Strong in the Storm

8/6/2019 Strong in the Storm

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As always, i we can help you in any way, please contact the church here at

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www.JesusLifeTogether.comCopyright 2006 [email protected]

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reproduce this in its entirety. And, o course, this publication is never to besold or any price (2 Corinthians 2:17, Matthew 10:8).

How to beStrong in the

Storm(Excerpt)

As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, Ill ol-low you wherever you go. Jesus replied, Foxes have holes, the birdso the air have nests, but the Son o Man has no where to lay Hishead. He said to another man, Follow me. But the man replied,Lord, let me rst go and bury my ather. Jesus said to him, Letthe dead bury their own dead. But you go and proclaim the King-dom o God. Still another said, I will ollow you Lord, but rstlet me go back and say goodbye to my amily. Jesus replied, Noone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is t or theKingdom o God. (Luke 9:57-62)

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the

Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrices. Jesusanswered, Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than allthe other Galileans because they sufered this way? I tell you no! Butunless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen that diedwhen the ower o Siloam ell on themdo you think they were more

guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell, you no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:1-5)

Ten he told this parable. A man had a fg tree planted in hisvineyard. And he went to look or ruit on it, but did not fnd any.

So he said to the man that took care o the vineyard, For three


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years now, I have been coming to look or ruit on this fg tree andhavent ound any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?Sir, the man replied, leave it alone or one more year and Ill digaround it and ertilize it. I it bears ruit next year, fne! I not, thencut it down. (Luke 13: 6-9)

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. And turning to them he said,

I anyone comes to me and does not hate his ather and mother, hiswie and children, his brothers and sistersyes, even his own liehe cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his crossand ollow me cannot be my ollower. Suppose one o you wants tobuild a tower. Will he not rst sit down and estimate the cost to seei he has enough money to complete it? For i he lays the oundationand is not able to nish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, say-ing, Tis ellow began to build and was not able to nish. Or supposea king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not rst sitdown and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to op-

pose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? I he is notable, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way ofand will ask or terms o peace. In the same way, any o you who doesnot give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke14:25-33)

Do you remember that big storm we had the other day? Weveall been talking about the tree analogies and how it was the un-bendable trees that didnt survive when the strong winds came.

Te rigid, the unbendable, and the sti trees were the ones thatwere destroyed in the storm. Recently, I was in a situation where awoman was telling some others about some growth she had seenin her lie over the years. In the process o talking about this, sheshared with everyone a denition o pride which she had oundto be very helpul to her in her desire or growth and change. Tedenition she gave was this: Pride is reserving the right or myselto have the nal word or the nal decision. Reserving or myselthe right to make the nal decision. Tat was the denition opride. And, o course, at least three times the scriptures say, God

opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. God is an en-

emy o the proud. And i pride is reserving or mysel the right tomake the nal decisioni thats pridethen theres a whole loto people who think they are riends with God who are, in act,enemies o God by His denition.

Tink about that attitude o being rigid, being proud, being sel-centered, and independent and sti. It is prideul when we live in

some compromising sort o lie where we make our own decisions,call our own shots, pamper our own esh, and smile and try to liveat the lowest common denominator. What can I do? How can Iact? How can I present mysel? What are the things that I couldsay or participate in that will allow me to slide by so that nobodywill be able to see anything wrong in me? Or at least i they sayanything to me, Ill be able to let it roll o my back. How can I getby with the least amount o sel-sacrice or crucixion o sel-lie,or crucixion o my needs, my rights, or my time, or whatever ithappens to be? I we have those attitudes, Jesus said that the storms

will come. And when those storms come, i were not building onthe rock o obedience to God, but rather on the sand o getting by,then we will be uprooted and there wont be any ruit. Te one yearis up, and the thing is cast into the re.

His GraceNow, I dont think Jesus was legalisticwhat do you think? Doesanybody here really believe that Jesus was a legalist? How dare Hesay all those things! How incredibly harsh and cruelhate your

ather, mother, brother, sister. I cant even say goodbye to my am-ily. Come on, Jesus. Youre legalistic! I know a lot o people whowould say that every bit o that is legalism. But somehow, becausewe have relegated scripture to poetry, we dont even accept theact that that IS the Jesus that is Lord, that is King, and whos com-ing back or those who are wearing His colorsperiod.

