Matthew 18:2-7 – “Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.  

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!”  NKJV

Let me relate some to you and hopefully it will be beneficial, challenge you and inspire you.  If I am only successful in one or two of those I have failed.  I must find a way to attach all three legs to the stool or it falls short and that I would deeply regret.

I know a preacher who almost lost his faith due to the question of a child.  The little boy asked:  “Where did God come from?”  It was not a question borne out of disbelieve.  It was not a question seeking to find reason to not believe.  It was not a question of one seeking to combat the claims of the Bible or Christianity.  It was the innocent inquiring mind of a child and this preacher found that the more he tried to answer the question the more he questioned his faith.

Before you condemn him realize that many have questioned things in their lives and faith.  There have been times in many lives when they just didn’t know and wondered.  They wondered if they were saved, if God loved them, why there is evil and suffering in the world and found their time of question daunting.  If you have never questioned or doubted anything regarding your faith I praise you but ask you not be too quick to condemn those who have struggled with questions they could not answer.

Jesus said that we have to become as a little child and one thing I am certain regarding the minds of most children is they simply want to know.  Many times their questions have no maliciousness entwined they simply want to know.  Their questions are out of the honesty of their hearts and minds and come to us for answers.  Therefore, our answers to them must be carefully thought out, honest and solidly based in truth.  What happens when we are unable to give them a definitive answer?  How do we approach that?  Personally, it is with complete honesty and deeply rooted in prayer.  If I do not know I acknowledge I do not know and then give the reasons I believe what I believe.

I was asked how I would have answered the child and that has caused some deep introspection.  I have been asked that before and one of the ways I answer is to address the human body with its most incredible vascular and nervous system.  How could that just happen?  I will address the universe and the minute detail of solar systems, galaxies, planets, orbits, etc. and ask how could that just happen?  I relate the immediate and utter transformation of my life and ask how could that happen apart from God?  Although I may not be able to give a definitive answer as to where God came from, when He began or anything in that arena of thought and question I ask:  “How Can I Not Believe based on what I just said and adding to that the countless times I have experienced miraculous healing, divine intervention and guidance?”

             There are times when you have questions, fears and doubts and in those times you have to hold on to your confidence and keep going.  All questions in life are not answerable by mortal man but creation itself declares God and I believe.  The devil will use any vehicle he can find to shipwreck your faith and make you a castaway.  I do not suggest we cease honest inquiry that would be wrong.  You may never answer all the questions but you can give answer for the reason of hope that is within you.

I believe!  May the Lord bless you richly as you go through this day!

Luke 11:1 – “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”  NKJV

Prayer is somewhat of a mystery for most of Christians and there are probably as many different philosophies, theories and beliefs regarding the activity as there are people further adding to the uniqueness and confusion.  I want to ask a question tied to my title:  “When do we move from a fight of faith to faithless begging in prayer?”  I am quite serious in the question.

I have had people tell me that if I ask “more than once” I am being faithless and that I should ‘ask once’ then ‘declare it done’ from that time forward.  I have others suggest that we can ‘never know’ the will of God in the matter therefore we should continually ask with the addendum “if it be thy will.”  My personal view falls somewhere between those two.  I do believe there is a time to ask and then declare and there is a time to persistently, consistently, repeatedly and be importunate in our prayers.

Let’s consider a few brief examples in scripture and see if they provide any help in framing a point of reference for shaping our biblical prayer view.  This will be brief for time and space will allow nothing more.

DANIEL’s encounter with MICHAEL (Daniel 10):

Daniel had been praying as a result of a vision and nothing was appeared to happen.  It was as though God did not hear his cries.  In verses 10-14 Daniel had an angelic visitation.  He had been dispatched to answer Daniel’s prayer and in verses 12-13 the angel tells Daniel that God heard his prayers but the prince of the kingdom of Persia has withstood him for 21 days.  The angel informed Daniel that Michael one of the chief princes (angels) had been dispatched to help him break through.  Would the answer have come had Daniel prayed once and stopped or was Daniel fighting the fight of faith in persistence of prayer? 

THE WIDOW of Luke 18:

Jesus spoke a parable about a widow who refused to be denied before an earthly judge and that because of her persistence he relented and granted her petition.  I am not and would never equate God with an unjust earthly judge but the idea of persistence is there and Jesus hints that this type of fighting the good fight in prayer is a demonstration of faith.  Jesus said in Luke 18 that men ought always to pray and not faint.  This type of prayer is so forceful anything but a total commitment to the answer will defeat it.

