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Terrain Day 11 Sea Of Galilee

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Deuteronomy 11:18-25
Matthew 4:18-23
Matthew 13
Mark 4:35-41

Terrain, Day 11

Mountains, rocks, olive trees, gardens, waves, winding roads, and stone buildings.
The smell of the sea, fish, freshly broken dirt, rain, and warm bread.
Wind blowing in your face, sweat dripping from your brow, wet fishing nets draped over your shoulders.
People working, talking, laughing, wondering, hoping . . .

All normal sights, sounds, and smells in this place called Galilee.

Galilee, a region in northern Israel, is the setting for much of the gospels. This small locale touted mountains and hills in its upper region, while the lower region was famed for its fertile soil and the Sea of Galilee.

Normal daily life in Galilee meant walking, and a lot of it! In fact, it wasn’t uncommon to walk 20 plus miles (32 km) every day. People walked to work, walked to get water, walked to worship, walked up the mountains, down into valleys, and along the seashore.

Walking was also a normal, daily routine for Jesus, who called Galilee His home. He walked beside the seashore, calling disciples, teaching, confronting, loving, and healing. (Matthew 4:18-23)

He walked up the mountains, looking for higher ground on which to teach the growing crowds. Matthew 5:1-2 (emphasis mine) tells us, “When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. Then He began to teach them[.]”

He walked to the mountains alone to pray, never forgetting to make time for His Father. (Matthew 14:23)

He even walked to His death just outside of Galilee, a place called Golgotha, “The Skull”. (Luke 23:26-27, 32-33)

Fishing and boats were also a routine part of life for the people of Galilee, as fishing was a primary occupation in the region. Many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen by trade before Jesus called them to “fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19) Jesus and His disciples often used these boats to cross from one side of the sea to the other. Pop-up storms were prevalent, as the cool eastern wind blew over the mountains and dropped into the sea.

The Sea of Galilee saw capsizing storms, like the one Jesus calmed in Mark 4:35-41.
“He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

As well as terrifying storms, like the one Jesus traversed as He “came toward them walking on the sea.” (Matthew 14:22-33)

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose to walk on the water in that storm?
Yes, He was Jesus, but surely there was an easier way! Why not immediately calm that storm too, or take another boat?

Perhaps Jesus’ unyielding steps on wind-battered waves were meant as a lesson for us, as we walk through the storms of life.

Remember Peter, the bold disciple who called, “Jesus, if that is You, let me walk on the water too!” (Matthew 14:28, paraphrase) What happened when he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the waves – yep, down he went. Similarly, life-storms can take us down when we take our eyes off the One we are to follow and walk toward.

Jesus the Teacher was a master at turning ordinary life into valuable lessons. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are full of these lessons, called parables.
Matthew 13 shares several of these purposeful stories:
“Parable of the Sower”
“Parable of the Wheat and Weeds”
“Parable of the Hidden Treasure and Priceless Pearl”

These imaginative stories were woven together with common everyday objects and routines to teach of God’s radically uncommon love,
showing Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.
Lessons still relevant today.
Lessons we would be wise to remember, meditate on, and apply to our lives.

 Throughout Scripture, God says,
“Do you have eyes and do not see;
do you have ears and do not hear?” (Mark 8:18, Jeremiah 5:21, Isaiah 6:10)
Even in Jesus’ day, so many people saw His miracles and did not believe.
They heard Him teach, yet denied His authority.
They witnessed the fulfillment of prophecy, but refused to accept the truth.

Let this not be said of us!

Let’s determine to walk through our everyday moments with eyes wide open to what God is revealing about Himself in the middle of our ordinary as we follow Him!

Speaking of following, the extremely narrow and maze-like roads of Galilee left only one choice when traversing them: closely following the person in front of you. It was easy to become lost among unfamiliar twists and turns.

Interesting, don’t you think?
When Jesus said, “follow Me,” He meant it quite literally. Imagine Jesus saying, “I know the way; to arrive safely, you must follow closely behind Me. Don’t take your eyes off Me.”

Walking. Fishing. Digging. Planting. Baking. Sunshine. Warm breezes. Sudden storms. Ordinary everyday life, until you add Jesus to the equation, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary!

