It is good to be able to post a sermon again this week. I am always grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to share His word with others. I hope that everyone is having a good week.
My job has been going well, and I am thankful to the Lord for giving me this job. My writing work is also picking up a little bit. Please continue to pray that I can make up some ground in the areas that I am behind in on my finances. When I was unemployed for so long, I got extremely behind. Hopefully thinks will continue to improve.
This week, let us pray that the good news of Jesus' love will reach those in the nation of Bahrain. This nation has very, very few Christians. Pray that the message of Jesus will reach many in this nation.
We continue today with our series on the miracles of Jesus by looking at Matthew's account of Jesus walking on the water.
After the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sent his twelve disciples across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus did not join them right away. Instead, Jesus went up on a mountain by Himself to spend time in prayer.
When the boat that the disciples were in got about half way across the Sea of Galilee, a storm came up and the wind and waves were battering the disciples' vessel.
In the middle of the night, Jesus walked out to the disciples on the water. The disciples were afraid when they first saw Jesus. They thought that Jesus was a ghost. Jesus calmed their fear by saying, " It is I. Be not afraid."
Peter then asked Jesus to let him come out to Him on the water. Jesus told Peter to come, and Peter actually walked on the water for awhile as he made his way to Jesus. However, when Peter looked at the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Jesus had to come to His friend's rescue.
What does the miracle of Jesus walking on the water teach us today? The first point that catches my attention in this passage of scripture is Jesus going off alone to pray. We need to imitate our Lord by also being people of prayer. It is a good habitat to get into to try to find some time each day to be alone with the Lord and spend time praying and seeking the will of God. Throughout the Gospels, we see the importance that Jesus placed on the practice of prayer. Let us do the same.
From this miracle I also see that Jesus is the one who can speak peace to the storm that is in our life. All of us face problems in life. I've been facing financial difficulties and continued sadness over the loss of my family. These things are very hard to deal with. Having Jesus in my life is the only thing that makes them tolerable. Jesus gives me comfort and strength to go on in the midst of the difficult circumstances of life. I know that He is with me now, and that one day, I will be with Him and there will be perfect peace in my heart.
Peter's reaction is also interesting in this account. Peter is actually demonstrating here what it means to be a true disciple of the Lord. When a student decided to follow a teacher, one way that they were expected to learn was by doing whatever the master did. That was Peter's attitude. He saw His master walking on the water, and he wanted to do the same thing as well. Peter actually walked on the water, and he would have continued to do so if he wouldn't have taken his eyes off of Jesus.
This is a good example for our lives. We should have the desire to imitate our Lord and master. We must be faithful followers of all that Jesus did. We must obey His commandments. As we live our lives, it is important that we keep our focus on Jesus even though there is much around us that would prevent us from keeping our focus on Him. As we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can pass through the storms that are all around us.
Finally, I see in this miracle that Jesus brings those who follow Him to safety. They arrive safely on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. All those who put their faith and trust in Jesus can be assured that Jesus will take care of them. Those who trust in Jesus will receive forgiveness of all of their sins. They will have eternal life, and they will have a home with Jesus forever. Nothing can separate us from Jesus' love.
Next week I will post a review of a good cat book that I am reading. On Friday, I will post another sermon. May God bless you. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment