Walk by faith
This morning I rolled out of bed with a burning desire to sit before Him again. I was up late and woke early this morning with thoughts that were wrapped around Him. When he stirs a passion in our hearts to know Him, it really is unlike any other experience we will have here on earth.
I sat down with messy hair, a pink sweater on, and sweat pants as fingers turned pages in the Bible. I left 'Laura' early this morning and laid her aside allowing Christ to sit at the center of my heart. I was completely undone.
I was thinking about how sometimes taking a step towards God in this world can be frightening. Not being agreed with, being ridiculed, and misunderstood aren't pleasant things. When you own your faith it should make a bold statement though. It should say i'm different..not perfect, but i'm working on becoming more like Christ.
We should have love written all over our actions as we point directly to Jesus as our way to an eternal life with God.
There can be no such thing as a comfortable christian but that's what fills our American church. The coffee is great, the music speaks tenderly to our souls, and we're sitting cozy in our pews. We turn away from the worlds issues because if we're honest they threaten to disturb our desire for comfort.
Am i speaking the truth on this? I really do believe so..and I'm going to admit that i'm guilty of having done this. There is nothing wrong with having comforts in life and God intended for us to enjoy life and does bless us but we water down our Jesus in order to not offend the world...but our message won't save any lives that way. Do you follow?
Lets look in scripture about following God though.
In Matthew 14:22-32 we find the story of Jesus walking on water.
Matthew 14:22-32 (NIV)
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
When you look at this passage you can learn of God's sovereignty. He has power over the wind and the rough waters and its when we recognize Jesus when our fears our calmed.
He has control over the evil and chaos in our world., take comfort in that! In Job 9:8 we read, "He alone stretches out the Heavens and treads on the waves of the sea".
We have so much of Peter in us. We know we ought to look to Jesus but sometimes we lose site of him when the wind stirs rough waters. We are afraid of taking bold steps on the frightening waters because what will people think, what will we have to give up to have this faith?, but i think we are most afraid of losing our comforts in life.
If we want to come to God it requires a faith full of courage because the winds of this world are strong, taking your eyes off God will cause the inevitable sinking down along with this world. And we can't afford that. Keep your eyes on Christ as you journey through your day..not on yourself, your problems, or the world's problems. (Easier said then done!)
Be encouraged by Matthew 14:27
Jesus tells us, "..Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid"
We aren't blindly following a religion but a Jesus who invites us into a relationship.
This is such a good news to me!
Laura
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