Weve somehow created this wax museum Jesus out there some-where, where you wind Him up or you pull His string and He saysthings, but it doesnt mean anything. I anybody said any o those

words today, there would be people all over the world screaming,


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Legalism, legalism! But this IS Jesus. Tis is the only Jesus thereis. And Hes not being legalistic. And He is not a hard master. othat man, at that moment, there was no other Hope. Everyonesone thing you lack may be dierent. Te rich young ruler had aproblem with money addictions, apparently, rather than biologicalamily addictions that Jesus said others would have to deal with.God is neither anti-money, nor anti-amily relationshipsi

those issues are totally under His Lordship in all areas o obedienceand aection and decision. Jesus is ANI anything and everythingthat would cause a person to not instantly obey Him because theirheart-strings and prejudices and comorts and pride are tied up inanything less than HIM, in this present allen age. He is saying thati you dont live this way, then satan will get his hook in you andyou will be uprooted. Tis isnt legalism. Tis is grace.

Im giving you an opportunity. Im extending My hand to you. Imbringing ruth into your lie that can set you ree rom the bond-

age o ear, sel-indulgence, the ear o death, the ear o storms,the ear o poverty, the ear o sickness, the ear o loss o lovedones. And i you wont live this way, you will be uprooted. Becausesatan will nd a way to destroy you. I you give him any targetsthat are uncovered by the grace and the knowledge o God, and atotal commitment to Him, and death to sel-lie (take up YOURcross and come afer Me and deny your very sel and even untodeath)i you give him any targets, satan will nd you out and hewill rip you o.

Tis is not legalism! Jesus is not legalistic as some would quicklycall Him i He was physically saying these things to them aboutareas o their lives they had held back rom Him. Jesus is NOlegalistic when He says you must orsake your hearts aectionsand priorities other than HIM. He just knows how this wickedand perverted generation can deceive any man or woman or teenwho thinks they can have their cake, and eat it to. It will, instead,eat HEM. Notice the language o Jesusnot legalism but, I amtelling you that I know how this whole thing works! Hear Me! You

cant grab or the world and your sel lie and desires and crutches

and comorts, and not be eventually taken to My enemys home.Tis is JESUS saying, Dont build this tower without counting thecost. Dont go into this thing without knowing that it is going tocost you everything in order to make it all the way through. Tatsthe nature o Christianity. You cant ollow me. You wont be ableto continue to ollow me without this. Tats not legalism. Hessaying you wont make it unless this is who you are and want to

be. Anyone can sit in a pew, or living room and deceive themselveswith pretty prayers and speeches and ideas and potluck dinners.But, a LIFE that isnt ully given to Him, with all o its aectionsand priorities, all o its time and resources and loves, consumedin HIS Purposes, rather than its ownthis person has or will ail.Tus saith the Lord. Tis must be the quality o your decision toollow methat youll leave it all.You dont have to bury your a-ther, you dont need any excuses to say goodbye to your amily. Ittakes everything to ollow me. You leave your nets laying there ullo sh, and you go.

He is saying that this has to be your heart and your attitude. Itsnot legalism, Do thisor you cant ollow me! Its, I you wontleave this, i these things still own you in any way, shape, or ormyoure trying to live both lives at the same timethen satan willnd a way to rip you o. Tats the cost. Hes looked at the costo ollowing Him, and He has looked at what will happen i youdont give Him heart, soul, mind and strength. And He is saying,Watch out! Im bringing you a knowledge o the unseen world and

the way the enemy works. And i you give him a target, hell nd itsooner or later. Jesus is not a legalist in the slightest. Hes given useverything that pertains to lie and godliness.

His Kingdom, His Ruleso repeat Jesus words does not make you a legalist. o repeat Jesuswords does not make me a legalist. o repeat Jesus words is to tellit like it is because anything else is deception. What Jesus has notsaid is deception. Can I go on record as saying that? Everythingthat Jesus said is rue, and anything that does not hold up to the

standard that Jesus laid orth is deception. Is it okay or me to say


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that without getting into a whole lot o trouble? Jesus makes therules. Tis is His Kingdom. Period. Tere are other kingdoms outthere. Tere are itching ears galore. And there are a great numbero teachers who want to tell you something other than what Jesuso Nazareth said. Tey speak o an alternate kingdoma paralleluniverse that has some o the same vocabulary, but its not Real,theres no substance to it.

