A true story in the ministry of Jesus involved taking a boat ride with his disciples but a fierce wind came up and the disciples were afraid they would die, but Jesus was asleep in the boat. By Gary Shotton #000463

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Asleep In The Boat

By Gary Shotton

Hello my name is Gary Shotton, and I’m here as a part of inspiring better business and today I’ve titled this asleep in the boat. I believe stories are very impactful on people’s lives and I think telling real stories of real life situations in our lives, helps people they really that relates to them they’re able to understand that you understand them, and that’s part of our inspiring better business we try to end each lesson, give some examples we don’t try to give point 1.2 point three and expect you to learn and absorb that we try to have one or two points and then and tell and then have stories, or start with stories so that you can relate to what we’re talking about. Well, I want to tell the story about the time that I was in my current business I’ve been in it just two years, I had tons of debt. I had payments like you cannot believe I had faith in the future, because God, I believe that was guiding me and led me to be in this business, but you know the economy dropped, and oh my goodness, all of my, my three big customers, and two out of the three customers says we cannot send you any more work, just wait for another year or so was the implication. Well, I can’t wait a year for no more business I had 65 employees. And then my last, my last hope was one of the companies that that kind of indicated that there was going to be some work for us and we could kind of keep our crews going and everything, and then I had that morning meeting at seven o’clock meeting, and they said you know our sales predictions were wrong. Looks like we have not much work for you, and all my goodness I was kind of like my last hope. And I remember driving back the next 1520 minutes and, and I had to watch what I would say right then because I could say something really negative and cause and speak into existence, something that I didn’t want to happen, fear of failure, fear that I wasn’t going to make it fear that this endeavor to buy and own this business late in my life had been a mistake. But I, I, I resisted that, and I called my friend wrong, and I started to explain what was happening, and he just sets the tension in my voice, and he gave me just a couple words that that shook off that fear, I’m telling this story because it’s real. He said, Gary. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Oh, I was about to panic, and just a few minutes I was ready to Oh, fall into fear and that shook me out of that and I’m so happy that I had that experience. And so, we’re here to help you through our experiences, and, you know, when I look at the word of God, I see that God actually use stories I mean who would have remembered tackling the giant, and we have all kinds of giants we have face and life. If you didn’t have David in a story of David and Goliath,  you know, how can you relate any better than having that story a young boy going out to tackle a giant that everybody else was afraid of, but he had different armor, he had a slingshot, and we know about that story. And so, God has documented so many of the lessons in stories, and I encourage you not to think oh well that happened 2000 years ago, well that’s cute. Oh, that’s nice. No there’s lessons in there for you, there’s a lesson to be learned, with all of the Word of God, and a lot of it has stories. So, what I want to share is this story found in Luke chapter eight verses 23 And Jesus had been, what you would call today, a public speaker. He was a popular public speaker because it was recorded that a couple different times that there was more than 5000 people had gathered, and he must have been, had a great voice to speak to 5000 people because that didn’t I think count the children and and the women I think that was just the way they did adjust men so this is a well known public speaker, and people wanted to come to hear him. And so, this story goes that he was in one of those speaking engagements and I think, then, his disciples and he had determined to get in a boat and go across the Sea of Galilee to the other side. I think you could walk all the way around I don’t know, geographically, how long it would take to walk but it makes sense. Let’s get in the boat. Let’s go that way. And there. Apparently it was fairly calm and the weather was fine, but they’re in the middle of the lake. This is a large like I’ve seen this like it’s a large like and when the wind comes up, it has the potential to, to, to sink a ship sink the boat. Well, I think, Jesus had planned this. I believe he’s purposely teaching his disciples the lesson of faith and how faith works and how we should face issues like this. So as the story goes, I believe it’s totally true. The disciples were all concerned, they’re saying hey, Jesus is asleep and there came a down a storm of wind and and the lake was producing waves, and then we’re in jeopardy. That’s one of the words they said in the King James, these, please apostles and disciples felt that they were going to drown. And so Jesus is over here asleep, so they apparently go over and shake him or wake him. It’s a miracle I think this was all plotted. And Jesus then awakes and he says, Where is your faith. He’s been teaching faith, but now we have a story. now, and he speaks to the wind, he speaks to the storms, and they cease, and there was a call, there was a call. All Jesus did was speak to the storm, and later on, it says, And Jesus said challenge, where’s your faith. Another way I think would say this, learn the lesson of faith, here’s what you need to do. Don’t be moved by fear. Don’t be moved by the, the evidence that that is false evidence that this could appear real to you, but it’s not with trust in God, they should have known that Jesus was gonna there we’re gonna get to the other side because Jesus said, we’re going to the other side, that’s all they needed to know, but they were in awe. And you know this cause them to recognize Jesus in a different way, I think in a way, he was just the Jesus the son of married, and he was just one of the guys, now he was more important we know that, but at this point, they were in all that the storm, the wind and the rain and the storms would respond to Jesus’s voice. Well you know we ought to learn something there, when, When we have trouble coming our way. We should learn to speak to that problem, we should learn to speak, we should know the Word of God. Well, part of that is speaking to Mark 1123 and 24 addresses that very clearly read it, that if there’s a mountain, and you see that mountain, you can speak to that mountain and made are removed and go be passed into the sea, and those things that you speak, will come to pass, and there’ll be confirmed by what you speak your words. So phase has a lot to do with our speaking. And there’s, there’s part of it right that in that story. So, when we’re facing challenges and problems. Let’s don’t call everybody on our prayer line and let’s don’t post it on Facebook, let’s don’t let’s don’t call those people that are weak and and and maybe they can help you or maybe it’s just a teller way of telling them, I’m in trouble. Could you send me some money. I don’t know what happens all this, I don’t tell a lot of people my problems when I they appear to be coming to me, I take it to God, and I speak to those things, and I command at the name of Jesus, we have that province in first John 514 and 15 So, if that also can, I’m sorry, first time Bible 14 and 15. This is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to His will. We know that He hears us, and if he hears us, we know that we have that, that we petitioned of him. So if we know the word, and will approach God with that, responding to the Word of God in faith and speak to those issues. I believe we’re going to see things happen in a very good way. Well, this is not, this is intended to help you start in all aspects. If you’re starting your business from scratch. Are you have a business I have a pretty good sized business I’m still learning. I’m still progress processing this, and I’m learning and I want you to come with me. Thanks for being a part of Inspiring Better Business.