Part Two: Control the tides
As I walked along the shoreline of the beach in deep communication with the Lord, I stopped to look at the ocean. The day was just starting and was a little overcast, but otherwise a beautiful day. While I looked out over the waves and all the waters beyond, this huge body of water reminded me of God, the beauty, the vastness, the power, the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love for me [1]. Just as God feeds all the fish in the sea, as long as I was “In Christ,” He would cover me, lead me, and protect me.
Like the many wayfarers that have traveled the ocean blue, as long as the ship did not leak, the waters would carry them safely to their next port. My faith in God is like that ship, as long as my faith does not leak, Christ assures me safe passage to my next port, which is God’s assignment for me.
The ocean’s horizon is also like my faith. I cannot see what’s beyond the horizon but with the faith of a mustard seed [2], I don’t need to see, because my faith will get me there. Like the “Footprints in the sand,” God will carry me and keep me afloat.
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you [Isaiah 46:3 NIV].
My brother Jeff also brought something to my attention that fell in line with his “moon” experience with God. He told me that the moon regulates the tides. It is a fact that when the moon is its brightest, the greater the tide will be, and the more land it will touch and cover. Jeff saw this great tide as the ‘living water’ that whosoever believed in Christ, rivers of living water would flow from him [3] and that whosoever drinks of the living water, they will never thirst and will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life [4].
There are many other parallels but I’ll leave that to you to come up with some of your own. One thing is probably for sure, because of my brother, we will not look at the moon the same again. God bless you all and thanks for stopping by.
In summary, the brighter the moon reflects the sun, the greater the tide and more land it will cover. The brighter we reflect the love of Christ, the more people we can affect for Him. The last tide is coming in brothers and sisters. Let’s reflect Christ so that when the last tide goes out, we can take as many with us as we can, and the captain of our ship of faith will say to us, “. . .Well done good and faithful servant. . .[5].”
Next week: I’ll be doing a piece on “The rise and fall of the man-made church.” This is a requested article, so I hope that I can sufficiently answer it in a small blog for him. Authors have written books on this subject. If I cannot condense it sufficiently by next Monday, I will have to request another week. However, I will have something for you. GOD BLESS!
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[1] Ephesians 3:18
[2] Matthew 17:20
[3] John 7:38
[4] John 4:14
[5] Matthew 25:21
STAYING ON COURSE 
Thanks for sharing … as usual… cool insights 🙂
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Thanks son. Thanks for your support. Love ya pal.
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Thanks Dad! Another good blog
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this was wonderful Jim. enjoyed it very much. I had some thought not to the moon but God spoke to me while I was sorting and packing. As I looked all the room and pile of stuff to be sorted and boxes all packed I could hardly see the floor. I said,…ugh what a mess. I got up the next day and stepped into what I once called a mess, and joy hit my spirit and I said,.. wow this is progress. it all depends on our perspective. The answer is found all in the way we we look at things. This got me to thinking that ,in life as well we go through struggles, and refining’s to purify us for our Lord. I can get discouraged and say, wow Lord I am just a mess. Or I can look up, trust in God and say,” God I trust you, and I see progress. I also thought of all I had collected and stored and as I sorted I said, wow, why in the world did I hang onto this. This revelation in the natural kicked in the spiritual. I said, God we hold onto so much junk we accumulate and hang onto along our journey in this life. Offenses, bitterness, un forgiveness, wounds, sadness, and grief. we hold grudges, and ruin any chance for happiness by what we rehash, and nurse and re hearse. we feed the junk by refusing to let go and refusing to let another person go, binding our offenses to them. we refuse to forgive and therefore we ruin all the joy’s that could be found. We lose sight of the good to hold onto the bad. We cannot make others change, nor can we make them love us, nor can we expect them to be the sole reason we are why we are. Nor can we allow others to be the reason we are in the shape that we are in. people are human, all are in a process and we can react negatively or we can refuse to engage and forgive and walk away. we all need to be accountable and responsible for our own choices and actions. God also showed me how He has given His kids forgiveness, yet they hang onto shame and wont let others forget how thy hurt us. They hang onto the need to be right and drive a wedge between what could be so beautiful. He also showed me He has given us gifts, but like the junk we store, we seem to pack away Gods gifts too. Bitterness, and listening to the opinions of others and the voice of the enemy makes us seem disqualified to use those gifts. It also makes us feel unworthy to come to God. So into a box the gifts go along with Gods love and grace for us.go and they stay on the shelve gathering dust. Shame has held us to the fact those gifts could never be used as effective if they were just given to others. Stored worthless junk and unused precious gifts from the Father, paid for by the blood of Jesus gifts has caused us many wounds. It has also out of bitterness wounded others. Stored junk has trapped us inside ourselves where we feel we are always on the outside looking in. We do not see our value, and we want to try to get to God yet we never seem to realize by His blood we already have the access to Him. Sorting and packing has been very profitable this week. A deeper understanding of how to get rid of junk , trust God, offer everything up to God the good and the bad and the ugly. Stand up, and walk into the open door and say thank you father for your love and forgiveness and grace. Say, thank you Father for all these beautiful gifts. Father here am I ,…. send me. ( please print this out for me when you get home, I want to share it with the ladies.) Love you
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Thanks sis. I certainly will print it out. Thanks for taking time to stop and share. GBY real good.
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Very Good blog ,Jim……
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Thanks Barbara, and four your support. GBY real good.
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