And Jesus said that i you try to live in that alternate kingdomthat substitute, countereit kingdom that has the vocabulary buteverything is a wax museum substitutei you try to live in thatkingdom, the enemy will rip you o. Tats a warning rom Jesusthat its got to be real in our hearts. Tere is no hal way. We canttry to get by with the lowest common denominator o what wethink will keep everybody happy. Whoa, dont touch me! Okay,Ill do this and Ill do that, and try to keep everybody o the scent.Its not like that. It needs to be rom the heart. It has to be rom

the heart. God knows i I live by aith in the Son o God or i I liveby my sel-lie. God knows the dierence, doesnt He? And guesswho else does? Satan does, too. Like the seven sons o Sceva. Satanknew the dierence between Paul and Jesus, and these other guyswho were just using the vocabulary. He knew the dierence and hehad no ear o someone who used the vocabulary but didnt live byaith in the Son o God.

I want to call us all to the seriousness o a quality o lie in the in-

ner man that no one can give to you. Any amount o hiding thatyou may do rom mere humans, like all o us, is really no benetto you. Maybe you can slide bymaybe you can run and hidesomeplace else. Tere are all kinds o alternatives. But the truth is,were all going to stand in ront o Jesus. And these are His words,and I want to live this way because He said so! It doesnt make anysense or me to try to rearrange Jesus words or hide behind someother words Jesus said. He said these too. I believe all the wordsthat He said. And these words are also true and I want to live thisway. Tere isnt some new covenant that excludes the teaching o

Jesus. Jesus is not an old covenant prophet here. He is the embodi-

ment o the New Covenant. Tese things are true. Tey remaintrue now and orever more. Tis is the embodiment o ruth. He isruth! Tere is no way to get around this. Teres no way to jumpover it, and theres no way to create a new covenant where it doesntapply anymore. Jesus is ruth. Teres no way to the Father exceptby Him and through Him.

Whats the Quality of Your Heart?I there are still places in your heart that you are trying to slide byonthinking that its okay, as long as nobody says anything, and ithey do, youll just kind o slip around until it kind o goes awayithats your heart, then youre missing something very, very impor-tant here. Youre missing the act that Jesus wants you to go all theway with Him. And i you wont live that way, then satan will ripyou obecause the storms are coming. Storms are coming thatare much larger, much more erocious, much more atal, poten-tially, then anything weve been through so ar. And the way satan

does stuits always with mirrors where he tricks, deceives, justi-es, and accuses others in order to justiy sel. And you are verysusceptible to that i you dont live exactly the way Jesus said to livehere and embrace ruth the way Jesus said to embrace it.

I there are any sof spots in your heart or anything that you areholding onto, that you are lingering in, that youre justiying your-sel in or comparing to others inthen satan will nd you out. Andthe storms will come and they will show what youre worth. And it

will always be somebody elses ault because satan will make surethat you can eel that way about it. He will send you a great numbero teachers to tell you what your itching ears want to hear. And, inact, Paul said that i you dont love the ruthi you dont agapethe ruth, but you preer the other stuthat God Himsel willsend you a powerul delusion so that you will believe the lie.

God doesnt want any middle ground. I you dont love ruth enoughto apply it to your own heart and live a crucied liei you want analternative kind o Christianitythen God Himsel will send you

a powerul delusion so that you will believe the lie (2Tes2). Tis


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is supernatural in nature. Tis is not like geography or chemistrywhere theres just a certain set o acts and you either know themor you dont know them. Spiritual ruth isnt like that. I your heartis hard, i your conscience is seared as with a hot iron, i you preerthe lie, i you want some other truth than what Jesus o Nazarethtaughtthen God will make sure you believe it with all your heart.You wont have to be a hypocrite because God will make sure that

you believe the lie. Hell send you a delusion in order that you willbelieve the lie.

