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Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:22-31
i love this passage. its such an encouragement to me.
its such a reminder for us to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12)
when peter had his eyes upon Jesus he walked by faith, he walked on the water.
when he took his eyes off Jesus and when he saw the wind, he began to doubt and be afraid and he began to sink.
faith walks on water but fear and doubt cause us to sink.
faith isnt a what. it isnt a thing. it is in a WHO. we have faith in GOD.
To step out and be the person we are called to be and to do the things we are called to be we need to be people of FAITH – having faith in GOD – it is HIM who works in us – I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH.
Overturn the doubt by fixing your eyes on Jesus and His truth and His words. It’s all about attitude. Peter’s attitude was one of faith. Not doubt. He was unshakable because He had faith in God’s unshakable power.
Faith provides eyes for the heart. Faith sees. ~ Bill Johnson
To overcome doubt we must REPLACE it with the opposite thing: Faith
Let your FAITH be bigger than your fear.
Doubt isn’t conquered by confidence in our own giftings or abilities, which may sound like a contradiction to what I have said and will say – but the reality is that doubt is conquered when we know the greatness and power and almightiness of God!
God is faithful.
God is powerful.
God is compassionate.
God is for us.
God is holy.
God is the Creator of the Universe.
God’s thoughts and ways and wisdom are higher and greater than ours.
He is omnipresent, omnipowerful and omniscient.
In other words, He sees all, knows all and has all the power.
He is awesome and glorious, good and great.
Have a holy confidence that is founded and grounded upon GOD and His abilities and resources!
but i bet next time the opportunity arose peter would know to keep his eyes upon Jesus, to be firm in His faith, to not look around at the circumstances blowing around him and that he would have advanced further.
i’m also challenged by the fact that only ONE disciple called out to Jesus to follow Him onto the waves. only one stretched his faith to accomplish something supernatural and amazing. only Peter got out of the boat. the opportunity was there for the others to walk on water to, to experience this wondrous miracle. but only peter had the courage to request and do it. were the others waiting to see what happened to peter first before they stepped out? to see if he had success or sinking?
i want to be someone with faith and courage. that steps out of the boat of my life, out of the comfort zone into the realm of needing faith and my eyes fixed firmly on Jesus. i want to say YES to whatever and wherever Jesus calls me to go.
its so good to know also that when we call out LORD SAVE ME that there is an immediately. Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. Jesus is immediately there to rescue and save us.
"My personal routine looks like this: I cry out to God in private and take risk in public. When the breakthrough I long for isn’t happening, I go back to God in the secret place. It truly is the ongoing encounter with the presence that enables us to live like Jesus did."
~ Bill Johnson.
David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. 1 Samuel 23:14
from the promise of kingship to the day David got the crown on his head he was in leadership training. the wilderness may be tough and rough but it is where some of our greatest life lessons are learned. it is the university of life. many great people in the bible had some wilderness time before they were promoted to a position of power and responsibility. abraham. moses. joseph. jacob. job. john. jesus.
don’t underestimate or despise the wilderness season in your life.
It is essential that we “get” is that sometimes great time can pass between the call and the living that call. During this time God is shaping us and forming us and dealing with the crud within us. He is renewing our mind and making us into a vessel of honour (2 Tim 2:20-21)
Take for example Saul and David.
Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else. 1 Samuel 9:2
They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” 1 Samuel 10:23-24
When Saul was chosen king he was the most handsome and stand out guy in the nation. He had all the gifts and talents and personality. Samuel anointed him and he immediately began ruling as king of all of Israel. Yet he ended up failing as king and turning away from God.
“While king saul was truly the best man Israel had to offer when they demanded a king, his heart had not been groomed through testing before he assumed the throne. As king, saul was entrusted with a measure of anointing to lead the armies of Israel to victory and shepherd the people. Yet without the strength of character that only comes by winning private battles, these public victories exposed the previously hidden weakness of saul’s heart towards God. That weakness, combined with his growing appetite for favour of man, led him to bring glory to himself and disobey the Lord.” Bill Johnson – Strengthen Yourself In The Lord
David however was anointed and then spent about 14 years in “training”. In those training years he endured more difficulty, persecution and rejection that many of us face in a lifetime. He probably didn’t expect it to take so long for him to be king. God didn’t want another king saul and so took His time to mould David into a king and man after His own heart.
the wilderness always reminds me of this quote:
“But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost.” ~ J.C. Ryle, Holiness
the wilderness is a place of preparation in our lives, a place of transformation. a place where we are reliant on God and trusting Him.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith— of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
it may be a place of delay – the delay between the call and the living the call, the delay between the promise and the position. delay has the capacity to bring up things that are hiding in our hearts that will restrict and sabotage us. better out NOW than later! delay reveals sin and brings it up to deal with now. delay is a time of preparation.
