Today I’m going to venture out into the deep where many fear to go, for tradition is a powerful thing, and few dare to question it. But I’m not like most people, so come on in, the water’s fine.

There is an account in Matthew and Mark about Jesus calming a storm, and I’ll use Mark’s version of it in chapter 4:35-41 as follows,
35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Pretty obviously, what just happened there was not the everyday event. Some of the disciples were experienced seamen, who had been in a storm or two, and this one rattled even them. I can just see the situation in my mind’s eye of all this going on, while Jesus was asleep on the pillow. Did they gently awake Jesus with a whisper in the ear, saying, Master, carest thou not that we perish? I doubt it. They were in a state of panic, with probably some of them hanging their heads over the side of the boats heaving their supper up. And Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind. Imagine that: rebuking the WIND, as if it was going to mind Him, and saying , PEACE, BE STILL. And the wind ceased and there was great calm. Now, it says the disciples FEARED EXCEEDINGLY! At the storm? NO! At the fact that the winds and sea obeyed Him.

What would YOU have done, had you been in the boat and saw this happen? Would you have feared exceedingly like they did? I would have, and I’d venture to say, so would you. Here’s where I launch out into the deep, because there’s something the LORD would have us get out of this. I realize FEW are going to get this, but I got it and have seen it work for me many times. And if you’re willing to go against “tradition”, perhaps you can get it, too. This is for those who have “ears to hear”, as the Lord Jesus often said. We all have ears, but we don’t all “hear”. Some do, and profit thereby. Here we go.

John 14:10-17 says,
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Read that passage carefully until you “get it”. There are several noteworthy things mentioned here: The Father dwells in Jesus. He that believes in Jesus will do even greater works than Jesus does, because He goes to His Father. Jesus TWICE said that if we ask anything in His name, He will do it, if you love Him and keep His commandments. He said He would pray the Father, who would give us another Comforter (the Holy Spirit) that He may abide with us for ever. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees or knows him, but YOU know Him, FOR HE DWELLS WITH YOU AND SHALL BE IN YOU! Wow! The Holy Spirit dwells IN you, in other words, God is IN you, not somewhere “out there”, IN YOU!

I Corinthians 3:16-18 says,
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

Yes, you read that correctly, the Spirit of God dwells IN you, if you are His. Verse 18 warns us to not to deceive ourself, we need to have GOD’S wisdom, not the world’s. VERY few people take full advantage of what the LORD gives His children by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Do you know we have authority, even over the weather where we are? Most Christians do not know that, in fact they will argue with you that God would not give us such authority. But He not only does, He expects us to use it to foil the devil’s plans of destruction.

Now I’ve been in several tornados since knowing my authority, and have rebuked them and watched them dissipate right before my eyes over the years, and it’s no unusual thing to me. But to those disciples in the ship with Jesus, it was the first time anyone ever experienced anything like that. You’ll notice Jesus sharply asked them, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it ye have no faith?” Here they could have handled the situation instead of waking Jesus to handle this “light work” for them. Does that speak to YOU? Well, it sure did speak to me back when I first studied this event!

I have the Holy Spirit in me, why should I let the devil just walk over me and destroy MY home or property with storms, floods, tornados, and the like? When I got the revelation of the Holy Spirit about that, right then and there I started taking authority over wherever I am, and my home and belongings, and if a tornado, or flood, or whatever comes, well, it isn’t going to come near MY dwelling place, in the name of Christ Jesus of Nazareth, Y’shua Messiah!

You can write me off right now if you want to, but I’m telling you, Jesus wants you to stop letting the devil walk over you. He has given us believers an awesome amount of authority to overcome the works of the devil, but the vast majority of Christians just roll over and play dead when it comes to this stuff.

Maybe I’m a bit “too far out” in the deep for you, maybe not. But if you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, just maybe you’ll tell “tradition” to take a hike, and you’ll get into God’s Word and find out what belongs to you as a child of God. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD, AND, we will successfully stand against the ravages of the evil one, too. “Greater is He that is in YOU, than he that is in the world.” If you belong to Christ Jesus, then you can say that, too. It’s high time you started acting like it!

What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? The same manner of man (or woman) that YOU can be if the Holy Spirit is in you! Don’t back down the next time disaster tries to come to you. Stand up, take your authority, rebuke it, and send it on its way!