33 Years

 Jesus was 33 years old when He died.  We talked about this recently but it bears repeating again.  He spent 90% of His earthly life waiting and preparing for the last 9-10%.  That is where believers all over the world are now.  How so?  If we are close to the rapture and time of Jacob's trouble, and if we are in the end times, and if "the end is near" and many believe all these to be true, then what else is true?  We, each one of us is on the tail end of our "ministry" here on earth.  It doesn't matter how long you lived, you are here on this earth in this season for a reason.

We are not trying to play pin that tail on the arrival date, we are not trying to predict anything.  We are trying to prepare and the Lord spent ample time on that subject in scripture.  He told this servant "I have saved best for last."  This servant believes that is a Word for all of us.  Best has been saved for last.  How this plays out takes many forms however one of those forms is the best version of you was saved for last.  The best, highest version of you is needed and required now and in the days ahead to do all the Lord God has planned on this earth for this season.

This world is in the process of a spiritual awakening and there is repentance and revival required in the Church.  A post was just added about the idea of course correction.  The Church must be in a constant state of "course correction" that is a constant alignment and realignment with Jesus Christ.  That is the process, not a bug.  This world, the enemy, the flesh, are all competing for our attention.  We make a decision right here, right now to constantly, consistently be giving our attention back to our Lord Jesus Christ.  We set "appointments" with Him.  Not just Feast days like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, we set daily appointments with Him.  We bring our attention back to Him morning, noon and night:

PS 32

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.”

This also fits in nicely with "seek first the kingdom of God" and the greater overriding theme of Love in the Christian life.  "I will" is an engagement of willpower.  It is a decision making engine.  We are "deciding" for our Lord Jesus Christ a thousand million billion times.  This is not a "once saved always saved" "I made a decision for Christ twenty years ago" and now I do whatever I want and I'm still "saved" scenario.  It also ties in nicely with rapture watching and readiness.  This is an every day thing.  We are giving and regiving ourselves and our attention back to Him over and over and over again.  Its how you fly a plane, its how you steer a ship, and its how you drive a car.  Constant innumerable course corrections requiring mini inputs over a long period of time.

This post is about the last part, the best part which has been saved for last.  We have been called for this.  We have been prepared for this over a period of years now.  We may have years to go yet but we may also be right up against the exit, we have no idea and we do not need to predict.  We do need to actively prepare, day by day.  Like the wise virgins of Matt 25 we are constantly topping off our "oil" supply in preparation to both stay and wait, and leave at a moments notice.

All of this is very familiar territory for a soldier.  Soldiers train for war, or the big event on a daily basis while prepared at the same time to never do an actual day of fighting throughout an entire career.  Eyes on Christ, over and over.  The best saved for last requires the best version of you.  We, all of us are required to up our game.  We need to push on the boundaries of what makes us uncomfortable.  We need to begin the process of becoming comfortable being slightly uncomfortable because that is exactly what growth requires.  The days of complacency are behind us forever now, we burn the ships behind us and never look back.

Now we press forward in our walk with the Lord our God and King.  This will not be boring :)

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace

Course Correction

 You already know the first word from that night on the water. Keep your eyes on Jesus, not on the storm. That word is still true. It has not grown old. It has not lost its edge. But there is another word living inside the same story, and it needs to be said without shame. You will have to look again. Not once. Not after you finally get your life in order. Again and again, for as long as you live in a world that will not stop reaching for your attention.

That is not a defect in your faith. That is the shape of a living walk.

A pilot does not leave the runway, lock the yoke in one position, and call that trust. From the first minute to the last, the hands keep moving. A little left. A little right. Nose up. Nose down. Corrections so small that no one in the cabin ever claps for them. Those corrections are not evidence that the pilot is unqualified. They are how the plane stays on course. Take them away and the flight does not become more spiritual. It becomes a wreck.

