"then peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" matt 14:29-30
this verse stuck out to me today. in my short life, i have seen so many miracles. in my own life & in others. i know that i know that i know that there is a God..that Jesus is who he said he was/is. but, still, most days, i find myself like peter was on this day. when the winds come, i get scared, even though i know that God is going to carry me through. Jesus was right there, in the flesh, telling peter to come to him, not to be afraid. & still peter got scared.
sometimes it seems so clear what Jesus is telling me to do, & i back away. imagine what we could do to this world if we all just believed what God tells us! Lord, increase my faith.
one more thing :) ha! another word that came to mind was expectation. it seems like the disciples missed it sometimes. when you hang out with Jesus, you would think the disciples would have an expectant faith! everywhere they went, he healed people! fed 5,ooo men off of 5 loaves of bread! walked on water! just like in this study..i'm hanging out with Jesus everyday! i should be expecting great things!
I agree with Molly June. You would think that the expectation of faith would come so easily to the disciples. But here we see Peter afraid and doubting, and yet Jesus simply picks him up and sets him straight.
I love to see how compassionate and forgiving and well...understanding Jesus is. He realizes that he is there to be a teacher, that we're still learning and he continually forgives us for being human and unable to always understand whats going on. We doubt and fear and Jesus just keeps reassuring us. It's up to us to make sure we're listening to him!
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” This makes me think, God is here for us, he sees our troubles and suffering, he is on our side and will help us. God is with the underdog! I love the psalms, the poetry, the way it makes you feel when you read it. It's so spiritual, and fills my heart up.
"But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.”
I noticed a small tidbit in this verse, where the disciples say they have five loaves of bread and two fishes but also in the book of John, it says, one of the disciples finds a boy with loaves of bread and fishes for them to eat, as well.
Would this be different feeding of the five thousand or it is the same one?
Wonderful, uplifting passages today. The marriage of Rebekah and Isaac makes me realize that every step we take in life can be so blessed by the Lord, even if we don't have camels to help us know exactly who we're supposed to stick with. :)
The story of Jesus walking on water has always been close to the child in my heart. I always take such comfort here. Like the others have mentioned, Peter has every reason in the world to have all the faith in the world in Jesus - and when he falters, Jesus is right there, lifting him up. He doesn't watch him go down, laughing at his cowardice. "IMMEDIATELY Jesus reached out his hand and caught him." Whenever I am floundering and cry "Lord, save me!" in sheepish fear - he is right there, not more than a step away. Why did I doubt?
The story of Jesus walking on water was such a great illustration of the power and compassion Jesus had. I had complete empathy for the humanity of Peter and think this is such a practical lesson for our own lives. Peter obviously trusted Jesus enough to even entertain the idea of walking out on the water himself. But when things started getting challenging (the wind) he realized what he was doing and feared his own ability not capable.
Notice the moment Peter took his eyes off of Jesus (when he saw the wind) he started to sink.
Often times, and in the same way, we trust God enough to start out on the path that He has set before us only to find ourselves thinking that we are accomplishing things on our own. When we are tested and faced with a trial, we fear our own ability to overcome and are overwhelmed with doubt. Sadly, we sometimes forget that God is with us and working through us. The moment our eyes are taken off of Jesus we are reminded of our own humanity and apart from Jesus we can accomplish nothing miraculous.
My absolute favorite part:
"'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him."
Immediately. Jesus rescued him.
Peter knew Jesus had the ability to save him. Peter was helpless at that point and Jesus was compassionate. No...swim a little and learn a lesson for doubting. No..you are on your own, ye of little faith. Nope. None of that. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
Perhaps when we are sinking in over our heads and genuinely cry out, "Lord, save me!"...He might just save us. Immediately. Amen to that.
