Rebuke the Wind - Part 3

Hello everyone,

The night the disciples were completely caught off guard, and taken by surprise by a terrifying wind storm that threatened to take their lives, they witnessed a power far greater than anything they could have imagined.

They had lost all hope of surviving until they saw Jesus stand up, in their boat and rebuke that demonically inspired wind.  

Did you notice how Jesus rebuked the wind and not the waves?  It may have looked like the waves were the real problem for the disciples that night.  They were crashing into their boat, throwing them around, shaking and rocking and pounding, while filling it up with water.  

The truth is, even though the waves were all they could see, they were only the symptom of the problem, not the source of it.  The unseen force of that wind is what was causing those waves to rise up and reek absolute havoc with that fishing boat that night.

I want to remind you of what Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.”

The problem you are facing in the natural is only a symptom of what is causing it in the unseen world of the supernatural.  If you can’t understand why your marriage is suddenly falling apart, or why there is so much strife in your home, stop wrestling with what you can see in the natural.  Your enemy is not your spouse, or your family members.  Your enemy is not flesh and blood.  It’s unseen forces that are on an all out attack to kill, steal, and destroy anything good in your life.

The Bible clearly says they have absolutely no right to do that, in fact, every weapon they form against you cannot prosper - they are already defeated concerning you!  It’s time you stand up and do exactly what Jesus did.  Face the real enemy and rebuke him into submission!

Once we deal with the spirit realm, things in the natural realm will be resolved.  It’s that simple.

James 4:7 says, “So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.”

The key here is to know you are subject to God.  If you have been flirting with sin, or giving the enemy an open door into your life, or marriage, then resisting the devil will do you no good.  He’ll just laugh at you and bring you more trouble.

Now, when you are living by faith, and walking in God’s love, and being careful to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, then you can stand up strong in the authority God has given you, rebuke the devil, and he will flee from you.

Once Jesus rebuked that wind, the waves were easily calmed. Look at what the Bible says happened:

Mark 4:39, “And He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush now! Be still (muzzled)! And the wind ceased (sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating) and there was [immediately] a great calm (a perfect peacefulness).”

Hallelujah!  Once Jesus dealt with the unseen spiritual force that was in that wind, all He did was speak to the sea and tell it to be still! Don’t you love how the Amplified Classic translation says the wind sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating!  The word ceased literally means to give up the fight!  And as a result, the Bible says, “... immediately a great calm, and perfect peacefulness” came over it. 

Jesus knew full well that the source of that storm was the demonic force behind the wind.  He knew all that was needed was to rebuke it, pull it into submission and then speak peace over the waves.  

There is nothing stopping that from happening in your life too.  No matter what you’re facing, and how terrifying it may seem - know the source of your trouble doesn’t have to do with what you see or know in the natural.  So stop trying to fix it or spend all your energy fighting it in the natural.  

Learn to take authority in the spirit realm - you don’t have to read up about spiritual ware-fare, or attend seminars on the structure of the kingdom of darkness, so you can map out where the spiritual high places are to strategically pray from.

No, the Bible says in Psalms 24:1 that, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it.”.   All you need to do is know who you are in Christ Jesus, and stand up in the authority He has given you, and rebuke the devil.  Command him and his forces to stop what they are doing and to get out of your affairs in Jesus Name.  

The spiritual realm will hear you and obey when you open your mouth and speak God’s will in faith.  Jesus showed us exactly how it’s done, and we are expected to follow His example.  

So submit yourself to God, stand up strong in faith and rebuke that wind, because as Jesus is, so are we in this world!

All my love,

Jenny

Rebuke the Wind Part 2

Hello everyone,

Being caught off guard by bad news, or sudden trouble can certainly knock the wind out our sails.  The truth is, we don’t have to stand in unbelief, feeling bewildered and speechless.  The moment we realise that we are locked up in Jesus, we will find our voice and speak words that are weighty with the authority He has given us, to turn that storm around! 

In this series Rebuke the Wind, we see how the disciples were completely caught off guard by a ferociously dangerous wind that suddenly came up on them in the dark one night.  They were on a boat with Jesus, on the Sea of Galilee, and this mighty wind of hurricane proportions, picked up the waves and violently beat them against the boat,  terrifying the men as their boat began to sink.  

After desperately trying to fight the storm and keep themselves afloat, the men realised their efforts were hopeless.  As they shook Jesus awake, you can hear the urgency and confusion in their words.  

How could it be that after all they had done for Him, after all they had given up for Him, He would let them face this impossible storm alone, asleep in the corner, leaving them to drown?  Didn’t He say He loved them?  Don’t He even care about what they were going through, or what would happen to them?

Doesn’t that sound familiar?  When we are faced with sudden trouble and it looks like it’s impossible to get through victoriously, what do we hear ourselves murmuring in the heat of it all?  “Lord, what’s going on?  Don’t you love me?  Didn’t you say You would take care of me?  Did I give up everything to follow You for this?  Are You abandoning me?”  

Well, the disciples were feeling completely abandoned at this point of the story, and interestingly enough, we read three different accounts of it in the Gospels.

I have to tell you, after hearing Greek scholar, Rick Renner, mention how Matthew, Mark, and Luke give an account of this story, and each address Jesus at that precise time of panicked terror, by a different name - I had to find out more!

Without making a doctrine out of this, I really think it’s worth talking about.

In Matthew 8:25 (NKJ), the disciples urgently wake Jesus up, calling Him ‘Lord’.  Now often enough, when we address Jesus as ‘Lord’ we do so with an inner confidence, knowing He is in complete control of the situation.  When we are thrust into a terrible circumstance, where we are taken by surprise and reach out to the Lord for help, we usually call Him ‘Lord’, knowing and trusting that He is well able, and willing to save us.

Then, in Mark 4:38 (NKJ), it’s recorded that Jesus is woken up by the panicked disciples, and addressed as ‘Teacher’. When the situation we are thrust into doesn’t immediately get better, we seem to become a little more anxious in our appeal, and begin to wonder if the reason we aren’t seeing results is because God wants to teach us something through our living nightmare.   

I want to pause here and take a moment to clarify what God’s Word says about this particular kind of thought pattern.

The Bible clearly teaches that in the New Covenant we have in Christ, we can be assured that God is never the source, nor is He the author of any calamity or problems we encounter in this life.  He does not bring bad things into our lives to teach us lessons.  That is simply not His nature, and the New Testament is filled with scripture to confirm this.  

Even If we got into the mess because of a mistake, or wrong choice we made, we can still call on His Name in our time of trouble, and He will give us the wisdom, strength, and power to overcome.  

After we are out of the mess, and in a safe place of victory, we can certainly expect the Holy Spirit to reveal any lessons we needed to learn through that experience, and we will gain experiential wisdom from it.  

So it’s important for us to understand that even though God is never the cause of our calamity, He has promised to never leave or abandon us while we face it, or go through it.  When we turn to Him, He will always teach us how to lean on Him, rely and learn from Him so we can walk through that experience into victory.  

Romans 8:28 says He causes all things to work together for our good. So don’t for one moment allow yourself to think God brought trouble on you to teach you a life lesson.  

Now, let’s take a look at how the Gospel of Luke records the way the disciples addressed Jesus in the storm.  In Luke 8:24 (NKJ), the distraught disciples woke Jesus up, addressing Him as ‘Master’.  

Here we see no confident pause, or time for reflection.  Here there is pure desperation, where they are calling on their Master to command action!  The Greek translation for the word ‘master’ is a compound word  that translates to the words ‘stand’ and ‘upon’.  More than anything, the disciples needed Jesus to stand up, on the spot and deliver them.

And that’s exactly what Jesus did, it’s also exactly what He will do for you, when you need His intervention. In the next letter, we’re going to take a look at how Jesus responded and acted in the heat of their crisis, and how we can learn from His example.

Until then, know no matter what you will face in this life, you belong to a Heavenly Father Who loves and cares for you dearly, and is waiting for you to call on His divine assistance.  He will show you how you can take authority over the wind and waves, and reach your destination safely.