You do not have to fly a plane to understand this. Get in a car and drive an ordinary road. Even a short trip asks your hands to keep working. Tiny turns. Quiet recoveries. You do not pull over in disgrace because the wheel moved again. You do not call those turns hypocrisy. You steer. That is what driving is.

It is the same with your journey in Christ.

The aim is not a mood you lock in at sunrise. The aim is a Person. Jesus Himself. To walk with Him is to keep bringing your attention back to Him. Over and over. A thousand times. A million times. As many times as the storm, and life, and this world, and your own thoughts try to take the wheel. They will try. They are not neutral. They compete for the one thing that decides the weather inside you. Your gaze.

Peter stepped onto the water because Jesus said Come. For a stretch of steps the word of Christ was enough to hold a man where men do not walk. Then he saw the wind. The wind had been there the whole time. The water had been there the whole time. The sinking did not begin when the weather changed. The sinking began when the eyes changed. And here is the mercy that must not be skipped. Jesus did not wait on the shore until Peter became a better walker. Immediately He reached out His hand. The first correction was not a speech. The first correction was nearness.

You of little faith, why did you doubt. That sentence is not heaven telling you to despise yourself. It is the voice of the One who is still close enough to take hold of you. Little faith is still faith that can look again. Little faith is still on the water with Jesus. Little faith is still being held.

So if your mind wandered this morning, you are not finished. If your heart ran toward the headline, the bill, the argument, the old fear, the next disaster it can imagine, you have not been dismissed. You have been handed the next correction. Bring it back. That is the work. That is the walk. That is not self rescue. That is cooperation with the Spirit who already lives in you.

Scripture keeps saying this in different clothes because we keep needing it. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Set your mind on things above, where Christ is seated. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Stayed does not mean the mind never drifts. Stayed means the mind has a home, and it knows the way back.

The accuser would love for you to treat every drift as a verdict. He would love for the correction itself to become the new storm. You looked away, so you are a fraud. You felt fear, so you never believed. You have done this too many times, so you should start the whole Christian life over. That is a lie with a religious accent. Do not take it in. Do not let shame drive the yoke.

Course correction is not a bug. It is a feature of a life lived toward a living Lord in a noisy age. The people of God were not those who never wandered on the inside. They were those who kept coming back. David talked to his own soul. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me. Hope in God. That is not failure speech. That is steering. That is a man putting his hands back on the wheel.

You will not arrive at a morning when the world stops competing for your attention. The wind does not sign a peace treaty. The water does not promise to go still so you can finally be holy. Holiness in this life often looks like return. Return of the eyes. Return of the will. Return of the inner conversation to the One who already stands on what you are afraid of.

Do not despise the small turn. The small turn is how long journeys are finished. When the thought comes and says, look at the size of this, answer it by looking at Him again. When the feeling comes and says, you should be further along than this, answer it by coming to Him again. When shame says you have worn this path out, remember Peter. One reach of the Lord's hand was enough for that night. It is enough for yours.

You are not asked to freeze the yoke and never move. You are asked to keep your hands on the walk. Seek first the kingdom. Look at Jesus. And when you find that you have looked away, do the most ordinary and most holy thing a believer can do. Look again.

He is still on the water. He is still saying Come. Every time you bring your eyes back to Him, you are not starting from nothing. You are staying on course.

Look again. That is not weakness. That is how you walk.

Bills Gates, AI to Cause a Billion Deaths

 He just cannot restrain a smile when he talks about these things.   The prayer target page has been updated to bind "their" latest and greatest false flag against humanity.  "They" have to tell us what they plan to do in advance so we have the chance to bind it, restrain it, rebuke it and otherwise push it back through the gates of hell from whence it came.

When these things come up we do not agonize over them.  We know what they are interested in: killing, stealing and destroying.  Thats fine, they do them, we do us.  We continue operating in faith, hope, love, joy and peace, the Christian Operating System.  We must never be complacent again, ever.  While we remain on the face of the earth we need to do our jobs part of which is being salt and light.  Salt restrains rot and decay and light restrains darkness.  We also move through life as mobile firebases for the gospel or good news of our Lord Jesus Christ.  His Spirit lives in us and goes where we go.  When He reaches through us to touch other lives, they are going to want more of Him.  There is no amount of sex, money or power that can even scratch the surface of comparing what its like when the Lord our God shows up in our situation.  His Presence and Power are what its all about.

