Matt 14:29-3129 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?(KJV) John 5:1-8
CHAPTER 5
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
(KJV)
Rom 8:29-37
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
(KJV)
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Former Senator Phil Graham got in trouble for saying, "It's a mental recession, it's in our heads, we are a nation of whiners." This gentleman is a corporate lobbyist with a heart only for the rich and the powerful. It's easy to call people "whiners" from your limousine or your penthouse suite. When you have 20,000,000 in the bank, $5.00 gas does not impact your life. When you have $50,000,000 in stock options, you don't feel the heat of inflation like a senior citizen does on a fixed income. It's easy to say folks are whiners when you are on your porcelain perch!!!!!
Jesus preached inner strength and personal accountability but he didn't do that from a platinum porch. Jesus told folks to "get off your butt and stop whining" (extreme paraphrase)but he did that from the midst of the crowd. Jesus grew up in and around poverty and He didn't attempt to escape it at the first opportunity. Jesus didn't preach about "those people"...He was "those people".
As a preacher who goes to work everyday and is amoung "those people" let me share about our problems. Our problems are not in our heads. They are real. The Gas Prices are real. The inflation is real. The foreclosures are real. Global Warming is real. These problems are in our face everyday.
Senator Graham was right about only one thing though. We are whining. We are looking at our storms and using the storms as an excuse for sin, pity and poor choices. Do you know how many times that I have heard the phrase this week, "In today's economy"?
I can't budget because in "today's economy"....
I need to drink because in "today's economy"....
I need to smoke because it's rough out here in "today's economy"....
I can't find a job because in "today's economy"....
This awful economy is real but so is our God. So why are you only talking about the problem instead of talking about the solution to the problem? Peter sank in the storm when he took his eyes off of Jesus. Many are sinking now because their eyes are on the pump instead of the throne.