WATER-WALKING DISCIPLESHIP – Part 2 of 2

“Peter answered [Jesus], ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’  He said, ‘Come.’  So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’”  (Matthew 14:28-33 ESV)

Put yourself in Peter’s place for a moment. You have a sudden insight into what Jesus is doing -- the Lord is passing by. He’s inviting you to go on the adventure of your life. But at the same time, you’re scared to death. What would you choose -- the water or the boat?

The boat is safe, secure, and comfortable.

On the other hand, the water is rough. The waves are big. The wind is strong. There’s a storm out there. And if you get out of the boat -- whatever your boat may be -- there’s a good chance you might sink.

But if you don’t get out of the boat, there’s a guaranteed certainty that you will never walk on the water. This is an immutable law of nature.

If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat.

I believe there is something -- Someone -- inside us who tells us there is more to life than sitting in the boat.  You were made for something more than merely avoiding failure. There is something inside you that wants to walk on water -- to leave the comfort of routine existence and abandon yourself to the high adventure of following God.

So let me ask you a very important question: What’s your boat? 

-- John Ortberg in “If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat”

#6281

WATER-WALKING DISCIPLESHIP – Part 1 of 2

“Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’  And Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’”   (Matthew 14:22-28 ESV)

Peter blurted out to the water-walker, “If it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Why does Matthew include this detail? Why doesn’t Peter just plunge into the water? I think it’s for a very important reason. This is not just a story about risk-taking; it is primarily a story about obedience. That means I will have to discern between an authentic call from God and what might simply be a foolish impulse on my part. Courage alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by wisdom and discernment.

Matthew is not glorifying risk-taking for its own sake. Jesus is not looking for bungee-jumping, hang-gliding, day-trading, tornado-chasing Pinto drivers. Water-walking is not something Peter does for recreational purposes. This is not a story about extreme sports. It’s about extreme discipleship. This means that before Peter gets out of the boat, he had better make sure Jesus thinks it’s a good idea. So he asks for clarity, “If it is You, command me…”

And in the darkness, I think Jesus smiled. Maybe He laughed. Because one person in the boat got it. Peter had some inkling of what it is that the Master is doing. Not only that, Peter had enough faith to believe that he too could share the adventure. He decided he wanted to be part of history’s original water-walk. Command me. 

-- John Ortberg in “If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat"

#6280

SEEKING GOD’S WISDOM

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!"  (Isaiah 5:20,21 NKJV)

We are caught in a dilemma between good and evil, right and wrong. God's Word seeks to inform us about what is right and what is wrong. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Fortunately, we are not simply left with that information. The Holy Spirit then seeks to transform us from wrong to right. (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18)  However, the way the world deals with the dilemma is to inform us that wrong is right. 

As believers, we must discern between right and wrong, good and evil. Sometimes, societal norms or personal preferences can lead us astray. Let us seek God’s wisdom and align our hearts with His truth. (Ephesians 4:22-24) 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry

#5853

DISCERNING GOD’S WILL

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”  (Romans 12:2 CSB)

Discernment for the Christian community begins with the individual Christian. Do I want to know God’s will more than anything else? This question is the entry way into discernment. And it can be answered with affirmation only by those who love God and have learned to trust God. If we have any higher priority in our search for God’s guidance, we will not be able to trust our discernment. I must spend enough time in prayer and faithful listening to the voice of God to be brought to that moment of trust and surrender when I can give up my preconceived ideas and become open to God’s idea. My first concern is not my desired result. My first concern is always God and the fidelity of our relationship, and then the result of my discernment efforts will come quite naturally. We know that God is completely faithful, and we must be alert, prayerful, open, and ready to respond in obedience if we are to be led toward greater faithfulness on our part. 

-- Reuben P. Job in “A Guide to Spiritual Discernment”

#5624

COLLABORATING WITH THE SPIRIT

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  (Acts 1:8 NIV)

God is endlessly imaginative, and the function of discernment is to enter creatively into God’s vision for the world and to collaborate with the Spirit in making that vision a reality. 

-- David Lonsdale, quoted in “Side by Side: Disciple-Making for a New Century”,  Steve & Lois Rabey, General Editors 

#4926

SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION

Every animal on earth has a set of correspondences with the environment around it, and some of these correspondences far exceed ours. Humans can perceive only 30 percent of the range of the sun’s light and 1/70^th of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy. Many animals far exceed our abilities. Bats detect insects by sonar; pigeons navigate by magnetic fields; bloodhounds perceive a world of smell unavailable to us.

Perhaps the spiritual or “unseen” world requires an inbuilt set of correspondences activated only through some sort of spiritual [awakening]. “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above,” said Jesus (John 3:3 NRSV). “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit,” said Paul (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV). Both expressions point to a different level of correspondences available only to a person spiritually alive.

-- Philip Yancey in “Seeing the Invisible God”


#4692

THE MIND OF CHRIST

“Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 2:15-16 NRSV)

God is at work around us, and to accomplish this work God personally communicates His will to His people, inviting each church to join in His activity in specific ways. It is not for us to dream our own dreams of what we want to do for God. This is never the pattern in the Scriptures. God already knows what He is purposing to do through those He calls to Himself. And God is waiting for us to adjust our lives to His purposes so He can work powerfully through us to redeem our lost world.

When we hear God’s call and respond appropriately, there will be no limit to what God can and will do through His people. But if we do not even recognize when God is speaking, we are in trouble at the very heart of our relationship with Him.

This is true in all levels of our walk with God and with each other. If we in our churches cannot sense what God is telling us, then in moments of crucial decisions we’ll continue to have only opinions of people, not the mind of Christ, to direct us. Our entire mission will be in peril. 