So continue seeking first His Kingdom.  Continue on the path of love.  Everything else will sort itself out in time.  We are dearly loved children ♡

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace

Seek First The Kingdom of God

 Matthew 6:33

ESV:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

1 Cor 13

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Matthew 6:33 sits inside a passage about anxiety over food, clothes, and tomorrow. Jesus’ answer is not “try harder to relax.” It is: put the King’s rule and the King’s righteousness first, and the Father who already knows what you need will add what is required.

Seeking the Kingdom is not first a program. It is allegiance. It is asking, in ordinary decisions: Who is actually on the throne here — Jesus, or my fear, my appetite, my reputation, my timeline?

That is why the parables of the Kingdom sound so costly: hidden treasure, pearl of great price, a man who sells everything (Matthew 13:44–46). The King is not an accessory to a life we already planned.

A tightened definition

The Kingdom of God is the present and coming reign of Jesus Christ — wherever His will is done, His righteousness is loved, and His authority is confessed — beginning in the heart of the believer, extending through His people, and ending in the renewal of all things.

Wherever Jesus is on the throne, that is Kingdom ground. The invitation of the gospel is to come under that throne now, and to live as if the rest of creation will one day do the same.

Another Feast of Trumpets has come and gone without the Lord showing up unexpectedly for His Church.  That does not mean He cannot show up today however...That's the difference between the once per year coming out of the woodwork "this year the star alignments, and the day counts and all the rest of my garbage calculations say He comes back" and living every day as if the Lord can come back.  

We have a job to do while we are here, each and every day.  That job, starts and ends with love, His Love, agape love, decision based love.  Not feelings based, but decision based love.  Read, and re-read 1 Cor13, and 1 John 4 until you really, really, deeply "get it."  Nothing else matters.  1 Cor 13 tells us clearly you can be doing all the religious stuff in the world, you can look like a Christian rockstar, and yet without love its all a stinking pile of garbage, utterly worthless.

He Loved us, that is how this story started.  He died for us, in Love.  We are to be living out that love story now by both loving Him and each other and even our enemies.  That is our "job" or "ministry" or whatever other words you want to use for what we are doing here on earth.  What about "leveling up" into the best version of ourselves?  That's still front and center as well.  In love and obedience we are employing all of our talents, skills and abilities at higher and higher levels in order to fulfill the high calling each of us has in Christ.  We are centered in His Will, each and every day.  Every day, we are seeking the Kingdom of God.  Every day in Love we put Him first in our lives.  He sits on the throne within us.  Not our hopes, dreams, fears or diagnosis, none of that gets to sit where He sits.

One of the most encouraging things this servant can share with you today is that we live in the middle of a great big love story.  Yes, it might feel a lot different for those who reject the Kingdom of God, but this is all a love story.  Nobody gets into heaven without love.  He did what He did in Love, we do what we do in reciprocal love.  Not because we loved Him but He loved us first.  

The way we cut through the darkness in the days ahead is with His Love and His light.  We are salt and light in this world.  We are also love, as we are in Him.  God is Love.  God=Love is the same statement.  We are "in Christ" one with Christ who is one with the Father:

John 14:10–11
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

John 14:20
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

John 15:4–5
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 17:21–23 (the heart of what you asked)
“that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Related verses that say the same thing in other words:

1 John 4:13, 15–16
“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. … Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

Colossians 3:3
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Romans 8:9–10
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. … If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

The pattern is: the Father in the Son, the Son in the Father, the Son in us, we in Him — one life, not three separate rooms. John 17 is the place Jesus prays that this oneness would be visible.

