- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 18,404
One Word
'Lord, if it's you...tell me...' Matthew 14:28
One of the most famous Jesus-stories is the one when He walked on the water to His disciples in the boat. Gobby Peter shouted out, 'Lord, if it's you...tell me...' (Matthew 14:28 NIV).
Jesus gave him one word, 'Come,' and with that Peter hopped over the side of the boat and started walking! Was he scared? Wouldn't you be? Ice skating is hard enough but how the heck do you stand up when the water's still wet and wobbly! But Peter's desire was greater than his fear.
And that's all you need to get started, a desire for God that's bigger than your doubts. There's another detail in this story we should note: The disciples didn't exactly back Peter up in his surfing-without-a-surfboard experiment! So bear in mind that when God gives you a Word and you step out in response to it, not everybody will cheer and shout out encouragements.
It's normal for you to want people to see what you see and believe what you believe. But if you're not careful, people's opinions will short-circuit your faith and make you doubt what God has said.
God says: 'I'm not going to confirm what I've told you through them. In fact, I don't even need them to agree with what I've spoken concerning you.' Relax. You may want your mates to back you up, but the truth is, Jesus is all you need!
written by Bob Gass
'Lord, if it's you...tell me...' Matthew 14:28
One of the most famous Jesus-stories is the one when He walked on the water to His disciples in the boat. Gobby Peter shouted out, 'Lord, if it's you...tell me...' (Matthew 14:28 NIV).
Jesus gave him one word, 'Come,' and with that Peter hopped over the side of the boat and started walking! Was he scared? Wouldn't you be? Ice skating is hard enough but how the heck do you stand up when the water's still wet and wobbly! But Peter's desire was greater than his fear.
And that's all you need to get started, a desire for God that's bigger than your doubts. There's another detail in this story we should note: The disciples didn't exactly back Peter up in his surfing-without-a-surfboard experiment! So bear in mind that when God gives you a Word and you step out in response to it, not everybody will cheer and shout out encouragements.
It's normal for you to want people to see what you see and believe what you believe. But if you're not careful, people's opinions will short-circuit your faith and make you doubt what God has said.
God says: 'I'm not going to confirm what I've told you through them. In fact, I don't even need them to agree with what I've spoken concerning you.' Relax. You may want your mates to back you up, but the truth is, Jesus is all you need!
written by Bob Gass