THE CENTURION in Matthew 8:

The centurion came to Jesus asking healing for his servant and Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”  The centurion stopped the Lord telling Him that he felt unworthy for the Lord to come to his house but all Jesus had to do was ‘speak the word’ and it would be done.  Jesus marveled at the greatness of this demonstration of faith.  The man did not persist but asked once and then acknowledged that upon Jesus’ word it was done.

In Mathew 7 we find that classic passage regarding prayer pressed to three levels:  “Asking, Seeking and Knocking.”  That, in my view, suggests a Fight of Faith that could be called nothing less than Importunity in Prayer.  The question, in my mind, is how serious is the matter and how much is it worth to us.  If it is vital we will refuse to give up or give in and no amount of delay will cause us to cease asking, seeking and knocking.

We read in 1 John 5:14-15 – “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”  NKJV   This gives a beautiful picture of the process and basis of prayer.

• Asking Must Be According to His Will.
• He Hears When We Pray According To His Will.  
• When He Hears He Answers.
• Our Confidence is anchored in Knowing He Hears.
• We Get The Answer To The Prayer Prayed In His Will.

I rarely pray the addendum, “If it by thy will” but seek to know His will and then pray.  If I am confident that what I am asking is His will then my faith soars and I can fight the fight of persistent prayer when necessary and prevent falling victim to faithless begging and wishful hoping.   (This is not exhaustive and leaves the door open to many questions and further explanation.  It is hopefully a catalyst to cause you to think.)

May the Lord be with you as you go through this day!

Mark 12:31 – “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  NKJV 

            Why is it so difficult to love some people?  I had a person say to me the words of my title.  They said, “As a Christian I love you but I don’t like you!”  I had just received 100% of the vote for reconfirmation as pastor of the congregation and that individual who voted told me I was a terrible pastor and then spoke those words to me.  I was stunned.  If I was the horrible pastor described in those words how did that individual cast YES ballot for me in the pastoral election?  I asked that but only heard the aforementioned repeated.

You and I have met or know some people that we find incredibly difficult to love.  Some people are so sweet, nice and kind they are easy to have an emotional attachment to and we afford them what we call LOVE.  Others are caustic in their personalities, clash with us ideologically and emotionally and we labor to afford them what we call LOVE.  It is often incredibly difficult and most of us avoid those people and prayed they would just go away.  Oh we feel a twinge of guilt but most cover it with some justification or another and then say, “Well I don’t like them but I love them in the Lord.”

It is sometimes difficult to LOVE people that we genuinely like.  Why?  Well among other reasons is because we are human beings and aside from the Grace of God we battle self (desires and ego).  Throughout my life I have been told by well-meaning people, “You have to look out for number one.”  That speaks to one of the major issues in loving people is that too often human love is contingent upon “what’s in it for me…?”

Another significant reason that we find it difficult to LOVE others is because most have a gross misunderstanding of what LOVE really is.  William Shakespeare popularized ‘romantic or emotional love’ and we have swallowed that theory hook-line and sinker.  We have to FEEL LOVE and FEEL LOVED for it to BE LOVE in our minds.  When LOVE is an emotion it is fickle.  I would suggest that you cannot totally control emotions.  You can control your response to emotions but there are so many outside stimuli in play in forming emotions they are virtually uncontrollable and if your view of love is emotional you are going to have a problem.

Agape Love, as described in Scripture and directed to humans as revealed in 1 Corinthians 13, is not based on emotion but faith, conviction and is a choice.  Jesus said here in Mark that we are to LOVE our neighbor as ourselves and that too is a significant problem far more often than any will admit.  Sometimes we just do not love ourselves.  If I do not have a healthy view of who I am then how can I love you?  If I do not have a solid understanding of who I am in Christ and my condition and position in God I cannot love you with any semblance of Agape or Unconditional Love.

Tragically we pretend, saying all the right religious words but our hearts are cold, indifferent, uncaring, unfeeling and even antagonistic toward the other person.  Thankfully that is not how God LOVES.  He knows our flaws and chooses to LOVE US.  He knows our failures and chooses to LOVE US.  It is not simply an emotional response from Him but a choice He has made.  When I say I Love You I can say it from the perspective of God’s Grace and having made a choice in my heart to Love you.  I see you as God’s creation and one He viewed as worth the Blood of Jesus therefore I CHOOSE TO LOVE YOU.  We may rub each other the wrong way more times than not but I can still honestly say I LOVE YOU and in loving you I will, in time find a pathway to common ground which will overcome the things about you that bug me and hopefully the same will work for you.

God bless you as you go through this day and may, His grace enable you to love those who are difficult to love you encounter.   Blessings!

Isaiah 46:9-11 – “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’  11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”  NKJV

A new report I saw recently concerned the mindset of the younger generation today indicated they wanted virtually no connection to the past.  They did not want the things and treasures their parents had in their homes.  They did not want the antiques or even memories of the past rather they wanted to be incredibly mobile without any significant roots able in a moment’s notice to move from one place or thing to another.  I fear that also means relationships and it caused to reflect on REMEMBERING.

We are well aware the words of our Lord in Luke 9:62 regarding putting one’s hand to the plow and looking back.  It is a mistake to dwell on or revel in past sin rehearsing it in our minds and virtually living it again.  That would assuredly be counterproductive but there are some things we should remember.  If you will recall when the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan entering into the place of promise (Canaan) Joshua had them bring twelve stones from the river and build an altar or memorial on the banks as a REMINDER for future generations of what God had done.

Here the prophet Isaiah instructs those hearing and reading to REMEMBER the former things and in particular GOD.  He tells them that in remembering they will reflect on God’s nature, character, power, person and feats.  They will REMEMBER God’s Covenant and His promise that what He has spoken He will bring to pass.  Therefore, remembering can be both beneficial and problematic.

Jesus told His followers that in taking the Communion they would REMEMBER His death until He returned.  I have memorials in my life that I frequently go to in my mind and REMEMBER.  The remembrance strengthens my resolve, commitment and faith.  As I remember times the LORD brought to pass His promises in my life I look forward holding to the promises not yet fulfilled.  Paul even told Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:8 to “do warfare” with the prophecies spoken over him as he pressed toward God’s purposes.

History forgotten invites repeating the same mistakes!  History remembered helps to guard against the same erroneous path giving strength to the old adage, “to be forewarned is to be forearmed.”  We are serving one who can see the end from the beginning unlike you and me who can only see the beginning from the end.  God sees it before it happens and we see it in retrospect.  His word will NEVER return to Him not having been fulfilled.  If He declares it He will see it through to the end.  So REMEMBERING in this light is a powerful thing helping to encourage and strength our lives.

            May God be with you as you go through this day!

Philippians 2:19-21 – “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”  NKJV

In today’s world SELFIES are more prominent than SELF-EFFACEMENT.  This is the day of ‘tooting your own horn’ rather than genuinely seeking the ‘best good’ of others.  In today’s world it seems that even preachers are caught up in the “ME” mentality and are driven to be recognized, have the biggest and best with acclaim reaching far and wide.  DISCLAIMER:  I am no longer a lead pastor so I am not speaking sour grapes or jealousy.  I truly desire that each minister and church rise as high, reaching as many as possible and become a force for God and good internationally.  I want you to succeed in God’s eyes and even in man’s.

Paul lamented that he had no one but Timothy standing with him that was truly ‘self-effacing’.  His incredible description of Timothy should be a condition that we all strive to attain.  He said that Timothy sincerely cared for the state of the church and did not seek his own but the things of Christ.  Please do not become religiously indignant over my statement without hearing the conclusion of the whole matter.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 that we were to SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.  I suggest that the Bible clearly presents the argument that ‘seeking self’ and ‘seeking the kingdom’ are incompatible.  If SELF is in the forefront the KINGDOM will be secondary or worse.  We need ‘self-effacement’ not “self-deprecation.”

John the Baptist declared regarding Jesus, “He must increase but I must decrease.”  Paul told the Roman believers that a follower of Christ SHOULD NOT think more highly of himself than is proper.  The world is watching those who name the name of Christ.  They are watching us with skepticism and often looking for a place to discredit us.  If they see in us the same character flaws or personal ambitions as the world manifests what will draw them to our message?  There are many in the world that promote SELF as supreme and if our actions, attitude and words suggest we are doing the same and that our Christianity is rooted in “What’s in it for me?” we will lose our influence and impact.

Humility is a quality that as soon as you think you have it you have lost it.  Self-effacement is the work of Grace in our hearts and the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is not something that we can consciously achieve through will-power it is a work of Grace.  It is a condition of heart.   It is a genuineness of spirit where God is truly HEAD OF ALL THINGS in our lives and His heart is our heart.  It is a condition of death to personal ambition, jealousy, envy, greed and ego.  It is Christ in us!  It is in Him we live and move and have our being.  It is the Life I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God.  It is out of our bellies flow rivers of living water.  It is an outward demonstration of the inward condition not something that is manufactured or even learned it is LIVED.

