Matthew 14:22-33
and at once He made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while He sent the crowds away. after sending the crowds away He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. when evening came, He was there alone, while the boat by now some furlongs from land was hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head wind. in the fourth watch of the night He came towards them walking on the sea and when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they were terrified. ‘is it a ghost.’ they said and cried out in fear. but at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘courage! It is Me! don’t be afraid.’ it was peter who answered, ‘Lord.’ he said. ‘if it is You, tell me to come to You across the water.’ Jesus said, ‘come.’ then peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but when he noticed the wind, he took fright and began to sink, ‘Lord.’ he cried, ‘save me!’ Jesus put out His hand at once and held him. ‘you have so little faith,’ He said, ‘why did you doubt?’ and as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before Him and said, ‘truly, You are the Son of God.’
i was lead to read this passage today and i invite you all to do so, for today i found insight in these words i have never seen before. the deity of our Lord Jesus yes, the ability of Christ to do wonders and works, yes; but there is more there is so much more here.
here we see Christ finding peace and solitude away from the world, here we find Him finding and creating the time to pray. no matter how much the world puts upon us, no matter how much time and help the people wanted of Jesus He would and always did find the time to pray. for Christ knew and we should know that we can do nothing with our Father, and we are nothing without love; and it is in finding time to talk with our Lord that we find His love and we allow Him to speak directly with us, filling our lives with Himself, with love
if we look at the disciples within the boat we see many a parallel to ourselves and the life we have chosen to lead, for they are within the boat doing whatever they may be doing, but they are there because Jesus told them to be so. as it is and should be for ourselves, we are placed in this world not to do our own bidding but to do the will of God, and as such, if Jesus says to ourselves get in the boat and put away from shore, so we must. for in Him we have trust and hope, in Him we find the pathway to peace and salvation, so therefore in Him we should trust not only this and that but our all, for God knows best and He knew that the boat was sound and sea worthy, we just need to take the step and climb aboard.
however, as we have been told, the journey will not always be straight and simple, it will not always be without turmoil and strife for the world and the evil one will do their best to affect our relationship with Christ. we trust Him so we get in the boat, we love Him and we know that His way is the only way so we don’t question we just do His will. and if we stay in His will and His love then we will journey to the other side, a live of love and service whilst here on earth and to the other side an everlasting life of love and worship with Jesus in our Fathers Kingdom, Heaven. therefore, no matter what may happen, no matter how intense the wind, the waves and the storm of life, we stay steadfast in the boat, trusting and journeying in His will to the other side and peace
when we are in turmoil, when the world is getting at us and to us it is then if we look, and if we truly look in humility that we can and will see our Lord walking towards us. for like the disciples saw Jesus walking to them over the waters, Jesus will come to us in all our times of trouble. He will be there hoping and loving, praying that we have the sight to see Him and not the fear that the world tries to create within us to not recognise Him. even when we don’t at first see His grace and comfort, even when we don’t recognise the love presented before us He will slowly and gently talk to us, He will careful express His love for us, and will comfort us in the midst of all the strife we can find ourselves in. i pray that if we have not the eyes to see him instantly we have the ears to hear His words
what are we asked to do by Christ when He approaches, we are asked to have courage, to not be afraid and to recognise that it is He. we are called, each individually, to walk and work for Him, as He needs us; and we are called to have fellowship together with each other under the shield of His love. for the disciples had their own tasks and challenges in life for Christ but they where also called to be together to help and assist each other in Christ's name. when we recognise Christ, when we first see and hear Him, when we call to Him He floods our lives with Himself. for in Christ in His shield, in His love we have courage and we are not afraid; in short, we have faith, faith in Christ. therefore, He comes to ourselves daily, in our personal trials and tribulations that we go through on our journey for Him. He calls to us daily not to fear for what can the world do? He calls to us daily to have courage to stand fast and to stand in His love. He calls us to Him daily.
peter then says to our Lord what is an almighty invite for the Lord. for peter does not stay that he will come to the Lord. no, he asks the Lord to help and he asks for an invite. he asks Jesus to invite him to come forth and to come to him. do we? do we open our hearts and allow the Lord to enter or do we do more? do we have the courage and the strength to ask the Lord to allow us to come to Him, to come closer to the source of life? i guess the question here is do we trust enough in the Lord to take this step of faith?
