He walked on water for me.
HHM Oct. 20, 2002
Pastor Jim Parisi
We look upon the sea here today and it could remind us of a passage in the gospel of Matthew 14. The disciple’s faith was ready to be tested.
The sea could also be equated to our lives.
Some days the waters of our lives are very calm and clear, real easy and slow
Then other days our lives get to the point that it becomes very stormy and almost riotous.
Tossing us to and fro But like the sea never any two minutes of our life are the same.
The calm current which controls the great waters of our lives start to ease or guide us in one direction The will of God
While the undercurrent will always try to force you to another place.
The calm current is like the Lord, as we ride upon the Grace of His Word
One thing about the calm of the current is it doesn’t force you into a position or a place, but it slowly helps you along.
Think of a small boat on the open lake upon calm water … in due time it will be eased to land
The Fierce Undercurrent on the other hand is more like the enemy, violent and angry, causing great turbulence and chaos in its environment.
Forcing its will upon you, thrashing you upon the hard rocks of life
The spirit of God is like a calm current never forcing Him self upon your will. Always easing and nudging you to succeed and do your best.
On the other hand the enemy which is like the undercurrent, always trying to push us in the wrong direction. A direction where you will most likely fall upon jagged rocks and be destroyed
The point I’m trying to make is that there is a better way to live then getting thrashed in the storms of life.
Most of the time we fight the will of God and go against what is best for us
We fall prey because we don’t understand His word or we live in a fear of a situation.
We fall because we don’t know what power is available to us by just having His Holy word it in our heart.
Let’s look at these men because the faith of the apostles was ready to tested, again….
They just saw Jesus minister to about 5000 plus men not including women and children, people were healed and miracles were perform
They saw 5 loaves and 2 fish feed a multitude
Don’t tell me if you give a little it will go a long way look here in Matthew 14
So here we see Jesus sending the disciples away as he disperses the crowd.
Matthew 14: 22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."
I can figure that when the boat set out the sea was calm
They must have been enjoying the trip after such a meeting
Resting during the voyage for the next day
It’s like just getting saved “all is well” no problems and we are full steam ahead
Then you walk a little with the Lord, you start to study His word and grow
When you grow in the Spirit and the word things start to happen
It isn’t always easy anymore, trials come, and situations arise
You start to wonder why?
Why…. because you have gained something in the Spirit and now you are accountable for it
Tests will come to see if you have the understanding rooted in your heart
Same here with the disciples, they just saw great miracles and signs
They were ready to be tested, to see if they grew
In the understanding of God the signs and wonders are not all he wants for us to experience, yes healing is great but not all there is.
It’s like a teaching in faith was set before them and the test were about to come.
Peter and the disciples were in class that day to increase the level of their faith, but as soon as your faith is increased it will be tested.
In the boat it was they knew they had more to do but didn’t have the faith to get to the other side.
No matter what the enemy says if you are sure that God has work for you to do …you will get there to do it
They didn’t trust Jesus that they would be Ok, until they heard his voice
They just saw multitudes touched, but didn’t have the faith for themselves
Maybe that’s what most of our problems are we have faith for the big things in God…. but lose it somewhere when it comes to the small things in the Spirit. Things of faith for us.
If he is with you in the great things he is with you in the small..
Have faith, but make sure it is strong and rooted in your being,
Peter moved out in the boldness of his faith, but it wasn’t in season and the Lord had to rescue Him… we can speak about that another day too
The Last scripture is Hebrews 13:5 where the word shows us He will always be there for you and me…
Hebrews 13: 5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
The point is when he speaks we can believe with out a doubt. What can man or the world do toy you when you have Jesus in your heart
Let us live our lives properly according to His will and Direction. Be happy in who you are and what you have.
Be assured that He is there and He is who will protect you no matter what storm of life you are in. Because, He will never leave you, nor forsake you.
Amen
