EVEN THE WINDS AND WAVES OBEY HIM

 

"The Jesus Boat" on the Sea of Galilee

Mount Arbel pictured in these photos is in the same area where The Jesus Boat was discovered. Just imagine that Jesus would have seen that same mountain from Sea of Galilee that we see today! 

EVEN THE WINDS AND WAVES OBEY HIM

          During our Holy Land Pilgrimage in 2018, our Lakes Church Lead Pastor Dr. Aaron D. Burgner took us to the museum where “The Jesus Boat” is housed. We discovered that the Sea of Galilee yielded an unexpected catch in 1986 — the hull of a fishing boat old enough to have been on the water in the time of Jesus and his disciples.  The remains of The Jesus Boat were found in the muddy lake-bed of the Sea of Galilee, which is actually a freshwater inland lake, during a time of severe drought. The remains were 27 feet long, 7.5 feet wide and 4.3 feet high. This size would have enabled it to carry up to 15 people. Extracting it safely presented a huge challenge to excavators. Conservation of its waterlogged timbers took 11 years. In 2000 the vessel — officially known as “The Ancient Galilee Boat” — went on permanent display in the Yigal Allon Museum at Ginosar, near where it was discovered. Mount Arbel (pictured in these photos) is in the same area where The Jesus Boat was discovered. Just imagine that Jesus would have seen that same mountain from the Sea of Galilee that we see today!

            Our Lakes Church Lead Pastor Dr. Aaron D. Burgner shared a powerful message with us from Matthew 8 while we were on a boat on the Sea of Galilee.

          Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” And Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith! Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”—Matthew 8:23-27
          The storm that came up that night struck terror in these veteran fishermen’s hearts. Would they be shipwrecked? Would they perish? They panicked and doubted whether Jesus was aware of or even cared if they drowned. Like the disciples, we sometimes get into troubles that feel so overwhelming, storms that rage so furiously, that we’re sure our boat is about to be swamped and we’ll drown. It may seem to us—as it did to the disciples in these verses—that Jesus is sleeping, that he is unconcerned and unaware of our plight, and we cry, “Lord, save us!” When we are panicked and overwhelmed, Jesus asks us as he did that day on the Sea of Galilee, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!”
          Though the storms will come again and again, Jesus is always with us and is working within us through these experiences to develop a faith that can withstand any tumultuous trial, any waves of difficulty. By the time they reached the other side, they knew something about Jesus that they didn’t know before: He’s sovereign over all creation. There’s nothing beyond the reach of His power. Our trials reveal that He can calm seas and hearts.  
          Even when God seems silent, we need never fear if the Lord is in the boat with us through the storm. Uncomfortable circumstances may continue, but God will prove himself our sure refuge because he has promised he will never forsake us. His name Emmanuel means “God with us.” Because of this truth we can continue to call on the Lord with confidence that he will hear and respond because of his unfailing love.
          LORD, thank you for your promised presence with me today. Although my circumstances may seem overwhelming, I call to you with confidence because you are all powerful and you love me. Come and help me! Save me because of your unfailing love and help me experience you as my sure refuge. I wait expectantly to see you move in a mighty way in my life today. Lord, we forget that you are in the boat with us, that you rule over the wind and waves and storms in our lives. Increase our faith so that even in the midst of great turbulence we will not panic but will trust you to care for us. Let our spirits be able to rest at all times because your presence is always greater than any stormy circumstance we will face. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
          Look Up—meditate on Matthew 8:23-27…pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.
          Look In—as you meditate on Matthew 8:23-27…pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."
          Look Out—as you meditate on Matthew 8:23-27…pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory. 

