FC’s mission is to culture like Christ, and the vision is Jesus. Two weeks ago, Pastor Josiah
discussed the feeding of the five thousand men or up to twenty thousand men, women and
children with the five loaves and two fish. Jesus met the needs of the people before He met His own need to be alone after the death of His cousin, John the Baptist.
Jesus gave the disciples opportunities to think in the Kingdom way rather than the worldly way. After He fed the five thousand men, the disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftovers, one for each disciple. This week we learned of Jesus sending the disciples back across the lake while He sent people home. He needed the solitary time to pray.
“Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for
a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.
About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them,
walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the
water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out,’It’s a ghost.’
But Jesus spoke to them at once. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said.
‘Take courage. I am here.’” Matthew 14:24-27 (NLT)
Jesus is not just walking on water. He’s stretching their faith. Life with our Heavenly Father
and Jesus is not normal life but supernatural life. Like Jesus said in John 10:10b, “I have come to give you life, life abundantly.” Jesus is always trying to get the disciples to think
Kingdom.
At the same time period, Jesus gave Peter an opportunity to trust Him.
“‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the
water.’ ‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat
and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ’Save me, Lord!’ he shouted.
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him.’You have so
little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’“ Matthew 14:28-31
(NLT)
Peter asked the Lord if he could walk on the water, and Jesus invited Peter to step out. Peter
did walk on the water, but his faith only lasted a few steps. Just as Jesus invited Peter to step
out, He invites each of us to stretch our faith, to let our roots grow deeper into His love. Of
course, to grow requires stretching not staying the same. Are those growing pains? Walking on water had a deeper message of extending Peter’s mind and faith. We may want the benefits of stretched faith, but do we want the challenges that growing inherently has? The miraculous power of God is rooted in our trust in Him. Do you trust Him enough to let Him demonstrate His power and love?
Frequently, we are like the crowds who asked the Savior to show them more miracles. We limit our relationship with Jesus the Son of God and make it all about the miracles instead of the Miracle Maker. The wind stopped as soon as He got in the boat. After the wind stopped the disciples worshiped him. “‘You really are the Son of God!’ they exclaimed.” Matthew 14:33 (NLT) Jesus permitted the storm. Not every storm is from the devil. We can learn from every storm.
If you are going through a storm, you can ask the Lord what He is trying to teach you in the
storm. Start thinking Kingdom: Jesus got in the boat and immediately they arrived at their
destination; with the five loaves and two fish, He fed five thousand men. That is Kingdom
thinking and reality because those are examples of taking the supernatural up a notch.
In addition, Jesus could see through the people’s motives.
“Jesus replied,’I tell you the truth, you want to be with me
because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous
signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things
like food. Spend your energy seeking eternal life that the
Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me
the seal of his approval.’” John 6:26-27 (NLT)
Jesus reminded the people to keep their focus on the eternal rather than the perishable.
The big question is Who is Jesus to you? Is He the super Santa in the sky who answers your
prayers when you are desperate? Do you give Him your list when you talk to Him, or do you
praise Him first and consider who He is and was and will be in your life. The Lord’s prayer
begins “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9b-10 (NIV) The 23rd Psalm starts “The Lord is
my shepherd. I have everything I need.” Psalm 23:1 (GNT) Both honor our Abba Father first
rather than give Him a to do list. That is putting the Lord first. Too often in challenging times we do not make God our first response but our last resort. May He be our first thought not our desperate last one.
They kept pressing Him to show them miraculous signs. They even cited that Moses gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness. Jesus replied,
”I tell you the truth, Moses did’t give you bread from heaven.
My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.
The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heave
and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33 (NLT)
Jesus turned their attention back to the Father and replied that the Lord gave them the manna and was giving them the bread of life. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35-36 (NLT)
He was giving them and us everlasting bread and living water. They had to take the first step of faith and trust just as we do. Daily He shows who He is to us through His word and through prayer. When we sit at His feet in the word, we sit with Him and learn more of Him.
Jesus took the explanation a step further and said,”I am the living bread that came down
from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will
offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” John 6:51 (NLT) The people began arguing about
what Jesus said and questioned Jesus’ statement of eating his flesh. Our minds often have
trouble comprehending supernatural concepts. However, we should not limit our Lord with our natural brains. He is beyond our brain power and logic. Sometimes our understanding must be offended in order for revelation to pierce our hearts.
People balked at the Lord’s statements.”But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and
my blood is true drink.” John 6:54-55 (NLT) Many followers could not accept these shocking
words and stopped being his disciples. As I thought about Jesus’ red letters, I considered the fact that He does not want us to be superficial followers but deeply committed people who have internalized Jesus’ teachings and actions. Thus He asked His disciples this powerful question.
“Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, ’Are you also going
to leave?’
Simon Peter replied,’Lord, to whom would we go? You have
the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know you
are the Holy One of God.’” John 6:67-69 (NLT)
The Paramount Point is “Have you experienced enough to be convinced and never be
persuaded otherwise?” Take an inventory of how the Lord has blessed your life and ask
yourself how committed you are to Him. Incidentally, “Bethlehem-Grk.bethleem-house of bread.”May we have experienced the Lord enough so that we can be salt and light in this troubled world.
Calendar:
12/24-5:00 Christmas Eve service
12/31-8:00-12:00 Midnight Hour service
Submitted by
Larry and Annette Linthicum
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