Today was such a good reading day! I love the story about the servant finding Rebekah. Being single I'm always wondering if I'm ever going to find the person I'm suppose to be with, and God forbid, I settle for the wrong person. But reading this passage I realized that as long as you pray to God to help you find the right person HE has chosen for you, he will lead you to them. You just can't forget to involve God in your search.
Also, Matthew 14... I second everything everyone else has already said. Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat, but the second he had doubt, he started sinking. It's so true, as soon as you start doubting Jesus, or the plan he has for you, you will start sinking. I don't want to sink because I am a person of little faith. I need to remember to always, completely, 100% trust in Jesus no matter how bad something gets or how scared or unsure I am.
I so agree with what everyone has said so far, just wanted to add a little tidbit. (Melissa, I loved your comment especially, spot on!)
In my mind the Old and New Testament readings today really synced up. Abraham has constantly "taken his eyes" off of God's plan by trying to do it himself. It's like Melissa stated: he had enough faith in God to start on his path, but he keeps thinking he can do it better himself. Peter and Abraham are doing the exact same thing! But the passage from Genesis shows that God has ALWAYS taken Abraham's hand again. These verses are the point in his story when the lineage (God's promise) FINALLY starts to happen, Rebekah comes to be Issac's wife! It parallels Jesus reaching out that hand to Peter so nicely!
The story of Jesus feeding the crowd is found in every book of the Gospel: Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6. Every account is a little different. For example, in John it says a boy has five loaves and two fish; in the other accounts it says the disciples do. The disciples' responses to Jesus' question differ in each account. I believe that all the stories are about the same event. Each author of the Gospel chose the highlight something different, or was told a different detail about the event. All in all, the differences are minor; the miracle of Christ feeding such a huge crowd is what remains. I hope this helps!
15 comments:
"then peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" matt 14:29-30
this verse stuck out to me today. in my short life, i have seen so many miracles. in my own life & in others. i know that i know that i know that there is a God..that Jesus is who he said he was/is. but, still, most days, i find myself like peter was on this day. when the winds come, i get scared, even though i know that God is going to carry me through. Jesus was right there, in the flesh, telling peter to come to him, not to be afraid. & still peter got scared.
sometimes it seems so clear what Jesus is telling me to do, & i back away. imagine what we could do to this world if we all just believed what God tells us! Lord, increase my faith.
one more thing :) ha! another word that came to mind was expectation. it seems like the disciples missed it sometimes. when you hang out with Jesus, you would think the disciples would have an expectant faith! everywhere they went, he healed people! fed 5,ooo men off of 5 loaves of bread! walked on water! just like in this study..i'm hanging out with Jesus everyday! i should be expecting great things!
From 5 loaves and 2 fish:
"They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."
Beautiful picture of God's abundance.
Not only did the disciples feed more mouths that the food supply should have allowed for, but they had 12 baskets full of leftovers.
I agree with Molly June. You would think that the expectation of faith would come so easily to the disciples. But here we see Peter afraid and doubting, and yet Jesus simply picks him up and sets him straight.
I love to see how compassionate and forgiving and well...understanding Jesus is. He realizes that he is there to be a teacher, that we're still learning and he continually forgives us for being human and unable to always understand whats going on. We doubt and fear and Jesus just keeps reassuring us. It's up to us to make sure we're listening to him!
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” This makes me think, God is here for us, he sees our troubles and suffering, he is on our side and will help us. God is with the underdog! I love the psalms, the poetry, the way it makes you feel when you read it. It's so spiritual, and fills my heart up.
In the book of Matthew, it says this...
"But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.”
I noticed a small tidbit in this verse, where the disciples say they have five loaves of bread and two fishes but also in the book of John, it says, one of the disciples finds a boy with loaves of bread and fishes for them to eat, as well.
Would this be different feeding of the five thousand or it is the same one?