NOTE: I highly recommend a YouTube video filmed live every day with a wonderful online devotion every morning called "Sunrise Stroll & Chat" with Fr Eamon Kelly which records the sunrise every morning from Magdala at the Sea of Galilee. Some days he even climbs to the top of Mount Arbel and films the sunrise from there, since it is adjacent to Magdala. I can imagine Jesus doing the same! It's a wonderful way to start the day! Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys81GaWRvK0

* If you liked this post, you will LOVE this new book: "Memorable Moments in the Holy Land," available on Amazon at this link:  https://a.co/d/06G79jQm

TABGHA BY THE SEA OF GALILEE

 

Tabgha by the Sea of Galilee

          During each Holy Land Pilgrimage Lakes Church Lead Pastor Dr. Aaron D. Burgner taught extensively at The Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter, which is a Franciscan church located in Tabgha, Israel, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It commemorates, and marks the spot, of Jesus' reinstatement of Peter as chief among the Apostles. The church contains a projection of limestone rock in front of the present altar which is venerated as a "Mensa Christi," Latin for table of Christ. According to tradition this is the spot where Jesus is said to have laid out a breakfast of bread and fish for the Apostles, and told Peter to "Feed my sheep" after the miraculous catch, the third time he appeared to them after his resurrection. (John 21:1–24).
          After Jesus’ resurrection, His disciples were back to what they knew: fishing. But after a night in the boat, they came up empty-handed. Fortunately, a man on the shore offered some guidance; he suggested they cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and they made a massive catch. This was a callback—an inside joke with His boys. By repeating the same directions and results as when He first called them, Jesus was tipping His hand—He was the man on the shoreline. These two fishing stories serve as bookends for Jesus’ time with His disciples. They reveal how He stayed with them after their denial and desertion. We wander, but He stays. He never leaves you to fend for yourself.
          On the same spot of shoreline where the disciples almost certainly docked their boats, there’s a large, flat rock—the kind rugged fishermen might use as a makeshift table. At the direction of Jesus, the disciples caught 153 fish. The first time Jesus filled the disciples’ nets, He said He’d make them fishers of men (Luke 5:10). So perhaps these 153 fish are an object lesson—a reminder that they’ll be catching people from among every nation (Revelation 7:9), that the gospel net will pull in “fish” of every kind! One morning after His resurrection, Jesus cooked His disciples breakfast over a charcoal fire like the one Peter sat around when he denied Jesus (John 18:18), these are the only two times the word “charcoal” appears in the Bible. With the familiar sights and smells of the fire, it’s easy to imagine Peter being transported back to that moment, filled with shame and regret. But then, instead of shaming him, Jesus invites him into a beautiful moment of restoration.
          In His great patience and kindness, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, paralleling Peter’s three denials. Then Jesus gives him a weighty assignment—serving people. He reminds Peter that the gospel must reach the people of all nations. Even after having this intimate, powerful exchange with Jesus, he immediately takes his eyes off Christ, comparing his assignment to John’s. Peter first experienced that when he walked on water, and he experiences it here when he gets his life’s assignment. Peter fails often, but always and only by taking his eyes off Christ. To love Jesus well in return, we must fix our eyes on Him, not ourselves or others.
          This scripture from John 21 comes to life when you are kneeling at this spot by the Sea of Galilee. I suddenly had a memory of when I was a teenager, a missionary to Uganda, Pastor Webster “Web” Carroll, came to our church to speak. I was fascinated by his stories from the mission field. Many years later, when he was retiring, he came back to our church to share a final message. He asked us to open our Bibles to John 21:1-6…

Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there--Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing." "We'll come, too," they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn the disciples saw Jesus standing on the beach, but they couldn't see who he was. He called out, "Friends, have you caught any fish?" "No," they replied. Then he said, "Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you'll get plenty of fish!" So they did, and they couldn't draw in the net because there were so many fish in it.
          As Pastor Web Carroll began to share his observations of this familiar scripture, he said, “I” is not the most profound company or secure future. It is dangerous for the ego to become the foundation for your tomorrows. If “I” is undependable, “we” is that much more undependable. That “night”—physical night is bad enough, but spiritual night is worse. He explained these words from the Ugandan language, “ushinde” (ends with an “e”) which means “defeat.” He said the word “ushindi”(ends with an “I”) means “victory.”
          Jesus asks, "Do you have any fish?"  Sooner or later somebody has to speak and say, "No, Sir, we don't." Sooner or later we face Jesus Christ, whether we recognize Him or not. "What do you have to show for the last 8 hours you've spent in the water?"  He covers us with His compassion. Just like He did that early morning—to talk to the fish that were there in the water that night. The difference between spiritual victory and spiritual defeat is the Presence of the Lord Jesus.
          He explained this with another Ugandan word, “basi”... it means, “peace, it will be alright, it will be okay.” It is used by mothers nursing their babies, it means '”peace, healing'” as they hold their babies, they pat them saying, “basi, basi” . . . “that's alright, that's alright.” Then he closed his message with John 3:16 and he said, “Just give Jesus a chance, He will give “basi.”
          I have experienced this “basi”… peace…the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ as my El Shaddai. The thought expressed in the name Shaddai describes power, but it is the power, not of violence, but of all-bountifulness. Shaddai primarily means “breasted,” being formed directly from the Hebrew word, “shad,” that is “the breast.” Shaddai means “the pourer” or “the shedder-forth,” that is of blessings, temporal and spiritual. Having been a nursing mother of my two children, I readily identify with this name … my baby is crying—restless. Nothing can quiet it. Yes; the breast can. My baby is pining, starving. Its life is going out. It cannot take nourishment: it will die. No; the breast can give it fresh life, and nourish it …calming, peaceful, nourished…satisfied. He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him…He Himself is our Peace. (Ephesians 2:14a)
          Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your peace today. You are our Peace. I ask you to help me to do these things: to lean on you, to meditate on your character and attributes, and to trust you with all my heart. Thank You for Your promise that Your perfect peace will guard my heart and mind. In Christ, I am relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusions, bewilderments, and perplexities of this life, because I trust in You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

          Look Up—meditate on John 21:1-6 pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.
          Look In—as you meditate on John 21:1-6  pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________.
          Look Out—as you meditate on John 21:1-6   pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.

* If you liked this post, you will LOVE this new book: "Memorable Moments in the Holy Land," available on Amazon at this link:  https://a.co/d/06G79jQm

Sunrise at the Sea of Galilee

 

SUNRISE AT THE SEA OF GALILEE

          It is 5:30am, still dark as I settle down on the rocks beside the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, Israel, on a cool Monday morning in March, 2000. I turn on my video camera and set it down on the rock beside me to record the sunrise and then I steady my 35mm camera for this first still shot of the pink glow beginning to peak over the eastern hills. 
          Then it hits me . . . He was here, He walked here, He may have sat on this very same rock on that early morning after His resurrection as He prepared a breakfast of fish and bread on a fire for His disciples. Right here where I am sitting right now. I am in awe. His Spirit Feet shod with flesh left footprints in this sand.
          He is here now, with me. Emmanuel, God with us. His Spirit dwells in the innermost part of me, taking authority over my soul, the seat of my emotions, and my body, my fleshly desires and appetites. El Shaddai, my all-sufficient Heavenly Father, my Abba Daddy, speaking to me through His Word from Jeremiah 1:5, “Beth, before you were born, I knew you.”
          The video camera on the rock beside me hums, and I begin to sing, "My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of sin I resign, My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou". . . and then suddenly, at the exact moment when the first golden round edge of the sun peeks over the distant hills, my voice can be faintly heard on the video recording singing the closing words of the hymn, "If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now."

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign, My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me, And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree, I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now 

In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright; I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now

          John 21:1-6 Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there--Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing." "We'll come, too," they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn the disciples saw Jesus standing on the beach, but they couldn't see who he was. He called out, "Friends, have you caught any fish?" "No," they replied. Then he said, "Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you'll get plenty of fish!" So they did, and they couldn't draw in the net because there were so many fish in it.

          Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your peace today. You are our Peace. I ask you to help me to do these things: to lean on you, to meditate on your character and attributes, and to trust you with all my heart. Thank You for Your promise that Your perfect peace will guard my heart and mind. In Christ, I am relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusions, bewilderments, and perplexities of this life, because I trust in You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

          Look Up—meditate on John 21:1-6 pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

          Look In—as you meditate on John 21:1-6  pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

          Look Out—as you meditate on John 21:1-6   pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.

* If you liked this post, you will LOVE this new book: Memorable Moments in the Holy Land, available on Amazon at this link:  https://a.co/d/06G79jQm

Sunrise at the Sea of Galilee

 It is 5:30am, still dark as I settle down on the rocks beside the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, Israel, on a cool Monday morning in March, 2000. I turn on my video camera and set it down on the rock beside me to record the sunrise and then I steady my 35mm camera for this first still shot of the pink glow beginning to peak over the eastern hills. 

