Faith

Walking on the Waters

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity… Hebrews 6:1a NIV

Sometimes when we read this portion of scripture we want to skip ahead to the gallery of faith heroes in chapter 11. These passages can seem dry and filled with a high theology disconnected from our daily life. But in reality they are incredibly practical and are put there to help us to reorient our relationship with Jesus from simply looking back to His work of salvation in our past. They are focusing like a laser on the right here and right now nitty gritty of our struggles today.

When the writer of Hebrews says let us go on to maturity he points us to the ministry of Jesus as our high priest. When Jesus said, “It is finished!” on the cross, He didn’t mean that He was now ready to retire to heaven. Instead He passed from His sacrificial role as the lamb of God to become our  eternal high priest who will pray for us for us every day till the end of time. Just as Jesus was watching his disciples struggling at the oars on the Sea of Galilee, while he was on the mountain praying, so he is watching over us as we are rowing across our own rough waters. In the same way that he came walking across the waters to help them, so He is ready to come and help us with whatever we face today.  

We must never undo what lies on the path behind but maybe today God is calling you and me to focus on His purpose for what lies ahead. What is on your path today? Jesus is already praying for you and if you look out you just might catch a glimpse of Him walking on the waters towards you!

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He Hears

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I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

In my imagination I sometimes wonder just how soundly asleep Jesus really was during the storm at sea. I have thought that perhaps he was more aware of the circumstances than the disciples knew. Perhaps as He climbed into the boat that day He said something along the lines of: “Okay while you guys start rowing us across Galilee, I am going to take a nap. Then as He borrowed a pillow and went to sleep He was saying to himself, “I know what is coming next, I wonder how long it will be before they wake me up?”

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Then as the wind picked up and the sky darkened with storm clouds the disciples kept rowing as hard as they could. They didn’t want Jesus to have to worry about anything; after all they were all experienced fishermen. Then as the first wave or two sloshed over the side of the boat some may have begun to worry. Finally as wave after giant wave tossed the little boat up and down and it began to take on water panic took hold of their hearts.

 

“Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Mark 4:38b

 

Just like us, they had come to the place where they wondered if God even cared about their fears. But Jesus is in our boat, to be our Immanuel through any storm. He listened to the disciples. He listened to King David. He is listening to you.

If today you are facing your biggest fear God is with you in your boat. He is waiting for us to cry out like David, like the disciples and like countless generations of believers. He is with us and He hears!

Confessing Your Fears

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I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.  Psalm 34:4

A pastor of mine once had a job working on steel towers hundreds of feet tall. He talked with me one day about the process of training that men went through to be able to join the crew. One phrase that he often said was, “Any man who says he isn’t afraid is a liar!” I believe that King David would have agreed with my pastor. He didn’t try convincing God that he was courageous. David’s response to the fear that he felt was to cry out to the Lord. He knew that God already knew that he was terrified. He wasn’t trying to fool God or anyone else. David knew of only one place to go and that was to his knees! Like a child shouting for his father’s help David unhesitatingly cried to God. Just as you will never convince a child not to cry out when hurt, so we need to know that God is not putting us to the test to see how much pain we can withstand.

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The entire mission of Jesus Christ while on earth was summed up in a single word, “Immanuel” He is God with us. He willing came to Bethlehem to be with us. He willingly was rejected by his own people, even at times by his own family so we would never have to be alone. Jesus knows the fact that we have lived all of our lives in fear of death. Jesus came to bring us life, not to tell us to keep a stiff upper lip. Admitting ours fears to God is nothing to be ashamed of; in fact it is our first step towards courage!