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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleInmenistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Jonah. Turn to the book of Jonah in chapter 1. And while you’re turning there, hold your place and also turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 10. You can handle this, can’t you? All you need is two fingers. End the book of Hebrews. Chapter 10 verse verse 35, they are facing a tremendous storm down in Texas and Louisiana. We almost forgot about some of the rain that we’ve had around here because it pales in comparison to what others are going through.

And there’s been a lot of storms. I remember the first time I decided to go to Florida Bible College and I got bedding the kids in the car and we ran out of money in Orlando, Florida and my brother loaned me $40 to get on down to school. And And on the way down, a hurricane was coming in. The devil heard I was going to FBC and going to try to stop me. So he brought this big old hurricane in.

And we was trying to beat the hurricane. I was going 80, 90 miles an hour. The car was packed. And it was trying to race against time. And anyway, the motor run hot and had to pull over the side, had to let it cool. Always something. Always was something going on. But I got down there and yes, this hurricane hit. So that was my hello, they’re going to college. And we stayed over Dr. Stanford’s house and the wind was blowing in it, was coming right through and the eye of the storm came right through Miami.

And so that was my initiation. But you’ll have a lot of storms in life and because now you’re going to college, us older folks, we’ve already faced an awful lot of storms but y’all gonna face some too. But you need to know how to face storms. You say, what is a storm? A storm is just a big old problem. It’s just another big old Goliath. You’ve heard of David and Goliath? You don’t want him to have all the fun, do you?

All Goliath was just a big old problem. And he had a solution. And he had a little old stone. And God used him to take care of that problem. And you’re gonna find yourself facing many of these things. But in the midst of storms, it’s so easy to get discouraged, to get down, to lose heart. And it makes it difficult. I’ve had to go through this so many times over and over again, and you think, well, I’m solid now.

I’ll never get discouraged anymore. And you’d be surprised what can come along and discourage you. Even after all that you know, and all the places you’ve been and what you’ve gone through, you still gotta look at it. But look here in Hebrews in chapter 10, look at verse 35. He says, cast not away therefore, you’re a confidence. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart. Don’t cast away your confidence, which has great recompense of rewards. See, rewards is what God’s going to give to you because of what you did.

But what you do is the result of your confidence. Don’t lose confidence. And losing confidence, you lost faith in the Lord. Don’t lose your faith in the Lord. Stay strong. Remember, whenever Moses had dropped off the scene and in here comes along the Joshua, the Lord says, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. Be strong and very courageous. Didn’t he say that? Be strong and very courageous. In other words, fear not. See, courage is fear that says its prayers and goes ahead.

So there’s going to be things that will cause you to have some fear, but you say your prayer and depend upon the Lord and just keep going ahead. Just Never let the devil stop you. I want you to take your Bible and turn back there to the book of Jonah, the book of Jonah, and Jonah in chapter 1. Jonah chapter 1. There’s a couple things here that I want you to understand. Sometimes God may send you a storm on purpose.

Now there’s a lot of problems we had just by the natural process of life. But sometimes God will send you a problem. And remember this. God can send you a problem. If you’re a person. right with him and God can send you a storm if you’re not right with him. Either way you can have storms just because you know the Lord loved the Lord and want to serve the Lord with all your heart doesn’t mean you are exempt from the storms.

You’re going to have storms as light, lost people have storms. You have all kinds of storms and so Jonah did he have a storm? Oh did he ever. Well look what he says here in verse 3. Verse 3 says, but Jonah rose up to flee on the tarshes and why was he running from the presence of the Lord? Now where do you think you can run to get away from God? Just where can you go? Let’s see I can go to Colorado.

He ain’t there. Well where can I run to? Top is highest mountain, deep as part of the sea. I mean I don’t care where you go the Lord is there. He’s everywhere. So he’s running from the presence of the Lord. Get this. And it went down. Remember anytime you run from the Lord, what direction you’re going to be going is down. Went down to Jopem. He found a ship going to Tarsus. So he paid the fair and the land those three little words in your Bible because it’s going to cost you to run from God.