As we proceed down the road ahead of us let us remember to put first things first.  His Kingdom comes first.  He is on the throne.  Faith, hope and love remain but the greatest of these is love.  We are salt and light in this world.  Let us "love in" to the Kingdom those who can be saved with the time the Lord God has given us.  

We must never go back to "business as usual" that was the life before the scamdemic.  Taking things for granted, taking time for granted was and is a great sin.  Let us do what we can today with what the Lord has given us to move forward His Kingdom and His Righteousness.  And we will do this in, with and through Love.

You are dearly loved children.  Keep the faith.

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace

Spiritual War

 

1 Peter 4:12

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

2 Cor 4:

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

When we attempt to "level up" and become the best version of ourselves, we are going to face opposition. When we attempt to center ourselves in the Lord's Will, we will face opposition. If you find yourselves not feeling quite right but you are not sick. If you have this sense that you are hard pressed on every side, etc, it's just spiritual war.

The Lord said do not be surprised by the opposition, it is just part of the process. We beloved, are going to do what we were sent here to do. We will fulfill our Divine mission on earth. We will level up into the very best versions of ourselves, centered in the Lord's Will. This stuff is going to happen. Todays post was to make some of you aware, that the trials and tribulations you are currently going through, many of them "unexplainable" because you cant quite put your finger on exactly is not quite right. It's just spiritual war. We must become comfortable being slightly uncomfortable. It's part of the process. Growth always requires some form or fashion of discomfort.

Our eyes are fixed on Jesus. He is on the throne in our lives. We seek first His Kingdom, His Glory and His Righteousness. We operate in faith, hope, love, joy and peace. Most of all, we love. Another Feast of Trumpets has passed without the Lord's return, that does not mean He cannot return today. We operate as if He could return any day because He can. Or we can "graduate" off this earth at any moment and be face to Face with Him. Either way we need to be watching and ready which means eyes on Him on a daily basis.

Todays note was to encourage you to continue to fight the good fight of faith (and it is a fight), and to remind you that we are dearly loved children of the Most High God :).

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace

Eyes on the Prize, Begin With the End in Mind

 If the Lord decides to tarry, we maintain the possibility to see some of the greatest days this world has ever seen.  From what perspective?  Souls saved, love, joy, peace, prosperity, etc.  Yes, the end will come some day but the Lord never said, look forward to or dwell on or make your constant observation the days of judgement waiting for this world.

Amos 5:18–20 (ESV)

“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why would you have the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, and not light,

as if a man fled from a lion,

and a bear met him,

or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,

and a serpent bit him.

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?”

We remain in the Age of Grace.  This is a time and season for darkness to be Restrained.....The Restrainer which this servant believes is the Spirit filled Church, has a job to do.  Salt has a job to do.  Light has a job to do.

Matthew 5:13 (ESV)
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

This is the best-known version. It comes right after the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is telling his disciples they are meant to preserve and flavor the world; if they lose that distinctive quality, they become useless.

The two parallel passages are:

Mark 9:50
“Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Luke 14:34–35
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away.”

In the ancient world, salt was used as a preservative and flavoring. Pure salt (sodium chloride) doesn’t actually lose its chemical saltiness, but the salt people commonly used was often mixed with other minerals. If the actual salt leached out, what was left was just tasteless, worthless powder—good only to be discarded.

Jesus is using that picture to warn disciples: if they lose their distinctive character (holiness, truth, influence), they become ineffective.

The Lord God is not sitting up in Heaven rubbing His Hands together in glee at sending the wicked to hell as soon as possible.

1 Timothy 2:3–4 (ESV)
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Related Old Testament statements:

Ezekiel 18:23
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”

Ezekiel 33:11
“As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”

These passages show God’s desire that people be saved and come to repentance, not that any perish.

We are to be praying for our enemies, right now today.  How pleasing will it be to see our current enemies turned into Christ loving fanatics who are even more on fire for Jesus Christ than they ever were for hell and death?  Faith, hope, love, joy and peace are our Christian Operating System.  We do not bring the Kingdom of God to earth through earthly or carnal means.  We love, we step aside and allow the Spirit of the Lord to shine Light and Life into this world.

