Go God's Way, Not Your Way

[Christsfreeservant]

“When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” (John 6:16-21 ESV)​

I believe the Lord is leading me to use this story more like a parable today to apply it to our daily lives. So I will begin by stating that in verse 15 it tells us that Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. So he was not with the disciples when they got into this boat. But from here on out I will be relating this to our own lives and to our own life situations.

Now if we are true believers in Jesus Christ, Jesus is with us all the time, for he is living within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. So God is living within us, so he is always with us. But we may not always be with him. Does that make sense? Now it doesn’t mean that he is always with us in a supportive way, for sometimes we may leave him behind and we may go it alone without him, and we may get into life’s situations apart from him.

So, in this scenario, Jesus is somewhere where we are not, spiritually speaking. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives, but we may go it alone without him sometimes. We may get in our own minds what we want to do and so we go it alone without consulting the Lord, and without following his leadership, and sometimes it may be due to lack of patience and feeling as though God is just not moving fast enough. But his timing is always perfect.

The point is that there may be times in our Christian walks where we don’t follow the leading of the Lord but we make our own decisions regarding the direction that we are headed, and that is never good. And so we get out there in life’s circumstances, operating in the flesh, rowing that boat ourselves with all our might, and then a storm hits, and the waves come at us, and even if Jesus shows himself to us, we may not know it is him.

And we may not recognize him because we may be in a situation where we have not been paying attention to him and what he is saying to us, and so we shut him out. But then he says something to us that we know it is him, and we are at that point now when we realize that our way is the wrong way and that we must now follow God’s way, and so we welcome him into our lives and into our life situations, and we let him be Lord of our lives.

Now this could be speaking of someone who has given lip service only to the Lord prior to this but has been someone who has continued to live for himself and to go his own way. Those who live like that, who make sin their practice, and for whom obedience to the Lord is not their practice, do not know God. They are not in genuine relationship with Jesus Christ for they have not died to sin and they have not walked in the ways of the Lord.

But what I am talking about today are those of genuine God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, who have died with Christ to sin, and who were walking in obedience to his commands, but then they got sidetracked, and then they started rowing their own boat, i.e. going it alone without the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. They stopped inquiring of the Lord and they began making their own decisions and charting their own course.

So, if this is where you are, you need to see that you are not on the right path, and that you are going it in your flesh, and that you need to hand the “oars” over to the Lord and let him direct your path from this moment forward. Recognize that the Lord is present, but then welcome him back into your life and into your circumstances and let him be the one leading the way, and not you. Then, no matter what waves come against you, you will be at peace and at rest, knowing that the Lord is the one leading the way while you follow. For that is how it is supposed to be.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6]

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For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.