Stop Stopping God

(Mat 14:30 ERV)  But while Peter was walking on the water, he saw the wind and the waves.  He was afraid and began sinking into the water. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

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.  Today we take a look at Peter’s big mistake.

There he was, Peter was walking on water.  Peter did not know it, but he would go down in history as one of only two men two ever defy gravity over an open body of water.  With every step he took he was not just walking on water, he was walking on the Word Jesus gave him, “Come”.  Peter’s confidence was in God.  Peter had no idea how he was doing it, because he was not the one doing it.  It was God, working through Peter, performing the supernatural in the earth.  It was amazing.  It was a marvel.  It was a miracle (a deviation from the known laws of nature).  It was God.  It was Peter.  It was Kingdom.   But then something happened.  Peter shifted his focus from Jesus and the Word, to what he was doing.  Peter shifted his focus from divinity to mere humanity and before he knew it he was neck-deep in the water.  We would do well to learn from Peter’s mistake.

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

1.  Peter was able to perform the supernatural (walking on water) by simply stepping out on a Word from God, “Come”.  Peter was walking on water, but more specifically, he was literally walking on the Word.  You can do the same.

2.  God’s supernatural operation in Peter’s life required Peter’s cooperation.  As soon as Peter shifted his focus and inserted humanity where divinity was flowing, he fell in the water.   The lesson?  You can’t operate in the supernatural in the flesh.  Once your flesh is in the way, you cut yourself off from the supernatural.  

3.  The highest level of faith is rest.  Peter was able to walk on water by simply resting in the Word released through Jesus.  While Peter was resting God was working.  But once Peter stopped resting (in the Word) and he started paying attention to the wind and waves, the event unravelled and he fell in the water.  

4.  While Peter was out of the way, He was IN FAITH, and he was able to walk on water.  Once Peter factored-in his humanity his faith failed and the grace stopped.  Please don’t make the same mistake.

5.  God will not compete with you.  If you rest, God can work through you.  But once you start working, in your humanity, God will rest and He will pull back.  Either you rest and God will work, or you can work and God will rest.

6.  Peter’s failure is a picture of what happens when you take the reigns of a situation back from God.  God tells you something is His will.  You believe it.  You don’t know how it will happen, but you believe God, you release your faith, and you enter into God’s rest.  So then while you are resting, God is working, and He performs His will THROUGH you.  However, if you ever allow your flesh to get in the way, like Peter did, and you start to wonder, “How in the world am I doing this?”, you quickly take over.  Once you take over, you are back in the flesh, and God goes back into rest.  Humanity fails when it stands in the way of divinity.

Closing Confession:   Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith.  In order for Your grace to freely flow in my life, You require my faith-switch to be in the “On” position.  You basically require me to get out of the way.  When I get my flesh out of the way, You are able to perform things in my life that exceed my ability, power and strength.  However, if I put my flesh back in the equation and I start factoring-in what You had already factored-out, my faith will fail and Your grace will stop.  I cannot perform Your will in the flesh.  Like Jesus, I can do nothing without You.  So I declare by faith that I simply get out of the way.  When You give me a Word, I believe it, I receive it in my heart, and I step out into it without knowing HOW it shall come to pass.  I rest in Your Word.  As I rest, You work, and You perform Your will through me.  From this day forward I will stop stopping You from working in my life.  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.