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READ: Matthew
14:22-33
It was 3:00 a.m.
and the wind was very strong, whipping up big waves on the shallow sea. The men
were in a small fishing boat and it was dark. Darkness heightened or magnified
their sense of fear.
Peter was among them. Perhaps he was the first to notice Jesus.
Suddenly, Jesus appeared to them walking on top of the frothy waves. Thinking
they had seen a ghost, they cried out in terror. But Jesus calmed their frayed
nerves with the soothing words of his authoritative voice: “It’s all right… I am here! Don’t
be afraid.” (Matthew14:27, NLT)
In response, Peter called to the Lord Jesus, asking if he
could also walk on top of the water. When Jesus invited him to get out of that
boat in the midst of unstable waves in darkness, he undoubtedly learned some
secrets to walking on water. In the long run, Peter learned the secrets of
personal victory in the “storms” of life that we all encounter.
1. Peter discovered that confidence in the power of Christ
provides the necessary motivation to jump out of the boat (or out of his
comfort zone) v.29.
2. Peter learned that firm faith in Jesus and a consistent
focus on Him is necessary to walk on top of water and in “storms” of life (V.
30). When he looked away from Jesus and looked at the stormy waves, he began to
sink.
3. Peter would surely have learned that, in human flesh,
even the Lord Jesus drew His power over nature and the storm from His one-ness
with God the Father through the power line of prayer. Just before Jesus had
come walking on the water, He had spent hours in deep intimacy of prayer with
His Father in Heaven (Matthew 14:23)
There is an old Canadian phrase that describes people’s
expectations of me to do an impossible job – “you expect me to walk on
water”. But, in reality, you and I face
impossible tasks every day. The glorious news is that we can accomplish the
impossible in our lives and in our church by daring confidence in Jesus and His
power, by total focus on Jesus and by passionate intimate prayer with Jesus.
Dare to jump out of your boat! Dare to walk through the
storms and challenges toward Jesus (Matthew14:29, NLT). For
our church, the impossible is possible when our hope, confidence, faith and
focus are on Jesus, our Saviour and Master!
STOP AND REFLECT:
Read the above passage. Reflect on the issues facing you (and our
church). Are you willing to act like
Peter and follow his steps to “walk on top”?
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