Anytime you run from God, it cost you. And you’re not going to be going up, you’re going to be going down. And he says there, and he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them a detartious from the presence of the Lord. But verse 4, and God was looking for him, but didn’t know where he was. He was hiding from God, and God didn’t know where he was, did he? But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea.

God did this. God sent a man who knew him, a man that he had told as a prophet to go and preach to the Ninevites and he says, I will not and he ran. He wasn’t not going to obey the Lord. And so it says here in verse 4, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so that the ship was like to be broken. In other words, understand this. The Lord is able to break up your little world.

Whatever you’re trusting in to get you away from the Lord, God can break everything up. He can have your whole life ruined. So always be aware, watching out for the storms. You’re going to have the storms of life. Some of you college kids have never been away from home before. You’re going to have little things that might not be that big might cause your whole world to fall apart and you’re gonna suck your thumb and want your mummy. I hope not.

I hope some of you are growing up. There have been big kids now but that’s important to remember. Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew chapter 14, the book of Matthew and chapter 14. We’ve looked at this in other books but I want us to look in the book of Matthew at this because you see Jonah was rebellious in God sent a storm. Here are some people that wanted to do whatever God told him to do.

He gave him a command and they just they did it and he told them a few things. So God can send a storm when you’re right and God can send a storm when you’re not right. God can send storm but how you handle it is going to depend upon you. We can either be a stepping stone or a stumbling block. All problems, stumbling block or a stepping stone. You can either step up from it or you can fall on it.

Look what he says here in Matthew. And you’ll notice in verse 20, let’s just start there in verse 22. In verse 22 and straight way, which means immediately, Jesus constrained his disciples. That means to compel, insist. He compelled them to get in the boat. He compelled them to go to the other side. And he says, come, strain his disciples to get into a ship so it was his idea. And to go before him into the other side. So he was going to come later.

But he told him this and he says the other side, which means that Jesus wanted them to get in the boat, go to the other side. So that means that they were going to get to the other side and that he was going to be coming to. All that you can read in that one verse. Of course you have to have a little discernment and see what all is he talking about because it comes back to this point just a little bit later.

while he sent the multitude away. When he had sent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. When the evening was come, now this is in the evening, and he says he was there all alone. Now in the evening they have at nighttime, they got four watches. From six o’clock at night until about nine is the first watch, nine o’clock to midnight is the second watch. And midnight till three o’clock is the third watch. And from four o’clock until six o’clock, It’s the fourth watch and it’s important to note Jesus sent them out into the boat.

And then it says evening was come and he was there alone, but the ship was now at that time in the evening it was in the midst of the sea. Tossed with waves for the wind was contrary. Now before they got into the boat, before the wind of the youth, did Jesus already know about this storm? Oh no, I didn’t know about that. was all surprised, but he told the disciples what to do. So he led them right into the midst of a storm and it was his idea.

But he already had told them, I’ll meet you on the other side, which means they’re going to make it on the other side. So they had nothing to be afraid of, right? If they really believed him and trusted him, there’s nothing to fear because he’d already told him, I’ll see you on the other side. So he says in verse 24, but the ship was now in the the mist of the sea, tossed with waves and the wind that was contrary.

And in the fourth watch, fourth watch, well, what about all the other three watches? Because it was an evening when it started, look how much time is already passed. And he has watched and he saw them, he knew that they was in the boat, he knew they were scared of death, and he just let them stew. I mean, that’s how I read it, because it didn’t start in the fourth watch, because it says there now in verse 24 in the midst of the sea.

This was in the evening when Jesus was alone and lo and behold you got one problem after the other starting here and so in verse 25 and in the fourth watch of the night that’s the darkest time of the day or of the night when other than what was He doing walking on the sea. In other words what Jesus said what’s the problem? What’s the problem? He’s walking on the thing that’s tearing him up. He’s walking on the water.