Am I self-effacing?  Sometimes but other times I manage to demonstrate my carnality and humanity.  When I truly find myself placing Him above all and the good of others above my own interest it produces incredible peace and joy.  In all honesty, in those times I am almost completely unaware that it is happening because it flows forth.  In other times the Holy Spirit checks my heart, my words and planned action and I realize that I am anything but ‘self-effacing’ and humility is not in the same hemisphere spiritually.  In those times I fall on my face before God and cry out for mercy.   I pray the prayer of David, “Create in me a clean heart and renew in me a right spirit…”  

God help us to be LIKE CHRIST in truth not in manufactured attempts to BE.   God bless you as you go through this day!

Luke 6:37-38 – “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  NKJV

I felt compelled to address this passage again and will likely do so in the future.  I have encountered something among fellow believers that troubles me and if you will give me a few minutes I will highlight some of my concerns and questions.

Having engaged in conversation with some believers who have been hurt and wounded or are simply troubled by what they perceive as non-biblical words, deeds or attitudes in other believers some troubling matters were broached.  I have heard preacher and non-preachers rail against the perceived absence of “Unconditional Love” in other believers.  I readily acknowledge that love is difficult and unconditional love impossible outside of our Lord Jesus and the inner working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

My problem is not with calling attention to the failure of fellow believers to extend Unconditional Love it is making it personal and all about me.  I have been in difficult times, endured false accusations and needed people to love me without reservation and question. In those times some did and others, whom I thought would, did not and I was hurt.  If I focus on their failure but make it all about me I have weakened the message.  It is far too easy for the heart to have seeds of bitterness in it and if a root of bitterness springs up it defiles.  The problem is that few recognize the root within themselves and our lashing out and castigating others for their failures to DO THE BIBLICAL THING somehow becomes a false balm for us.

The Bible tells us many things about life and living it but I want to call attention to two specific things:

• The Principle of Reciprocity.

Here in Luke 6 Jesus identifies a particularly germane truth that Giving is the key to receiving.  Read carefully the words of our Lord in verse 38:  “Give and IT will be given to you…”   IT is as essential in understanding as GIVE for it is WHAT WE GIVE that we receive.  What we give will come back “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over…”

           Therefore if we are not receiving what we need it might serve us well to look beyond the failure of others and examine our own hearts, lives and actions and be sure that we have been giving what we are now needing.  I am not saying that if some fail you it is your fault only suggesting that before we allow bitterness, hurt and/or anger to well up inside we might want to examine our planting in the past, present and future.

• The Law of Sowing and Reaping.

In Galatians 6 we read the directive of the apostle Paul where he advised the Galatians and all who would read in successive generations the truth about “Reaping and Sowing”.  It is a farming principle that refuses to fail.  In the principle of sowing and reaping we find we Reap WHAT we sow, MORE than we sow and LATER than we sow.

I too am troubled when I see professing Christians coming up short in the demonstration of godly character, but as I look at my own heart I frequently find that I have fallen short in one of the two principles listed above.

I would never suggest that you will never experience the pain of other’s failure if you follow these guidelines but I do insist that if you follow them from the heart you will prevent a root of bitterness and reject any tendency toward self-pity.  The pain will still come as others fail you but you will walk in a peace that is beyond human comprehension.

            God bless you as you go through your day!

Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  NKJV

Proverbs 29:15 – “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”  NKJV

Growing up I was disciplined with the belt or paddle and spanked my children.  Today my parents and I would be in danger of having our children taken from us and possibly charged with child abuse for following a biblical guideline.  In Proverbs 13 and 23 we read the directive to use the ‘rod’ in discipline and correction as a demonstration of love not hate or abuse.  In fact in Proverbs 22:15 we find, “Folly is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”

Let me say that I never want to see an adult beating a child or even disciplining them when out of control in anger.  Yet, I also do not want to hear or see children being disrespectful, talking back and being out of control with no discipline.  Early in a child’s life there is need to shape that child’s will so they become disciplined and productive members of society.  The apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:4 warned fathers not to provoke their children to anger, but to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  It is one thing to have a child become angry over correction and another to antagonize needlessly and provokingly.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:6, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.”  If God disciplines us out of love how could we view failure to discipline our children as demonstrations of love?  Every child and person is different and respond to different stimuli requiring the parent to be careful to observe the nature and personality of that child.  A good parent or leader becomes a student of those they are responsible for seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit to apply the ‘rod of discipline’ appropriately and in the right measure.

You may not believe in spanking your children and that is your decision but if you fail to discipline the child you are doing him/her no favor.  I would ten thousand times rather to be disciplined if it staves off ultimate destruction than the alternative.  I’ve been told by parents that they could not discipline their children because if they did the child would not like them.  Parents while it is wonderful to have your child like you but you have a responsibility to ‘train’ that child to live in a society that demands discipline and restraint.  If you fail to prepare the child for that the child liking you is of little consequence.

