January 5 2014
Walking On Water Requires Getting Out Of The Boat!
Matthew 14:28-29 (NIV)
"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 towards Jesus.
As we start a new year will you get out of the boat to follow Jesus? Is it possible for a human being to walk on water? If you are asking this question, then there is little chance that you will be willing to try to walk on water. Peter, it seems, believed that if Jesus asked him, then he could walk on the water. Peter sought verification that this emanation he was conversing with was really Jesus!, Are you still waiting to decide too, if it is possible for you to have conversations with Jesus? When you pray to Jesus do you expect to receive a reply? A brother through Jesus once told me that every time you pray, “Expect something good to happen!”
Most of us reading this commentary have been convinced that it is impossible for a human being to walk on water. Is there room in your world for miracles to be possible? Many people who profess to be a Christian do not expect any kind of a miracle to ever happen. This kind of thought process creates a huge barrier for them to really expect anything good to happen when they communicate with Jesus! Do you walk with Jesus every day? Luke wrote about two people literally walking with Jesus, and Luke reflects how this walk opened their spiritual eyes to the Scriptures. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:31-32)
Well the “Holidays?” are now over, and it is time to pack away the “Christmas” decorations for another year. Will you also pack away the possibility that Jesus came to this earth and lived here as one of us? Really, did Jesus come here and live with us, BUT he did not sin? I have read recent articles that indicate that many people who identify themselves as Christians do not really believe that Jesus lived a sinless life. If He did not, then the celebrations, we just completed should just be called The Holidays, because the only good that was brought were presents you received and the time off from work you received. Santa Claus is just as real as this Jesus character!
If Jesus was not sinless, then he died on a cross for his sins, just like those other two guys who were hung on crosses on each side of him! Note: I did not capitalize his or him in the previous sentence, as then Jesus would have just been another man, if He was not sinless in His lifetime! If you are a doubter about Jesus really being the Savior of your soul, then you must believe that He lived a sinless life, and thus, He was the perfect sacrifice for YOUR sins, and He died on that cross as a payment for the sinful human beings who now live on this earth. This sacrifice offers the only way there is for YOU to go to heaven, when you leave this lifetime!
Most people I have known believe they will go to heaven when they die. They do not believe they have to do anything in order for them to go to heaven. They do not spend any of their time in this lifetime to study the Scriptures, and therefore, they do not really understand any of the details related to their salvation. Many of them do not waste their time by attending worship services at a church of their choice. This belief system treats the Savior like Santa Claus, because you get on Jesus’ salvation list by just being good enough to make the list. If you are better than some sinful people you select, then you get to go to heaven when you die!
The fact is that Salvation is in fact a free gift, because Jesus paid the price for your salvation, so it may seem that people can just accept this gift and then go on with their life, and end up in heaven. Paul wrote a letter to the church at Philippi, and in it Paul wrote about the need to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” What did Paul mean to work out your salvation? Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:9-13)
I certainly believe that Salvation is given by the grace of God, and that there is nothing anyone can do to earn it. We are all sinners, and thus, nothing we can do could earn us a place in heaven. So then, what was Paul writing about for us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?” What does God expect us to do AFTER we have accepted our Salvation via the gift of grace? Paul wrote a letter(s) to the church in Corinth, and in one them he stated that when we accept this salvation, we are changed, Paul wrote, “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.” Paul writes that we are different than we were before we accepted this gift of Salvation. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)
Are you really different than you were before you accepted this free gift of Salvation? Do you now want to offer worship to God, because you have been changed? I recently talked to a person who never goes to a church of their choice, and he believed he is going to heaven when he dies. Can this be true? Is it possible to accept Salvation, and then to not want to worship God? People like this will say, well I worship God on my own, and feel close to God when I’m out in His Creation, strolling in the woods or just being close to nature! When Jesus walked this earth He regularly attended the Temple, which He referred to as His Father’s House. Why did Jesus see a need to attend a church? Jesus considered it a place for worshipping!
Jesus told His disciples that they (we), are responsible to let our light shine before men. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Does this comment from Jesus mean the same as what Paul wrote about working out our Salvation? Working in this context does not really mean doing good works, as a means of gaining our Salvation! Please remember, Salvation is a gift of God’s grace, it cannot be obtained by doing works, even good works!
In this New Year will you resolve to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?” This year will you resolve to study the Scripture, because you are a new creation? Has Jesus opened the Scriptures to you? He will, if you decide to walk with Him! Remember, to walk on water, you must have faith to get out of the boat!
Wishing you a
Happy New Year!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Matthew 14:28-29 (NIV)
"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 towards Jesus.
As we start a new year will you get out of the boat to follow Jesus? Is it possible for a human being to walk on water? If you are asking this question, then there is little chance that you will be willing to try to walk on water. Peter, it seems, believed that if Jesus asked him, then he could walk on the water. Peter sought verification that this emanation he was conversing with was really Jesus!, Are you still waiting to decide too, if it is possible for you to have conversations with Jesus? When you pray to Jesus do you expect to receive a reply? A brother through Jesus once told me that every time you pray, “Expect something good to happen!”
Most of us reading this commentary have been convinced that it is impossible for a human being to walk on water. Is there room in your world for miracles to be possible? Many people who profess to be a Christian do not expect any kind of a miracle to ever happen. This kind of thought process creates a huge barrier for them to really expect anything good to happen when they communicate with Jesus! Do you walk with Jesus every day? Luke wrote about two people literally walking with Jesus, and Luke reflects how this walk opened their spiritual eyes to the Scriptures. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:31-32)
Well the “Holidays?” are now over, and it is time to pack away the “Christmas” decorations for another year. Will you also pack away the possibility that Jesus came to this earth and lived here as one of us? Really, did Jesus come here and live with us, BUT he did not sin? I have read recent articles that indicate that many people who identify themselves as Christians do not really believe that Jesus lived a sinless life. If He did not, then the celebrations, we just completed should just be called The Holidays, because the only good that was brought were presents you received and the time off from work you received. Santa Claus is just as real as this Jesus character!
If Jesus was not sinless, then he died on a cross for his sins, just like those other two guys who were hung on crosses on each side of him! Note: I did not capitalize his or him in the previous sentence, as then Jesus would have just been another man, if He was not sinless in His lifetime! If you are a doubter about Jesus really being the Savior of your soul, then you must believe that He lived a sinless life, and thus, He was the perfect sacrifice for YOUR sins, and He died on that cross as a payment for the sinful human beings who now live on this earth. This sacrifice offers the only way there is for YOU to go to heaven, when you leave this lifetime!
Most people I have known believe they will go to heaven when they die. They do not believe they have to do anything in order for them to go to heaven. They do not spend any of their time in this lifetime to study the Scriptures, and therefore, they do not really understand any of the details related to their salvation. Many of them do not waste their time by attending worship services at a church of their choice. This belief system treats the Savior like Santa Claus, because you get on Jesus’ salvation list by just being good enough to make the list. If you are better than some sinful people you select, then you get to go to heaven when you die!
The fact is that Salvation is in fact a free gift, because Jesus paid the price for your salvation, so it may seem that people can just accept this gift and then go on with their life, and end up in heaven. Paul wrote a letter to the church at Philippi, and in it Paul wrote about the need to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” What did Paul mean to work out your salvation? Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:9-13)
I certainly believe that Salvation is given by the grace of God, and that there is nothing anyone can do to earn it. We are all sinners, and thus, nothing we can do could earn us a place in heaven. So then, what was Paul writing about for us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?” What does God expect us to do AFTER we have accepted our Salvation via the gift of grace? Paul wrote a letter(s) to the church in Corinth, and in one them he stated that when we accept this salvation, we are changed, Paul wrote, “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.” Paul writes that we are different than we were before we accepted this gift of Salvation. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)
Are you really different than you were before you accepted this free gift of Salvation? Do you now want to offer worship to God, because you have been changed? I recently talked to a person who never goes to a church of their choice, and he believed he is going to heaven when he dies. Can this be true? Is it possible to accept Salvation, and then to not want to worship God? People like this will say, well I worship God on my own, and feel close to God when I’m out in His Creation, strolling in the woods or just being close to nature! When Jesus walked this earth He regularly attended the Temple, which He referred to as His Father’s House. Why did Jesus see a need to attend a church? Jesus considered it a place for worshipping!
Jesus told His disciples that they (we), are responsible to let our light shine before men. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Does this comment from Jesus mean the same as what Paul wrote about working out our Salvation? Working in this context does not really mean doing good works, as a means of gaining our Salvation! Please remember, Salvation is a gift of God’s grace, it cannot be obtained by doing works, even good works!
In this New Year will you resolve to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?” This year will you resolve to study the Scripture, because you are a new creation? Has Jesus opened the Scriptures to you? He will, if you decide to walk with Him! Remember, to walk on water, you must have faith to get out of the boat!
Wishing you a
Happy New Year!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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