Is he worried? Is he greatly concerned? Bont dreaded have a nervous breakdown. No. And in verse 26, and when the disciples saw him walking on the water. Now the problem is still existing. The storm is still raging. The waves are still high. They were troubled saying it is a spirit and they cried out with fear but straight where you merely Jesus spake unto them saying be of good cheer it is I be not afraid wait wait wait he hadn’t calmed the storm yet he hadn’t solved the problem yet when did he tell them to be of good cheer in the midst of the storm believe and entrusting him because you see it hasn’t happened yet he hadn’t calmed the waves yet so in verse 28 and Peter answered him said Lord if it be bid me coming to the on the water.

I want to do that. He said, come, when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, Bolsheers, it was still there, he was afraid. So he took his eyes off the Lord in the midst of the storm. Where should he kept his eyes? You see, make sure you keep your eyes on the Lord in the midst of your storm. Whatever your storm may be, whatever your problem may be, keep focused upon the Lord.

And so he says in verse 30, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and he cried out, saying, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him. And he said to them, Oh thou of little faith. What do you mean, little faith? He got out of the boat. Yeah, but he doesn’t remember. Oh, there in verse 22 when he told him, get into ship and go to the other side. And he would be coming along later.

You really take him at his word. You can trust him. He’s gonna see you through it, but they thought that he I’m going to die. I’m going to drown. Everybody’s worried. You’d be surprised what the problems of life can do to your so-called stability. You’d be surprised how you think you’re strong and the Lord can let something happen and shake your little world. It’s amazing you come to college. Don’t you believe already God is going to meet your needs.

You believe that? You don’t have to know how, but you believe it, right? And then after the first semester, and you got all your bills to pay, now you may not be concerned at all because you trust the Lord. Bob Gilbert may be concerned, but we have great concern that everybody does right. But you may have problems along the way, but just trust the Lord to walk you through it, and he’ll do so. Now, I’ve got a couple of things I want you to write down because I think it’d be helpful to you.

I want you to take your Bible first of all, and turn to the book of Hebrews and chapter 13, the book of Hebrews and chapter 13. There’s a lot of things that would help you and learning answers on how to solve problems before you have the problem. You know, some years ago they had a Katrina, remember Katrina? And some of them learned a few things because of that, because that was very poorly planned. A lot of people died and it was a mess.

Well then later on up there in New Jersey, Governor Christie had to go through another problem, but they learned a few things from the other place. Well, they’ve had some learning from other experiences. So as you go through life, you gain little experience here and a little experience there, and it should build your confidence, build your faith, that what God says He will do, and He’ll walk you through it and you trust Him more. So that’s why your faith is going to grow because you see what God has done for you.

But believe it and trust Him. Now here in the book of Hebrews, look in chapter 13, chapter 13, and look in verse 5, verse 5, verse 5 and verse 6. You ought to underline these verses or write them down if you’re taking some notes and write down a few things. You do not want to lose heart. Don’t lose courage. But one of the things that can happens to you, because we don’t always think this way, but it is And that is a thing called loneliness.

You remember when Jesus was on the cross, all forsook Him? There’s nothing you’re going to go through in faith, but loneliness can cause you a lot of heartache. It can cause you a lot of fear. It makes you look at yourself and wonder, you know, something wrong with me? Because nobody wants to be alone. And this is why there’s a verse here that’s just designed with you in mind. Luke what he says in verse 5, let your conversation, your manner of life be without covetousness be content with such things as you have.

The other word things I want you to underline him. The reason because he has said I will never leave the norfer safety. In other words the Lord is and should be more important to you than things. You can lose things but you can’t lose him. So always remember whatever it is you’ve already got the most the best that you could ever have and if you’ve got the Lord be content I’ve got the Lord I don’t have to covet anything else in this world because I’ve got the most important thing that I could ever have I got the Lord and he says I will never leave the norfer safety is that what he said but loneliness when people let you down you can be greatly discouraged and you can lose heart and so this is why this is so very important I also want you to take your

Bible and turn there to the book of, well let’s just look at the other verse, looking verse 6, we call it verse 6 is also very important so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper. Do you think God wants to help you? You see, you don’t need the Lord to help you if you can do everything. So the Lord will allow you to have things happen in your life you can’t handle. Why? Because He wants to help you handle them.

