As the disciples crossed the lake a violent wind whipped the water into waves and foam. The King rose to speak and the wind withdrew. Soon Jesus and His friends arrived on the beach to meet the man from the tombs. (Luke 8:22)  

When the devil knew Jesus was coming to set the man free, he stirred up a great storm to prevent Jesus coming to the region.  It was not the disciples he was trying to stop as they were merely men at this point. Christ did not live within them.  They were not anointed by the Spirit and Jesus’ authority was not resident within. The only person that worried the devil about that boatload of invaders, was Jesus!

But things are different now. Today Christ dwells within us and the devil will cause storms to come against us, to create fear, distract us or cause enough trouble to turn us back. Each day we say to Father “Today I want to live like a Christian. As someone who Christ can live through!’  But how many times have we made that commitment to be available to God, only to find that we soon face various storms arising on the lake of life? They come in the guise of conflicts, distractions, arguments or busyness but they drive us back or stop us dead in the water. The devil is not interested in stopping you particularly but he is seeking to stop the Lord Jesus from touching people’s lives.

Friend, Jesus is in your life just as He was in the boat. The enemy can’t stop Him and if the enemy seeks to rock your boat, rock his world. As a son or daughter in whom The Son resides, You have His authority to rise up, speak against the storm and carry on. Get to the other side for there is someone living among the dead who needs Him today.  Push through for there is Another One inside you that can bring life to the Legion.

When I was 16, my father asked me to take our almost new car, to the garage for a warrant of fitness. Like many young men, I was an idiot and thought I’d show my friend how good I was at driving. Cutting a corner we met a Land Rover head on so to avoid hitting it, I swerved back to the right side of the road. Doing so, I lost control, took out a fence narrowly missed the end of a bridge and dived the car into the river.  I had never stopped to consider the high price of my foolish driving before I started out that day.

Before we buy things, most of us evaluate or compare the cost of the item, lest we pay too high a price. We know an ice cream selling for $2000, is over priced.  Before we do something we decide whether the cost is worth the fun of doing it. If the fine for speeding is $20 we can live with it, but if its $2000 and we lose our license, we would think it’s just not worth it.   The price for homosexuality is cheap -the cost could be AIDS. The price of flirting on facebook could cost a divorce.  The price of dishonour and disobedience to my father was a car wreck and it could have been death!

Most people understand price but some are not good at evaluating the actual cost of something.  Right from the start In the garden, the devil was tried to convince Adam that the consequences wouldn’t cost that much.

Friend, Samson and all of history tell us that sin will always take us further than we ever thought it would and the consequences are always a higher price than we ever intended to pay.  Don’t look at Delilah’s’ curves, look at the cost!

A man without convictions is as weak as a door on one hinge.  In a postmodern world where everything is "true " or at least acceptable, convictions are becoming rarer.  But convictions give us a right perspective on life. Strangely, people have strong convictions about unimportant things like football and politics, but no convictions about the important things like the killing of unborn people or other plainly ethical issues of right and wrong. The people who make the greatest impact upon the world, are those with convictions. There’s was Paul, Jesus, Gandhi, Luther, Hitler and MauSetung.  When Jesus said “I must …..”  it was evidence of a conviction.  People can hold wrong or even evil convictions.  Therefore convictions like conscience, need to be informed by a reliable guide. The biblical definition of faith is an unshakable conviction that a thing is so.  So a person of true faith has convictions. Without a conviction about spiritual growth, people living through trials of faith, could give up.  No one stays on a task unless they are convinced it is important.  Convictions enable us to endure suffering for Christ and to reject sin and soft choices. Having convictions or true biblical faith helps us resist temptations.  We believe that the long-term consequences of sin, are greater that any short-term pleasure it provides.  We have a conviction that we are in the world to make it more like heaven, not to increase the culture and reach of hell.  We can see that the long-term blessings of obedience, are greater than any short term suffering we may experience as we obey now. These convictions come from understanding that all things work together for good, to those who love God.

Friends, when we don’t have our own convictions we are at the mercy of everyone else’s convictions.  Maybe a boyfriend who believes you belong to him or your boss who has a conviction, that he has first claim on your life 24 hours a day!  If our convictions don’t determine how we will live, others will determine it for us.  Can you list 10 things about which you have a solid conviction?

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the ass or donkey, just before the feast of Passover. It even had been prophesied "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt of a donkey.'" Mat 21:5 

Jesus rode on a donkey because the ass in the Bible, is a symbol of the work of God or His Spirit in our lives.   Most of us are familiar with the horse representing man’s ability, or the work of the flesh. (Man without God).  Psalm 20 tells us “Some trust in chariots some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord God”.  The horse is an impressive beast that man can trust in as a source of strength, in the time of battle.   God’s commentary on this is “A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver by his great strength (Psalm 33:17).    So where the horse is symbolic of works of the flesh, the donkey is symbolic of work of God, the work of Christ or the work of the Spirit.