Tis all goes back to the quality o your heart, not to your intel-lectual ability to comprehend and to sort, sif, and process. It goesback to the quality o your heart. Do you want to be a doulos? Doyou want to lay down your lie? Are you willing to say, Let thedead bury their own dead? Are you willing to hate your mother,brother, sister? Are you willing to leave lands and possessions, andthings behind? Are you willing to let go o your rights, or do you

have to have the nal word? Do you have to reserve or yoursel theright to make the nal decision? Do you have to have that? Becausei you do, then you have one more year. And I pray that you willuse it well.

Its Unto Worship!Tis is not about ME! And Im so glad! Tis is about God, andHis power. I just have to choose to lay my lie beore Him and letHim do His work, and then, o die is gain. I dont have to live,

mysel, my own lie.

Tis thought is very reeing. It releases us rom tons o bondage,and ear and burden that we would have had to carry i this wholething was about ourselves. I think about John 4 where Jesus, veryearly in His visible walk on planet earth, spoke about worship. AndHe said, My ather seeks worshippers. Well thats probably thelast time He used that word, to my knowledge, in the rest o hisphysical lie on this planet. He did speak o the stones along theroad bursting into praise i His people wouldnt, and a ew other

things like that. But this is a huge statement, My Father seeks wor-

shippers. Tat sounds very global, very comprehensiveas i thisis what its all about. And worship is, in act, what its all about!But then WHY did Jesus spend so much time saying, Unless youorsake all, you cant be my disciple. Unless you lose your lie, youwill never nd it. Unless you deny your very sel, unless you stopreserving or yoursel the right to make the nal decision and havethe nal wordunless you stop doing that, you cant be a ollower

o Mine?! You cant be a Christian. Why did He keep saying stulike that, i what it was all about was worship?

Well the truth is that worship is to oer your body as a livingsacrice, as Paul concluded or us later on. And thats right aferhe said to consider the depth, the breath, the majesty o Godconsider His ways that are beyond tracing outa very worship-ul statement. And then Paul launches right into, Tereore, in

view o Gods mercy, oer your body as a living sacrice. Stop con-orming to the patterns o the world. He went and got practical on

us again!

Te nature o living in a worshipul lie thats acceptable to God,acceptable worshipthe way to be ree o the burden that makesworship hypocrisy or wishul thinking, or some theological state-ment, but not the overfow o a ree heartis that we die to the worldand the world to us. We have, in reality, laid those things down be-ore Him and weve given up those things that have an infuence onour lie. We have stopped worshipping those things. Weve stopped

worshipping our fesh and our comort. Weve stopped worshippingour saety in storms and our grumbling stomach and hunger. Wevestopped worshipping our children and our parents. Weve stoppedworshipping our education and our need to survive. Weve stoppedworshipping our need to be right and our need to be intelligent, andour need to be loved. Weve stopped worshipping all those things,and now or the rst time were ree to worship God.

Tats why Jesus said all those things that sounded legalistic. Tatwasnt legalism! He was saying, Youve got to let go o these things

in order to have my Father. You cant have both at the same time.


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Ill have no other gods beore Me. Im a jealous God. He is afera heart that belongs to Him and is sold out to Him, and is not cling-ing on to the ree o the Knowledge o Good and Evil, wanting tobe like God, demanding our rights, privileges, space, opinions, andpampered esh. God is afer our willingness to lay all o that downand to trust Him, naked and unashamed beore the Father. In needo nothingtruly in need o nothing except His ellowship and His

riendship. Drawn by that and continually abandoned into that,controlled ultimately in every aspect o our lives simply by the el-lowship o the Father. Tats what worship is about.

And the reason why Jesus said all those hard sounding things isbecause they are very related to true worship. In act, the only wayto have true worship is to have one God. Te Lord Ty God is OneGod. And thou shall love the Lord Ty God with all o thy heart,all o thy soul, strength, and mind. And thats the only way, O Is-rael, that you can truly see the One God and love Him. Blessed are

the pure in heart, or they shall see God. Without holiness, no onewill see the Lord. Tats a very absolute statement. It just doesntget any more absolute than that. Without a set apartness, withouta called apart lie, unto the Father, away rom the junkyoull notsee the Lord. You cant see Him. You cant see the Kingdom, andyoull not be able to see God and experience His presence in yourlie the way He intended.

