St Matthew, Chapter 14, verse: 30, The Test of Heart: The conflict, the outside vs the inside, the spiritual vs the physical.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter walks on the water) Part 3.  


Peter walked on water.  The disciples watched as he took one step after another.  And Christ said "Come."  Christ gave the command.  Peter heard the command.  Peter took courage instead of fear.  Peter took action and stepped from the boat onto the water and the water took steps and pushed back upon Peter.  And he walked on water just as Christ and told him to do.  There was no doubt.  There was no hesitation.  There was only action.  The heart was pounding and the mind was recording everything that it was sensing of this miracle as it unfolded.  Peter was walking upon the water.  

The experience was in him.  The knowledge of his actions were upon him.  And he was walking upon water.  And then the conflict began.  How was this possible?  How am I doing this?  How does this work?  Can I do this again?  All these mental questions come to mind and bring to mind the reality of what the heart and the the mind has just experienced.  Yet he walked on water.  But the conflict of reality came in and so did doubt.  The wind was blowing and the waves were crashing into the boat and Peter was walking upon the water.  But the reality of the world came into his heart.  How do you see tumult of the waves and the force of the blowing wind and not believe?  How  do you feel the wet water against your skin and the force of the wind upon your face and your body and not know?  The conflict came and Peter faced a moment of decision and choose to allow doubt to come in.    But seeing the wind was strong, he was afraid; and as he began to sink he cried out saying, "Lord, save me!"

Peter walked on water.  Of this there is no doubt.  Everyone witnessed the fact.  Peter was a witness, a participant, and the disciples were witnesses also.  The mind took action and the heart was filled with the joy of what was happening.  The heart did not stop to analyze.  The heart did not see the waves.  The heart did not feel the wind.  The heart only knew that something special had happened and the rejoicing of the spirit was taking place.  For the heart felt the working of the spirit within.  But the mind saw the reality of the surrounding world despite the fact of the miracle.  Christ said, "Come," and Peter came.  He walked on the water despite the reality of the wind and the waves.  But the reality came in and the doubt eased in behind it and then came fear.

Where is your heart?  What do you believe?  Is it possible to be healed of a disease?  Can cancer be erased from my body?  Can I walk again after the doctors have told me otherwise?  Can God change  my life and provide for me?  What are your questions of doubt?  What are your questions of fear?  Will they bring conflict into your miracle?  Will they cause your heart to doubt when you are being healed?  Will they bring a moment of conflict just when you are beginning to walk?  Christ wants you to walk on water.  Christ wants you to experience the spiritual.  Christ wants you to hear and believe that all things are, in him.  He says, "Come!"  Will you believe and come.  Will you open your heart to experience the power of the spiritual?  Will you discard the reality of the world and experience the spiritual of Christ?  Christ says, "Come!"  The test of the heart is the key.

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verses: 29b, The Test of Heart: The Proof.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter walks on the water) Part 2.   

Peter saw the ghost.  Peter heard the voice of Christ.  Peter believed that it was he.  Peter took courage and discarded his fear.  Peter wanted to know that what he saw was real.  He wanted to believe that what he saw the Messiah, the Christ walking on water.  So, he challenged, Christ if it is you then command that I come to you.  Christ if it is you, then command that I come to you over the water.  Christ if it is you then command that "I" walk on water just as you are walking on water.  And Christ said, "Come."   

Christ did not say, think about it.  Christ did not say maybe.  Christ did not say, well you can not do this.  Christ said, "Come."  And that command made Peter believe that he could come.  Christ's command told Peter that he was given the power through Christ to walk on water.  That command told Peter that he heard Christ say that he could.  And hearing brought faith, and faith brought courage, and courage brought the action that made Peter move from the boat to the water.  At first it was trembling and then action.  Then there was the first step onto the water, the challenging step, the step of proof.  And finally the proof of his feet touching the water and the water pushed back against his feet to hold him up.  Such things the eyes have not beheld.  Such things the body has not felt.  Such things the mind has not conceived.  And such things the heart has not felt as that moment when Peter took the first step and stood on water.  And the rush of truth pervaded his body, his mind and his heart as he stood there.  Then he took the next step and put the other foot out to take another step on the water, and the water pushed back holding him up.  The truth took hold of him and he took another step, and another and another.  And his heart was filled with the joy and the happiness and the awareness of what he was doing.   Then Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to come to Jesus.  