All my love,

Jenny

Rebuke the Wind - Part 1

Hello everyone,

When you feel like you’re suddenly thrust into the frontline of battle, or you’re facing a storm of life that came up on you so suddenly, you didn’t even see see where it came from, it’s easy to be thrown off balance.  In fact, in moments like that it can feel like your whole world has been turned upside down and you’re completely losing control.  

This is the exact time we need someone to stand up, take authority over the situation, and make it all stop!  

We know Jesus’ disciples faced a time like this when they were onboard a fishing boat with Jesus, on the Sea of Galilee.  They were on route to a region that was notorious for harbouring a demonised man, possessed by a legion of demons.  

Jesus knew His mission was to get to the other side of the sea, deal with the demons that were oppressing this man, and see him set free and made whole.  For far too long the devil held the people in that area hostage with fear.  The entire coastland knew about this dangerous, mad man who would rant and rave, and live like a tormented animal amongst the caves.  

No one deserves to live this way, and Jesus had set out to do exactly what His Father wanted Him to do - destroy the devil’s work and bring freedom and dignity to those who were bound and suffering.  1 John 3:8 says, “...The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].”

The devil knew that if Jesus crossed the sea that night, when He reached the other side, He would cast those demons out and end his reign of terror.

So, as Jesus and the disciples were crossing over the sea, the Bible says a great, violent, and destructive wind seemed to come up from nowhere.  Mark 4:37 (AMPC) says, “And a furious storm of wind [of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled.”

Now, it’s important to note that the word arose used here, in the original Greek text describes something that happens unexpectedly or catches you off guard. Obviously, the disciples, who were skilled fishermen, didn’t expect this kind of ferocious windstorm that night.  The event took them completely by surprise.

Of course, I took full advantage of using my Sparkling Gems From the Greek by Rick Renner to help bring out the richness of the text and give us a clear and detailed picture of what took place that night.  When we begin to dig a little deeper using this knowledge of the Greek, it opens up such wonderful truth for us to hold onto and learn from.

Back to the storm...the Bible explains how the wind that came up that night was no ordinary wind.  One translation says it literally picked up the waves and threw them against the boat.  The Greek translation uses the words ballo (to throw), and epi (against).  It describes how this invisible force continuously hurled giant, angry waves against the boat, beating against it continuously, one after the other, filling their boat until it began to sink into the ferocious, terrifying black waves.  

No wonder the disciples were frightened out of their wits!  No wonder they shook Jesus awake, and in their panicked terror asked Him why He didn’t even care that they were perishing!  In the Greek, the word perish here actually describes being undone, unravelled, or broken in pieces. What an accurate description of these terrified men.

We can certainly understand their confusion, they were doing nothing wrong, in fact they were doing exactly what Jesus had instructed them to do.  They were on a God inspired mission, with the Son of God in their boat no less.  They were almost there, and out of nowhere, this ferocious wind launched an all out attack on them, manipulating the sea to rage its fury against them.  They were helpless against its power.  The boat was filling up and they were about to drown.  And where was Jesus in all this?  He was peacefully sleeping through it all!

If you ever find yourself in a situation where out of nowhere you are confronted with trouble of such great proportion, you simply don’t know how to respond - understand the source of your problem is more than likely not what you see or hear happening around you in the natural.  Your enemy, the devil could very well be manipulating circumstances around you to distract you from what God is about to do through you, unravel your emotions, and cripple your faith.

Just like the devil orchestrated the unseen force of the wind that night, to manipulate the waves and prevent Jesus from accomplishing His purpose; the devil is constantly lurking behind the scenes trying to catch us off guard and prevent us from living out our faith for the Lord. 

I want to remind you of what Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.”.

The good news is Christ in us has already overcome the enemy that’s against us, and given us the authority to rebuke him and bring his evil plans to nought!  

In this series we will come to understand how the fight we are in is not against natural things, and that God has already given us victory over it!  You will learn how to stand up and use your voice, and God given authority to stop the devil in his tracks, and see the whole situation turn around for His glory!

In the next letter we will see exactly how Jesus responded to the enemy’s attack, and how the circumstances immediately changed as a result.

Much love,

Jenny