When He comes to salvation He has to do all of it. When it comes to service there’s things that God wants you to do and there’s things He wants to help you to do. And He says, He is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember this, God may not stop the storm that man brings. There’s people in this world that may cause you storms. There’s consequences of things. There’s problems that you have in life and all kind of things that can cause you a storm and doesn’t have to be that God designed it but God can use it.

Always remember God can use everything that happens in your life for his will. But you’ve got to believe him and don’t fear what man can do unto you. So if you don’t fear man, just fear God and respect God and don’t covet the things of this world because the greatest thing in all the world is to have the Lord. Well I got him and I can’t lose that. So don’t worry about things because things of this world are hard hard to get, hard to keep, and then great sorrow when you lose them.

But that’s what’s going to take place. Now take your Bible and turn to the Gospel of John in chapter 21. You know this story very well, but there’s just a couple points that I wanted to bring up to you. In John chapter 21, this is after the resurrection of Christ. This is after the disciples had already foresaw him and they said, we’re going to go fishing. So they went fishing and went back to the old habits of what they used to do before they met the Lord.

In other words, their whole world was turned upside down. The one they were going to follow, they just crucified. Then they were scared to death and it was then on an upper room and locked the doors wore their courage and so Peter says I’m going fishing the other one says I’m going with you It wasn’t long before Jesus come along fish them from fish dinners And so in verse 15. I want you look in verse 15 So when they had done Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of Jonah Love us style me Don’t worry about the rest of it.

Just just three of the words Love has styled me. Do you love me? Do you know one of the things that God wants more than anything else in the world is for you to love him? Because he wants you to know he loves you. God loves you. And it’s the storm sometimes of life that causes the question and doubt. Does God really love me? God loves you. I also thought about something else. It was a good question. It kind of reveals some of the heart of the Lord.

The Lord desires love. Now you can see that. He said, do you love me? He didn’t ask him if he loved the sheep. He said, do you love me? And if you love him, then he said, now feed my sheep. I want you to do this. But there’s another portion of scripture in John chapter six where he’s talking to multitudes. And they said, this is a hard saying who can understand what you’re talking about. He says, does this offend you?

And so multitudes left him. So then he turned to his disciples and he asked this question, just think about this question. Will you also go away? If Jesus walked in here right now and he says, will you follow me? And he said, yes, I will. And then a bunch of things happen that you can’t explain and he doesn’t explain everything to you. He just wants you to trust him. He says, will you also go away? I wondered how the hurt must have been in when he saw so many people who deserted him and then he looks at his own disciples and says, will you also go away?

Now Peter said a good thing. He says, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the word to return life. Now he wasn’t maybe always the smartest guy, but he put his foot in his mouth a lot of times. But he said a mouthful sometime when he did say something. Will you also go away? It’s the storms of life, the problems that you have that kind of turns your mind and gets you off of the Lord and onto things and what’s going on and your peace, your love, your joy, your happiness, all about you instead of think about what does God want for me?

So that’s why it’s important. Now write this little statement down, not only does loneliness cause you discouragement, the cause you to lose heart, but also the word failure. You see as you try to learn how to serve the Lord. You don’t start off as a total success at the very beginning. You have to learn how to walk with the Lord. If every person who ever failed and learning how to walk quit, nobody would be walking around today. Everybody would be crawling, right?

Somewhere along the line you’ve got back up and learn how to walk. And so failure may cause you to lose heart because you’ve failed. Somewhere in your Christian life. You can look back and I failed here. I failed there. And something we all fail. And we have to learn how to walk with the Lord. But it’s the most important thing that we can ever do. Write this little statement down. The lack of finances. The lack of finances. Boy, if you have not had this storm in your life, you will.

