Bible Reading: Genesis 15; Nehemiah 4; Matthew 14; Acts 14
Matthew 14:29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
What is faith? Many are confused as to what real faith is. Many think that faith is a force that you can manipulate to get what you want. They teach that if you believe hard enough, God will see your faith and give you what you are 'believing' for. This is not Biblical faith. This is some form of magic and God has nothing to do with it.
Real faith is to believe what God says and then act accordingly. According to the Bible:
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When you hear the Word of God and believe what he says, that is faith. We see this in the life of Abraham. God spoke a word of promise to Abraham and he believed God.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter did not believe real hard that he could walk on water and then do it. He prayed (that is what you do when you talk to God) and asked Jesus for a word.
Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Peter knew that apart from the word of God, it would be impossible to walk on the water. However, he saw Jesus doing it and Peter wanted to be with his Lord. Then Jesus gave him a word that Peter could believe and act upon. Jesus said, "Come." This was a word from God that Peter could stand upon! So he went. Peter was acting on the word of God. Even in this amazing situation, Peter quickly let the circumstance distract him from trusting in Jesus.
Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
When Peter took his eyes off Jesus – the object of faith – and put them on the storm, he was afraid and began to sink. Peter did not have the ability in himself to walk on water. He could only act in faith to the word of Jesus. Do you have your eyes on Jesus? Do you trust in him? Faith is to believe what he says. Do you open the Word of God daily and open your ears to hear what he says? You can only believe what God says. That is walk-on-the-water faith!
In Christ,
Rody