-- Henry Blackaby in “What the Spirit Is Saying to the Churches”


#4521

GRACE-FILLED WORDS

“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”  (Ephesians 4:29)

O Lord, give me ears to hear as You hear, discernment to understand others as You understand, and fitting words of wisdom for those I encounter today. May I speak life, hope, and love instead of suspicion, judgment, and criticism. Let the words of my mouth honor You, Amen.

-- Dorothy Johnson as quoted in “Alive Now” Jan/Feb 2017


#4321

BECOMING EXCELLENT CHOOSERS

Choosing comes from the core of who we are. When we truly choose, we have no one to blame and nowhere to hide.  Choosing thrills us. Choosing scares us. Choosing is central to personhood…

God wants us to choose well. That may be why, when we look at the Bible, there is no chapter devoted to “How to know God’s will for your life.” Often when we are faced with a real-life choice, the Bible seems no more helpful than Yogi Berra’s old dictum: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Paul doesn’t write about “six steps to determine if he’s the one” or “five ways to discern God’s job for you.”

What we do see are statements like this: “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.” (James 1:5, NRSV)

Or “This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best.” (Philippians 1:9-10)

God wants us to be excellent choosers…

If I’m facing a choice and I want to find God’s will for my life, I don’t begin by asking which choice is God’s will for my life. I need to begin by asking for wisdom.

-- John Ortberg in “All the Places to Go: How Will You Know?”

#4096

AN UNDERSTANDING MIND

[Solomon replied,] “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern Your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this Your great people?”  (1 Kings 3:9 ESV)

When given a chance to have anything in the world, Solomon asked for wisdom -- “an understanding mind” -- in order to lead well and to make right decisions. We can ask God for this same wisdom (James 1:5). Notice that Solomon asked for understanding to carry out his job; he did not ask God to do the job for him. We should not ask God to do for us what He wants to do through us. Instead, we should asked God to give us the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to follow through on it.

-- from “The Life Application Study Bible”


#4066

GOD'S PRESENCE IN THE CHURCH

Jesus is present in His church.  When people take His presence there seriously, God moves.  John Woolman was a Quaker who felt a strong call by God to work for the abolition of slavery a century before the Civil War.  However, he also believed this call needed to be affirmed by his community of faith, many of whom owned slaves.  For two years they struggled and wrestled together.  In the end they all agreed that God was present in this call, and they said they would support him in his work.  As a result of his commitment to God's presence in the church, the Quakers became the first Christian denomination in the New World to take a stand against slavery.

-- John Ortberg in God Is Closer Than You Think


#3600

THE PEACE OF CHRIST

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly…" (Colossians 15a, 16a NIV)

Colossians 3:15 could be translated "Let the peace of Christ act as a referee in your hearts…" When a player breaks a rule in a football game, the referee blows his whistle to stop the play and make the necessary adjustments before the game can continue. A lack of peace about either large decisions or daily choices is like a referee blowing a whistle. It means you should stop before you move ahead to find out what's wrong -- to discern why you have this lack of peace, this conflict in your heart or with other people. To do this consistently, ask God to make you aware of your feelings and how you affect others. And be willing to slow down and take note of what God is saying to you.

-- Warren and Ruth Myers in Discovering God's Will


#3509

LIGHT ON MY DARK PATH

"By Your words I can see where I’m going;
they throw a beam of light on my dark path.
I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back
from living by Your righteous order."  (Psalm 109:105 MSG)

Discernment is like driving an automobile at night; the headlights cast only enough light for us to see the next small bit of road immediately in front of us.  But that light is enough to take us home.

-- from Listening Hearts


#3317

DON'T JUDGE TOO QUICKLY

Two of the best commercials shown during Super Bowl XXXIX were sponsored by Ameriquest Mortgage Company. Both had the same message: “Don't judge too quickly.”

In one ad, a convenience store shopper is standing at the counter and talking on his cell phone. He says to the person on the other end, “You're getting robbed.” The two clerks hear those words and react by squirting the man with pepper spray, slugging him with a baseball bat, and then zapping him with an electric cattle prod.

In the second commercial, a man is preparing a romantic dinner. He chops vegetables with a large knife, while tomato sauce simmers on the stove. A white cat knocks the pan of sauce onto the floor and then falls into the mess. Just as the man picks up his tomato-splattered cat, his wife opens the door. She sees him holding a cat dripping with red sauce in one hand and a large knife in the other. The scene appears to be unmistakably horrific.

As these ads show, things aren't always as they first appear.  

-- Richard Kauffman


#3153

WISE DECISION MAKING AT ELECTION TIME

You have been given responsibility for decision making. It is a large responsibility, and the issues are complex and seldom clearly one way or the other. Even when we have gathered all the facts and looked at and listened to all the evidence, the answer may still be unclear. We bring our best thoughts and all of our previous experiences to the decision making process, and still we find that prejudice, half truths, insufficient evidence, and lack of wisdom leave us uncertain about God's way in the matter.

At times like this we long for the assurance of God's presence with us. We yearn to ask Jesus, who always reflected God's will, what our decision should be, what really is God's will in this matter. We would seek to know how we can discern that our decisions are not our own, not where the popular opinion is, not what is easy or cheap, not even what will please the most persons or defeat someone we don't like. Rather, one might ask, “What is God's will? What does God desire around this concern I have? What decision would I make if I were to block out all other interests and seek to please only God?” 

-- Reuben P. Job in A Guide to Spiritual Discernment


#3093