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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Taking On Water

John 15: 19 - 20, If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. NKJV

I remember one day, when our family was on vacation, we took a three hour boat ride out into a bay in Florida. The captain of the boat told us that he was going to stick the nose of the boat out into the ocean for a moment. Now the ocean was particularly rough that day, and as we exited the bay and entered into the choppy ocean waters, the boat began to bounce up and down. This was very disconcerting to my wife, Debbie (women like security). But, isn't it amazing how a boat can just float on top of millions of gallons of water, but if only a few hundred gallons get on the inside of the boat, it can sink?

Well, when Jesus came to earth, mankind was drowning in sin. God had previously warned Adam in the Garden of Eden not to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In other words, God was putting man into an environment that was conducive for life to flourish; He didn't want him to allow sin to enter into the boat (soul). When they chose to eat of the forbidden fruit, it allowed sin to enter the heart and we fell (sank) into the one trap that God warned Adam to avoid.

Paul tells us in Romans 3 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Therefore, we all need a Savior to deliver our souls from the very depths of sin. If you have received Jesus into your heart, then He has delivered you out of the flood that was caused by sin on the inside of your heart. His blood has washed and cleansed your heart in order that His Spirit might be able to enter it. The Holy Spirit fills our hearts as we yield to His leading; this allows us to walk above the lust for sin in this world. Now we're "in" this world, but we're not "of" this world. If we fully understood what that sentence meant, it would revolutionize the body of Christ around the world. For one thing, we know that we're not in this world alone, because we have the Spirit of God dwelling in our hearts. It means that we have victory over the worldly storms that try to cause our vessels (souls) to take on water. Jesus tells us to cast our cares on Him and don't take on the care (or water).

It also means that we must not try to fit into the world's system, because it is based on self and unbelief. Even though we are in this world, we still live in the Kingdom of God, and His kingdom is based on love and faith in Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 12 not to be conformed to this world; instead, we are to be transformed by the Word of God in order that we might know what the will of God is for our individual lives. Jesus has chosen us out of this world so that we might make a difference in other people's lives.
As we set out to fulfill God's purpose, we must guard our hearts so that we don't allow what we face out there to come in and cause us to begin to sink in unbelief. The enemy of your souls is constantly throwing things at your ships in the hope of gaining an entrance into your hearts. Keep the shield of faith, spoken about in Ephesians 6, over your hearts. The one way that I keep my shield of faith up to protect my heart is to always remind myself, "No matter what comes my way, the Lord is with me." He will never leave you nor forsake you. Therefore my trust is in the Lord, and this protects my heart. Where do you find yourself today? Are you living in troubled waters? Fasten your eyes on Jesus and ignore the storm until you see the power of God destroy the threats of the Devil in your life. Don't take on water. Trust God!!!

In God Will I trust,
Pastor Asa

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