We will be using the GBM Version again so we all read the same text.

You can find our passage here. Just scroll down until you see the verse marked with yellow

https://gbmbible.gbmi.co.za/gbm-bible/?bref=Matthew+14%3A22&bver=GBMV

To change the selected text just click on a verse number

Last week we covered the first two verses only

so tonight we begin with verse 24. Click the 24 to highlight that verse

Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the middle of the sea, struggling in the waves: for the wind was going in the opposite direction. [GBMV]

If you want to copy a verse or several verses go to the link at top or bottom that says Copy and you will get a new window

This shows a verse range and the text below

If you want to copy more than one verse, change the range by selecting a higher number for the To field

Try changing that from 24 to 25 and you will now see two verses listed below

You can copy by selecting the text and doing a regular cmd or ctrl C to copy to clipboard

ok close the new window now and return to the chapter

To lay a ground work, we looked last week at how Jesus sent his disciples away after feeding the 5000

Then He climbed a mountain to pray

We learned a few things from this about prayer and how Jesus did things

So now we are looking at the disciples on the sea

Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the middle of the sea, struggling in the waves: for the wind was going in the opposite direction. [GBMV]

The floor is open now for comments

Good observations but if you want to get the most from Scripture you need to be able to allegorize or interpret from the picture

What is the sea a picture of

What is the wind a picture of

what are the waves a picture of

yes all good observations, but to get the truth we need to see the pictures

no you are jumping the gun mark

Ever heard of the sea of life?

English expression

used sometimes in songs

good sonja

that is the sea of life

the disciples are a picture of us as believers

They are out on the sea of life

trying to make headway in this life

yes good John

Now what is it that is making this journey difficult

I see two things, but there is also a third

Yes Ricks, is this not your spiritual experience?

good Dinah\\

that was my third opne

the other two are the wind and waves

So here you are going along on the sea of life

and now suddenly the wind comes up

Wind can be a blessing too right?

But this was not

If the wind was with them it would have helped

Good Lila, lets intepret these into our real life experiences

The wind is easy to understand

Everything that the enemy throws against you to block you

See this is why you must interpret the word with pictures

What do the waves speak of?

Let me give you a hint

What is up sometimes and then suddenly down

good

Sut I think it speaks of our feelings

right Mark

When you face problems in life your feelings let you down

good Ricks

It is almost like going up a hill and then down into the valley

So all in all this is not a good picture

What about the ship can we see a picture there?

What can the ship represent?

no they were in the ship

a ship is a vehicle

what do vehicles picture?

did any of you read my book on dreams and visions?

clearly not

A vehicle is usually a picture of ministry, although usually the vehicles are things we ride in

A ship pictures a different kind of activity to ministry

yes well done Eunice

The ships of tarshish were trading ships

I wrote a full book called The God Kind of Business

and in there I began to speak about the boats of business

How different boats and ships picture different kinds of business

check the verse again: Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the middle of the sea, struggling in the waves: for the wind was going in the opposite direction. [GBMV]

What was struggling in the sea?

it was the ship that was struggling

Check my ad for this book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQOSDINFAk4&t=1s

This book is the foundation for doing business God’s way

most of the other business books are based on its chapters

So now lets get back to practical application

Here you are struggling on the sea of life and the enemy is throwing everything against you

Your feelings keep changing and make it difficult to keep going

But what if you had a better ship?

Or better still, what would happen if Jesus was in the ship?

I just did an ad on an old book that I had forgotten about called Four Weeks with God in business

It was based on a whole month of teachings given each weekday on business

If you are struggling to get ahead in business we have a whole school devoted to the subject

good Eunice

Ok I think we got a fair amount out of that verse don’t you think?

25 And between six and nine o\'clock in morning as the sun was rising, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

Can you see this picture in your mind?

Perhaps you might ask this question - why did Jesus take so long to come to them?

now I want you to put yourself in Jesus place

We saw last time how he had been ministering all day

good on Eunice

then he went and climbed a mountain to pray

now apart from the miraculous ability to walk on water

Imagine you are Jesus standing at the edge of the sea

how far do you suppose the disciples had traveled already?

Jesus now had to walk that distance on the water

Imagine the sea to Jesus was like walking on land

What does this land look like?

and remember the wind is also blowing against him as He walks

yes Mark

So it was not just a plain simple walk

He had to go up and down each wave like a hill

But I thought He was tired?

Yet he seemed to have amazing physical strength

Perhaps he did body building ? 😀

I see something here that might be a sidetrack

But I always follow my spirit

I want you to put yourself like I said in Jesus place

If you want to move in His power then you should do as He did

and He said we could do even more

I have never been one who got excited about exercise and sports

But what if I were called to be another Paul?

Imagine what kind of body he had to withstand all those shipwrecks and bad treatment?

So the question I ask myself is this

If I had taken better care of my body, could the Lord not have perhaps used me more?

See there’s good motivation for diet and exercis

Well we should press on there are more verses to cover

😀

Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, It is a ghost; and they cried out with fear. [GBMV]

Do you suppose they had a boogie man in those times?

