2 different things

I couldn't decide which of these to share, so I decided to share them both ;-)



Mark 4

  24 Then Jesus added,

"Pay close attention to what you hear.

The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given;

     and you will receive even more.

25 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given.

But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them."


I have a Life Application Bible. The note at the bottom of the page for these verses say this...

     it's not what we have or been gifted with that is important - the important thing is what we let God do with it.

iow, the important thing to remember is it's all about God's favor - the older I get, the more I realize that it's all about God's favor.



Makr 4

35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples,

      "Let's cross to the other side of the lake."

36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).

37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.


  38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?"


  39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!"

Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.


40 Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"


  41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?" they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"


Wouldn't you have loved to have been in the boat AFTER the storm dies down & they're all sailing along on this quiet sea?

I wonder what all the disciples were thinking.

Talk about an awkward moment! ;-)



Now you & I throw the disciples under the bus for being so stupid & being afraid in the storm when they had the Son of God in the boat with them.
But before we do that, think about this...

God has hauled our butts out of trouble time & time again (most of the time it's trouble of our own making!).

But whenever we get our butts in a sling, or life deals us a pretty bad blow, we sound just like the disciples.

We start yelling & screaming to God to come save us, and insinuating that he's asleep at the switch, not taking care of us, while we're fixin' to go down with the ship of our prissy, precious lives.

When all along, God has been right there with us.

And He takes care of us, again - even though we had just be hysterical about the "terrible" situation that we were sure was gonna wreck our lives.