In Numbers 22, the prophet Balaam got on his donkey to go on a disobedient mission. On his way, the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord who had come to kill Balaam and turned off the path. Balaam smote the donkey to get it back on track.  In the end, the donkey had to collapse under Balaam, to save the disobedient man from being killed. Balaam was angry at the donkey who protested his innocence.  Finally, the Angel of the Lord asked why he had been beating his donkey since the ass had been trying to save his life and assured Balaam that “if she had not gone to one side, I would certainly have put you to death and kept her safe.” Balaam represents all of mankind; we have made mistakes and disobeyed God. The donkey is a picture of Jesus and all that he did for us.   Jesus saw the judgement coming and acted to save mankind from the judgement of the Lord. He never did mankind any harm but like the donkey, Christ was misunderstood and punished unjustly.  He was an innocent sufferer and the persons he was seeking to save wanted to kill him.   The Jesus like the donkey asked “If I have done no wrong why you strike me? “(John 18.23). Jesus was willing to be struck wrongly in order to save man from death.

Friend, thank God for his love for sinful men.  If His “Humble Donkey” Christ hadn’t saved us by taking the punishment that we deserved, we would have met with the judgment we deserved, instead.

Sometimes we feel a little bit underpowered and think “shouldn’t I feel like a super hero. When I walk down the street shouldn't people fall under conviction and telephone poles melt into the pavement or shouldn't our day filled with miracles as the sheer power of our shadow falls upon broken people .We forget that Jesus divinity was veiled by His humanity. When Jesus walked along the street people couldn’t see obviously that he was the Son of God. Some people still thought he was the son of Mary and Joseph. He wasn’t glowing apart from on the Mount of transliteration. The rest of the time he just looked like everybody else and still needed to eat and rest. As a child he knew nothing and had to memorize the Torah by the age of 12. We can not know anybody after the flesh. Your humanity doesn’t matter;  it’s your divine nature inside that counts.  You don’t need to have a degree in order to pray for a doctor with a Ph.D.  You don’t need to have money to pray for a rich man; you have more resources than the U.N. you have the Holy Spirit. Jesus became a man, to win back that which was lost by men. What was lost by the first son (Adam) was won back by a Son of God and that dominion is now given back to the sons of God.   Jesus and us are brothers for we are both sons. The difference is that  Jesus was sinless and Jesus was the firstborn of the new creation. Col 1:15.  We are touched by sin and we are the second born.   The firstborn son in a Jewish family got the double portion because they were responsible to care for and provide for the rest of the family. It was a heavy responsibility. It was their responsibility to bear the judgement for all the other siblings’ errors and provide judgements were needed. When Joseph was about to be killed by his brothers, Rueben the firstborn said don’t kill him.   His firstborn responsibilities were kicking in.  You could say that the firstborn were liable for justice and judgement while the second borns receive mercy.  Jesus was the firstborn of the new creation. He was the one that received judgement. He was the one that brought justice so the second born (that’s all the rest of us sons and daughters) could receive mercy.

Friend,  we are the sons and daughters of God  in the world.  The Son and the other sons have the same purpose.  “I came down no to do my own  will but the will of him who sent me.” John 6.38 .  Jesus said “as Father sent me so I send you into the world” John 17.

We may feel not much different but we are completely different. We are 100% human but with a divine nature. He is resident within us and that changes everything, every moment, and everywhere.

The Grace of God creates, empowers, equips and calls us for a purpose all by grace.  Paul said “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. (1Cor 3:10)  The Grace given to Paul enabled him in his ministry. He built according to the Grace he was given.  The Grace of God is a gift to everybody but when we receive the Grace of God, He gives something to each of us in a unique way as well, so that the Grace you get, is specific to you in some way.  Grace equips you for a specific task and ministry.  Paul said it enabled him to labour abundantly.   “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1Cor  15:10).  Paul said the Grace of God in him enabled him to be a church planter, a grace which not everybody has.   The Grace of God equipped Paul for his purpose. When you have received a Grace from God, you have received a gift to do something.   Everybody has received a Grace.   Gifts like our motivational gift are from Grace, so you can do that thing really easily.  A server will serve and enjoy it a lot.  An Administrator gift won’t get stressed out having to operate that gift because it is a Grace upon their life, yet somebody else who does not have that grace, could be stressed by it.   It is the difference between burning the oil in the lamp or burning the wick of the lamp. People burnout if they haven’t been using the oil or gift of the spirit so they have to do something they are not gifted to do and end up burning the wick.  So we need to find out what it is we are graced to do and do that.