look on it this way. are you happy and comfortable in your journey or are you sensing that there is more, that you could be closer to Christ knowing that in this closeness will be more and even greater loving, sensing that You could do more for Him that to just sit and wait for Him. Could you reach out to the Lord and personally invite Jesus to ask you to come closer, dare you try to walk a little closer to Christ? can we and dare we take the ultimate risk and put our own lives on the line ( or sea ) and after receiving this request from Christ to come closer actually take it. for if we are to also walk on the water like peter did we are to leave behind the safety and security of the boat and risk all on this closer journey to Him.
and if we do take this risk, if we do take this step in faith will the seas of turmoil be calmed around us, in short no. for as peter walked towards Christ he began to notice the wind, and this scared him. we too no matter how close we get to God will always be subject on this earth to the wind, to the trials and temptations, to the deceit and skulduggery of the evil one. we will if we allow these actions from satan to get to us we will sink. however as peter shows with Christ, with true faith and belief in Christ, with trusting our whole life to Him we cannot sink. for when peter was falling down into the water, he cried out and Christ saved him. so it is for ourselves, when we are falling, when we stumble and allow doubt and fear to invade we need to and have to turn to Christ and in so doing allow the Lord to reach out and pull us to safety again. Christ is with us always, Christ is always around us, and when we fall He will save us and catch us, He will strengthen us and enlighten us. Christ is faithful to us, we just need to trust Him and be faithful to Him
what happens at the end? what happens is exactly what will happen at the end for us all that remain with Christ in love. we will find calm, we will be saved from the storm, for in our Fathers House there are no storms, only peace and truth and love. what will we do when we get there? we will spend eternity in loving bliss, praising our Lord
trust in the Lord
put all your faith in the Lord
place all your life into His hands
do only His will
He will comfort you in the storms of life that will surely arise
take a step in this faith, and walk closer to Him daily
He will never leave you nor forsake you
live in His love
rest eternal in His House in peace
God bless
Scrappy
and at once He made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while He sent the crowds away. after sending the crowds away He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. when evening came, He was there alone, while the boat by now some furlongs from land was hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head wind. in the fourth watch of the night He came towards them walking on the sea and when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they were terrified. ‘is it a ghost.’ they said and cried out in fear. but at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘courage! It is Me! don’t be afraid.’ it was peter who answered, ‘Lord.’ he said. ‘if it is You, tell me to come to You across the water.’ Jesus said, ‘come.’ then peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but when he noticed the wind, he took fright and began to sink, ‘Lord.’ he cried, ‘save me!’ Jesus put out His hand at once and held him. ‘you have so little faith,’ He said, ‘why did you doubt?’ and as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before Him and said, ‘truly, You are the Son of God.’
i was lead to read this passage today and i invite you all to do so, for today i found insight in these words i have never seen before. the deity of our Lord Jesus yes, the ability of Christ to do wonders and works, yes; but there is more there is so much more here.
here we see Christ finding peace and solitude away from the world, here we find Him finding and creating the time to pray. no matter how much the world puts upon us, no matter how much time and help the people wanted of Jesus He would and always did find the time to pray. for Christ knew and we should know that we can do nothing with our Father, and we are nothing without love; and it is in finding time to talk with our Lord that we find His love and we allow Him to speak directly with us, filling our lives with Himself, with love
if we look at the disciples within the boat we see many a parallel to ourselves and the life we have chosen to lead, for they are within the boat doing whatever they may be doing, but they are there because Jesus told them to be so. as it is and should be for ourselves, we are placed in this world not to do our own bidding but to do the will of God, and as such, if Jesus says to ourselves get in the boat and put away from shore, so we must. for in Him we have trust and hope, in Him we find the pathway to peace and salvation, so therefore in Him we should trust not only this and that but our all, for God knows best and He knew that the boat was sound and sea worthy, we just need to take the step and climb aboard.
