MAY 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#15
“O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer
JESUS, You Lord are the Giver of Life and my Praise is to thank You
for this wonderful life that You have provided for us
as we pass through this valley of the shadow of death.
Lord help me to always know that it is only “shadows” that are cast when I let
the world come between me and Your Holy Light
and when I move into Your Presence and let Your Love illuminate my life
then the “shadows of doubt” are dispelled
and my fears caused by the “shadows” all cease
and I enter into Your Peace and Your Rest.
Thank You Lord for Your Sacrifice of Yourself for my sins that I might be bathed in Your Righteousness so that I may have fellowship with the Father.
AMEN
THE JESUS QUESTIONS
Jesus has used a boat and a storm twice now to teach us about
“Faith in God” —
JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)
and now Jesus again turns our thoughts to
“Faith in God”
as He asks
JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
The common
“spiritual”
elements to go along with the
physical
elements “boat & storms” are
“faith & fear”
and Jesus Teaches us that it is a
“fear” caused by the lack of “faith in God”
which grows from the seeds of doubt
sowed by the storms of this earthly world.
{{Part 2 Jesus and Peter walk on the water}}
In Part 1 a comparison was made between the first time
the disciples encountered storm troubles while out in a boat
and this second time the disciples found themselves again
in a boat in a storm on the sea.
The first event occurred after the disciples had witnessed
a series of miracles that in essence proved that
Jesus IS the Son of God
for only God’s Power could have accomplished the miracles
that Jesus had performed.
The disciples had witnessed the miracles and then followed Jesus
into the boat and the storm came when
Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat.
The second Lesson on
“Faith & Storms”
was different in a major way because just before going out to sea the second time,
the disciples themselves were actively involved in doing kingdom work
and though it was still the Power of God that accomplished the miracle,
the disciples themselves were used as a vessel through which God
had accomplished His Work in the lives of the “multitudes”.
This second event is also markedly different in that when Jesus had
“compassion on the multitudes” that He “commanded” His disciples
“you give them something…”(Matthew 14:16)
which in essence was the
“passing of the mantle” to His disciples t
o address the needs of the multitudes.
Then as they moved from the miracle of feeding
“five thousand, besides women and children”
that “Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him”.
We can look at the first event at sea and those miracles that the disciples
witnessed Jesus doing in the Power of God as a “Teaching” experience
and this second event has the focus shifted
so that it is a “Learning” experience and a
“SPITITUAL Test”
to see what the disciples have learned
about kingdom work and the
“Power of God”
used to address the “needs” of the multitudes.
Of great importance to note with the second event
is that Jesus is foreshadowing the fact that
He is making His “disciples get into the boat”
with the intended purpose that through His disciples
that the kingdom work will continue through them
as Jesus commands each of His followers to follow His example
and then to go out on our own
“in the Name and Power of Jesus”
and do kingdom work
that God intends each of us to do.
When Jesus commanded His disciples
to get into the boat and
“go before Him”
there is no doubt that
we are called as “disciples of JESUS” to “learn”
that God desires to work His Power through us
and then we are to
“Go before Him”.
To me this says that Jesus wants us to “introduce” Him to others but Jesus promises that He will show up when He is needed and the “timing” is such that
God will receive the glory.
If Jesus commands us to “go before Him”
then it means that He
is going to meet up with us again!
The second great Lesson from the second encounter is that
Peter demonstrated that God is “transferring” His power
to those that are willing to do His Work
and step out of the boat on “Faith”!!!
We see that as Peter listened to Jesus when Jesus had commanded Peter to
“Come”
that Peter was able to walk on water just like Jesus was doing
and it was only when Peter saw himself as part of the world
did he start sinking.
As long as Peter was “in the Spirit”
following the command of Jesus
and had total “Faith in the Power of God”
Peter possessed the “Power of God” to walk on water!
We as disciples must get beyond our limited “physical power”
and tap into the limitless
“Spiritual Power”
that God has already demonstrated that
He is willing to share with those
who are willing to “Go”
and do kingdom work.
God will NEVER ask us to do anything that He hasn’t already
provided us with the ability and
“Power”
to do.
Each Lesson is designed to equip us
with a little more experience in “how” God
has chosen to accomplish “His Desires”
for His “chosen ones”!
As soon as Jesus calls us individually to “Follow Him”
we should understand that from that point
when we respond to His command
to “Come [to Jesus]”
that we become by
“Faith in Jesus”
His chosen ones!!!
As His disciples, Jesus for all eternity will be continually “Teaching” us how to
“Go”
and once we have
“Faith” enough to “get into the boat
and go before Him to the other side”
we can have Supreme Confidence that He will protect us from the storms
if we are following Jesus and doing kingdom work!
Can you purchase a better retirement plan
or invest your time in a more profitable endeavor
than having the Power of God provided for you for all eternity?
Or I must ask you the same question I asked myself —
“Are you having trouble accepting yourself
as “God’s chosen ones”?
If we are to “Be like Jesus”
then we must be willing to accept
being called “God’s chosen”
for who but Jesus is
“The Chosen One”
and has He not commanded us
to “Come Follow Me”?
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