Your Own Set Of Experiences With God

(Read Mat 14:20-29)

This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”.  We have been studying the life of the Apostle Peter.  Our study has brought us to Matthew 14.  For a few days now we have been looking at Peter’s famous walking on water incident.  Let’s go back to this passage and continue to learn about God’s grace and our requirement to live by faith.

The disciples were in a boat, it was after 3am, they thought they saw a ghost, and then the ghost-like figure started speaking.  They heard a familiar voice say, “Don’t worry!  It’s me!  Don’t be afraid.”  All 12 disciples heard Jesus’ voice, but only Peter spoke up.  Peter said, “Lord, if that is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.”  To which Jesus replied, “Come”.  The Bible says, “Then Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus.”

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things.

1.  Living by faith is a journey.  Reading about God is one thing, but in order to truly LIVE by faith, the Father requires you to experience what you read.

2.  Godly experiences take you UP to God’s level.  Humanity has a tendency to want to bring God DOWN to our level.  But God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that something powerful happens when we get to have an experience that takes us UP to His level.  When Peter walked on water God was taking Peter UP to His level, instead of Jesus simply getting IN the boat and coming DOWN to Peter’s level.

3.  Supernatural experiences help build your confidence in ways that simply reading about God never could.  

4.  When you actually experience God in ways you have been reading about, the experience helps fuel your faith and quell your doubts.

5.  In Matthew 10 Jesus sent His disciples out and said, “You go heal the sick.  You go raise the dead.  You go lay hands on lepers.  You’ve seen me do it, now you go do it.  And oh, by the way, you can’t take any money with you.  You are going to have to rely on God for it all!” (Rick Pina Version).  During this event Peter got to experience God in a supernatural way.  So in Matthew 14 Peter was willing to get out of the boat.  That’s what experiencing God does for you.  It proves God’s power in a way that simply learning it never could.

6.  Walking on water had no practical benefit.  No one was healed.  No one was fed.  Practically speaking, it was of no help to anyone except Peter.  But what it did for Peter was tremendous.  It gave Peter an experience he would never forget.  Sometimes God will allow you to experience something supernatural for no other reason than to help you build your own set of experiences with Him.

7.  Your experiences with God produce testimonies for His glory!

Closing Confession:   Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith.  You want me to bless me richly by grace, and You want me to receive The Blessing by faith.  In order for me to walk and live by faith, my confidence level must be strong.  This is where experiences come in.  You allow me to experience You in ways that are truly supernatural.  When I do, my experiences take my faith to a higher level.  Reading about You and Your power is one thing, seeing You work in the life of someone else is great, but experiencing You for myself does something for me that is hard to explain.  Thank You Father for going out of Your way to allow me to experience You on a consistent basis.  My experiences with You fuel my faith and quell my doubts.  I have seen too much, been through too much, experienced too much, to doubt You now!  I walk and live by faith, and my faith is emboldened by my experienced with You!  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.