however, as we have been told, the journey will not always be straight and simple, it will not always be without turmoil and strife for the world and the evil one will do their best to affect our relationship with Christ. we trust Him so we get in the boat, we love Him and we know that His way is the only way so we don’t question we just do His will. and if we stay in His will and His love then we will journey to the other side, a live of love and service whilst here on earth and to the other side an everlasting life of love and worship with Jesus in our Fathers Kingdom, Heaven. therefore, no matter what may happen, no matter how intense the wind, the waves and the storm of life, we stay steadfast in the boat, trusting and journeying in His will to the other side and peace
when we are in turmoil, when the world is getting at us and to us it is then if we look, and if we truly look in humility that we can and will see our Lord walking towards us. for like the disciples saw Jesus walking to them over the waters, Jesus will come to us in all our times of trouble. He will be there hoping and loving, praying that we have the sight to see Him and not the fear that the world tries to create within us to not recognise Him. even when we don’t at first see His grace and comfort, even when we don’t recognise the love presented before us He will slowly and gently talk to us, He will careful express His love for us, and will comfort us in the midst of all the strife we can find ourselves in. i pray that if we have not the eyes to see him instantly we have the ears to hear His words
what are we asked to do by Christ when He approaches, we are asked to have courage, to not be afraid and to recognise that it is He. we are called, each individually, to walk and work for Him, as He needs us; and we are called to have fellowship together with each other under the shield of His love. for the disciples had their own tasks and challenges in life for Christ but they where also called to be together to help and assist each other in Christ's name. when we recognise Christ, when we first see and hear Him, when we call to Him He floods our lives with Himself. for in Christ in His shield, in His love we have courage and we are not afraid; in short, we have faith, faith in Christ. therefore, He comes to ourselves daily, in our personal trials and tribulations that we go through on our journey for Him. He calls to us daily not to fear for what can the world do? He calls to us daily to have courage to stand fast and to stand in His love. He calls us to Him daily.
peter then says to our Lord what is an almighty invite for the Lord. for peter does not stay that he will come to the Lord. no, he asks the Lord to help and he asks for an invite. he asks Jesus to invite him to come forth and to come to him. do we? do we open our hearts and allow the Lord to enter or do we do more? do we have the courage and the strength to ask the Lord to allow us to come to Him, to come closer to the source of life? i guess the question here is do we trust enough in the Lord to take this step of faith?
look on it this way. are you happy and comfortable in your journey or are you sensing that there is more, that you could be closer to Christ knowing that in this closeness will be more and even greater loving, sensing that You could do more for Him that to just sit and wait for Him. Could you reach out to the Lord and personally invite Jesus to ask you to come closer, dare you try to walk a little closer to Christ? can we and dare we take the ultimate risk and put our own lives on the line ( or sea ) and after receiving this request from Christ to come closer actually take it. for if we are to also walk on the water like peter did we are to leave behind the safety and security of the boat and risk all on this closer journey to Him.
and if we do take this risk, if we do take this step in faith will the seas of turmoil be calmed around us, in short no. for as peter walked towards Christ he began to notice the wind, and this scared him. we too no matter how close we get to God will always be subject on this earth to the wind, to the trials and temptations, to the deceit and skulduggery of the evil one. we will if we allow these actions from satan to get to us we will sink. however as peter shows with Christ, with true faith and belief in Christ, with trusting our whole life to Him we cannot sink. for when peter was falling down into the water, he cried out and Christ saved him. so it is for ourselves, when we are falling, when we stumble and allow doubt and fear to invade we need to and have to turn to Christ and in so doing allow the Lord to reach out and pull us to safety again. Christ is with us always, Christ is always around us, and when we fall He will save us and catch us, He will strengthen us and enlighten us. Christ is faithful to us, we just need to trust Him and be faithful to Him
what happens at the end? what happens is exactly what will happen at the end for us all that remain with Christ in love. we will find calm, we will be saved from the storm, for in our Fathers House there are no storms, only peace and truth and love. what will we do when we get there? we will spend eternity in loving bliss, praising our Lord
trust in the Lord
put all your faith in the Lord
place all your life into His hands
do only His will
He will comfort you in the storms of life that will surely arise
take a step in this faith, and walk closer to Him daily
He will never leave you nor forsake you
live in His love
rest eternal in His House in peace
God bless
Scrappy
