I am so very grateful and thankful to our Father for letting me share his words and feelings with so many around the world that are reading this blog.  I sincerely hope it gives some influence, hope, and guidance to those who need him...and who could not need our Father.  Peace be with you through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has his hands upon and arms around us all if we would but take the time to see and feel. I am but a lowly and humble servant who wishes to glorify him; who by serving him makes us like kings and queens.

     Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

 Matthew 8:23-27

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And he saith unto them, why are ye fearful?.... Though they had some faith in him, yet there was a great deal of fear and unbelief, for which Christ blames them, saying,
O ye of little faith: See Gill on Matthew 6:30. In Luke, the phrase is, "where is your faith?" what is become of it? You professed but just now to believe in me, is your faith gone already? In Mark it is, "how is it that ye have no faith?" That is, in exercise, their faith was very small, it could hardly be discerned: some faith they had, as appears by their application to him, but it was very little. They had no faith in him, as sleeping, that he could deliver them; but had some little faith in him that he might, could he be awaked out of sleep; and for this Christ blames them; for he, as the eternal God, was as able to save them sleeping as waking.
Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm: being awaked by his disciples, he raises his head from his pillow, stands up, and with a majestic voice, in an authoritative manner, showing some kind of resentment at the wind and sea, as if they had exceeded their commission; and the one had blown, and the other raged too much and too long; he rebukes them in such language as this, "peace, be still"; , as it is in Mark, be silent, hold your peace, stop your mouth, put a bridle on it, as the words used signify; and go on no longer to threaten with shipwreck and loss of lives; upon which the wind ceased, the sea became calm, and the ship moved quietly on.
~Gills Exposition of the Bible ~

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Does it not take your breath away the things our Lord did as man and God in one.  He reminds us always that he is with us and paying attention whether we think he is asleep or just absent.  Never doubt, always have faith.

JN

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The peril and perplexity of the disciples in this voyage; and in this appeared the truth of what Christ had just now said, that those who follow him must count upon difficulties, v. 20.

1. There arose a very great storm, v. 24. Christ could have prevented this storm, and have ordered them a pleasant passage, but that would not have been so much for his glory and the confirmation of their faith as their deliverance was: this storm was for their sakes, as Jn. 11:4. One would have expected, that having Christ with them, they should have had a very favourable gale, but it is quite otherwise; for Christ would show that they who are passing with him over the ocean of this world to the other side, must expect storms by the way. The church is tossed with tempests (Isa. 54:11); it is only the upper region that enjoys a perpetual calm, this lower one is ever and anon disturbed and disturbing.
2. He rebukes the wind; the former he did as the God of grace, and the Sovereign of the heart, who can do what he pleases in us; this he did as the God of nature, the Sovereign of the world, who can do what he pleases for us. It is the same power that stills the noise of the sea, and the tumult of fear, Ps. 65:7. See, (1.) How easily this was done, with a word's speaking. Moses commanded the waters with a rod; Joshua, with the ark of the covenant; Elisha, with the prophet's mantle; but Christ with a word. See his absolute dominion over all the creatures, which bespeaks both his honour, and the happiness of those that have him on their side. (2.) How effectually it was done? There was a great calm, all of a sudden. Ordinarily, after a storm, there is such a fret of the waters, that it is a good while ere they can settle; but if Christ speak the word, not only the storm ceases, but all the effects of it, all the remains of it. Great storms of doubt, and fear in the soul, under the power of the spirit of bondage, sometimes end in a wonderful calm, created and spoken by the Spirit of adoption.
~Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary~

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How can one not wish to serve our God through any means or by any talents he has given unto us?  When one comes to appreciate...to be aware of...to recognize just how potent, how commanding, how authoritative, and, yet, warm and loving the Bible and the words of and about our Lord and God are, then you will begin to have that intense, consuming faith that launches the transformation into a new self modeled after our Lord God. 

In the storm tossed sea of life, have faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Amen

You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

John 14:28

     

     And so we should rejoice for those whom we see as dead, for they are with our Father, and is that not the reward we have sought.  Have faith.

"He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken."

Mark 12:27

     I have been taking a break from the book while I work on several short story ideas I have.  The Journey, which I put on the blog, and several others I will post soon.  God's inspiration is for all to view.  One caution, I may seem irreverent at times, but I have cleared these ideas through him that is king of all.  I never intend to be anything more than a servant.  I love to show that our Father is not a mundane, boring God.  He is alive and exciting...after all, he created all things, all times, all places.
     A little hint on life: slow down and take a little time each day to enjoy the beauty of our Father's creation.  He loves for people to appreciate the hard, intricate, thoughtful, divine work he put in to build it...he did it for us.  Give thanks to our loving and caring creator.

     Discussing with some people about the possible need for a magazine/internet publication for Christian short story fiction and nonfiction. I know there is a definite need from my point of view, but polling people on their views and, if so, what kind of format.  I know print medium for newspapers and magazines are struggling to compete with internet, but ,with Nook downloads, may be a good possibility of success.  As with anything, quality and planning a must.  We'll see.  We never know what exciting adventure the Lord will lead us into.  I think young through old writers need an outlet for their creativity and the world needs to have an avenue to see what talent is out there and be exposed to new and unique styles of inspiration.  We are not all inspired by the same style and ideas.

     The world is too small, in that there are billions of people and only so many resources such as food available, to have a few nations with so much and a majority of the nations with so little.  We have the technology and know how to distribute resources on a fair basis, and, as Christians and Muslims, we have an obligation to God to do this.  There should be no one go to bed hungry in this world...there should be no one go without a comfortable place to lay their head at night.  We do not have to give up everything we possess if we are the haves.  We just have to share. If we who have, would each share just a little, we would feed with abundance all who have not, and we will have lost nothing and gained everything.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 

Romans 12:9-13

     I was watching the BYU (Brigham Young University) channel yesterday.  I am not a Mormon, but am a Christian.  The channel has some good, interesting programs.  We Christians should love and support one another and not let our doctrines get in our way.  When we let doctrine cause rifts and fighting between us, it interferes with our mission to spread the Good News.  We should stand united before the world as brothers and sisters in our Lord. 
     The host of the program I was watching told a story from the 1800's.  The story was about an old gentleman that sat on the porch of his seaside home somewhere along the southern Atlantic coast of the US.  He sat there watching a boy throwing starfish back in the ocean that had been stranded as the tide moved out.  The man eventually walked down to where the boy was busy throwing the starfish back to the ocean.  He remarked to the boy, "son, there are thousands upon thousands of starfish along the beach.  What difference are you going to make by throwing a few back?  You can throw them back all day and not make a dent in them."  The boy stopped what he was doing and held up a starfish saying, "I'm making a difference to this one."  The rest of the afternoon one saw the boy along with the old man throwing starfish back into the receding ocean. 
     This really made a deep impression on me.  Our Lord is always teaching if we but listen.  The lesson he taught me is this:  As Christians, we go about our lives most of the time passing up opportunities to save one lost soul.  Thinking, what dent can I make in the millions of the unsaved upon this earth at just this point in time?  Not realizing that we would be making a huge difference to that one person we saved and gave eternal life to.  If each of us brought just one soul to Christ in this lifetime, what a mammoth impact that would make in the big picture of life.  Never discount the impact you can make by what you perceive as an insignificant contribution.  It may, and most likely will, influence others to do the same.  The ripple effect is tremendous when each of those persons influence several others to do the same.

Sing to the LORD! Bless his name! Proclaim his deliverance every day!

Psalm 96:2