Then it hits me...He was here, He walked here, He may have sat on this very same rock on that early morning after His resurrection as He prepared a breakfast of fish and bread on a fire for His disciples. Right here where I am sitting right now. I am in awe. His Spirit Feet shod with flesh left footprints in this sand.

.

He is here now, with me. Emmanuel, God with us. His Spirit dwells in the innermost part of me, taking authority over my soul, the seat of my emotions, and my body, my fleshly desires and appetites. El Shaddai, my all-sufficient Heavenly Father, my Abba Daddy, speaking to me through His Word from Jeremiah 1:5, “Beth, before you were born, I knew you.”

.

The video camera on the rock beside me hums, and I begin to sing, "My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of sin I resign, My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou"... and then suddenly, at the exact moment when the first golden round edge of the sun peeks over the distant hills, my voice can be faintly heard on the video recording singing the closing words of the hymn..."If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now."

.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now

.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now

.

In mansions of glory and endless delight

I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now

.

John 21:1-6…Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there--Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing." "We'll come, too," they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn the disciples saw Jesus standing on the beach, but they couldn't see who he was. He called out, "Friends, have you caught any fish?" "No," they replied. Then he said, "Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you'll get plenty of fish!" So they did, and they couldn't draw in the net because there were so many fish in it.

.

Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your peace today. You are our Peace. I ask you to help me to do these things: to lean on you, to meditate on your character and attributes, and to trust you with all my heart. Thank You for Your promise that Your perfect peace will guard my heart and mind. In Christ, I am relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusions, bewilderments, and perplexities of this life, because I trust in You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

.

Look Up—meditate on John 21:1-6 pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

.

Look In—as you meditate on John 21:1-6  pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

.

Look Out—as you meditate on John 21:1-6   pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.

Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee

Capernaum was Jesus' home away from Nazareth, and the heart of Jesus' Galilean ministry. He spent some two years there, teaching and performing miracles. Situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum was the home of the two sets of fishing brothers whom Jesus called to be apostles--Peter and Andrew, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

One of the most impressive of Jesus' miracles performed in Capernaum was the healing--at a distance--of the Roman Centurion's servant.
"This man deserves to have you do this," the Jewish elders said to Jesus,
"because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." Imagine my excitement, then, at being able to visit what is the site of the very synagogue which the centurion had helped to build.
Virtually adjacent to the synagogue is another much visited site in Capernaum the home where Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law of her fever.

On the way out, there are a row of columns taken from the synagogue. On one of the columns is an Aramaic inscription dedicated to "Alpheus the son of Zebedah, the son of John," who had contributed to the building of the second synagogue from the second or perhaps fourth century. It is altogether possible that there is profound significance in the names "John" and "Zebedah."



Given the location of Capernaum and the fact that family names were passed down for generations, these men may have been descendants of the apostle John, the son of Zebedee.

It brings me back to a faith "built upon the foundation of the apostles, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."

If that heritage of faith doesn't stir me to pick up the torch and run with it, nothing will!

Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee




5:30 a.m. beside the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, Israel

It is 5:30 a.m., still dark as I settle down on the rocks beside the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, Israel, on a cool Monday morning in March, 2000. I turn on my video camera and set it down on the rock beside me to record the sunrise and then I steady my 35mm camera for this first still shot of the pink glow beginning to peak over the eastern hills.



5:40 a.m. beside the Sea of Galilee

Then it hits me...He was here, He walked here, He may have sat on this very same rock on that early morning after His resurrection as He prepared a breakfast of fish and bread on a fire for His disciples. Right here. I am in awe. His Spirit Feet shod with flesh left footprints in this sand.

He is here now, with me. Emmanuel, God with us. His Spirit dwells in the innermost part of me, taking authority over my soul, the seat of my emotions, and my body, my fleshly desires and appetites. El Shaddai, my all-sufficient Heavenly Father, my Abba Daddy, speaking to me through His Word from Jeremiah 1:5, "Beth, before you were born, I knew you."

6:00 a.m. beside the Sea of Galilee

The video camera on the rock beside me hums, and I begin to sing, "My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of sin I resign, My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou"... and then suddenly, at the exact moment when the first golden round edge of the sun peeks over the distant hills, my voice can be faintly heard on the video recording singing the closing words of the hymn..."If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now."