Posted on 01/29/2024 3:51:57 PM PST by Frank Broom
Matthew 14:23-32: 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Notice, Peter got afraid when he saw the wind boisterous, and yet the wind had nothing to do with what he was doing, wasn't Jesus on that same water. He got his eyes on the wind most likely because the wind was causing waves, stirring the water. He put his eyes on what he thought was supporting him, the water. But it was not the water that was supporting him, it was the word. At least he had the revelation-- if you tell me to come I'm walking on this water. That's one thing about revelation sometimes it separates you from others. Because, if they can't see what you see they can't do what you do, they can't go were you go, they can't have what you have. It was the word not the water that caused him to walk on it. And that's what the devil does tries to get your attention on something in this material/physical world. But, when you are operating on the word the material/physical world is not the determining factor. Notice, it was something spiritual that caused him to do that in this material/physical world.
Take Samson for instance, most times when you see someone portraying him in the movies he's most times some big muscle man. But, I don't think he had big muscles, I think he was an average size man. Because if he had big muscles they would attribute his strength to his muscles. Because, natural minded man looks for natural things to explain things. And God wants people to know it's not flesh doing it, but him (spirit). Like Gideon in Judges 6:14-16 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. So, what did he do, he went and got as many people that he could get. Now, that makes good sense in the natural, if you are going to war get as many people as you can get so that you can possibly out number your enemy. But, what did God tell him in Judges 7:2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. When God is your source it's not in numbers like when the 5 armies came against Sodom and took Lot, Abraham took 318 of his own people and went up against 5 armies and the scripture says, they slaughtered them, 318 against 5 armies. But, you see in Numbers 14:40-45 when the people thought that it was them that gave them the victories instead of God it reads: And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned. 41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. 42 Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. 44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
They thought it was them, like so many others when God constantly does something through them after while they think it's them. But, the problem with that is when you think it's you then God steps back and let you do it on your own and you will see that it's not you. What does the word say, Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Back to Samson what he had was an anointing, it was something spiritual on him causing him to do all that he did. But, it didn't work by itself he had to put forth an effort, he had to have faith in that anointing. He had to believe that God had done what He said and that that power would work. And a lot of times people look for some physical evidence that this is going to work again like Gideon in Judges 6:36-40: And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. But, a lot of times you have to step out first and the power will kick in when you act. The word is your evidence not things. Like the 10 lepers when they came to Jesus to be made clean, all he did was tell them to, "Go show yourselves unto the priest". But, you didn't show yourself to the priest until you were cleansed. So, they had to put their faith in his words, that was their evidence and as they went the power kicked in and they were cleansed. But, they had to step out first, suppose they would have stood there and waited to see or feel something. They stepped out on his word and we know that because they had no physical evidence. Unlike the children of Israel they had a word from God and refused to act on it. You see in Deuteronomy 1:6-8 6 The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
So, back in Numbers 13 Moses sent out 12 spies the head of each tribe to spy out the land and after forty days they came back and brought them word: 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. But, 2 of them had a different report in Numbers 14:6-10 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. 10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. So, they refused to act on God's word, they refused to step out on his word. They looked at the people in the land and at themselves and not God. God gave them a word and they refused to act on it. Only Joshua and Caleb took that word and was ready to act on it and as a result. Numbers 14:28-30: 28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. 30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. When God gives you a word He wants you to act on it. Because, the word is able to accomplish whatever it says. So, when you act then you will accomplish what that word says. God's word can't fail so when you believe that word and act on it then you can't fail. Peter started looking at the circumstances. So, looking at the circumstances instead of the word can bring you down. He started off on the word, but he got distracted. And that's what the devil wants to do, show you something in the natural to distract you and pull you out of the spirit. He was operating in the spiritual because you don't naturally walk on water, but let something in the natural pull him out. But, 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Focusing on the natural/physical will draw you out of the spiritual. You have to focused. If you only have the natural on your mind then most likely you will not step out. For you to step out on the word your faith can't be in outside conditions, but that inside word. There were 12 of them in that boat, but only one had the mindset to step out just based on a word. In John 5 there was a man at the pool of Bethesda that was lame for 38 years and Jesus came up to him and told him, "Rise, take up your bed, and walk". Notice, Jesus gave him a word contrary to what he could do in the natural, but what did he do, he rose and took up his bed, and walked. So, he didn't do that in his ability it was the ability of the word. And the funny thing is if you read that you'll see he didn't even know who Jesus was, but he stepped out on his word. And a lot of times people will get excited about a word they heard, they'll tell you what a good word it was, but my question is what did you do with it. Did you apply it to yourself. Because, if you just heard, but didn't on it then it really didn't do you much good as God intended. James 1:22 says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hears only." When you are a doer of the word you become an open channel for God to flow through. (Example of faucet) You turn the faucet one way and the water flows, you turn it the other way and it stops flowing. Notice, the water didn't go anywhere it's still right there, but it can't get to you because the valve is closed. God has to work through you to get things to you. And when you don't act you limit his flow. How much He flows through you is up to you. Are you open for the power of God to flow through. Someone might say, "I know if I turn this valve the water will flow", but if you don't do there will be no flow. You have to be a doer. Even me when God spoke to me about starting a blog, I thought I don't know enough to start a blog so I let the thought go. He came to me again, I thought it was me thinking that, but it wasn't so I let it go again. Then about the third time he spoke to me He said, "You can do this" and that time I listened. And once I did revelation just poured into me and here I am today. Now, suppose I didn't step out on his word, I believe I would not know all that I know now. When God gives you a word, don't look at you, don't look at outside circumstances, step out on it, act on it. Don't be a hearer only, but a doer.
It is not God's will that any should perish. And I wouldn't want to end this article without giving someone the opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It's very easy just pray: Dear God- I know I have sinned and I now turn from them and I invite Jesus to come into my heart (Revelation 3:20). He died for my sins and you have raised him from the dead and I now confess that Jesus is my Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9,10). I thank you for saving me, Amen
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12). 1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God bless you brother Frank
✝️🙏🛐
Bkmk
For the power of His Name, and the Glory of His Mighty Father!
Thank You SaveFerris for taking the time to read this post and God Bless You.
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