Matthew 14:24 says, But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. While the disciples were on the ship without Jesus, a storm arose. As followers of Christ today, we will never be away from the presence of the Holy Spirit, no matter what storms may arise in life. Verse twenty-five declares, And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. During the night, through the storm, Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. Verse twenty-six adds, And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. When the disciples saw Jesus coming to them walking on the water, they were troubled and thought that Jesus was a spirit and they cried out. They should have been able to recognize Jesus, especially in a storm when they would need Him most, and so should we today. Verse twenty-seven declares, But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. Jesus spoke to them and told them to be of good cheer and to not be afraid. When we as Christians today find ourselves in dangerous situations, we should be of good cheer and not be afraid, because the Holy Spirit is always with us. Verse twenty-eight says, And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. Peter, a man of action, asked Jesus if it was Him, to bid Peter to come to Him. There was evidently still some doubt in Peter's mind, but he was willing come to Jesus if asked to. We may sometimes have doubts, but we must never be afraid to come to Jesus. Verse twenty-nine declares, And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Jesus did not say anything other than "Come." It was up to Peter to to respond in faith then, and he did. Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, one of only two people that we have a record of ever doing so. We need the kind of faith that will cause us to step out of the boat, even in a storm, to go to Jesus. Verse thirty declares, But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Then, Peter focused on the storm instead of Jesus and began to sink and called out for Jesus to save him. When we focus on the world instead of on Jesus, what may have begun as a great act of faith will often falter, and if it does, we simply need to call out to Jesus once more to rescue us. We just need to keep our eyes on Jesus to keep this from happening to start with. Verse fifty-one adds, And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Jesus stretched out His hand and rescued Peter, then said Peter had little faith and asked how he could doubt. Getting out of the boat, or getting started, is not enough if we are going to lack the faith to follow through. If this happens, we must look to Jesus to once again rescue us. Verse thirty-two continues, And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. The wind did not cease while they were on the water, but only ceased when they got on the boat. Jesus could have calmed the sea while Peter and He were out on the water, but I believe that Jesus was showing Peter that the storm did not matter. Only Peter's faith did. We should not demand that Jesus stop the storms of life immediately, but should put our faith in Him no matter what. Verse thirty-three says, Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. The people on the ship came and worshipped Him, saying that Jesus was the Son of God. We need to be able to recognize when God is at work in the world today and give Him credit by worshipping Him alone. Verse thirty-four states. And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. When Jesus and the disciples got across the sea, they came to Gennesaret. Verse thirty-five adds, And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; Those who had knowledge of Jesus sent word out into all the country. We today, who are followers of Jesus, should call out to others to come to Him. This is our commission. Verse thirty-six concludes, And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole. The people who had faith came to Jesus, believing that if they could only touch the hem of Jesus' garment that they would be healed, and we are told that those who did were made whole. It wasn't the touching of the garment that made them whole, but their faith in Jesus that did. We do not have to have Jesus physically present with us to be made whole, but we simply need to put our faith in Him.
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