Wonderful, uplifting passages today. The marriage of Rebekah and Isaac makes me realize that every step we take in life can be so blessed by the Lord, even if we don't have camels to help us know exactly who we're supposed to stick with. :)
The story of Jesus walking on water has always been close to the child in my heart. I always take such comfort here. Like the others have mentioned, Peter has every reason in the world to have all the faith in the world in Jesus - and when he falters, Jesus is right there, lifting him up. He doesn't watch him go down, laughing at his cowardice. "IMMEDIATELY Jesus reached out his hand and caught him." Whenever I am floundering and cry "Lord, save me!" in sheepish fear - he is right there, not more than a step away. Why did I doubt?
The story of Jesus walking on water was such a great illustration of the power and compassion Jesus had.
I had complete empathy for the humanity of Peter and think this is such a practical lesson for our own lives.
Peter obviously trusted Jesus enough to even entertain the idea of walking out on the water himself. But when things started getting challenging (the wind) he realized what he was doing and feared his own ability not capable.
Notice the moment Peter took his eyes off of Jesus (when he saw the wind) he started to sink.
Often times, and in the same way, we trust God enough to start out on the path that He has set before us only to find ourselves thinking that we are accomplishing things on our own. When we are tested and faced with a trial, we fear our own ability to overcome and are overwhelmed with doubt. Sadly, we sometimes forget that God is with us and working through us. The moment our eyes are taken off of Jesus we are reminded of our own humanity and apart from Jesus we can accomplish nothing miraculous.
My absolute favorite part:
"'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him."
Immediately. Jesus rescued him.
Peter knew Jesus had the ability to save him. Peter was helpless at that point and Jesus was compassionate. No...swim a little and learn a lesson for doubting. No..you are on your own, ye of little faith. Nope. None of that. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
Perhaps when we are sinking in over our heads and genuinely cry out, "Lord, save me!"...He might just save us. Immediately. Amen to that.
Perhaps when we are sinking in over our heads and genuinely cry out, "Lord, save me!"...He might just save us. Immediately. Amen to that.
so good, melissa! sososoooo good.
Today was such a good reading day! I love the story about the servant finding Rebekah. Being single I'm always wondering if I'm ever going to find the person I'm suppose to be with, and God forbid, I settle for the wrong person. But reading this passage I realized that as long as you pray to God to help you find the right person HE has chosen for you, he will lead you to them. You just can't forget to involve God in your search.
Also, Matthew 14... I second everything everyone else has already said. Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat, but the second he had doubt, he started sinking. It's so true, as soon as you start doubting Jesus, or the plan he has for you, you will start sinking. I don't want to sink because I am a person of little faith. I need to remember to always, completely, 100% trust in Jesus no matter how bad something gets or how scared or unsure I am.
God is so good!
I so agree with what everyone has said so far, just wanted to add a little tidbit. (Melissa, I loved your comment especially, spot on!)
In my mind the Old and New Testament readings today really synced up. Abraham has constantly "taken his eyes" off of God's plan by trying to do it himself. It's like Melissa stated: he had enough faith in God to start on his path, but he keeps thinking he can do it better himself. Peter and Abraham are doing the exact same thing! But the passage from Genesis shows that God has ALWAYS taken Abraham's hand again. These verses are the point in his story when the lineage (God's promise) FINALLY starts to happen, Rebekah comes to be Issac's wife!
It parallels Jesus reaching out that hand to Peter so nicely!
Liz- what a beautiful parallel you've drawn out of these chapters!! SO COOL!
I am interested in knowing the answer to Kyrene's question too !Kristy
For Kyrene and Kristy:
The story of Jesus feeding the crowd is found in every book of the Gospel: Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6. Every account is a little different. For example, in John it says a boy has five loaves and two fish; in the other accounts it says the disciples do. The disciples' responses to Jesus' question differ in each account. I believe that all the stories are about the same event. Each author of the Gospel chose the highlight something different, or was told a different detail about the event. All in all, the differences are minor; the miracle of Christ feeding such a huge crowd is what remains. I hope this helps!
To Charlotte:
Thank you!
I get it now. That's helps.
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