If the Lord should tarry, we have alot of work to do.  On the topic of the unexpected arrival of the Lord.  "readiness" is not something we do one or two days around the Feast days.  Watching and readiness are everyday events, they are not seasonal.  Binding and entwining ourselves, our lives with the Lord is an every day thing, not a once a year thing.  Loving and walking and building relationship with the Lord is an every day thing.  So, the annual feast of trumpets predictionfest and the hype that goes with it is counterproductive in every way possible.  Yes, we should be ready for the Lord to arrive.  Yes, we should observe both what the Lord has done and what He promises to do.  But......we should not forget during the other 353 days of the year what we remember on 2 days.

The foolish virgins of Matt 25 were foolish because they believed they could "rent a relationship" with Jesus Christ "just in time" like they were a business model and not a real relationship between God and mankind.  We dont make that mistake.  This walk, this watching, this readiness is the "rapture solution" to pre, mid, post trib etc.  We are watching and ready every day, not two days per year.  Our eyes are on Christ every day.  We are living in obedience and love every day.  Those who think they can game the system and "fool God" with renta-relationship theology are going to be very disappointed.

We know what we need to do, now lets do it.  You, are known by name and you are dearly loved by the Lord God, by this servant through the Spirit of the Lord who lives in me, and by the brothers and sisters of the true Church which is the living, organic, Body of Christ.

All this ^^^ is how we finish strong, how we finish the race and how we win the game called life.

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace

Close to the End?

 There are some signs and signals we may be close to the end.  One of them is the following nexus of events/circumstances:  Our Lord Jesus Christ spent 30 of His 33 years on earth in relative obscurity.  He was a humble carpenter.  It was the last 3 years alone that define the Word of God and Christianity as we know it.  He was in development to do His job on earth for the first 90% of His life here.  Why does that matter?  The Spirit of the Lord has been pressing on this issue of "leveling up" our talents, skills and abilities centered in His Will.  He has given us PhD level Christianity that is Love comes before everything else, it triumphs over all.  And all of this has been over the past 5 or so years since the scamdemic.  

That and the fact that a large group of people need to know this all at the same time not just some here and there who are nearing the end of their natural life (the last 10%, where Jesus did almost all of His work for the Kingdom).  In other words, there are many who will be leaving this earth at the same time, which means they all need to be "going terminal" to use missile terminology on their objective.  That is us.  The Lord has been preparing His people over years now for whatever lies ahead, whenever that takes place.  Its been 5 serious years of preparation, could we have more?  Yep, or it could all end at any moment.  The Lord could pull the plug on this world by removing the Restrainer at any time now.

What about the multiple prophetic pathways ahead?  Yep, they are still there.  We could be given more time depending on what the Church decides to do.  Repentance and revival right now buys more time.  The Church playing religious games for the glory and enrichment of man means the end comes sooner.  We play a part in this.  If My people who are called by My Name....remember?

2026 was and still is laid out as a year for spiritual awakening and repentance and revival in the Church.  The ultimate judge on how well we did, and are doing versus what the Lord will make happen (the rapture and time of Jacob's trouble) is a decision that takes place on THE Supreme Court, His Court in Heaven as both judge and jury on this world.

So, keep your head on a swivel.  The same people who produce hours long videos on day counts, signs and seasons and have a 0% track record predicting the rapture are at it again this year.  Even a broken clock however is right twice a day.  Will the Lord come back on or around the Feast of Trumpets 2026?  Only time will tell.  While we wait for the verdict we are to be busy doing His work and developing relationship with Him.  We are to love Him most of all, then our neighbors as ourselves.  How ironic that it will be love that sinks the enemy's ships and unfortunately large swaths of humanity as well.

Living in love today means putting Him first and attempting by any means possible to save as many souls as possible while this world still enjoys the age of grace.