There are lessons to be learned in the process, in the wilderness. Lessons about ourselves, lessons about how to work with others, lessons about how to relate to God.
God will open the right doors at the right time.
“Its not about knowing who holds the right keys but its about knowing the KEEPER of the keys”– Peter Robertson.
God can promote us at the right time. But I also believe He will also hold us back if we are not surrendered and transformed. God is full of grace but He is also holy. He uses flawed human beings but that doesn’t excuse compromise and a heart that isn’t fully leaning to God… God wants us to be intentionally following Him not intentionally following our own self and self desires.
The great things God will do through you are going to grow in the soil of persistence, prayer, obedience and sacrifice. That means there will be plenty of plowing and pruning. That’s the way living things grow, whether you’re talking about vegetables or vision. The process is a time of strengthening. The process is the place where you lay down your pride and learn to rely totally on God. Most importantly, the process is the way we grow to know God. And that’s really the whole point. Steven Furtick
David’s time of wilderness prepared him to be king, the most renown king in all of israel’s history, and most importantly, a man after God’s heart.
1 Sam 17:13 – 20 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. Now Jesse said to his son David, Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
1 Sam 17:28-29 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle. Now what have I done? said David. Can’t I even speak?
The battle of David and goliath is one of the greatest examples of how faith overcomes – how to overcome giants in our lives – not just only of the physical great big stinking men type but how to overcome giants on the inside and giants of circumstance and difficulty.
The battle of David and goliath, though played out with a shepherd boy and a warrior is a great picture of the battle of fear vs doubt – with most of the victory happening NOT on the battlefield, but behind the scenes in the lead up to their face off.
David was the youngest – remember overlooked when the great prophet Samuel came to anoint the next king – at left at home AGAIN to look after the sheep. His brothers go off to war to become heroes and he has to stay home, like a kid. This could of made him feel insecure and insignificant – esp when his dad tells him to go take some kai to his brothers. Menial. Not very life changing or significant.
But even when his brother insults him David maintains an attitude of self confidence – or perhaps more so confidence in who he is and who he is called to be. His brother’s words were intended to make him doubt and retreat but David was not affected. He had a different perspective of WHO HE WAS – God’s.
To overcome self doubt we need to get a clear and accurate picture of who God says we are.
BELOVED.
CALLED.
CHOSEN.
EMPOWERED.
ETERNITY CHANGERS.
MEN AND WOMEN OF DESTINY.
To step out and be the person we are called to be and to do the things we are called to be we need to be people of FAITH – having faith in GOD – it is HIM who works in us – I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH.
Overturn the doubt by fixing your eyes on Jesus and His truth and His words. It’s all about attitude. David’s attitude was one of faith. Not doubt. He was unshakable because He had faith in God’s unshakable power.
Our attitudes determine our actions. Change your attitude and you can change your perception and outcome. An attitude of doubt will hold you back from stepping out. An attitude of faith will propel you into adventure and opportunity.
Faith provides eyes for the heart. Faith sees. ~ Bill Johnson
To overcome doubt we must REPLACE it with the opposite thing: Faith
Let your FAITH be bigger than your fear.
Doubt isn’t conquered by confidence in our own giftings or abilities, which may sound like a contradiction to what I have said and will say – but the reality is that doubt is conquered when we know the greatness and power and almightiness of God!
God is faithful.
God is powerful.
God is compassionate.
God is for us.
God is holy.
God is the Creator of the Universe.
God’s thoughts and ways and wisdom are higher and greater than ours.
He is omnipresent, omnipowerful and omniscient. In other words, He sees all, knows all and has all the power.
He is awesome and glorious, good and great.
Have a holy confidence that is founded and grounded upon GOD and His abilities and resources!
Let’s go into next year, with all its adventures, with an accurate perception of who we are and who we are called to be.
You are eternity changers.
You are history makers.
You are lights in the darkness.
You are citizens of the kingdom of God.
You are saved, chosen and called.
The Big Question:
What are you going to do this year to live your call and your dream?
Some questions to ask yourself:
List your lifelong hopes and dreams. Don’t limit them by your current circumstances.
