{"id":295,"date":"2026-04-07T11:42:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=295"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:42:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:42:41","slug":"god-and-you-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/07\/god-and-you-2\/","title":{"rendered":"God and You"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul\u2019s relationship with God enabled him not only to endure fierce storm on the sea, but to encourage the others onboard the ship. \u201cAnd now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, \u2018Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you.\u2019 Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God, that it will be just as it was told me\u201d <\/em>(27:22-25). Note three key points:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul belonged to God (v. 23).<\/strong> He himself had written to the Corinthians earlier: \u201c. . . you are not your own . . . for you were bought at a price\u201d <\/em>(1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). Paul described himself as \u201ca (bond)servant of Jesus Christ\u201d <\/em>(Romans 1:1). A bondservant (slave) is owned by someone else. Paul\u2019s owner was the Lord. Liberty-loving people like us cringe at the thought of being owned by anyone! However, the sooner we accept that God owns us, and that this is a good thing, the better off we\u2019ll be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul served God (Acts 27:23).<\/strong> As a slave, Paul\u2019s purpose was to do the will of his master, Jesus. We flinch at the idea of subjecting our own will to anyone else\u2019s! However, we ought to swallow our pride and follow the example of Jesus, Who \u201cdid not come to be served, but to serve\u201d <\/em>(Matthew 20:28). True religion isn\u2019t about doing whatever makes me feel good. First and foremost, we are to serve God. If our hearts are right, faithful service will result in abundant good feelings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul believed God (Acts 27:25<\/strong>). For nearly two weeks the storm had pounded them. They had no idea where they were. \u201cAll hope that we would be saved was finally given up\u201d <\/em>(v. 20). Nevertheless, when God\u2019s messenger told Paul that he and all others aboard the ship would survive, Paul believed it. \u201cThe things which are impossible with men are possible with God\u201d <\/em>(Luke 18:27).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You belong to God. Serve Him! Believe Him! Doing so, you can endure even the worst of times.<\/span><\/p>\n

–Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paul\u2019s relationship with God enabled him not only to endure fierce storm on the sea, but to encourage the others onboard the ship. \u201cAnd now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… God and You<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}