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace

Eyes on Christ

 The battles are real.  Brother Cahn was demonically attacked on a flight recently.  The enemy has sent a number of demonic attacks against the servant who writes to you today including people driving down the wrong side of the road directly at the precise time yours truly was turning a corner and other similar incidents.  What is the answer to a demonic onslaught?  More Jesus.  Eyes on Christ.  Good or bad, rain or shine, we keep our eyes on the prize.  The enemy uses everything in their arsenal to not pursue your calling, including:

Confusion — making things seem more complicated than they are

Distraction — pulling focus onto side skirmishes

Disorientation — losing bearing / sense of assignment

Dilution — thinning the Word or the assignment so it no longer demands a response (often via fear of man)

Deterrence — discouragement and doubt that knock you off the call

What has the Spirit of the Lord been hammering on for years now, level up into the best version of yourself, level up your talents, skills and abilities, centered in Christ.  Become the best version of yourself in order to fulfill the high calling the Lord God has placed on your life.  Naturally, the enemy wants none of that.  So what does the enemy do?  See above tactics.

1. The picture: Peter walked until he looked at the wind

The fullest account is Matthew 14:22–33.

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus sent the disciples across the lake and went up the mountain to pray. The boat was beaten by waves. In the fourth watch He came to them walking on the sea. They thought it was a ghost. He said, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

Peter answered, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.”

Peter came down out of the ship, walked on the water, and went toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, caught him, and said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” When they were in the ship, the wind ceased. They worshiped Him: “Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”

The miracle did not fail first. Peter’s gaze failed. As long as his eyes were on Christ, he did what was humanly impossible. The instant the wind became the bigger object in his field of vision, fear entered, faith shrank, and he sank. Jesus did not leave him there. The same Lord who said “Come” said “Save,” and immediately reached.

Mark 6 and John 6 record the walking on water without Peter’s step. Matthew is given so we would see this exact lesson: faith walks on what it looks at. Look at Christ, and the water holds. Look at the storm, and the water swallows.

2. The promise: perfect peace for the stayed mind

Isaiah 26:3–4 (KJV):

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.

Hebrew doubles the word: shalom shalom — peace, peace; complete, undisturbed well-being. It is not the absence of waves. It is a mind stayed — supported, leaned, fixed, glued — on the Lord, because it trusts Him.

Peter’s sinking is Isaiah 26:3 in reverse. A mind stayed on Christ walks. A mind stayed on the wind sinks. The peace is not produced by the mind; God keeps the one whose mind is stayed. Trust is the reason the mind can stay.

Related “stayed mind / fixed eyes” texts:

• Psalm 16:8 — “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Peter later preaches this of Christ in Acts 2:25–28.)
• Psalm 25:15 — “Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.”
• Psalm 121:1–2 — “I will lift up mine eyes… My help cometh from the LORD.”
• Psalm 141:8 — “But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust.”
• Psalm 123:1–2 — as servants look to their master’s hand, “so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God.”
• 2 Chronicles 20:12 — Jehoshaphat, facing an army: “we have no might… neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.”
• Colossians 3:1–2 — “Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth… Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
• Philippians 4:6–8 — prayer plus a mind that thinks on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely; then “the peace of God… shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
• Romans 8:6 — “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
• John 14:27 — “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you… Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Isaiah’s “mind stayed on Thee” and Hebrews’ “looking unto Jesus” are the same posture in two covenants.

3. The Person: Christ is the Word

John does not say Jesus merely spoke the Word. He is the Word.

John 1:1–3, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
…
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Revelation 19:13 — “his name is called The Word of God.”

1 John 1:1 — “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes… of the Word of life.”

Hebrews 1:1–3 — God who spoke by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son… who is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.

John 5:39 — “Search the scriptures… they are they which testify of me.”

Luke 24:27, 44–45 — beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself; He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.

