Water – Walking
God’s Desire for You!
Introduction: Matt.14:22ff; Mk. 6:45ff; Jn. 6:17
Reading Matthew 14: 22
God’s desire for you in the New Year! God what are you wanting for me in the New Year?!
I THE BATTLE: seeing Jesus in the storm
a) being obedient: ( Jesus asked them to get in the boat and go….they went)
- wasn’t too hard for most because they were use to the boat
- sometimes Jesus does that…He challenges us with what we already have and know
- although Matthew says “ Jesus made them get into the boat…” Johns tells why 6:15
b) but in obedience they faced a storm:
- why is it when we say yes to God, sometimes get mighty rough
- why is it when we get in a boat for God, there comes a storm, things turn out rough
- if it were too easy, we could easily say…”
- “That’s all my years in a boat that got me this far….”
- Just because we are obedient to God, doesn’t mean we won’t have challenges
c) - But here’s the key….when the challenges come remember Jesus is near and Jesus knows
the challenge we face. Mark 6: 47-48;
- You know Jesus didn’t intend to stop…Mark 6:48e – 49a tells us “he intended to pass them by, BUT when they saw him…”
I thought about it for a moment and it came to me….there’s a sense where we need to want God’s help. We also need to recognize His Almighty Power. We need to have that humility which says… “God I can’t do this alone.” Even if we done it all our life. Even if we’re are so use to being in “the boat” all our life….
Jesus said in John 5:15 “Without me you can do nothing…”
Human pride and arrogance laughs at that verse…. We don’t depend enough on God!! The times we depend most on God is when the water is splashing over the gunnels of our lives and we think we headed for the bottom.
Open Bibles to John 6:20-21 “Jesus said to them “It is I, don’t be afraid!” Then they were
willing to take him into the boat!
II THE BOAT: our place of safety
But out of the three Gospel that share this event in the disciples life, only Matthew gives us a piece of the Story which should cause us to think…..
Why would Matthew’s Gospel include 14: 28-31
Three reasons:
Faith: We need to believe that if Jesus says it can be done it can be done
Following: Peter says “tell me to come…” God’s will can be done in our life
Fantasy: “There’s more to life than sitting in a boat….
There’s too many of us who are willing to just sit in the boat and bob in the waves…
just wait for Jesus to come along and solve yet another problem for us,
We’re too consumed with the storms that we find it difficult to know if Jesus is even around
We’re too use to letting something or someone else improve what we know we can help improve ourselves
We’re clutching the side of the boat and looking for someone to get us out of the “storm”
rather than being willing to say..I’ve had enough of being in this boat, or I’m going to face the storm, and with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ I’m outta here…..I’m getting out of this boat I’m in….I’m getting out of this rut… Lord I want more of your power to be seen in my life….. “Tell me to come to you on the water…”
Jesus looks into the heart of Peter and says: “Come”
AND he did it…
In fact the Message Bible says: “Peter Jumped out of the boat…”
ILLUS: We were watching a movie over Christmas season called “What a girl wants”…a little girl looking for her father….she finds him…only to find out…her father is royalty…which makes her heiress to a throne….she begins to fall in love with this young man….and one day they’re out playing in a boat….they fall out of the boat and climb back in….in an unexpected moment he turns to her and says “”WHY ARE YOU TRYING SO HARD TO BLEND IN…WHEN YOU WERE MEANT TO STAND OUT.”
Peter wasn’t like the eleven clutching the side of the boat, he didn’t want to blend in…he wanted to stand out and step out, so he decided to get out of the boat, knowing that if Jesus was doing it, he would give Peter the power to do it.
I want to walk on water with Jesus….I want to stand out for God, even if it’s only for a brief moment of my life.
This is January 2nd, 2005, What’s one step you can take in your life, in this new year, that would allow your confidence in Christ and yourself to grow?