He did not stumble out of the boat.  He did not fall out of the boat.  He got out of the boat as he normally does and he walked on the water.  He placed one foot in front of the other and he walked on the water.  He was confident.  He was bold.  He was knowing, for he was walking on the water as he saw Christ walking on the water and he was joyous.  For Christ had commanded him.  Christ had told him what to do.   Christ had given him the authority to walk on the water.  Christ had placed within him a memory that would never leave him.  Christ had given him an experience that would last his entire life.  Christ had shown him and demonstrated to him that he was the Son of Man and God was his father.  For what man could do such as Christ had done.  What man could command as Christ had commanded.  What man could perform such miracles as Christ had completed.  And all the disciples were his witness.  For they all saw.  They all were in awe.  They all felt the realism of what was taking place with Peter walking on the water.  Can you believe?

Christ calls us today to believe.  Christ commands us to walk on water as Peter did.  For we asked him to save us.  We asked him to heal us.  We asked him to provide for us.  We asked him to protect us from our enemies.  But do you believe that he will do these things for us?  Do you know within yourself that he will do all these things for us?  Peter had faith.  Peter had hope.  Peter heard the command and he got out of the boat.  Do you hear the command, "COME"?  Will you get out of the boat of life and leave the world behind that Christ may show you how to walk on water?

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verses: 28 - 29a, The Test of Heart: The Challenge.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter walks on the water) Part 1.   

The test had begun.  The disciples were in the boat being tossed about by the waves and water was everywhere.  They did not know who they were becoming but Christ knew.  Christ was their teacher.  Christ was their provider.  Christ was their protector and  he knew what they were becoming.  But the disciples did not know that the transformation was taking place within them.  For they had seen many things with Christ.  They had seen the lame walk.  They had seen that the blind could see through the miracles that Christ performed.  They saw the demons cast out, and they still did not know who they were becoming with Christ.  Christ told them to feed the people themselves and they did not know that they could.  They wanted to send the people away.

Christ sent the disciples away and now they were alone on the sea in the boat with the waves crashing down upon them.  There was no place to hide.  There was no place to go.  There was no protection for water was everywhere.  And fear was their only choice, fear of dying, fear of loosing their lives, fear of all they had sacrificed for naught.  They were simple men, not scholars.  They had no knowledge of a soul.  They did not know about the spirit of life within them.  They did not know what would happen after death, so they were afraid.  And the evil one was upon them seeking to have them turn from Christ in this hour of trial and test.  For he wanted them to believe that they were dying.  He wanted them to believe that Christ had failed them.  He wanted them to believe that Christ was not the Messiah and that they were lost.  But Christ came to them in their hour of trial and test.  Christ came to them walking on the water.  Christ came to them telling them to take courage and not to be afraid.  For fear was upon them.

They thought that Christ was a ghost.  They believed that they were seeing illusions in their dying hour.  But Peter challenged the test of heart.  Peter, amongst all the disciples, wanted to know.  Peter wanted to believe.  Peter had that spark of hope within that lead him to take action.  His heart was opened.  His mind believed.  His desire for Christ challenged him to take action and so he called to the ghost.  He called to Christ to test his faith.    But Peter answered him and said, "Lord, if it is thou, bid me come to thee over the water."