Hebrews 4:12–13 — the Word of God is living and powerful… and all things are naked before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The written Word and the living Word are not two competing objects. The Scriptures are Christ’s voice on the page; Christ is the Scriptures in a Person.

So “eyes on Christ” and “eyes on the Word” are not two disciplines. They are one. To neglect the Word is to look away from the One the Word reveals. To treat the Bible as a book of tips while the heart stares at waves is still to take the eyes off Christ.

4. The practice: looking is how faith lives

Hebrews 12:1–3 is the New Testament companion to Peter and to Isaiah 26:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

The Greek idea behind “looking unto” is to look away from other things and fix the gaze on one object. You cannot stare at the wind and at Jesus at the same time. The race is run by where the eyes rest.

Other “look and live / look and walk” passages:

• Numbers 21:8–9 — whoever was bitten and looked at the bronze serpent lived.
• John 3:14–15 — “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.” Looking at the lifted Christ is how the new birth and eternal life come.
• Isaiah 45:22 — “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
• John 6:40 — “every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.”
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 — “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:18 — “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:7 — “we walk by faith, not by sight.”
• Micah 7:7 — “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation.”
• Proverbs 4:25 — “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.”
• Psalm 119:18, 105 — “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law… Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
• Joshua 1:8 / Psalm 1:2 — meditation in the Word day and night is how the mind stays.

The bronze serpent and the water-walk preach the same gospel: salvation and steadfastness are not by staring at the bite or the wave, but by looking at the provision God lifted up.

5. What taking the eyes off looks like

Scripture names the competing objects:

What we look at	What happens	Contrast
Wind and waves (Matt. 14:30)	Fear, sinking	Eyes on Jesus
Things on the earth (Col. 3:2)	Anxious, earthly mind	Things above, where Christ is
What is seen (2 Cor. 4:18)	Despair over the temporary	The unseen and eternal
Circumstances / evil tidings	Shaken heart	Steadfast heart trusting the Lord (Ps. 112:7)
Self, idols, own righteousness (Isa. 45:22 context)	No salvation	Look unto Me
Weights and sin (Heb. 12:1)	Entangled, weary	Looking unto Jesus

Peter did not deny Jesus in that moment. He simply saw the wind. That is how most sinking happens — not a formal rejection of Christ, but a shift of attention until Christ is no longer the largest reality in view.

6. When we sink — the gospel in the story

Matthew will not let us end with Peter underwater.

1. He began to sink — it was not instant annihilation.
2. He cried the shortest prayer in the Gospels: “Lord, save me.”
3. Jesus immediately stretched forth His hand and caught him.
4. The rebuke (“little faith… why did you doubt?”) comes after the rescue, not instead of it.
5. They enter the boat together; the wind ceases; worship follows.

Keeping your eyes on Christ is the way of peace. Failing to do so is not the unpardonable sin. The same Christ who commands “Come” and “Look” is the Christ who catches. Isaiah 26 still stands after a bad day of staring at waves: He keeps the one who returns the mind to Him.

Psalm 34:5 — “They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.”

7. How the stayed mind actually stays

The Bible’s method is not vague “think about Jesus.” It is concrete.

• Hear Him in the Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). If Christ is the Word, then open Bible, preached Word, memorized Word, and meditated Word are the gaze.
• Set the Lord before you on purpose (Psalm 16:8). David did not wait to feel it. He set Him there.
• Pray the storm toward Him, as Peter did with three words, and as Philippians 4:6–7 commands — request plus thanksgiving, then peace that guards mind and heart in Christ.
• Consider Him (Hebrews 12:3) — linger over His endurance of the cross, so you do not faint.
• Look away as well as look toward. Hebrews 12:1–2 is both: lay aside the weight, and look unto Jesus.
• Walk by what He said, not by what the waves look like (2 Corinthians 5:7). Peter’s first step was obedience to a word: “Come.” The water held the word, not Peter’s nerve.

