Keeping Your Eyes On Jesus

Keeping Your Eyes On Jesus

Sunday November 12, 2000

The one thing that we need to learn is to stay focused,

We must always look to Jesus.

We are going to take our text this morning from,

Matthew 14:22-36

22 Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the people home.

23 Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.

24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.

25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water.

26 When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost.

27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “It’s all right,” he said. “I am here! Don’t be afraid.”

28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water.”

29 “All right, come,” Jesus said.

So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.

30 But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

31 Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him. “You don’t have much faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

32 And when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.

33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

34 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret.

35 The news of their arrival spread quickly throughout the whole surrounding area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed.

36 The sick begged him to let them touch even the fringe of his robe, and all who touched it were healed.

In the text, Jesus went up on a mountainside, alone, to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone.

There are times when it is good to be alone. Away from the sounds and noise of the normal.

However, when a storm hits, it is a fearful feeling to be all alone.

Only when you know that you are in the presence of someone more powerful than the storm do you feel safe and confident.

The storm is always more powerful than yourself.

And by storm I am talking about the troubles that we face on a daily basis.

When Jesus was on the mountainside praying, he alone only in the sense that He was apart from other people.

He was in the presence of God the Father.

THE DISCIPLES FIND THEMSELVES IN A STORM.

Their boat, some distance from the shore, was being slapped around by the waves because of the wind.

They struggled against the waves.

They were showing signs of fatigue and frustration.

At this point, there is no evidence that they were afraid of the storm itself.

They were too busy trying to fight the storm by themselves to be scared.

Three steps forward and two steps back.

At times, we all feel that the conditions that surround us push us back about as far as we have come.

Situations slap us, test us and harass us.

We struggle against those things that attempt to defer us from our goals and objectives.

The winds of adversity seem to blow so hard that we can imagine not reaching those goals.

Like the disciples, we are not so much afraid of the storm as we are tired and weary of rowing our boat.

We become discouraged, distraught, tired of the circumstances and weary of the winds and waves.

We begin to think we are all alone, no one really cares, we are abandon and forsaken, everyone is against us, we are insignificant and worthless, we have little value and no one seems to care anyway.

We may as well give up and let the wind blow us where it will, we are just too exhausted to care any more.

The disciples being the humans that they were had already forgotten what had just happened the day before, let’s read it in,

Matthew 14:13-21

13 As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed by land from many villages.

14 A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”