Dr. Tommy Vaughn spoke at Tabernacle Sunday morning so I'd like to revisit and share my take on his sermon. It focused on a potential source of conflict in our lives, The I Am (God) vs. the I am not (Satan). Satan is alive and well in the USA. This is clearly evident based on events that have taken place over the past few weeks. There was the tragic murder of nine people, at a church of all places, in Charleston which was fueled purely by racial hatred. Then the decision by the supreme court to legalize homosexual marriage, which is clearly outlined in the Bible as being against God's will. Not to mention the beheading of Christians by ISIS.
The text is from Matthew 14:22-33 which is most commonly known as the story of Jesus walking on water. This story takes place during Jesus' Galilean ministry shortly after learning of the beheading of his friend, John the Baptist. This also follows the feeding of the 5,000+ where Jesus showed his power over matter by taking what would be to us like a happy meal and spreading it among that many people with leftovers.
V.22 starts with Jesus MAKING the disciples get into the boat. He did not ask them or request it of them, he was firm in his command for them to enter the boat.
V.23 Jesus goes up on the mountain to pray alone, likely to grieve the loss of his close friend. However, from where he is on the mountain he is still able to see the disciples as they row toward the approaching storm.
V.24 The disciples were tormented/buffeted by this storm. Crossing the sea where they were was likely an hour or so trip but the winds and waves were against their ship.
V.25 Jesus came to them during the fourth watch, sometime between 3-6 AM. The disciples had left out on the boat shortly after dinner so they had likely been on the boat for 8-10 hours at this point.
V. 25b Jesus comes to them walking on the water thru the wind and waves. By walking on the water, Jesus was defying the law of gravity and showing his power over the physical universe.
V.26 When the disciples see Jesus, they are afraid, fearing it's a ghost walking towards them. The ESV and NIV bibles translate as Jesus saying "It is I" when the disciples saw him but the actual Greek has him saying the words "I Am". This is significant because God identified himself as "I Am" to Moses in the old testament.
V.29-30 Peter calls out to Jesus and gets out of the boat and begins walking toward him. But as he gets farther away from the boat, he begins noticing the wind and waves around him and begins to sink.
V.32 Jesus takes Peter's hand and as soon as they get into the boat the wind ceased. This was Jesus showing his power over nature.
So how do we relate this story to our lives today?
1. If we are God's children, and have a passion and desire to grow and develop in him, God is going to send us thru some storms. Just as a parent disciplining a child, God shows his love for us by sending both storms of correction (discipline for not following him) and storms of perfection (for making us stronger, better, more capable of following him).
2. When we are tested, it is up to us where we keep our eyesight. Do we focus on the trials and bad things going on around us, the wind and the waves in this story? Or do we keep our focus on God at all times? We should always keep our focus on the ONE walking on the water and not be worried about the water.
- I actually read a passage similar to this before in a study on faith. Matthew 10:16 says "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." While Jesus could have compared us to any animal/predator relationship in the world he compared us to sheep. Why? Because sheep have very poor eyesight but excellent hearing. We are not to focus on LOOKING at our surroundings but to focus on HEARING God's word. His word should become our vision (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our environment is constantly changing but his word never does.
3. The disciples began to see who Jesus actually was thru this Satanic storm. In verse 33, they say "Truly you are the Son of God." This was a storm of perfect sent by God. The disciples had not done anything wrong worthy of punishment, they were being tested and strengthened that their faith may grow stronger. This is so significant because these few men were the ones God had chosen to spread Christianity to the entire world. Without their gaining a better understanding then of who Jesus was, we may not have the knowledge of him that we have today.
When we are faced with difficulties, no matter the type, we have a choice of keeping our eyes on God or letting ourselves get distracted by the storms of this world. Where will you keep your eyes when faced with the next storm of life? My prayer is that we always keep our eyes set on God.
The text is from Matthew 14:22-33 which is most commonly known as the story of Jesus walking on water. This story takes place during Jesus' Galilean ministry shortly after learning of the beheading of his friend, John the Baptist. This also follows the feeding of the 5,000+ where Jesus showed his power over matter by taking what would be to us like a happy meal and spreading it among that many people with leftovers.
V.22 starts with Jesus MAKING the disciples get into the boat. He did not ask them or request it of them, he was firm in his command for them to enter the boat.
V.23 Jesus goes up on the mountain to pray alone, likely to grieve the loss of his close friend. However, from where he is on the mountain he is still able to see the disciples as they row toward the approaching storm.
V.24 The disciples were tormented/buffeted by this storm. Crossing the sea where they were was likely an hour or so trip but the winds and waves were against their ship.
V.25 Jesus came to them during the fourth watch, sometime between 3-6 AM. The disciples had left out on the boat shortly after dinner so they had likely been on the boat for 8-10 hours at this point.
V. 25b Jesus comes to them walking on the water thru the wind and waves. By walking on the water, Jesus was defying the law of gravity and showing his power over the physical universe.
V.26 When the disciples see Jesus, they are afraid, fearing it's a ghost walking towards them. The ESV and NIV bibles translate as Jesus saying "It is I" when the disciples saw him but the actual Greek has him saying the words "I Am". This is significant because God identified himself as "I Am" to Moses in the old testament.
V.29-30 Peter calls out to Jesus and gets out of the boat and begins walking toward him. But as he gets farther away from the boat, he begins noticing the wind and waves around him and begins to sink.
V.32 Jesus takes Peter's hand and as soon as they get into the boat the wind ceased. This was Jesus showing his power over nature.
So how do we relate this story to our lives today?
1. If we are God's children, and have a passion and desire to grow and develop in him, God is going to send us thru some storms. Just as a parent disciplining a child, God shows his love for us by sending both storms of correction (discipline for not following him) and storms of perfection (for making us stronger, better, more capable of following him).
2. When we are tested, it is up to us where we keep our eyesight. Do we focus on the trials and bad things going on around us, the wind and the waves in this story? Or do we keep our focus on God at all times? We should always keep our focus on the ONE walking on the water and not be worried about the water.
- I actually read a passage similar to this before in a study on faith. Matthew 10:16 says "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." While Jesus could have compared us to any animal/predator relationship in the world he compared us to sheep. Why? Because sheep have very poor eyesight but excellent hearing. We are not to focus on LOOKING at our surroundings but to focus on HEARING God's word. His word should become our vision (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our environment is constantly changing but his word never does.
3. The disciples began to see who Jesus actually was thru this Satanic storm. In verse 33, they say "Truly you are the Son of God." This was a storm of perfect sent by God. The disciples had not done anything wrong worthy of punishment, they were being tested and strengthened that their faith may grow stronger. This is so significant because these few men were the ones God had chosen to spread Christianity to the entire world. Without their gaining a better understanding then of who Jesus was, we may not have the knowledge of him that we have today.
When we are faced with difficulties, no matter the type, we have a choice of keeping our eyes on God or letting ourselves get distracted by the storms of this world. Where will you keep your eyes when faced with the next storm of life? My prayer is that we always keep our eyes set on God.
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