Matthew 8:23 says, And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. Jesus and his disciples got into a ship to get away from the crowds for awhile. Verse twenty-four declares, And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. While Jesus was asleep, a great storm arose covering the ship in the waves. Sometimes in life we may feel that we are being swamped and wonder if God is asleep, but we can be certain that He never is and that He will be with us through the storms, though He may not immediately calm the storms. Verse twenty-five adds, And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. The disciples, some at of whom as fishermen should have been familiar with storms at sea went and awoke Jesus, saying if He didn't wake up that they would perish. We may at times wonder if God is not aware of what is going on in our life, but as followers of Christ, we never should. Verse twenty-six asks, And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. Jesus asked the disciples why they had so little faith, then He rebuked the winds and there was a great calm. If we find our self in a storm and begin to doubt, then Jesus may ask us why we are of so little faith. Do we only trust in God when life is going smoothly? Verse twenty-seven proclaims, But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! The men on the ship marveled at what Jesus did and asked Who He was that even the wind and sea obeyed Him. Who He was, and is, is the God of the universe, and as Christians we should always remember this and declare it to the world no matter what our situation may be. Verse twenty-eight states, And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. When Jesus got to the other side of the sea, He was met by two demon possessed men who lived in the tombs and blocked His way. Verse twenty-nine adds, And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Even tough they were demon possessed, they recognized Jesus as the Son of God. This was something that even His disciples had not acknowledged. We can be certain that Satan and those that follow him know Who Jesus. They asked if Jesus had come to destroy them, but we know that Jesus did not come to destroy, but that He came to seek and save those who are lost. The first step to that salvation is to acknowledge Jesus for Who He is. Verse thirty states, And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. Verse thirty-one adds, So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. The devils asked that they might go into a herd of swine when Jesus cast them out. They did not question His ability to cast them out. When we are acting under faith in God, there is no force that can stand up to His power, no matter what the outcome may be here in this lifetime. Verse thirty-two declares, And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. There was not a great battle to get the devils out of the two men. Jesus just said, "Go," and the demons went into the herd of swine, which then ran down into the sea and perished. Verse thirty-three adds, And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. The ones who were keeping the herd of swine ran into the city and told everything that had happened to those two men possessed of the devils. Nothing as dramatic may have happened at our conversion, but if we put our faith in God then He will cast out all the demons in our life, and then we should tell everyone what has happened. Verse thirty-four concludes, And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. The whole city came out to meet Jesus, and asked Him to leave their coasts. The men who kept the swine had lost all their herd, and instead of rejoicing at the two men being freed from the demons evidently were more concerned with what it had cost them financially. There are many people today who will not accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord because they are worried about what it will cost them financially, but no price is ever worth paying to not accept Him.
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