It comes life that leads to everybody sooner or later. Because you don’t always have all the money that you want. Maybe everybody in here has, but most people don’t. And you’re find yourself struggling or you find yourself in debt and you were just trying to do right, but it seemed like the the harder you work, the more you try to save the the less you have and everything seems to go wrong. As soon as you got yourself, I finally got my bills paid.

Then the car blows up. Then the kid gets sick and has to go to the hospital. Then you have an attack of appendicitis. Then you lose your job and it seems like it’s just one storm after the other and God could stop every bit of that. But after a while you get to where I just don’t think I can handle anymore. And that’s the straw that wrote the camel’s back. No, it’s not that one straw. It’s accumulation of all those straws that breaks the camel’s back.

It’s when you build up all of these pressures instead of casting your cares upon the Lord. When you try to bear everything and you can’t carry the weight, it’s pressure upon you and that pressure becomes like a yoke of iron. And it’ll rob you, that’s why the Lord says, unless you serve the Lord with joyfulness of heart, I will put a yoke of iron upon your neck until it just weighs you down and destroys you. So you have to realize, yes, you’re going to have those things, but you got to learn how to trust the Lord, cast your cares upon the Lord, and just keep getting up.

And you don’t stop. You got to walk you through it. Most people quit generally right before victory. And then they go through life and they have all these failures. You got to get a few successful past experiences, and God will bless you because of it. Take your Bible and turn to the book of James in chapter two, the book of James and chapter two. Remember this, it is not a shame or a disgrace to be poor.

A little inconvenient, but it’s not a disgrace. There’s a lot of poor people in this world. And nothing to keep in mind. You have poor people, you’ve got rich people. And I’ve watched over the years, it’s just like this. Those who have it are losing it, and those who don’t have it work hard and they get something and they start building up and after a while, oh, here they go again. It comes in cycles, just like the weather. They’re seasons, they’re cycles.

And because we’re people, we wound up sometimes reacting the same way. And if you didn’t handle the problem right the last time, God may let you take the test over again. Isn’t that wonderful? Or you can learn as much as you can from every trial that you have, every testing, every problem, and you’d be surprised what God will do for you. Now here in James and chapter two, I want you to look there in verse five, one little bit of verse.

Harken my beloved brethren, talking to Christians, talking to believers. Have not God chosen the poor of this world. What’s the next three words? Rich in faith. You may be poor as far as this world does, but you can be rich in faith. In other words, because you’ve got confidence in a God that can provide, it’s going to be better than having all the money that you can lose. Your confidence in the Lord has great value. For example, here’s a rich man who’s got two million dollars, but he doesn’t know how to go to heaven.

You don’t have a two dollars on you, but you do know. When you boil it all down, who’s really the richest? The man with two dollars that knows how he’s going to heaven. Then a man who’s got two million dollars and he don’t know where he’s going. There is power and knowledge and knowledge according to the Bible is a very powerful thing. Let the Word of God influence your life. That’s what gives you the stability of your mind. Remember this, worrying and despair and all those things are dead giveaways to an undisciplined mind.

It means that you’re not really trusting the Lord because that’s why you worry yourself sick. Do you know that’s what really affects a lot of people’s health? Your health can be greatly affected because of worry. So be careful, be wary of that. But look again what he says in verse five. God have chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith. And heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them, that love him. Do you realize your love to the Lord is going to get you greater value than all the work and labor you can do in this world and all the wealth you can ever attain.

Because you are a child of the King. You have inherited all that the Father has. You are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Do you realize how rich you are? Are you ready to learn how to live your life as a strong Christian, lead others to Christ, For Excel as a church worker or ministry leader, then look no further than Florida Bible College of Tampa. With traditional and online classes taught by instructors with years of experience, Florida Bible College of Tampa can help you grow in your Christian life.

Whether taking individual classes or working toward a one-year degree, Florida Bible College of Tampa is here for you. To learn more, visit online at floridabiblecollege.us or call the Registrar Bob Gilbert at 850227. 5325, that’s 8502275325. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound and we will be changed.

caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.