JUNE 14 JQ#15-8: “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JUNE 14    JQ#15-8: “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord thank You for Your Mercy and Grace that regardless of our circumstances You Lord are Faithful and True to Your Holy Character. Lord I pray that as I finish my journey here on this earth that I will grow my character to be like Your Character in that how I treat others is based entirely on how I choose to demonstrate God in me and not how I let the circumstance and the actions of others dictate my reactions. Lord, I know that if I ask in Your Name and for the Kingdom’s Sake that it will be done according to my faith so therefore Lord I pray to me more like You and how You treated others. Forgive me of my selfishness and  how I have reacted in a “worldly” manner to my circumstances, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and grant that when I am tested that I will hear Your voice saying “Come”.       AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#15-8   “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31) Jesus takes us to a very personal level with this question. We know that it is personal because when Jesus was walking on the water to meet up with the disciples in the middle of the sea, we read, “And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.’” (Matthew 14:26-27) Clearly the disciples were not afraid of the “physical” dangers of the wind and the waves for Jesus had already demonstrated His Power over the physical but here the disciples are addressing the “spiritual” as “ghosts” do not appear in “physical” form. The disciples could not process the sight of a “physical” being “walking on the sea” so they succumbed to their fear of the “spiritual”. Jesus reacted to their fear “immediately” and assured them that they were seeing Jesus and were not to be “afraid”. The circumstance then takes a personal turn because when Jesus spoke to the group, Peter then tested Jesus with a personal question “Lord, if it is You…” but Jesus turned the lesson personal and private with His one word response to Peter “Come”. In Matthew 14:27 Jesus was talking to “them” and then in verse 28 we read “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So [Jesus] said ‘Come’…” (Matthew 14 28-29) So the lesson went from the disciples in verse 27 to Peter in verse 28 and Jesus moved from calming the group fears to addressing a personal lesson to Peter with a one word command addressed personally to Peter. It should be noted here that it was Peter that challenged Jesus but Jesus proved who He was by teaching a very personal lesson to Peter to be used as an example for all that would be so bold as to challenge Jesus while Jesus announces “It is I” while “walking on the sea” during a storm! I personally think that Peter is being used by God to teach us that our “Faith” will grow as we put it to the “test”.  Jesus used the challenge to “prove” that indeed Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that there is no circumstance or challenge Jesus cannot immediately control and turn into a lesson that will grow us spiritually. The “personal” aspect can be seen as Jesus listened to Peter and commanded Peter in the perfect way to answer the personal question Peter just asked directly to Jesus and the personal response directed to Peter in reference to the personal challenge by Peter to the LORDSHIP of Jesus. This circumstance is totally personal because Jesus commanded Peter to do something personal ——— Jesus did not direct His response to the other disciples. It was Jesus talking to Peter and addressing the personal challenge to His Lordship with a challenge of His own personally to Peter’s “faith” in the Lordship of Christ as Jesus simply commanded Peter to “come” to Him. The lesson we need to learn here is that Jesus is able to “save” us in any circumstance and that Jesus will personally make Himself available to us and will address every challenge for Jesus is the “Truth of God” and our “Faith in Him” will always be proven to be well placed for He is the Christ and can control every circumstance and will do so personally if necessary. We know the outcome will be good because Jesus “stretched out His had and caught” Peter as he was sinking. JQ#15 takes on a different tone when we know it was asked as Jesus was “saving” Peter as Jesus asked Peter personally,”O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” which in the personal context Jesus is assuring Peter that Jesus will never fail us and should never be “doubted”.  If we will simply have “Faith in Jesus” we can boldly and confidently proclaim “JESUS SAVES”. It isn’t easy to explain why God would send Jesus to “save us” even though we continually “Doubt” Him but aren’t You glad that God is God regardless of how many times we challenge Him?