Monday
The Place Of No Risk
Read John 16:33; Matthew 7:24-27
One of the things that is important to most of us in the West is security – We all worry we want to know where we will live, we want to know where we are going, we want to make sure our family will support us, we want to make sure that we can support them, we want to make sure that we’ve got enough cash in the bank to cope with anything that the world throws at us, we want to be in control of our lives. In the West we call these things wise, we call it prudent, we expect people to make sure that they do these things. We base our society on being secure. Here’s the news for you: Jesus doesn’t. Jesus expects you to take risks. He expects you to risk your reputation. He expects you to risk your security. He expects you to take the risk of trusting Him to know what He is doing. He expects you to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He takes you – the Bible says that you can’t tell where the wind is going or what it will do next, and it is the same with people who follow the Spirit – you never know where He will take you next. If you are following Jesus then your friends should be writing your addresses in pencil, because they never know where you are going to be next. Now the good news: Wherever Jesus asks you to follow, He will look after you. Whenever He leads you through a difficult place, if you look back, all you will see is His goodness. You will find that however rough it gets, He was carrying you all along. Because what the world calls ‘security’, what the world calls ‘safe’, isn’t safe.
Jesus said: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Every thing you see around you, all of the things that we put our trust in here in the West are fragile. They can be taken away from you in an instant. Our society is so fragile. Everything around us is fragile, and we don’t like to think about that. We put our trust in America to keep the world peace, just as people trusted the Roman Empire in Jesus’ day, but where is the Roman Empire now? The anthropologists tell us that you can tell an Empire is dying, that a society is sick, by three signs: The young are violent. The adults are confused. There are no elders. Read the papers and you see these things – we are living in the last decades of the American Empire. Everything you see around you will one day be swept away in fire, it will fall to dust and blow away, because this world is as temporary as a tent in a hurricane and it is passing away. The only things that will be left, the only strong things, are the things that Jesus gives – these are the only things that will last. This world has nothing for you – it might seem to have everything that you want, but it has nothing that you really need. When his other followers were leaving him saying “This teaching is too hard”, Jesus asked his disciples “Do you want to leave me too?” but Peter asks Him “Lord, where on earth could we possibly go? Only you have the words of eternal life, only you have the things that will last”. Following Jesus is the only security.
Tuesday
It Is Safer In The Boat or Is It
Read 1 Peter5:8
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does. (The Message, 1 Peter 5:8)
Water walkers are people who get out of their safety zone and dare to do something they’ve never dared to do before. It may feel safer in the boat, the place of comfort, but it doesn’t stop problems from coming to you. Sooner or later you will have to face your problems. You will have to get out of your comfortable place and do something to rid yourself of the problem. A person can accept their circumstance such as sickness or they can start speaking to the problem (the sickness) and command it to go in Jesus’ name. A person may be comfortable sitting in a church pew week and week doing nothing or they can get out of that pew and pray for someone or give a word of the Lord to someone to encourage them. If you always want to sit in the comfortable boat, you may see some miracles happen, but you may never take part in causing one to happen. It pleases God when we get out of our comfortable boat!
Would you rather just see miracles happen or would you rather have a part in bringing them about? It’s up to you. Are you willing to get out of your comfortable boat?
Wednesday
Look For Jesus In The Storm
Read Genesis 1:2; Mark 6:48
Storms in your life and around you grab your attention. In order to overcome those storms you must make a decision to not give up. Giving up is a choice not a circumstance. You must first choose to not throw in the towel and just give up. Secondly, you must look for Jesus in the midst of the storm. The book of Mark gives the account of the same storm in Matthew’s gospel but adds the fact that Jesus saw the disciple’s struggles. Many times we question whether or not God sees our struggles and efforts. The fact is He not only sees but He is praying for you! Imagine that. Jesus is praying for you! The question, however, is not does God see my struggles, it is do you see Him in the midst of your struggles and storms? You see in Jesus intended to go past the disciples. Did you catch that? Jesus’ intention was to walk by them. It was up to them to look for Him in the midst of their storm. He was not just going to jump into their boat. He came just close enough to be found, if they were looking for Him. Your focus must not be on the storm but on Him that strolls through them. Throughout Scripture, Jesus came just close enough to those in need that if they were searching for Him, He could be found. Whatever you are looking for is what you will find. If your focus is the size of the waves and the strength of the storm, you will find just that. However, if you look for evidence that Jesus is in the storm you will find Him there. Focus on His promise, not the problem.
Thursday
Keep Your Eyes On Him
Read Hebrews 12:2; 1 Corinthians 10:13
Why did Peter sink? He saw Jesus walk on the water and as long as Peter kept his eyes on the LORD, Peter stayed afloat. It was when Peter got his eyes off of the LORD and on to the waves beneath him that he sank. The lesson for the believer here is that our faith must be rooted in Christ and we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by life's circumstances. Doubt is not the absence of faith it is a test of faith. Peter had faith to step out but he did not count the cost and he "looked down." It was only then that Peter began to falter and sink. Yet, the hand of grace pulled Peter to safety.
There is a great lesson of faith in this passage of Scripture where Jesus walks on the water. First, it is that Jesus has control over the situation. The wind and turmoil of the waves obeyed Him. As born again believers, if we keep our eyes on the LORD rather than the situation that threatens to engulf us, we too can walk through the waves with confidence in Christ's ability to bring us peace in the middle of whatever storm is raging over our lives. There is nothing that we can face as born again believers that is outside of God's control (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Another great lesson here is that Christ's hand is always extended to the lost. When by faith one reaches out to the LORD for salvation, grace lifts that one out of the sinking waves of sin. Jesus walks on water is a principle that the invisible realities of faith in Christ are victorious over the visible threats of this world, regardless of the form they may take.
Friday
There Is Help!
Read Hebrews 13:6
Has your heart and spirit ever just went thud. Have you ever felt as though your life is falling apart and the harder you try to overcome the circumstances swirling around in your life the deeper the pit seems to get. You have finally sunk to the lowest place in the pit and you feel so alone, isolated. I found myself in this at the end of this year, that same familiar place. What will I do? I felt like just giving up, but there in my lowest place I felt a presence, it was Jesus……He was there with me. He was whispering in my ear………. “I will never leave you or forsake you”, “As your days, so shall your strength be”, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory forever and forever”, “Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
He kept whispering these and many other promises in my ear. God is good. He does not abandon us. He is always there. He cares more about us than we think. He is always there for us in our time of need. He is always offering us His hand. When we think we are alone and we have no place to turn and the world seems as though it is against us, Don’t fret, listen to Him whisper promises in your ear. God is there. He will take care of you. Just give Him the opportunity. There is Help!
The Weekender
Water Walkers
Matthew 14:14-36; Mark 11:22-27; James 5:17
When a person reads Matthew, Mark, Luke or John - the one thing we clearly see about Jesus was He constantly had His disciples to keep stretching their faith. He had them exercising great faith, in fact. Jesus knew how delighted His heavenly Father was when they believed Him to accomplish seemingly impossible feats, and He also knew the opposition they would face after Jesus resurrected and went back to heaven to be with the Father. Take the account of Peter walking on water. The waves were wild and the wind howled, but here is Jesus, walking on the water, just as cool as could be. Next thing you know, out of the boat jumps Peter and he starts walking on the water as well. Peter let fear then doubt get to him and he began to sink. I believe Jesus was teaching us how quickly fear and doubt will strangle our faith if we’re not careful. Jesus was absolutely tickled that one of his disciples would be so brave as to try to walk on water as well! Have you ever put yourself in Peter’s shoes? Maybe he was thinking “Wow! What a thrill it was for a short while, that I actually was able to walk on water just as Jesus was doing. While I kept my eyes focused on Him, I knew there was absolutely nothing I couldn’t do if the Holy Spirit was leading me in doing so”! Peter didn’t just jump out of the boat without being certain God was okay with it. Peter was wise enough to know that assumption and presumption are two powerful weapons Satan always tries to use to frustrate us in our faith in God. That’s why the Holy Spirit tells us that Peter first asked God if it was okay for him to try to walk on water. Had Jesus clearly said to Peter: “No!” Peter would have sunk the first step he took out of the boat. But because Peter first sought to know God’s will in the matter, and heard Jesus clearly say, “Come!” The Holy Spirit activated faith in Peter to trust God to be able to start walking on water. Okay, now you may be asking yourself, if that was the case, why didn’t the Holy Spirit continue to increase Peter’s faith in God, so he didn’t end up sinking? I believe it was to demonstrate how quickly fear can shut down our faith in God and rob us of having a testimony to share with others that will ultimately glorify Jesus Christ. Fear and doubt are the most potent weapons the devil has to rob us of our faith in God.
No – you may never be led by the Holy Spirit to literally walk on water, but God wants to exhort each of us to do something far more brave: be able to walk on top of spiritual water, by being courageous enough to walk up to complete strangers and ask them if they have ever had a salvation experience with Jesus Christ, and if not, would they like to have one? Would they like to have intimate friendship - intimate relationship with God? Now that is being brave and courageous.
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