God disciplines His children and instructs us to discipline those we are responsible for.  By the time society becomes involved in the process it becomes punishment not discipline.  Discipline has at its heart the objective of salvation and preservation.  Punishment does not always have that goal in view it is payment or penalty enacted with possibly no other objective.

We should all be merciful, loving, kind and gentle but we should also know how to mete out what can only be called ‘tough love’ and take the difficult road of administering discipline for in doing so we mold and shape lives positively equipping them for societal interaction.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

Proverbs 18:9 – “He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.” NKJV 

Proverbs 18:9 – “A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.”  NLT

The Bible has much to say about LAZINESS and frankly I have not heard anyone mention it from the pulpit in decades.  In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 the apostle Paul made a declaration that would have certainly drawn the ire of today’s modernist and politically correct crowd saying:  “…if anyone is will not work, neither shall he eat.”  That would not go over very well in a society that wants to please, tolerate and excuse bad behavior.  Churches that seek to please people would run from that as though it were the plague but it is biblical.

There are numerous passages in scripture that refer to laziness and how God views that character trait.  Let me list a few of them:

Proverbs 13:4 – “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.”

Colossians 3:23 – “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord and not to me…”

Proverbs 10:4 – “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

1 Timothy 5:8 – “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his household, he had denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Proverbs 20:13 – “Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes and you will have plenty of bread.”

Proverbs 12:24 – “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”

2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 – “For we hear that some among in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.  Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly.”

Proverbs 14:23 – “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.”

James 4:17 – “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through Him.”

This is not an exhaustive list of verses regarding work and laziness but enough to demonstrate that IDLENESS and LAZINESS are not quality character traits and should NEVER be rewarded, justified or excused.

We live in a world that has poverty and lack and when we can help those less fortunate than ourselves we should.  However there is one caveat if they are LAZY then we SHOULD NOT HELP THEM.  You may think me calloused and uncaring but I care very deeply and know that if we allow a person to continue in a destructive path without intervention we are harming them and become complicit in their destruction.  We should seek to rescue the perishing not help them perish.

It is no wonder that the Bible tells in Proverbs 22:6 to “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  If we fail to discipline and tolerate laziness in our children they will become non-productive members of society.  Every person should be expected to WORK where possible and when possible and if a person demonstrates LAZINESS we should allow them to experience the pain of laziness.  That, to me, is a greater demonstration of love than enabling them to continue in that destructiveness.

            God bless you as you go through this day!

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Matthew 14:22-33 – “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.”  NKJV

Most Christians believe that God has a plan for their lives and some spend their entire lives sitting in the boat of life waiting for a spectacular revelation of that plan.  They have seen storms come and go and were terrified at the prospect of not having the safety net and security of sitting in the boat.

We look at Peter in this account and focus on His sinking and the Lord’s rescue.  However, Peter would never have been in a position to be rescued had he stayed in the safety of the boat.  I do not know what your boat is.  Maybe it is your job or your local church but if you are sitting waiting on a detailed revelation of God’s plan for your life the boat will be your casket not your catalyst spiritually.  Peter, the impetuous one, had a question and a desire.  He wanted to be sure that what he was witnessing was truly the Lord Himself and an overpowering desire to break free from the paralyzing power of the boat.  He dared to dare to believe God in the uncertainty of the moment.

“Lord, if it is You…”   If what I am seeing or think I am seeing and hearing is You then issue the invitation for me to join you in the suspension of the natural and move into the supernatural.  Jesus’ response was simple and immediate saying, “Come!”  Peter fixed His eyes on Jesus and probably eased over the side of the boat, possibly at the dismay of the others and planted his feet on a substance that was not naturally capable of supporting him – water.  His began in faith but his attention was diverted from the object of his victory to that which could mean his destruction and his faith shifted from Jesus to the conditions whereas he began to sink.  Fear gripped his heart and in that moment of fear and despair he cried out and Jesus rescued him.

Peter learned a valuable lesson that would be demonstrated later in his life where he trusted God in the face of hostile authorities and impending death.  He knew that as he got out of the boat he would begin taking steps toward the fulfillment of his destiny.  Sitting in the boat will never bring us into that realm where we walk on the waters of life with Jesus.  It is important to remember that it was not Peter alone on the water but he was walking WITH Jesus.  That place outside the boat is not you alone but WITH Jesus.

It is time to Get Out of the Boat and begin Walking on the Water of Life!    God bless you as you venture out of your boat!  Blessings!