As you look back over your life and evaluate where you are now, determine the clues you’ve been given to help you understand your calling. Consider the things, people, causes or situations that have brought you joy and satisfaction, and have provided personal significance and meaning to you
Identify the area(s) where you would like to see your life make a difference, and for what you would like to be remembered.
List the memorable moments that have thus far shaped your life. Is there a pattern of opportunities that have arisen?
Brainstorm what you would do if you had the time, money, effort, energy, and passion to do whatever you want. Let your imagination run wild.
Assess your natural talents, skills and strengths for evidence of your calling. Are there any patterns, indicators or themes?
Let’s go into next year, and indeed every year and every moment, by asking God WHAT can we be doing?
How can we be helpful and productive in our church?
How can we be serving?
How can we shine to those around us?
How can we open our lives up more to the purposes of God?
How can God use us MORE to demonstrate His love and power to the world?
How can we be MORE activated to change the world?
And let’s make changes. Let’s be inspired to make changes – because when we catch the fire in our hearts it overflows into lifestyle. Guilt and shoulds don’t motivate from the inside out.
It may require us to pray more.
It may require us to sign up and serve in some capacity at church.
It may require us to change some aspect of our personal lifestyle to line up with the Word of God.
Feed your vision. Feed it with obedience and feed it with fertilizer – books, conversations, worship, prayer, podcasts etc. Fuel your fire.
“You stand here as a Christ follower in a definitive moment in time you are an ordinary person called to usher a holy Kingdom into an increasingly fragmented world. Its the perfect scenario for God to move in big ways just as He always has. Just as God called Esther, Joseph and Paul to go before the world’s kings at appointed times to alter history, He now calls you. While everything changes at warp speed, the holy mandate remains to communicate the gospel in the most relevant channels available, here, there and everywhere!” @stickyjesus
Extraordinary moves of God begin with ordinary acts of obedience.
Let’s have a quick look at Moses’ call.
Moses’ first encounter with God is recorded in exodus 3. The way their meeting goes down should be extremely encouraging for anyone who has ever felt super ordinary and insignificant.
The setting is the far side of the desert.
Moses is tending sheep.
The sheep belong to Moses’ father in law.
A bush catches on fire.
Moses walks over to look…
In reality when you peel back the layers… it’s really quite ordinary. Moses is performing menial manual labour. Working for his father in law. Does it get any more mundane and ordinary?
We position ourselves for encounter by walking with Jesus every day. Being obedient and faithful in our ordinary lives. Having regular time of prayer and worship. Reading the bible regularly, if not daily! We position ourselves to be used by God as we live a life that pleases Him, being transformed and making outward the inward righteousness. Taking up our cross, dying to self daily, refusing to compromise and bow to the status quo of the world around us.
In the ordinaryness of our life God can shine – God WILL SHINE – and do amazing things.
Will you turn aside and check out the bush, like Moses did? Will you remove your shoes, draw close, and receive your assignment? Will you give the Lord permission to ignite your ordinary?
Jesus chose ordinary people to be His first disciples. Fishermen. Blue collar workers. Tax collectors. In the same way He chooses ordinary people now to serve Him. One of my “life verses” (a passage that defines who i am and the life i live!) is 2 Corinthians 4:7 – “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” We are but jars of clay. Humble vessels. The great power is of God. The light is of God. The glory is of God and from God and for God and to God!
God’s mandate for changing the world and saving the lost is to use seemingly ordinary people going about their ordinary lives – but we are not ordinary. While the world around is dead – we are alive. While the world around is lost – we are found. While the world around us is natural – we are supernatural. As children of God we represent our Father and are called by Him to tell others about the Good News we have experienced and found ourselves. The invisible element of our lives is the most important part because it’s eternal. Life is just a blink but what is won and done spiritually will last forever. One day the fabric of this world will tear, the sky will roll up and the physical earth will disappear and we will have accurate perception of God and reality.
Your vision will probably flow from something you’re already doing – relationships you’ve already established, priorities you’re already passionate about.
Vision starts with a seed of inspiration that takes root in our imagination. It starts with us being inspired to DO something and BE someone that is then confirmed and pruned and grown by God. When a defining moment happens – like a prophecy or God speaking to us it is usually a confirmation of what God has already planted in our hearts.
Our lives are not our own. We are brought with a price. The blood of Jesus has redeemed us from our sin and death and eternal destruction so that we can now live in connection with God in this life and after earth. And the great plan of God to spread this good news of salvation is to use the people that experience it. We are his advertisements and witnesses. We are living testimonies to His work.
