Jesus Walks on Water

Passage Matthew 14:22-36

verses: Matthew 14:29-30

"'Come' he said.  Then pete got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out,'Lord, save me!'"

What strikes me here the most is the very first word.  "Come"

Jesus invites Peter to do the impossible, to walk on water, to do something extreme.  Peter even says before this "IF, it is you". Peter isn't even sure if this is legit yet he has the faith to try. What I really find interesting is the fact that Jesus knows that Peter will see the wind, he knows he will begin to sink, but he still says Come. This is like our walk with Christ, when we began, Jesus said Come and we got down onto the water and began our journey towards him, but trials come and faith is often lost. Jesus choose to say come to help him discover this weakness in his life.  Sometimes the hardest times in life and trials we go through are just times God wants us to take a deeper look and find out why this is happening.  For Peter this showed his lack of faith and gave him a deeper understanding of the true meaning of beings a disciple of Christ.

The next things that hits me is the word "saw".  Peter's sight was lost.  He wasn't focusing on the finish line, the arms of Jesus, but his thoughts and sight were wandering and that is when he saw the wind.  His senses got the best of him and he lost faith in the goal.  In our life, we take our sights off Christ and we begin to see the things of the world that cause us to doubt and sin. 

Because of his lack of faith and turning away from Christ, Peter begins to sink. What is peter's first reaction? It is to call out to Christ.  Isn't it often that when trials come that is the time we call out to God, when in reality we should be calling out to God the entire time.  How does the story end? Christ, reaches out his hand and saves Peter.  In this way, Christ saves us whenever we cry out to him.  

Lord,

Help me to keep my sights on you.  I don't want to lose the faith like Peter did.  Thank you for always being there to lend me your hand when the winds of my life take hold.  You are so loving like that. Help me to have a strong faith in your power.  You show us here how you can do the impossible.  I pray that this story will stick in my head throughout my life.

Matthew 14:1-21

Matthew 14:1-21

John the Baptist beheaded and Jesus feeds the five thousand

Passage: Matthew 14:13-14

"When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.  Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick."

Wow! This makes me admire Jesus so much.  

what happened- John the Baptist his cousin had just been beheaded 

solitary place- to pray and spend time with God (demonstrating a strong prayer and bond alone with his father)

compassion-desperation of the people

Several qualities I admire here...

First, Jesus is struggling with a death of a close friend and relative. This is not an easy thing to bare.  What does he do? He takes time away to be with God. He doesn't fall away but instead runs to God knowing he provides the ultimate comfort in times of need.  It isn't wrong to be sad when someone we love is taken from us, Jesus displays that this is hard for even him, but this leads to the second quality.

Second, as it says Jesus landed and saw, this means that he was on his way back.  Jesus had gone to God, and even though that pain was still severe from his loss, Jesus knew it was time to move on.  We can't wallow in our pain. God provides the comfort, but we must return to doing his work as Jesus did. 

Third and Fourth go hand in hand.  Jesus is still suffering yet sees this crowd and has compassion on them.  He acts upon the crowd and personally involves himself.  often times it's easy to ignore the needs of others when our lives are in shambles or we feel hurt.  Jesus didn't act selfishly, but instead has compassion on these people, puts aside his own needs, and heals them. Not only this, but Jesus is probably realizing that John the Baptist's death is meaning his death is not far to come. Another hard thought-process to get through.  

Jesus,

I want so badly to have the compassion, generosity, love, and relationship with God that you had. How many lives could be impacted if I just got out of my chair, out of my comfort zone, past my selfish desires and walked across the room.  Lord, help me to this week to show the kind of love you demonstrated here no matter what is going on in my life or my head.

Matthew 13:44-58

reading: Matthew 13:44-58

Vs: Matthew 13:52

"He said to them, 'Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as the old.'"

This passage confused me.

Instructed- comes from a greek word meaning to make a disciple. Therefore this teacher of the law is merely passing on what he has first been taught. We must continue to learn so we can continue to teach.

ooohhh...okay beginning to understand.

first we have this owner of the house. He is the head honcho of his home and has lots of responsibility. He must feed the family, provide for the home, constantly secure the home etc.  if these treasures were food, the owner would mix them to create a balance for his family so that neither is wasted. 

this might be saying thsi...

In this same way Christ wants us to create a balance of the New and Old testaments so that neither one is missed because they have equally strong messages. The Old testament may not be as appealing or seem as useful, but it has ideas and laws that are important today. If it isn't specifically talking about the new and old testaments it could just be saying use new and old truths, illustrations, aspects, applications, and experiences.

What exactly is the kingdom of heaven in this passage?

In other parts of the New Testament and Matthew is talks about how Jesus would say the Kingdom of God is upon you or ....now the Kingdom of God is near.  Because of this, I think its right to say in this text that Jesus isn't talking about the coming Kingdom but that it is present with us in a different form. It is present in the form of jesus christ and the gospel.

I think God wants me to not just focus on learning more new things about the Bible but also the old things.  I need to refresh my memory because there is so much more that can be seen from different stories I have heard hundreds of times.  God is always pointing out new aspects.

God,

You are so incredible. You know exactly what you were doing, and exactly what plans you have for my life. I pray that I can take my old experiences and apply them to my life to help me learn. I pray I will find new truths in those bible stories I have heard since I was young. I pray especially as I am donig this with my mentoring girls that you would provide the words that would directly go to their hearts and they would be filled with your love. Thank you for putting each of them in my life. 

Parable of the weeds

Today: Matthew 13:24-43

Passage: Matthew 13:30 (Parable of the Weeds)

"Let both grow together until the harvest.  At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn."

Again I feel overwhelmed with just this tidbit of the passage. There is so much here to learn.

Both-good and evil; weeds and wheat; the godly and ungodly

harvest-when Jesus returns

harvesters-angels

barn-heaven

burned-in hell

There are many things that really strike me about this passage.

1.  To create wheat it takes lots of attention. They must water and plant and keep watch on the field. In this same way Christ didn't put us here and leave us to suffer on our own. He is constantly by our side watching over us. Not only this but he is watering us and trying to help us grow and not be destroyed by the weeds growing on all sides of us.

2.  I find it interesting that Jesus says this parable and lets the weeds grow together with the wheat. Every day every moment satan and sin is crouching at our door it desires to have us but we must master it (genesis 4:6-7).  Im a very visual learner and I remember planting flowers and picking the weeds out.  The weeds had to be picked from the very root and even when you thought you had picked your last one another weed would sprout up.  You can't get rid of them easily.  Even though the battle is tough the prize is worthwhile and there is no weed too big for the planter.

3.  Jesus clearly makes a distinction here that separation will occur. The godly and ungodly will be parted at the end of time.  There will be no in between just wheat or weed.  this pain and agony of sin trying to overcome us will be over in the end and  the enemy will get what he deserves.

4. Just as all the wheat will be gathered into the barn, Jesus is letting us know that all the christians will be gathered together. Everyone from France, to australia, africa and USA, we will all be brought together into the barn of the planter. Into a place of shelter and fellowship with one another. 

I think Jesus is asking me personally to stand firm. Just derooting one weed doesn't mean the fight is over. There are more battles to go. But I can't be discouraged. I have to remember that Jesus is always there to help me fight the weeds off with the true weed killer.  Plant vs Plant doesn't work, but with a weed killer put on by the planter, the fight is not lost. 

God-

Please help me to give my battles to you. Help me to keep strong and not give up whatever weeds may arrive in my life. You are always there and glory be to your name.