one step: water break

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Mark 4:35-41

The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.

As I read through the story of Jesus calming the storm, I’m reminded of my own lack of faith. I think about the times that I should speak in the authority that God has given me over the storms in my life, but I don’t. I think about all that I’ve heard Him say, but I do nor allow His words to impact my belief.

The disciples knew where to turn in times of trouble: to Jesus. In this moment, however, after walking with Him, seeing how He used the authority of Heaven, He expected that they should walk in that authority too.

While there is an invitation to exercise our faith, there is also this reality: their reaction to the storm impact more than just their boat.

We read in Mark 4:36, “And other boats were with him.”

The way the disciples chose to respond to the storm saved their boat, but their response saved every boat on the sea that day.

How we respond to the storms in life will impact those on the waters around us. Will we respond to the storms based upon what we have heard Him say (faith comes by hearing, after all)? Will we turn to Jesus as savior?

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to turn to Him for help. Perhaps today God wants you to respond to the storm in your life as He does: commanding peace. Maybe today God wants you to feel the weightiness of your response and its potential impact on those around you.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 517–524, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:1–11) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Luke 2.6

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
Luke 2:41-48

Joseph and Mary were devout unto God.*

While law required all Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, we see from Luke 2 that Mary was there as well.* In addition, travelers typically stayed for a portion of the eight-day feast (often two days) while Mary and Joseph stayed for the duration.* Both of these facts speak to their devoutness toward God.

Isn’t it interesting that Mary and Joseph could intimately know Jesus for 12 years, hear prophetic utterances about Him and His Messianic role, receive messages from angels about His destiny, spend time in the Temple, yet misunderstand the purpose of Jesus?

How many times in life do we think that we have spent enough time with Jesus, have read about Jesus in the Bible, have spent time in a church building, or have been told about the miracles and happenings of Jesus, yet completely misunderstand His purposes?

There is a fellowship with Jesus that can only come when we follow Him. Mary and Joseph weren’t following Jesus. They assumed He was nearby.

Immanuel is God with us, but are you following Him?

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to follow Him. Perhaps today God would have you ask Jesus, “what would you like to do today?” Maybe today God would wants you to rely less on what you know and more on standing close to Him.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke (Lk 2:41–45). InterVarsity Press.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (pp. 143–146). Zondervan.
Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 91–97). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, pp. 85–86). Zondervan.
Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (pp. 99–101). Zondervan Publishing House.
Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke: 1:1–9:50 (Vol. 1, pp. 263–274). Baker Academic.
Nolland, J. (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, pp. 128–133). Word, Incorporated.

one step: Luke 2.5

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Luke 2:39-40

We often feel the tension between our humanity and God’s divinity. We feel the tension between His Kingdom come and not-yet come. We feel the tension between the presence of death though death is conquered. It can be quite frustrating and sometimes confusing.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us,

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus understands the difficulty of the tension. Jesus came as fully God and fully man. Serious tension exists in that position. I can only imagine the tension He felt in Luke 2: He had to grow and become.

We all live in the tension between the promise of God spoken and the promise of God realized. We all have to walk a path of growth and becoming before we get there.

Jesus was born fully God and fully man, yet in His humanity, He had to grow and become. His growth and becoming was described in the same way that His very human cousin John had to develop; Jesus had to grow and become like we do.*

God knows who He made you to be, and that reality is now. However, there is a growth and becoming that must occur in our lives before we step into that calling. Jesus didn’t step into ministry until after the growth, becoming, and a time in the wilderness.

Where are you? Are you becoming? Are you growing? God hasn’t forgotten you. You’re just in the tension that Jesus very much understands.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to yield to His work of growth and becoming. Perhaps God wants you to feel His comfort and understanding of the tension. Maybe today God wants you to pause and let the process happen.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke (Lk 2:39–40). InterVarsity Press.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (p. 138). Zondervan.
Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 89–90). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, p. 84). Zondervan.
Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke: 1:1–9:50 (Vol. 1, p. 254). Baker Academic.
Nolland, J. (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, p. 125). Word, Incorporated.

one step: Luke 2.4

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
Luke 2:26-30

Simeon was promised something great: you will not see death before seeing the Lord’s Christ.

Did you know that there are things that God intends for you to see and experience here on this earth? Did you know that He will not allow you to die before then?

God’s promise to Simeon was not a promise just to see a child that would save, but it was a promise to see salvation itself come.* Simoeon’s response to God for His faithfulness reveals all: “for my eyes have seen your salvation.”

What has God promised you?

Was Simeon expecting a child? Was he expecting a strong warrior?

Whatever the case, Simeon did not try to manufacture the promise of God, nor did he take the promise. Though the english presents us with the language, “took him up in his arms,” a more accurate interpretation would be, “received him into his arms.”*

Simeon spent his time in the Lord’s presence, with verse 25 describing him as righteous and devout. Awaiting the Lord’s promise, it was the Spirit that put him into position to receive that day.*

Want to see God’s promise? Spend time in His presence; allow His Spirit to lead you. It’s the best way not to miss it.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to wait a little longer for His promise to come to pass. Perhaps today God wants you to focus on time in His presence. Maybe today is an opportunity to stop attempting to make God’s promise come to pass in your life. Maybe today God wants you to be ready for what His fulfilled promise looks like, no matter how unlikely it appears.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke (Lk 2:8–21). InterVarsity Press.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (pp. 122–124). Zondervan.
Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 74–79). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, pp. 78–79). Zondervan.
Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (pp. 84–85). Zondervan Publishing House.
Nolland, J. (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, pp. 106–107). Word, Incorporated.

one step: water break

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 21:8-9

The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.

In the account of Jesus coming into Jerusalem, we see the people completely misunderstand the purposes of Jesus. Amongst other things, the oppression of the Roman Empire created a corporate desire for salvation. The coming of Jesus, the Savior, met great excitement!

That excitement was expressed through the word hosanna and laying down palms. While hosanna was used as a term of adoration, joy, and praise, it also originally meant, “save, please!” While laying down palms was suitable for Kings, it also was a tradition reserved for a conquering king.

Jesus’s entry on a donkey (a sign of peace) rather than a great steed (customary for conquering kings) should have clued them in, but they missed it.

The savior that they believed they needed (and certainly wanted) had arrived! One problem: freedom from the Roman Empire was not why He came.

We can often grow frustrated with God when He doesn’t save us from what we believe we need to be saved from, but even in that place of frustration, we can see God’s goodness.

The people of Israel wanted freedom from the Romans; Jesus came to offer freedom from sin and death. The people of Israel had a corporate need in mind that included the people of Israel in the time of the Roman Empire; Jesus had in mind a corporate need that included all of humanity for all of time.

And guess what… even though Jesus came to free us from sin, the people of Israel eventually received freedom from the Roman Empire.

God cares about our current circumstances, and He has freedom from our difficulties in mind, but there is a greater purpose at work… and it’s always for our good.

Jesus hears our cries of, “save, please!” He also appreciates us celebrating the coming victory, even if we misunderstand the focus of battle.

Jesus cares. Jesus saves.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to trust Him in the waiting. Perhaps today God wants you to remember that He cares. Maybe today God wants you to know that He has a great purpose at work, and while it is an eternal purpose, it also includes freedom from the oppression that we experience today.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 517–524, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:1–11) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).