You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiselled into stone, but carved into human lives. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 MSG
You are a walking talking billboard for the reality of God.
You are demonstrations of His love and power.
You are created for something more than just breathing. God has called you to greater things – amazing supernatural encounters – not just personal quiet time ones but ones that shout out to the world HEY GOD IS REAL and HERE!
Vision defines the parameters of our life.
Vision means: “a clear sense of purpose regarding what God wants to do through your life”
Vision is all about knowing God and making Him known. In whatever way we’re called and passionate about. It MIGHT be ministry. It MIGHT be business. It MIGHT be as a stay at home mum. It might be as a teacher, doctor, journalist, artist, plumber, banker, barister… the main thing is to live out our lives glowing in the dark for Jesus that that world can see He is real and relevant!
Your job might facilitate great generosity that enables people called to missions to go to the nations.
Your job might place you amongst lost people who need to SEE that God is real and experience His love and grace and power.
Your job might provide for you and your family so that you can volunteer with childrens church or worship or give a day a week to just serve down at church.
Your life might be used to pour out to a housegroup or a youth group from which a Joshua called to lead his generation emerges.
The possibilities are endless!
“There is no thing as secular employment for the believer. Once we are born again, everything about us is redeemed for Kingdom purposes. It is all spiritual. It is either a legitimate Kingdom expression, or we shouldn’t be involved at all.
Every believer is in full time ministry – only a few have pulpits in sanctuaries. The rest have their pulpit in their areas of expertise and favour in the world system.
The call of God is important, not because of the title it carries, or doesn’t carry. Its valuable because of the One who called us. An assignment to be in business is as valuable in the Kingdom as is the call to be an evangelist. The privilege to be a stay at home wife and mother is equal in importance to being a missionary. Embrace your call with the faithfulness and thankfulness worthy of the One who has called you.” Bill Johnson – Dreaming With God
I want to end this year by celebrating who we are and acknowledging the great work of God in each of us and through each of us and to each of us and surrendering ourselves afresh to the priorities and purposes of God for this year ahead and our whole lives.
I want to look forward to 2012 recalibrating our focus and corresponding lifestyle.
I want to begin next year with fresh fire and passion for the purposes of God.
The vision of our church is:
From the throne room of God into all the earth in every generation: connected, revived, equipped, pouring out
The heartbeat of our church is first and foremost that you know God AND then that that flows out into the world around each one of us.
No one is exempt in the kingdom of God. We’re all called. If we’re breathing we’re called. If we’re saved, we’re called. If we’re redeemed, we’re recruited.
You have to know you have a divine destiny – before you were born God formed you and called you. You have to know it doesn’t happen by accident – that life is intentional and the choice to say YES to God is up to you.
So let’s spend this first part of the year getting revived and then intentionally equipped so that we can pour out and live out our God-given purpose. Let’s make 2012 the greatest year of our lives to date! Let’s build the Kingdom for God’s glory!
Normal Christianity is a doing thing, not a personal closet thing.
You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16
We are all unique and created by God to be who we are. We are created for a purpose and a plan.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
“God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,”- 2 Timothy 1:9.
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5
The big question is:
Do you have a vision for your life?
Do you have a direction you are heading in?
Do you have a purpose and a priority that defines who you are and what you are doing?
I want to scream it out
From every mountain top
Your goodness knows no bounds
Your goodness never stops
Your mercy follows me
Your kindness fills my life
Your love amazes me
I sing because you are good
And I dance because you are good
And I shout because you are good
You are good to me, good to me
Nothing and no one comes
Anywhere close to you
The earth and oceans deep
Only reflect this truth
And in my darkest night
You shine as bright as day
Your love amazes me
With a cry of praise my heart will proclaim
You are good, you are good
In the sun or rain my life celebrates
You are good, you are good
With a cry of praise my heart will proclaim
You are good, you are good
In the sun or rain my life celebrates
totally loving this song – its so got into my heart and spirit in the last few days. my husband gave me a mixed cd for songs for him to learn for childrens church worship and this was on it. i HAVE the bethel cd but hadnt listened to this song much… though when my hubby was made redundant God really spoke to me through this song, was praying for opportunity and a job and provision and really felt His presence and “something” during this song, and then tony rung up and said he had a job interview – the first opening he had had in 6 months (he had been looking for a job in the 6 months prior to the company he worked for shutting.) was such a God thing.
anyway, i love this song. God is good! rejoice and trust that!
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