28 And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come". And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him saying, "
Truly You are the Son of God."
Little faith is faith that lacks confidence or trust so little that people are rebuked by Jesus. When Jesus used this correction in various situations as in Matthew 6:30 (about clothing and the such), Matthew 8:26 (fearful about the wind and waves), Matthew 16:8 ( rebuked them not about not taking bread with them but heeding them to see the leaven of false teachings ) or Luke 12:28 ( about having the proper attitude toward material things).
Jesus was pointing to that which exposed they had little faith that is undeveloped faith and in truth is outright unbelief. (or distrust)
SO here is in Matthew 14 and verse 28 Peter wanted to be commanded to come on the water, right in that area that Jesus was but the passage speaks Jesus came walking on the sea. Yes, this is a deep place, and is far from land. Verse 29 he comes out of the boat, and verse 30 reveals he saw the boisterous wind.....you know, white caps appear on the top of a river or sea when wind has a contrary attitude. My husband and I can take a drive in our SUV down the Gorge here in Washington. And which ever day we decide to do that, we may have either no wind or very little wind where we live but the wind towards the east end of the Gorge can be rowdy, rough and tough, for we can certainly point you to that bend in the road, where the river runs parallel to the roadway, the very place where in an instant peace changes to boisterous wind. It changes from the calm to the wind producing boisterous waves of many whitecaps dotting the top of the fast moving Columbia River.
Little faith can kill! God's words, those promises must be spoken by us daily to get them woven into our hearts so that changes may occur in the ways in which we think and act to live our lives. Unless we daily take those needed nutrients of His truth, we find little faith will kill you!
VERSE 30 again tell us this: 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And Peter saw the waves boisterous and he began to sink. He was going down into the depths. And he cried for help! Jesus could walk on the water because of the Holy Spirit. All things were given into Jesus' hand: John 3:35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
"Well God told me to move to Timbuktu?"So do you have enough of God's word in you to live in India? Have you studied to know about the place you are being sent? Have you spent time with God to hear Him speak? Have you researched their medial care? Do they have the same or similar hospitals as the United States? Have you researched the language of their ways of life? What about a important need as a medicine..(you may require)...is there places available for immediate help if consequences change and you are bleeding out or having breathing problems?
If there is a health problem, would it be better to see your health come back to excellent before heading out to a foreign country you have never lived in? Surely we have to know the Lord and His words of truth and act like He did. His words should be the first ones we should speak to another, right?
Jesus' purpose was for salvation but He also healed people while we walked on this earth. And we too, can know that healing when we abide by His truths and expect the same to occur for us. But if we put more of false the news in our hearing and hear all the bad things that can happen to you when you take a "bad drug".....then where will truth show up in us?
God has demanded us to live by Faith! Hebrews 10:38-39" Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
We are to be drawn to God, drawn to please Him, but culture can speak loudly to many folks. They are so attracted to that attention thing and having fans, they search for that which brings in more attention. Yeah, it reminds us of that thing..... like flies to honey kind-of-thing!
But 1 John 2:15-16 speaks this: 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world-----the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-----is not of the Father but is of the world.
So the pathway of some believer's can be swayed from the path that has godly success to seek out that which culture dictates leading to pathways that lead only to death!
Peter said this: Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him, God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.
God gives us His Spirit without measure. Yet I wonder how many are running on empty. John 3:31 NKJV He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give His Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and the has given all things into His hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believes the Son shall not see like, but the wrath of God abides on Him.
Ephesians 3:17-21 NKJV 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height------19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think , according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen
Is the Holy Spirit at home in our hearts or is something else abiding there? We must grasp God's love for us at the spiritual level beyond our own intellectual ability. And in that fullness of knowing that love, it is the Holy Spirit Himself who would reveal more fully the things of Christ Jesus to us and through us to others!
And the more we tank up on the Holy Spirit, that is praying and reading and confessing that word of truth, the more Holy Spirit people see in us and through us. Surely our faith grows the more we put the Holy Spirit in our spiritual tanks. And as the river flows, people are to be caught up in that flow that sweeps them to Jesus, refreshed by the Holy Spirit and rejuvenated to see their own tanks filled with His goodness.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit must be more real to us than the person next to us! They must be more real to us than our spouse or our children! We must have faith in Him WHO is the faithful and give thanks tor His faithfulness to us, even when we did not deserve it. We must have thankful hearts and speak of His goodness to us always.
So the next time you find yourself asking the Lord to command you to come to Him on the seas with whitecaps, make sure your equipped in your heart with truth that is the breastplate of righteousness, shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, having a shield of faith to quench the darts of the enemy. For our covering is salvation by the blood of Jesus and confession of His great name and the sword of the spirit is the word of God.........and as we pray, we are strengthen by God by His Spirit to be watchful and to persevere not only for ourselves but also to encourage those saints to continue in their walk alongside us being intent in watching for the Lord's soon return, indeed!
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"COME!"
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New teaching at: Life Giving Wells
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