Jesus Is Lord Of All

" And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’ Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.’ For He said to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit!’” —Mark 4:37-40, Mark 5:1-8

Until I heard a devotional on these verses I had never made a connection between them. On the one hand Jesus commanded the natural – the stormy sea. On the other Jesus commanded the supernatural – demons possessing the man. In both cases the “offender” submitted to Jesus. There was no argument, just a recognition of His authority and they both submitted to it, while those watching were fearful only seeing and understanding with their natural senses. Now with respect to people, on the other hand, God has given us a choice. We can choose to submit to Jesus' authority or not. For most of the world, it’s not. The village that had just lost a herd of pigs – obviously they were not Jews – were afraid of Jesus and wanted Him to leave – post haste! Like most of the world. Jesus makes people uncomfortable. They are afraid of what they don’t understand.

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” – 1 Corinthians 2:14

Without the Spirit of God, if you are not born again by the Spirit, it is impossible to understand spiritual truth. We must submit to the Spirit to live out our new life. Someone once said that if Jesus is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all. Do you understand that? Its implications in your life. Like the stormy seas and the legion of demons in the man, we must submit completely to the authority of Jesus. Oh, we want Him to have authority over death so we can go to heaven – the supernatural, but we very often balk at Jesus having authority over our day to day living. What we think about, talk about, how we treat others – our natural life.

Just now I am listening to the rain fall – part of Tropical Storm Beta. I am thinking about all of those people who have lived through worse storms, whose hearts race every time the thunder rolls. Had the disciples not awakened Jesus, I believe they would have survived the storm – why do I believe that? Because they were with Jesus. They had much to learn and much to do. But a time would come when their natural lives would end – some as martyrs for their faith. So what about me? Do I trust Jesus even in the midst of the storm when I have every natural reason to be afraid. The circumstances in this life can be overwhelming. It takes faith to rest in the authority that the Father has given the Son. It takes faith to submit to the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, and not trust yourself instead. Faith!

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone