn’t intend.
• We rebel against His plan and when we do it costs us.

Jesus amply demonstrated His control of creation, and He needs to be in control of our lives as well. We need to seek His abundant life, not our false abundance.

Conclusion:

Jesus is the Creator. He created nature for our blessing, and He uses everything He created for our good. As Romans 8:28 reminds us,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

The way we are most blessed is by allowing Him to be in control of our lives, too! He has called us, but have we answered? Have we yielded our lives to Him today? Or are we still trying to control our own lives? Surrender to Him today!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt