This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.”
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
This miracle is covered by Matthew, Mark, and John ((Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:15-21).
We will look at Matthew 14.
(Matthew 14:22-32 NIV)
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,
24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
After walking on water for over 3 miles and catching up with His disciples in the middle of the water, in the middle of the night, Jesus’ disciples first thought He was a ghost. They were afraid. He told them NOT to be. The Bible has the phrase, “Fear not”, “Fret not”, or ‘Be not afraid”, hundreds of times. Fear expresses your confidence in the enemy and his power. Faith expresses your confidence in God and His power.
Jesus said, “Don’t worry! It’s me! Don’t be afraid.” Peter replied, “Lord, if that is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus responded with just one word, “Come!” This was Peter’s authorization for participation in what Jesus was doing. Jesus was operating in the supernatural and when he said, “Come,” He was inviting Peter to join Him. With that, Peter got out of the boat and walked on water towards Jesus.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. You must grow to the point where you have the audacity to make God-sized petitions.
a) Think about the situation for a moment. There are 12 disciples on the boat. These men had been with Jesus every day while He performed miracle after miracle. Just a few hours earlier, they experience fish and loaves multiply in their own hands. They saw Jesus heal all manner of sickness with their own eyes. They know the power of God for the supernatural was on Jesus. If anyone knew it. They knew it. So there they were and there Jesus was. They were in the boat, tired and scared. Jesus had come to them on the water, 3+ miles away from the shore. And while there were 12 men present, ONLY ONE MAN had the audacity to ask Jesus for the invitation.
Peter was the only one with enough faith, courage and guts to ask to walk on water with Jesus. In 2023, will you be like Peter or the other 11?
b) If you want to experience God on His level, you must have the courage to ask for things that are truly on HIS level! Remember, you don’t worship a man. You worship the only true God. There is nothing He can’t do. Wouldn’t it be a shame to walk with God for decades and then get to heaven, only to realize that you wasted your time on the earth living as a mere man, because you never had the faith to ask God for God-sized things?
c) James 4:2 says, “You have not, because you ask not.” And I want to remind you that God desires to bless us. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts, but we must be bold enough to ask.
Too often, believers are like the other 11 disciples. They are afraid to ask God for the supernatural. It could be because they are afraid of rejection, disappointment, or of not receiving what they asked for. But I can tell you this: you will never hear a “Yes” from God for a question you are too afraid to ask.
d) When you ask, James teaches us to ask in faith, without a doubt, fully expecting to receive what we petitioned of God. Because if we waver, if we vacillate between faith and fear, we will receive nothing from God.
So today, I urge you to ask. I plead with you to ask with boldness, in faith, without a doubt, without wavering, with great expectation of manifestation, and with your full reliance on God and His power. As you live this way, you will see the goodness of God in ways that far exceed anything you ever imagined.
e) For 2023 to be the best year of your life, you must THINK BIG, ASK BIG, and ATTEMPT BIG! To receive things you have never had, you will need to do things you have never done. Take your faith and your prayer life to another level this year!
f) God is not offended, insulted, or intimidated when you ask to operate on His level. He actually welcomes it. He wants you to be LIKE HIM in this world! Jesus did not say anything negative to Peter when Peter made the request. Jesus simply said, “COME!”
g) Dream God-sized dreams, pray God-sized prayers, and attempt God-sized projects this year! As you do, you will hear God say, “COME ON SON, COME ON DAUGHTER, I WELCOME YOU TO OPERATE ON MY LEVEL SO I CAN MANIFEST MY GLORY ON THE EARTH THROUGH YOU!”
*** If you don’t ask, God won’t do, and you will miss out on God’s best!
2. True faith requires hearing from God FIRST!
a) While I am urging you to make God-sized petitions, I must also warn you NOT to launch out until God responds. Peter had the audacity to ask whether he could join Jesus on the water, but he did not get out of the boat until Jesus said, “Come!”
b) Faith is not about you coming up with something, launching out to do it, and THEN asking God to bless it. I have made this mistake and so have countless others. Faith is not about us trying to get God to put a “YES” on our plans. Faith is about God trying to get us to put a “YES” on His plans. Faith is about walking in the plans God made for us before the world began.
c) When you know God has spoken and you are confident in what He said, the actions you take as an expression of your confidence is what God calls faith. When Peter got out of the boat, because of the Word Jesus spoke, Peter was in-faith. Peter walked on water, but he was actually walking on the Word. Like Peter, once God speaks, He expects you to walk on that word and experience the supernatural!
d) Think of all the people God used mightily, who were men and women of faith, and you will find people who heard from God BEFORE they launched out.
3. The BIG IDEA of your life must be God’s idea for you!
— David did not come up with the idea of him becoming the King of Israel. It was God’s idea. David accepted it. David believed it. David had faith in it. And after 20 years of being faithful, it finally came to pass.
— Abraham did not come up with the idea of him being a father of many nations. It was God’s idea. Abraham accepted it. He believed it. He had faith in it. And after 25 years of being waiting, it finally came to pass.
— I could give you more examples, but I believe you get the point. Faith beings where the will of God is known. Faith is not about us. Faith is about God and His grace.
— When God speaks, His Word is revealing to us where His grace is. A Word from God reveals the grace of God. And once we know the grace of God is present, we can launch out in faith.
— Now, you may say, “Hold on Rick, you are saying God needs to speak first. You say that the grace of God must precede the faith of man. But in this case, Peter asked to get out of the boat. Peter asked first.” True. But Peter did not get out boat until God spoke. While Peter was bold enough to ASK, He was not crazy enough to MOVE until God spoke! That’s how your faith taps into God’s grace.
— Where they is no GRACE, there can be no FAITH. But once you know grace is present, you are authorized to release your faith.
— When Jesus said, “COME,” He was saying, “Son, the grace that is made available to me to walk on water is available to you. Now that God has released the grace, all you need to do is release your faith. COME!” When you get that GREEN LIGHT from God, you better move, in faith, without a doubt, without wavering. Because you don’t want to waste God’s grace. You don’t want to get to heaven to realize that God’s grace towards you was in vain.
Part of the reason I run so hard, and I do as many things as I do, is because God has given me the grace to do them. I truly believe that I am doing what God has graced me to do. But I also believe that since He has given me much grace, that I must honor His grace with my faith and effort. What I don’t want to do is get to heaven to realize that I wasted the ONE LIFE God gave me. I don’t know about you, but I am determined to DIE EMPTY. I want to maximize the grace God has placed on my life. It’s not about me. It’s all about HIM, and His unearned grace. This is what I call #TheGraceLife, and I am convinced that it is how we are supposed to live.
There is so much to this story. I will stop here today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I believe this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
As I study the miracles of Jesus, my faith is increased!
This year I will experience the supernatural like never before because I will ask, believe, receive and attempt like never before.
I expand my capacity to believe You! I dream God-sized dreams.
I make God-sized petitions.
I launch out into God-sized projects.
But I don’t do so without hearing from You first.
Once You speak and welcome me to operate on Your level, I am authorized to do so and I get out of my boat!
I am ready to walk on every Word You release to me. Living this way, this year shall be the BEST YEAR of my life!
This is how I know, GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