Friend, Grace is not just a doctrine to be discussed; the Grace of God is something that can be experienced.  You have experienced the grace of God if you’ve experienced Jesus working in your life.

When we need something that we don’t have, it is time for Grace.  Grace is our Fathers gift to us, to make up the difference between our weaknesses and Christ’s completeness.  We notice every day the difference between having Grace and not having Grace in our lives.  I know when people start getting on my nerves it’s time to go back to the throne of Grace. When I’m getting uptight and stressed I’ve known I’m running on my own resources. Samson went into a deep sleep and Delilah gave Samson the most expensive haircut in history.  When we are in the “presence of Delilah” more than in His presence, the strength will drain out and it will need to be renewed.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t leave us but His influence can drain from our life because we are not drawing from Him.  Paul knew from his own experience that the only way to overcome abounding sin is abounding Grace. “Moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,” Rom 5:20  He also knows that the only way to overcome abounding troubles was also abounding grace.  “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9  You don’t have to be a strong vessel so long as you have a strong treasure. Paul was seeking to convince the people in Corinth that he was a true apostle. He had a difficult life.  He was persecuted, stoned and shipwrecked; he was hated by both Jews and false Christians.  The Greeks at the time believed that if you went through difficult times God’s favour was not upon you, so Paul corrected their thinking by revelation rather than logic.  I am going through troubles in seeming weakness that in my weakness God’s power might be revealed. (Note: This doesn’t mean that our situations cannot be changed. Many times people sought Jesus and He delivered them or changed their situation. Your current situation is not an indication that God will not change it, however, while it is unchanged His Grace is sufficient for you)The Greek word sufficient was used to describe a man who had unlimited financial resources.  Imagine having a credit card with no limit which somebody else would pay off. That’s the idea of being sufficient so with Grace you can master the moment. You can’t exhaust Gods supply of strength to you; It’s just going to keep on coming.  Often we don’t come to the throne of Grace but we struggle on through the day by ourselves.  So whether we need to overcome sin or troubles, we are designed for Grace to empower us.   The Power of the Spirit of grace was so important to believers that Jesus said wait in Jerusalem till you get it.

Friend, don’t leave home without the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

God is righteous and heaven is for the righteousness; therefore everybody in heaven must be righteous. Under the law people had to be righteous to enter paradise. Under Grace, people still have to be righteous to enter heaven.  There is no change.  In fact Jesus said except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees you could never enter the kingdom of heaven. The only thing that has changed is how we become righteous; how it is obtained.    We can now be righteous before God by faith.  It is not a lesser righteousness, but a different means to being right before God. Jesus is the righteousness of God and if you have Jesus you have righteousness.   God demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Rom 3:26   God is not indifferent to sin in fact He is holy and must condemn sin. This is the reason Jesus was punished for our unrighteousness. Now our faith in the Savior is accounted for righteousness.  Our faith justifies us – or declares us to be as if we had never sinned.

Friend, it doesn’t mean we are righteous in our self nor is it legal fiction where God says we are righteousness when we are not. But we are actually righteous in Christ or because Christ is within us, we truly are righteous.

Singer Lorde said that you’d never be Royal but she wrong! We were born royal.  A royal priesthood meaning a family of kings and priests under the King of Kings.  This is important because our identity determines how we live. A postman gets up every day pulls on his postie uniform and goes to the post office or gets on his bike every day because he knows he is a postman.  The policeman and the accountant live out their identity too. If you know you are a son you will act like one too. After the resurrection, Jesus said, "Mary don’t cling to me but go to my brethren...".     Brothers are family!   "Tell them I am ascending to your father my father My God your God. Jn20;17 .  Let them know we are in the same family. Through the resurrection, something absolutely astounding happened.  God Almighty increased the size of His family.  He had one Son, Jesus Christ but now his family is Jesus, Peter, Andrew, Mary, Bartholomew and you! We are brothers of Jesus - we are from the same Father.  The same way the Holy Spirit came over Mary and Christ was born in her, the Spirit of God came over us and Christ was “born” in our spirit. Christ is now in us and our hope of glory. Both Jesus and all other sons are born from above.  You are born again of incorruptible seed. (1 Peter 1.23 ) A father sheep has a baby sheep, a human father has a human baby, so if the Father is eternal and his seed is eternal then the new creation born, is eternal.  We are conceived from above and birthed from heaven. We also have the same Spirit that Jesus had.   “The son gave his spirit to all the sons” (Galatians 4.6)

Friend, we are truly children of God both literally and spiritually; so let's act out of our true identity