EXPAND TO READ: MATTHEW 14 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 31): Peter seems to suffer, in this moment at least, with similar issues I suffer from quite often even since coming to faith—fear and doubt. It’s not something I am proud of by any stretch of the imagination that’s for sure, but something I am fully aware of. I do often let my fears and doubt control my words and actions in this life, unfortunately. Forgive me for this, Father. Help me to resemble Jesus more in this life than I ever have. Help me to live in full trust of You, regardless of what the outcome may entail in this life. I know that there will be times when You want me to walk a path which my flesh will want to default to fear and doubt, but that doesn’t mean You aren’t there for me throughout it all. Help me to be better at leaning on You through the storms in those moments when fear and doubt try to show themselves, Father.
PROMISE (verses 31-33): I still find it amazing how the disciples themselves still suffered from doubt, worry, and fear even while they were walking alongside Jesus in the flesh. A bold statement is made here, once again, that essentially shows them reaffirming their faith but also reveals a promise about Jesus: “Truly You are the Son of God!” Although this promise to them had been made many times before, them saying it in this moment reminds me that sometimes when I am weak, I do need to remind myself of Your truths and Your promises. It isn’t necessarily because I am lacking in faith, but because I am a weak and broken man in this crazy world who simply needs reminders of Your truths and promises just as the disciples did here. They knew Jesus was the true Son of God, but to get passed their fear and worry they spoke out a reminder of this promise to themselves as a reassurance.
ATTITUDE (verse 9): Living in an attitude of regret or remorse is not something I would ever wish on anyone, yet I have lived this way with many of my choices throughout my life. The same applied even here to King Herod when he chose to abide by his word to grant his daughter a gift of John the Baptist’s beheading to present to her. As stated here, he immediately regretted that decision, but felt like he had no choice but to go through with it due to the crowds and him giving his word to her. Help me to no longer live in this attitude of regret, Father. Help me to no longer live in a way that I feel obligated to go forward with something I’ll regret after the fact, just because I told someone I would. I would rather live in Your glory than live in my own self-inflicted shame, regret, and remorse, so please help me to remember this throughout the remainder of my life. The world’s opinion of me makes no difference if I am not living my life in a way that is pleasing to You, Father.
COMMAND (verse 27): Jesus spoke to the disciples directly here, while literally walking on water in the middle of the seas while a storm was happening! WOW! The words he spoke to them are definitely a command, but also one that would be hard to fathom truly adhering to in the moment given the circumstances. You have a crazy storm going on that’s shaking the ship they’re in every which way. Then they see someone from the distance coming towards them that appears to be walking on water during this crazy storm! I would definitely have given into my fear in this moment for sure. You command them, however, to have courage and to not be afraid! This command can be directly tied to everything I do on a daily basis. I do not have to live in fear or worry, because You are with me. If I am abiding in Your will for my life and Your truths, then nothing this life has in store for me should break the courage You can give to me in those moments. I know for a regular old human who has been through quite a bit in his life that this seems like an impossible task, but as my life verse in Matthew 19:26 says: “With man these things are impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Help me to live in Your possible, Father, instead of always trying to limp through life with my own impossible.
EXAMPLE (verses 13, 23): I know Jesus prayed quite often, but I do find it profound that He sought out remote locations to come to You in prayer through the peaceful calm of nature. Maybe this was to draw closer to You, maybe this was because He just wanted to get away from the crowds for a bit, or maybe it was because He struggled with things just as I do and wanted to come to You privately about those things. Whatever the case, I like to think that Jesus still carried with Him all of the emotions that I carry with me, although none of those emotions led Him to sin as He’s the perfect Son of God. In the first verse, He immediately went to be alone for prayer when He was informed by His disciples about John the Baptist. I’m sure He already knew about this because He is God, but at the same time I’m sure He also wanted some time to cry out to You and release some of these sorrowful emotions through prayer. Thank You for giving us Your perfect Son, Father, so that I can learn from His great example every day of my life.
*DAILY NOTE: I see Matthew’s story about following Jesus here is starting to ramp up quite a bit with a lot of the bigger, crazier things that occurred during His ministry. Jesus walked on water, He made a few loaves of bread feed thousands, He healed likely just as many, all while taking on His should some emotions about His great friend John and showing us that through prayer we can release that heavy burden to You! Thank You for His great example and for always knowing how to speak to me and when to speak to me about certain topics, Father. I am grateful for today’s lesson because it reveals to me some things I still need to work on in this life.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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