Intentional Encouragement

     Well...I'm still thinking about being near Jesus when the going is difficult...and I'm still thinking about that situation in Matthew 14 where Jesus sent the disciples out across the lake.      Now I'm thinking about the part where Peter wanted to walk to Jesus.  It's fascinating to me.  Not just that Peter walked on water, but that he even asked!  How many times have I been in a situation that was difficult, and thought about taking a step that would make it downright impossible?  Are we too often like the rest of the guys in boat; just struggling to get the job at hand done?      Here are a couple lessons I draw from Peter's faith: His faith was so focused on Jesus (the one who could do anything) that it allowed for dreaming.  Who says that?  Who gets into the middle of a very difficult task; watches while everyone else around them is scared, and looks for a way to make things harder?...

OK...some more thoughts on being in the boat and finding the waves against us... This time I'm in Matthew 14, and I'm interested in a couple of distinctions between this situation and the one I talked about before from Matthew 8. *There Jesus went with the disciples; here he sends them on their own. *There the storm came up suddenly; here it's not even described as a storm, but a prolonged experience with wind and waves that are contrary. *There Jesus slept in the boat; here Jesus prayed on the mountain. *There they panicked and woke him up; here they rowed for all they were worth. *There they were afraid when he was in the boat; here they were terrified when he showed up. It's interesting how often we get in the middle of difficult circumstances and forget that Jesus has promised to be with us all the time.  We don't have to be alert to the presence of the Lord for it to be a reality.  He is not nearer to us because he "feels" nearer.  He is alw...

I was preparing a Bible study this morning for an opportunity later this week from Mark 4.  It's a familiar passage about the disciples out in a boat with Jesus when a bad storm quickly arises on the Galilee.  I'm told those storms actually still happen there; out of nowhere, it seems.  The are fierce, scary and cause otherwise rational people to think irrationally.  These disciples were not unacquainted with those storms.  Some of them were men used to the sea and used to handling those storms.  Still, this one caused even those seasoned sailors to shift into panic mode.  Have you been there? Their reaction (after bailing and rowing, I would imagine) was to go elbow Jesus in the ribs, wake him up and say "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"  I am interested to see a couple of ways in which this was a very self-centered response to a very difficult situation. First; why was it about them?  Don't you care if WE drown?  F...

     When I moved south, I almost left my shovel behind.   We had been working our way down the east coast from northwestern New York to northeastern Pennsylvania to south central Pennsylvania , and now to southeastern Virginia !   We had more snow than anyone should have to shovel when we lived in the first two places.   We moved to Harrisburg , PA and they had almost 2 feet that winter.   “More snow than we’ve seen in 10 years,” they told us.      Our first winter here, we had a grand total of 4 inches .  I liked that.  I don't ski or skate or snow-mobile or any of that wintry stuff.  The next year, my sister visited me from northeastern New York state.  We had 10 inches the day after Christmas.  She said "I could have stayed in New York and had this."  I was glad I had brought my shovel.  People kept telling me “you won’t see snow like this again for 10 years,” but then came this year. ...