Eyes on Christ equals eyes on the Word because the Word is not a separate object from Jesus. The Scriptures testify of Him. He is the Word made flesh. The mind stayed on “Thee” in Isaiah is the mind stayed on the Son in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells (Colossians 2:9), the Son who is the radiance of the Father’s glory.

So the whole counsel of God on this point can be said in a short chain:

Look unto Me and be saved (Isaiah 45:22)
Look at the lifted Son and live (Numbers 21 → John 3:14–15)
Come — and keep looking, or you will sink (Matthew 14)
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee (Isaiah 26:3)
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was made flesh (John 1)

The wind will still be boisterous. The promise is not that the lake goes glass-smooth first. The promise is that the One who walks on it is still saying “It is I; be not afraid,” and that the mind stayed on Him — which means the mind stayed in His Word — is kept in shalom shalom while the waves do what waves do.

And all of this ^^^ ties in directly with rapture season, or the feast of trumpets time of remembrance.  "Watching" and readiness are directly related to eyes on Christ.  What are we watching for?  Jesus Christ.  What are we looking at with our spiritual eyes every day?  Jesus Christ.  He is our calm in the midst of the storm.  He is our peace, our provision, our protection, our power, etc.

This is a love story, the whole enchilada and it both begins and ends with our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the beginning was the Word....the Word, is Christ.  He died for us in love and mercy.  

Along those lines those predicting imminent doom, the youtube "prophets" miss one gigantic point.  Eternity is a long long time and He is only coming back unexpectedly once for His Church.  The Lord God who would have all people saved is in no hurry to pull the plug on this earth and send people to hell by the bushel.  That is not His heart.  At some point, yes its going to happen however we are today in the age of GRACE, and every day that the Lord tarries means salvation for Lord only how many souls.  So......we need to be prepared to do our job for as long as it pleases the Lord to extend the Age of Grace.

Could the Lord come back at any moment, absolutely.  When He will come back however will remain a mystery until it happens.  We are in the preparation game, not the prediction game.  Preparation means being found doing the Lord's work when He returns while not neglecting our personal relationship and walk with Him.  That is another point He made recently.  Working for the Lord does not equate to being in the family or even in good standing with Him.  Many preach the Word of God for profit.  Which is fine, they get paid however their soul and right standing with the Lord is another matter.  Is brother D their judge?  Absolutely not, but the Lord reminded this servant that doing our job for Him is not the same as spending time in loving relationship with Him.  Revelation talks about those who lose their "first love" we do not want to be those people.

If the "Lords work" has to be sacrificed for a loving relationship with Him so be it.  Love comes first.  Relationship with Him comes first, everything else comes second:

Jesus was asked this directly.

A Pharisee, a lawyer, tested Him: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36).

Jesus answered by joining two Old Testament texts:

The first and great commandment

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
(Matthew 22:37–38)

Mark’s account includes the Shema and adds strength:

The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
(Mark 12:29–30)

That is Deuteronomy 6:4–5.

The second, like it

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31)

That is Leviticus 19:18.

Then Jesus said:

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
(Matthew 22:40)

There is none other commandment greater than these.
(Mark 12:31)

So the greatest commandment is not a rule among many. It is whole-person love for God — heart, soul, mind, and strength — and that love immediately takes the shape of love for neighbor. Everything else in Scripture hangs on those two.

Love is more often than not in the Churchworld and elsewhere treated as a "nice to have" item on the buffet table of Christian apologetics.  Instead it should be THE item preached at the beginning, throughout the middle and at the end of every message from every preacher and teacher of the faith.

While the prophets of doom try to peddle the end of the world, the age of grace remains as long as the Church remains on the earth and we are to preach the GOOD NEWS.  Yes, the Lord God had to turn this servants attention on this issue as well.  There is enough bad news in this world already, we dont have to retweet, repost, and eztend its lifespan.  The people on the earth today need to hear Words of Life, Good News, they need the presence and power of the Lord God, not dead, dried out religion.

Thats enough for today.  May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May His Face shine upon you and may He grant you peace. 💗

Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.

Glory to God

grace and peace