Why Did You Doubt?

Matthew 14
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

Isn’t it a lovely consideration that Peter, in the middle of this turbulence which tossed their lives about, believed that it was safer to be on the water with Jesus than in the boat! Just imagine his thoughts as he clambered over the side of the boat and lowered his foot… It seems utterly crazy! It goes against all logic and common sense! But to Peter, Jesus was his Master, Shepherd, and Example. Wherever Jesus called, he desired to follow!
It’s important to note that Peter didn’t leave until Jesus called. He didn’t step out in ‘blind faith’. He didn’t push ahead with his own will; he asked Jesus to confirm and to call. He sought reassurance that His Master was before him and calling him to come. Until that call, he would remain on the boat.
Understand that Peter was far more interested in being with Jesus than walking on the water! In the middle of that storm, tossing their lives to and fro, the longing of Peter’s heart and his immediate physical need was to be with His Saviour! It is precious to remember that when Jesus calls us to a work, He calls us to where He is! He does not send us out alone into the storm but rather, in the storm, He sees our struggle and He calls us to Himself. Hallelujah!

Matthew 14
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

When Peter realised his need, he cried! Without reservation he cried out for deliverance!! He realised his predicament, he acknowledged his helplessness, he confessed his need. This was not some academic or religious exercise! This was a desperate cry for Salvation and it is precisely this cry that The Lord responds to!
However closely Peter had walked with Jesus in previous days, weeks, and months—however intimate their conversations may have been—notice that Peter did not call out a name, as though calling a friend or equal. Peter cried out, “LORD!” That is significant! In Jesus we do have a friend who sticks closer than a brother, we have a precious walking companion along the road, but He is Lord, Master and Shepherd! There is no deliberation or dealing, there is only obedience and trust or disobedience and faithlessness. Let us never lose a reverence for our Lord and willing obedience to Our Father. Let us never forget His holiness, His authority, and His power! May we never underestimate what God can do and desires to do through us!!
Jesus responded IMMEDIATELY! Hallelujah! What a precious Saviour we have! The instant that Peter cried LORD, Jesus caught him! He didn’t just take Peter by the hand, but He CAUGHT him. He HELD him! What a lovely picture and reminder of the loving kindness, tender mercies, and compassion of Our Lord and Saviour! He reached down and raised up the weak, failing, untrusting flesh! Oh thank you Jesus!
And then there is that poignant question, “Why did you doubt?”. Why did you take your eyes off me? Why did you stop trusting in me?

Matthew 14
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Why do you doubt Him? Why do you live in your drowning? Why are you resigned to exist in perpetual storm, struggle, and fear? Why do you feel you need to understand and control everything? Why are you content with anything less than enjoying Christ’s fullness and His promises! Why don’t you trust? Why do you doubt Jesus? Jesus is calling you to HIMSELF! You have been called into the presence of God! You have an invitation to be WITH Him, to LIVE with HIM!! There is NOTHING that compares to being in HIS presence! There is no greater life than a life lived trusting and obeying The Lord! He is the very source of all comfort, all blessing, all joy and satisfaction! HE is perfect peace! Hallelujah!
Oh may we be so careful to keep our eyes on Jesus, to keep all of our focus, attention, affection, service and trust on Him! Let us be so careful to avoid complacency, to resist/endure temptation and to run from ANYTHING that would hinder our intimacy with Jesus! What a wonderful and abundant Life He has promised and is faithful to bestow! What a powerful, supernatural life we can live as we continually give our hearts to obey HIS call and walk towards HIM!

TRUST

Isaiah 26
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Trusting in The Lord is a truly wonderful way to live. Take a moment to consider what it really means to trust. It is casting EVERY care upon Jesus, literally throwing them off of you and on to Him. It is EVERY weight and care given to Jesus. It is yielding ALL responsibility into His almighty hands! It is FAITH in His Goodness, Mercy and Love!
Now consider what are you left with. HALLELUJAH!! Perfect peace ruling in your heart!! Joy Unspeakable and full of glory!! Rejoicing evermore and gratefulness in all things!! The freedom and liberty to look to others and serve them!! Oh, give this MUCH thought fellow believer! Oh how much Christ has won for us!! Oh how great is our salvation!! Oh hallelujah! Bless His Name!!
Oh what a precious promise to those who choose to trust. The Lord keeps them! He keeps their hearts and minds in PERFECT peace. A peace full and complete. A peace without question, doubt or fear. It is not earned in daily ritual or claimed by empty repetitions, nor is it simply a mindset to acquire. It is simply a choice!

Colossians 3
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

LET His peace rule!! LET His Word live!! Oh, brother/sister the choice is very much with you!!
Faith is a choice. You can choose right now to believe, repent and then rejoice! Or you can choose to keep carrying and living under the weight of your own cares, fears, sin and shame. Choose to enjoy Christ or endure Christianity. Choose to trust your life to Jesus and let Him abide and reign in your heart, the alternative is frustration, anxiety, lust, shame and the wages of sin, death.
Oh, may we learn to truly live in trust! Oh how wonderful life with Jesus truly is!! Abide in His presence, throw off all your cares onto Him and live in the Joy, Liberty and Peace of trusting Jesus Christ, the Almighty, Creator and Saviour!

How Many Loaves Do You Have?

Matthew 14
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

Jesus says “YOU give them”. What a command to receive. We can understand the disciples feeling perplexed. They didn’t have the resources to fulfil this order, they hadn’t come prepared to serve like this, it was so far beyond their capability. They had a desire to obey but the solution was outside of their control or comprehension! They were given a seemingly impossible task.
Jesus did not set them up to fail. He did not leave them to their inability. No, this was a precious teaching moment between The Lord and His disciples. The lesson is the same as one in Matthew 8 when the disciples feared for their lives in the storm. They looked immediately to their earthly circumstance and their inability to save themselves. Now, once again, they are faced with the impossible and their immediate response is to despair over their fleshy situation. In both instances however they failed to realise all that they needed was already with them. Isn’t this so often the case with us too? Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all be because we do not realise, Jesus is already there!! Go to Him. He is SO MUCH MORE THAN ENOUGH! He is all and in all. He is the Father of abundance and He loves to bless His children to glorify His name!

Matthew 15
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

How many loaves do YOU have? Brother, sister, bring the little that you have to Jesus. It’s not enough, but HE IS!! Bring who you are, bring what you have, cast your rod before His feet, as Moses did, and do not underestimate the “exceedingly, abundantly more than you can ask or think” that The Lord will do. You may not see the results but what does that matter as you rejoice exceedingly in trusting your Father and walking in His will!
Give it all to Jesus. Yield every part to Him! Oh the precious, wonderful joy of a yielded life! Oh the peace of a childlike trust in The Father. Oh the joy of obeying His Word and Spirit. Oh be faithful in the little that you have, be faithful in the little that you have been called to, for our God is most greatly glorified in the those little, insignificant, foolish things given to Him. Hallelujah!

The Lord Takes Note

Malachi 3:16
Then those who feared the Lord talked often one to another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name.

What incredible, precious blessing and comfort is promised to those who fear God and fellowship in His presence. It is amazing to think that The Lord takes note of the times we have delighted in recounting His testimonies and promises. He pays attention when we come together and encourage one another in His Word. Not only can we enjoy our hearts burning within us with joy as we fellowship but The Lord is actively listening and sharing in our joy! HALLELUJAH!!
They spoke often to each other! They delighted in reminding themselves and each other of the goodness and faithfulness of God. Their conversation was not about their own righteousness or the life of others. They did not give their words to criticism or complaint nor did they glorify a man. Their conversation was not earthly but heavenly, it was not fleshly but spiritual. They spoke together of The Lord and His testimonies, His victories and His provisions! It wasn’t something they only mentioned in church or when they were asked to teach, rather it was the joy of their heart and the outpouring of their personal meditation. They gloried in The Lord! They were looking unto Him, their creator, the author and finisher of their faith!
It is precious that we can share our burdens with one another and confess our sins to one another. Confession and transparency are important, hard conversations are absolutely necessary and vital to healthy fellowship. But let the conversation always come to Christ! May we always get to HIM and HIS great Salvation and the beauty of HIS Holiness! It is vitally important to share one another’s burdens… But we do so with hope! We do so with HIS JOY! We talk to one another of JESUS CHRIST! Our Saviour who has forgiven each one of us MUCH!! Hallelujah! Bless His name! Thank you Jesus!

Matthew 12
35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Oh, may our hearts produce good fruit for our creator. May we pour out in conversation and conduct the good fruits of HIS Life, HIS Spirit and HIS Word! Let us encourage one another brothers and sisters! Share Jesus with each other. Enjoy HIM together! That is where He is most greatly glorified!
Oh may we learn to be careful with our tongues. May our conversation be always in God’s presence, with His listening ear in mind. May we speak with JOY and may we speak with reverence.
The Lord is listening and He is taking notes!

Why Are You Fearful?

Turner, Joseph Mallord William; Fishermen at Sea; Tate; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/fishermen-at-sea-117749

Psalm 42
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.

Twice in this psalm, and once again in Psalm 43, the writer asks his soul, ‘WHY are you cast down? Why is your peace gone?!’ It is an exasperated question. He is not just curious for the answer, but is asking ‘What GOOD reason do you have to feel this frustration, fear, depression?! What has distracted you?’
The exasperation is emphasised in that he already knows the remedy to his troubled heart. He chastens his own soul and reminds himself of The Lord! Hallelujah! With the presence and provision of The Lord so close, why is my soul troubled? How can that be? But the solution is not in investigating the trouble of the heart, the solution is to turn all attention and focus on The Lord!

Psalm 42
5 … You hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His presence.

You hope in God!! His answer is to tell his soul to remember The Lord and to TRUST in Him! Remember His testimonies and His faithfulness, remember His promises, remember His great Love with which He loves us, remember that He is unchanging and true, and by faith, WAIT EXPECTANTLY on His deliverance and salvation!
The psalmist says hope NOW! He will praise NOW! He will rejoice in the victory now! He will wait EXPECTANTLY!! With such an expectant hope we can praise Him NOW for coming victory! Hallelujah! We can rejoice in the victory that’s already won!
By FAITH the writer already had the blessing! He would continue to praise and rejoice, despite his circumstance, because he truly trusted in The Lord! He chose to believe God and utterly yielded the outcome of his life to The Lord and surrendered to His will!
His flesh was suffering, his world was turning upside down, his heart was broken, everything was in turmoil… but his heart, his soul would look expectantly to The Lord and rejoice in His presence and Salvation! In the middle of the storm He chose to look to The Lord and rejoice!

Matthew 8
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
24 And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping.
25 And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are going to die!”
26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

His disciples followed Him. Notice that detail. Jesus was with them. They were walking with The Lord, following His steps, living in His presence, yet the storm came! A life altering, life-threatening storm! Completely beyond their capability or control. The Good Shepherd will not always lead His sheep to the green pastures and still waters. Sometimes He will lead His sheep the difficult way, because He is the Good Shepherd and He knows how to lead His sheep.
The disciples were mostly fishermen. They would have done what they could to steady the boat. They tried… But it was when they came to the end of themselves and simply cried to Jesus that Salvation was realised! Our flesh naturally wants control, order, comfort but LIFE will only ever come from the Life giver! He alone is our EVERYTHING!
Then Jesus asks them, “Why are you fearful?”. The question is a similar tone to the writer in Psalm 42. Why?! What good reason do you have to be afraid? I am with you! It is a powerful lesson to learn that whilst we are going in the way that Jesus leads, we need fear NO evil! Our outward circumstance may seem dire, life-threatening even but Jesus asks “Why are you fearful?”
JESUS WAS SLEEPING! HIS LIFE WAS PEACEFULLY RESTING! Jesus is utterly yielded to the Father’s will! Completely trusting in Him! Jesus demonstrates, to His disciples and to us, the life that we can have in Him. There is a peace that passes understanding to be enjoyed when we truly trust our lives to The Father’s will.
Cast yourself upon Jesus’ goodness! If we truly trust then like Paul we can truly

1 Thessalonians 5
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

These are not commands that we are to obey but liberties that we can enjoy in Christ as we completely surrender ourselves to HIS will and His leading. If we truly trust in our Lord Jesus Christ we will be free to REJOICE ALWAYS!! We will pray ALWAYS! We will be so incredibly grateful for how He proves Himself faithful and true time and time and time again!! Faith ends in sight but it leads to love! Oh how we will love Him when we truly choose to trust Him. Hallelujah!
Brother, sister, why are you fearful? Why are you downcast? Why are you frustrated? Why are you without peace? Turn your eyes upon The Lord, look to Jesus! Hope you in God! Christ is in the vessel! His life is at rest! Be utterly yielded and trusting in The Father’s Will for His Will is Life and Life more abundantly for His disciples! Those who follow after Christ can rest as He does no matter how the storm rages! We can rest and rejoice in Him! Hallelujah!