THE PRINCE OF PEACE: OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 22ND DECEMBER 2018.

MEMORISE:

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. Mark 4:39

READ:  Mark 4:35-41

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he 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?

MESSAGE

One of the great titles of our Lord is “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). He is the possessor of peace and He has bequeathed this peace to us all. In John 14:27, he said:

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

In today’s Bible reading, Jesus demonstrated to us that His ability to instill peace was no fluke. After a successful preaching assignment, He told His disciples that they should sail to the other side of the sea in order to continue their assignment there. 

On their way, a great storm arose on the sea that was about to cause their ship to capsize. Interestingly, the Peace of Peace was in the inner part of the ship, sleeping. Out of fear, the disciples woke Him up, indicting Him for not showing concern about their situation. 

With the benefit of hindsight you might say, “What a faithless group of disciples these were”. However, if you were to be sincere with yourself, have you not also been in situations that have caused you to indict Jesus in your heart? Nevertheless, Mark 4:39 says:

“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.”

That is our Master for you – compassionate, loving, omniscient and understanding of our frame. After He stilled the storm, He rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. Do you also feel that He does not care about you? He is also rebuking you today. I found myself in such a situation some years ago. 

I thought that I had been forsaken and nobody cared about me. Nevertheless, the Lord sent a little girl to give me a cake like He did for Elijah (1 kings 19:6). Beloved, Jesus cares. He will not leave you in that situation. 

As a matter of fact, His peace will overwhelm the current storm in your life and there shall be great calm. This calmness will surpass the rage of the storm, and it shall be as though you never experienced a storm in your life.

One truth you can learn from this story is that working for God does not make you immune to the storms of life. Jesus and the disciples had just had a successful outreach and there came a storm. 

As a matter of fact, the storm came because their exploits wrecked havoc on the kingdom of Satan. What worked in favor of the disciples was that the stiller of storms was with them. He promised us also that He would be with us till the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). 

Learn from this story that you must always keep Jesus in the boat of your life at all times. Don’t ever undertake a journey or project without His involvement. Moreover, we should not be faithless to the point of indicting our Lord. We should outgrow crying like babies in Christ. 

He has given us authority to still storms ourselves, but not without abiding in Him (Luke 10:19, John 15:4).

ACTION POINT:

Apply your authority in Christ to still every storm raging against you or around you.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Micah 1-4

John 15:18-16:15

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 8:   THE GREAT PHYSICIAN NOW IS NEAR

1. The great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus;
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus.

o Refrain:
Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessed Jesus.

2. Your many sins are all forgiv’n,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus;
Go on your way in peace to heav’n,
And wear a crown with Jesus.

3. All glory to the dying Lamb!
I now believe in Jesus;
I love the blessed Savior’s name,
I love the name of Jesus.

4. His name dispels my guilt and fear,
No other name but Jesus;
Oh, how my soul delights to hear
The charming name of Jesus.