Matt 14:22Immediately 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. Later that night, he was there alone, 24and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25Shortly before dawn 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.”
Many of us, if not all of us are asking the Lord for things on a daily basis. Some of us need miracles today but the wind has kicked up all around us. The temptation is to take our eyes off of Jesus and look at the storm but what happens when we take our eyes off of Jesus? We no longer walk on the water (our miracle sinks). The fix is to not let this happen for more than a few seconds. We decide over and over again "no, Im not going to look at the storm around me, I am going to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus." Its a decision we make over and over again, its a battle we fight that does not end until our miracle or prayer has been answered.
When we decide to live by faith and not by sight, we step outside the boat with Jesus. This is what we should do. The Lord did not put this event into the Bible just so we could read an interesting story. He put it in there so we can learn from it and apply the lessons learned. This brother is here to testify to you that every Word written in the Bible is true and this miracle event has practical applicability to you and your life right now today.
Nobody ever said walking outside the boat in the midst of a storm would be easy, the Lord did say it is possible. This brother can tell you that walking outside the boat is not just for 'special' people either. The Lord has taken this nobody, good for nothing, weak and outcast man and proven to him that the Word can be trusted. What has been done for this nobody will certainly be done for a somebody like you. What has been done for me has not been done for me alone. What has been written, and what has been proven out in this nobody's life has been done for you, right now, today that you may be encouraged to look to your Creator for the answers you need.
If you are in Christ, and you do not give up but hold onto your faith till death do you part, you will get the answer you need. Till death do us part is an attitude of absolute "I'm not turning back, I am in this fight to the end even if it kills me, so be it I will NOT give up, I WILL NOT surrender my faith, I will NOT turn my back on the only answer that is an answer for the problems I have.....so be it, amen. << This is the kind of thinking this brother had often during miracle believing times in his life. Most miracles and or big answers to prayer took time which means patience, and suffering through the wait.
I would like to encourage you today to accept your answer to prayer as a foregone coclusion, and start thanking the Lord for it today. Complaining and whining is not an option, the Lord does not tolerate whining well. There is a fine line between complaining and petitioning but I dont want to get into that now. The point is we need to give thanks and not complain. Many times when you give thanks your feelings are betraying you, your guts are turning inside out at the thought of what might happen if the Lord does not come through for you, but you GIVE THANKS ANYWAY!!!!
Brothers and sisters, if we would learn to do this one thing right I am convinced we could turn the world upside down. This is a fundamental truth, what were we created to do? Why are we here? Does it get any more basic? We were created for His glory
Isa 43:7everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
Be encouraged today and give thanks to our Lord.
| ... And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus |
Matt 7:7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Notice in Matt 7 above, the Lord tells you what He will do but He does not tell you when..
In this brothers experience, delayed answers, making us wait tests our faith. The test is the point. We were told we would be tested and all of us I would say can say Amen, I've been tested by time. He answers, yes He does but He does make us wait. This brother has had to wait for years sometimes...sometimes it was months that felt like years BUT the Lord answered. Our faith must be tested
| ... For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold. |
Here in the U.S. we are coming up on Thanksgiving day. In this brothers mind it is one of the the most holy days of the year. Be encouraged today, stay in the fight, set your mind and heart to scrap this out to the death do us part. I have told myself even if it kills me I am not giving up on the answer I seek from the Lord. I believe it takes that kind of attitude to get our answer. This brother is a nobody who has experienced miracles, you are a somebody who these miracles were meant for. Each part of the body serves all the other parts, none of us stands alone we are all part of the same organic living body. Glory to God.
I pray for your answers and your miracles today. We will get our answers if we step outside the boat with Jesus and keep our eyes on Him. Be encouraged, your answer is coming.
grace and peace