This could take us on another subject altogether but we will not go there

But just so you are settled in your mind, what is a ghost?

Does Casper the friendly ghost exist?

a demon does not have a body

so it actually has no shape to be seen

so how come people see ghosts?

no Ricks

when someone sees a ghost they see an image that was placed in the mind by a demon

A spirit or ghost does not have physical body

Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is really me: feel me, and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have. [GBMV]

Anyway this is another subject we can look at later

I just wanted to mention it in passing

It was not the first time the disciples thought Jesus was a ghpst

when He appeared after his resurrection they thought the same

So lets leave that for now and see something else in this verse

Lets get back to the scene

They are struggling out on the sea of life

And they are struggling because Jesus is not with them

But they are not expecting him

So when He does appear they miss their opportunity

Instead of rejoicing they are filled with fear

Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in trying to solve our own problems that we miss the Lord

I mean Jesus could surely have just transported Himself to the other side

But He made the effort of walking to them

Are your spiritual eyes open to see when the LORD is working?

He never imposes Himself

We must move on

Matthew 14:27 But immediately, Jesus spoke to them, saying, Cheer up; it is Me; do not be afraid. [GBMV]

What do you see here?

That expression “It is I” should be It is Me for good English

But actually what is really mean is - I AM

He is still the Great I AM

One of the most common statements Jesus always made to his disiples was..

Fear Not

That expression Cheer Up means be of good courage

How do you show courage?

At least this time he did not condemn them, but that is coming

yes exactly

Notice that both of his statements were imperitives

I know this by checking the Greek 😀

That means they were not suggestions but commands

One the tools of the GBM Bible

If He commands not to fear then it must be possible to stop fearing

But that is again another big subject

we will see more on this shortly

Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water. [GBMV]

Matthew 14:29 So he said, Come to me. And when Peter had descended from the ship, he walked upon the water, to go toward Jesus. [GBMV]

yes

Lord please give me a sign - that is what most of us say

not at first Lila

jumping the gun😀

I want you to think about what was about to happen

Did Peter have faith to walk on the water?

no he didn\'t

He only had faith in Jesus command

He knew that if Jesus told him to do it, then Jesus would help him do it

Let’s try to apply this to your own experience

I heard a preacher share once how the Lord told him to go and tell a woman in a wheel chair that she could get up and walk

jumping the gun Ricks

He had not faith at all it would happen

so he went up and whispered to her that she could walk, but so nobody else could hear it, in case nothing happened

And as he turned to walk back to the platform he heard everyone cheering

because she got up and began to walk

He had not faith at all, but He obeyed the Lord

When you move in the miraculous it will often work that way

It is not your faith that brings the results but your obedience

So Peter obeyed the Lord and began to walk on the water

Peter had faith in the words of the Lord

but he soon found out that he had no faith in himself

And what was it that sole the faith he had in the word of the Lord?

stole

no

Matthew 14:30 But when he noticed that the wind was strong, he became afraid; and started to sink, he cried [out], saying, Lord, save me. [GBMV]

Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, and said to him, you one of little faith, why did you waver with doubt? [GBMV]

yes good Lila

But it was doubt that did it

You see he had two voice he could listen to

The one was the word of the Lord to him

The other was the voice of his mind from the pictures it saw

Can you see how powerful pictures are?

So how can we resist this happening to us?

By doing what I am trying to show you tonight

Instead of just reading the word and thinking with your intellectds

Learn to turn it into postive pictures

That will build faith

But the Lord is so wonderful isn’t He?

Even when Peter failed, Jesus did not fail

He will always rescue you when you miss it and not condemn you

It was clear Peter was not going to make it by himself

So Jesus just reached out and grabbed him

ok our time is up so lets end this study now

Matthew 14:32 And when they stepped back into the ship, the wind stopped blowing. [GBMV]

I am going to try to put together what I believe the Lord is saying to us tonight

We go out on the sea of life and face many difficulties

but the Lord never forsakes us

He will appear right there in the middle of it all

But if you are not expecting him you may miss your time of visitation

Or you may even misinterpret what He is doing

Why is this?

And why did Jesus do it this way?

Because he wanted to teach them some valuable principles

and so it may seem at times that He delays helping us

but in fact He is already there waiting

But too many of us are so used to “Doing It Self”

that we try and make it through without His help

Hey come on Lord, I can do this too you know

I can also walk in water you know

And I will make it without you having to intervene

Hey look at me guys, I am walking on the water

aint I great, am I not a great man or woman of God?

Next thing - crash dive

Oops

But Jesus does not condemn him or reject him

First he rescues him, then he points out why he failed

And He will do the same for you when you mess up

That gives us plenty of room to both succeed and fail

and with His gentle hand guiding us we can get up again when we fall

and give it another try

Thank the Lord for His loving grace

I hope you all got something personally out of our study

We all see things in different ways

And this what makes us unique

But the Lord still reveals His will to us

and takes us by the hand

So go out this week and try to apply some of these things as you go on the sea of life

Have a blessed week and we will see some of you again on Saturday

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