Go for a walk today and consider the terrain Jesus walked, from the calling of His disciples to the road He traveled to His death.

Where or how is Jesus calling you to walk?

Who or what are you following?

Pray for open eyes and attentive ears.

Invite Jesus, our Master Teacher, into your ordinary and allow Him to make it extraordinary!

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Reveal Day 5 The Longest Night

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Zephaniah 3:18-20
Malachi 4:1-6
Luke 1:26-38
Romans 5:6-8
Revelation 22:6-21

Reveal, Day 5

As I tossed and turned in an unfamiliar bed, it seemed like morning would never come.

I was tired, but sleep eluded me. Away from home for the first time, in a dorm filled with unfamiliar people, in darkness far deeper than I was accustomed to at home, it was impossible to settle.

After lying there, trying to sleep for what felt like hours, I finally grabbed my torch (that’s a flashlight for my American friends) I drew it under the covers so as not to disturb the others, and checked the time only to find, to my dismay, just twenty minutes had passed.

There were still hours to wait until morning . . .

The Israelites faced an even longer night.

Throughout the Old Testament, God promised a Messiah, a Saviour who would come to redeem and restore, who would deal with the problem of sin and provide a way back to closeness with God.

Zephaniah spoke of an end to oppression and shame, a gathering of God’s people who had been scattered, and the restoration of good fortune.

Malachi described a day when wickedness would be dealt with, and assured the people of God’s promise that, “for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” (Malachi 4:2)

The promises were amazing . . . but then silence.

And waiting . . .

And still more waiting . . .

. . . Over four hundred years after Malachi’s words at the end of the Old Testament, the Israelites were still waiting for God’s promises to come true. Even worse, there were no more messages from the prophets. It seemed God had gone s i l e n t.

Perhaps this led to questions:

Would God’s promise of a Redeemer ever come true?
Had He forgotten?
Could He really be trusted?

And what about you? What are you waiting for just now?

The fulfilment of a long-held dream?
An answer to prayer?
Resolution in a situation of uncertainty?

Maybe, like the Israelites, you know God’s promises, but you’re struggling to see any evidence of their truth in your current situation. Maybe it feels like God has gone silent. It can be easy to lose hope, to wonder if God really will come through for us. Those times of waiting can be unsettling, uncomfortable, and often dark.

But what if God is at work in the waiting?
What if He is waiting, too . . .
For just the right moment?

Hundreds of years after Zephaniah and Malachi’s words, Jesus came, and the promise was fulfilled. It’s striking to note Paul, writing after the coming of Jesus, looks back on the fulfilment of the promise and describes both Jesus’ birth and His death as coming at just the right time.

“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)

Suddenly, we realize the years of waiting were not caused by a delay, but were part of God’s design.

During those four hundred years, God may have been silent, but He was not inactive.
Various world powers rose and fell as predicted in prophecies in the book of Daniel. The Old Testament was translated into Greek, which was important for God’s Word being spread among the Gentiles. And Israel was conquered by the Romans, leaving the Jewish people desperate for freedom from oppression, recognising their only hope was in the coming of the Messiah.

The scene was set for Jesus to come.

Not only was God at work in the big picture of world events, but He was also preparing individuals for their part in His plan.

When the moment came, Mary was ready. She was ready to respond with faith and obedience despite the seeming impossibility of the angel’s message.

We can’t always understand why we have to wait; God’s ways and His timing are often not the same as ours. But we can trust in His goodness and His faithfulness. His promises will be fulfilled, sometimes (often!) in unexpected ways.

We can also trust He has a purpose in the waiting. Sometimes, while we are concerned with our circumstances, God is more interested in growing our character and our dependence on Him.

Often, the times of waiting reveal our lack of control and our inability to fix things for ourselves. They can drive us to God as they remind us our true hope is found in Him.

As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming, may it remind us, even when the situations troubling us are resolved, we are still waiting.

We are waiting for the day when He will come again, when sorrow and suffering will finally be gone forever, when our waiting will come to an end, when we see “the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16) and we know the longest night is finally over and the darkness is no more.

Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Reveal Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Here’s a link to all past studies in Reveal!