Jesus Walks on the Water
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:22-33)
Why did Peter get out of the boat? Because Jesus told him to come.
What is God calling you to do today that goes against the natural? When we choose to obey, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, and not on the circumstances nor the storm around us. If we get our eyes off our Savior and unto our circumstances, all is not lost. If we call out to Jesus, He will save us! Just like he reached out and lifted Peter up.
Why did Peter sink? Jesus said it was his lack of faith.
When we step out, we have to have faith that our God will not fail us. We have to believe that we can do the impossible! In Deut 31:6, Moses tells the Israelites to ” Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." The Israelites were getting ready to go in and possess the land God had promised them, but they were going to have to face and conquer the giants. Moses encouraged them to take courage in God who would not fail them. There was no need to fear. God would be with them at all times, no matter what they faced!
How do we get to a place where we are confident in our God to get out of the boat and to obey Him? How do we get to the place where we have enough faith to do the impossible?
The apostle Paul gives us the answer in Romans 10:17, ”So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” We need to eat spiritual food. We must be in the Word of God daily. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “…give us our daily bread…” Just like we need food daily to sustain our bodies, we need to read God’s Word daily for growth and development of our spiritual lives. We need to have a heavenly hunger for the Word of God.Expect the supernatural. If you step out in obedience to God, expect God to work supernaturally in your life. As a good friend of mine said, "If you'll jump, Jesus will meet you in the air!" How true! So keep your eyes on Jesus, because He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all YOU can ask or even think! (Ephesians 3:20).
He really is a great GOD!!
Love you all,
Charles