Dont SquirmIts a GOOD Thing!

My Father seeks worshippers. And now Im going to spend therest o my lie, Jesus said, showing you how to be ree rom thethings that you have been worshipping so that you might experi-ence His love and abandonment into His arms.Tis is a good thing,not a bad thing. Its a privilege; its a get to, not a have to. Itsan opportunity that the ace o the earth had never seen beorebecause they were sold out to their own esh. Tey were slaves totheir esh and they were slaves to the penalty o being slaves totheir eshthe bondage o sin and the penalty o sin. And theywere without hope in the world, Paul said. But then God, rich in

mercy, opened the way where we can be set ree rom the esh.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, You have made no room in your heartor me. He, again, spent his three years o visible lie saying, Iwant to show you that its worth it to be ree, and that you can beree, because Im going to live it out right in ront o you. And thatswhat He has called us to do and given us opportunity to do, andgiven us the privilege and the equipment to be able to do.

But there are some decisions on our part. He didnt spend all thattime teaching or no reason. He could have walked around with amagic wandright? Okay, youre ree. Youre ree. Youre ree. Hespent all that time teaching because we were made in Gods like-ness, given the opportunity to grow in the knowledge o our Lordand Savior, Jesus Christ. We were given the opportunity to growin understanding. Pauls prayers were continually that the Fatherwould grant understanding, that the Father would grant revela-tion, SO HA we could live a lie that is worthy o Him. Worthyo the calling that brings pleasure to the Father, and an inheritance

to Jesus.

He brings us understanding because were made in His image oree moral agency. He brings us understanding that we can seethings the way He does and then willingly abandon ourselves intoHis arms, leaving behind the cares and the worries o this world,and the deceitulness o richesloving the world, loving ourselves,and demanding the right to have the nal decision. He gives us theopportunity and paves the way or us with His grace and His kind-

ness to know Him, experience Him, and to live in ellowship withHim, uncontrolled by the other junk. Tats how those things arereconciled. Its an opportunity He presents to us, and He shows usthe obstacles and the weeds that we can willinglyo our own reewillroot up.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord Ty God is One God. One God. Tere-ore, love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Wor-ship Him. We are set apart to worship Him in Spirit and in ruth.I the Spirit o God is quenched within you, then all you can do

is mouth the words and get yoursel an emotional high. I it isnt


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based on ruth, then its a deception. So to worship Him in Spiritand in ruth means to live the lie that Jesus lived. As the ApostleJohn said sixty years later, Anyone that claims to live in Him mustwalk as Jesus walked. Tats the opportunity He has put in ront ous. I want us to experience that together.

Our Father, we pray that You will help us. With great gratitude in

our hearts, we acknowledge the avor You have shown us. We weredead in our transgressions and sins, without hope in the world.Ignorant, blind mockers living in unbelie and rebellionthats allany o us were. All we had to oer was oolishness. And yet, Youtouched our hearts and sofened us apart rom our own ability,apart rom our own willpower, apart rom the convincing or per-suasion o mere humans around us. You, Yoursel, extended Yourhand into our hearts and touched us and sofened us and turnedour hard hearts o stone into hearts o esh, giving us the opportu-nity to see You and to know You.

Now we want to go beyond just simply experiencing Your salvation.We want to go into a realm o being worshippers o You, lovingYou and being set apart or Your purposes and set apart or Yourpleasure. Help us to see how to go about all o that. Father, werenot bound by any law. Were not bound by any external judgment.Were not bound by the opinions o men or by a system o law. Werebound by a covenant o love and a desire to return to You the lovethat You rst showed us in waking us in the rst place. While we

were dead in our transgressions and sins, You loved us and gaveYoursel or us. And greater love has no man than to lay down hislie or his riend. While You did that or us, we want to do that orYou and or each other. We want to lay down our very lie and everydemand we have on that lie, and put it in your hands where it canbe kept or saekeeping, or sure, until that nal hour. Amen.

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Strong in the Storm