If, Peter said.  If, Peter asked.  If, Peter challenged.  If, Peter believed.  If it is thou, he said then command that I walk on water.  For Peter saw Christ doing something that he wanted to do.  Peter believed that if Christ had commanded all the other miracles to happen then he could command that he, Peter, walk on water.  So he challenged that he might prove to himself that this was the Christ.  He challenged that he might know within himself that Christ was the Messiah.  He called to Christ that he might know without a doubt that Christ was the Son of Man and God was his father.  And he said,"Come."

Would you come if Christ called you?  Christ walks on air at the edge of a cliff and he calls to you to come would you step out from the cliff to go to him?  Would you believe that he has the power to make you walk on air?  Would you know that you would not fall?  Would you believe with all your being that he is your protector and your provider,  your guide and your shield?  The world would tell you otherwise.  The world would have you believe in yourself, that you are your provider, that you are your protector.  The world would have you believe that you can do anything as long as you believe in yourself.  For this is the way of the world and as long as you are in the world and succeeding, what need have you of God.  You can be your provider.  You can be your protector.  You can be your own guide without the help of Christ who loves you.  And there is the challenge, live in the world without believing in Christ or live in Christ and believe that he can make you do miracles like walking on water or walking on air and achieving all things within him.  Christ calls to you, and he says to you,"Come."

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verse: 27, The Test of Heart: The Heart Transforms and the door is open.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus walks on the water) Part 4.  

Christ was on the land and they, the disciples, were on the sea in a boat being tossed about by the waves.  They were afraid.  They were in fear.  They were in doubt and fear was overtaking them.  For there was no place to hide.  There was no place to go for protection from the pounding waves of the sea and they believed that death was at their door.  For Christ was not with them to protect them.  Christ was not with them to stop the waves.  Christ was not with them to calm the sea and they were afraid.  They saw their lives passing before them.  They were the disciples of Christ.  He was their teacher yet they were faced with the thought of drowning and losing their lives.  And all that they had been taught, all that they had seen,  all that they had believed was about to be lost in the drowning of the boat by the waves of the sea.

All they could see was death.  All they could see was drowning.  All they could believe was the loss of their lives.  All that they had been given was pushed aside.  All that they had transformed from was being lost.  For they did not know who they were becoming and fear was entering their hearts.  And then their fears were confirmed because they believed they saw a ghost.  They saw Christ walking on water and they believed that they were perishing.  For ghost only appear when death is at hand.  Ghost only come when something evil is about to happen.  Ghosts are the fore runners of the coming of death.  But Christ was walking on the waters and they did not believe.  Christ was with them and they did not know.   In their hour of need, in their time of testing, Christ was with them.  For fear had taken them and their hearts were afraid.   Then Jesus immediately spoke to them, saying, " Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."      

Take courage.  Take courage in what you see.  Take courage in what you believe.  Take courage in what you know for it is I, Christ said, to his disciples.  Choose courage instead of fear.  Choose courage instead of being afraid.   Choose courage as opposed to anxiety for it is I.   For the test was upon them.  The test was at hand and the disciples must choose which way to turn, what to believe, what to know.  Their senses told them that they were in danger.  Their senses told them that the boat was sinking.  Their senses told them that the waves were overcoming them and the boat would soon drown.  But their senses did not know how to tell them of Christ walking on water.  Their senses did not know how to tell them to take courage instead of fear.  Their senses did not know what to do faced with this choice. 

Christ told them to take courage.  Christ told them to believe.  Christ told them it was he who was walking on the water.  Christ told them to discard their senses and open their hearts.  Christ told them to believe with the love that was given to them in their hearts.  Christ told them that their hearts would be the key to passing the test and not their senses.  For here he was walking on water, a site they had not been seen before.  Here he was walking on water and their senses could not understand how this was possible.  And yet he told them to take courage and not fear, for what they saw was real.  What they believed was true.  What they heard were the words from Christ in whom all things are possible.   Take courage he told them.  Open your hearts and believe.  Christ wants to transform you!!  Open your heart, let him in, and be transformed.