GOD’S WORD FOR JULY 8
GOD’S WORD FOR JULY 8 ~ ~ Matthew 14:25 ~ ~ ““Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.”
God is always surprising us in His creation!!! He never wastes anything either. I believe the distinct things about each animal and plant have a lesson in the way He deals with us and the Plan of Salvation.
Think of the Apostles in the boat, in a severe storm, in Matthew 14. The day they had just spent was full of emotion. John the Baptist was just beheaded, then Jesus fed five thousand men, besides their wives and children, with just five loaves and 2 fish.
Can you have two more conflicting and confusing situations for these new believers in one long day? How can He let His beloved cousin be killed, as if He had no power at all, then the next hour or so, He did this mighty miracle??!!! Who was He anyway?
Tired, confused, and cramped in the boat, probably with 12 baskets of the leftover food, that they didn’t know what to do with……….They just wanted to get to the other side and into their blankets to sleep. It was too much. They struggled to stay awake.
“NOW WHAT???!!!! A HUGE STORM!!!!! ok, NOW they’re awake!!!
AND—–THERE’S JESUS!!! WALKING ON WATER!!! Peter, being Peter, wanted to walk on water too, so he did……until he didn’t anymore and Jesus had to save him. After He got into the boat, the wind ceased and they proceeded to the other side, and Jesus had more work waiting for him in the form of healing the sick…..No sleep, apparently, that night.
But from this, the apostles had their question answered—-or they should have. He IS the Son of God.
Jesus must have had a little chuckle looking forward to Peter’s antics on that night, back when He created the basilisk lizard about 4 millennia earlier. This lizard is found from Mexico to Ecuador, and lives in trees, on the ground or in water—doesn’t matter to him. In fact, he can be underwater for several hours, either swimming or running on the bottom. On land he is an excellent climber, since his back legs are longer than his front legs. This also gives him excellent speed, and if it gets more urgent, he’ll just stand up to his 2 foot height, and run on his back legs. Jesus also gave him skin flaps on both sides of its back toes, and scale fringes on the toes themselves. Why would he need these things to walk on land? He doesn’t. He needs them when he…………………..
WALKS ON WATER! YUP. He can run across the surface of a body of water up to 100 feet wide, and if he gets threatened, or tired, he simply drops down and runs on the bottom!!!!
Maybe Jesus thought about the Sea of Galilee when he created this guy, running upright on top of the water? Or even running his race across the bottom of the sea, upright?? If so, then He also thought of the comparison of him to Peter’s attempt to do the same.
He could do a better job than Peter—why? Because God’s creation doesn’t question who He is!!!!
THEY KNOW, OBEY and GROAN FOR THE REDEMPTION OF MAN!!!
Romans 8:19 ~ ~ “For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.”
Creation is totally submitted to their Creator. Instinct is God’s communication to His creatures, and they obey perfectly.
Man is the only creature that was created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) We are the only creation into whose nostrils God breathed His life. (Genesis 2:7) He didn’t do that with any other creature. God breathed His very life into man, after He created him from the dust of the earth.
So, mankind is both earthly, being created out of the earth, and heavenly, having the very breath of God in his nostrils. If the creatures know Him and obey, how much more should we, who are saved and know Jesus, be clinging to every Word that comes from Him.
And yet, we see more strongly each hour, the spirit of the antichrist being embraced and absorbed by so many individuals. Its demonic influence is being slipped into the moldable minds of young people through “relaxation techniques” in schools, hindu rituals under other names, evolution, through media, music, videos, tic toc and the like, all peddling demonic influence, and all having two things in common:
- Turning them away from a simple, true worship of Jesus by depicting Christians as idiots, so they’re embarrassed to be the only one believing in Him in a group.
- Instilling in them the lie of the devil from eons past, that he will escalate to great dimensions in our lifetimes: “you are gods”
It’s what Eve believed, and later Adam too. That desire to be a god has never left mankind. It is tattoed into our DNA, and it won’t take a lot to convince anyone of that lie who is not protected by the Blood of Christ. Our young people need to be educated about this lie and the subtle and enticing ways it is being presented. The devil doesn’t identify himself, so they need to learn how to identify him themselves. Just compromising on obeying the Word of God in any way is the first step, and it will continue if not repented of directly to Jesus, asking for His strength to obey always.
Remember, our children are the future of the Church and this Nation!
How does the FBI identify counterfeit money? They don’t study the counterfeit currency. They study, study, and do some more studying, of the REAL bills. That way, any tiny discrepancy in a potential counterfeit will be very obvious. THAT’S what we, as followers of Christ need to do. We need to know His Word so well that anything we hear from the world that’s designed to lead us to the antichrist thinking will sound an alarm in our spirits immediately!!! “THIS isn’t right!”
This is what parents need to do with their children! Drench them in the Word of God, and keep them from the worldly influences of media at least until they are old enough and strong enough in the Word to recognize the DEADLY counterfeit!!!!
They need to be saved, and be strong enough in the Spirit, to not only stand themselves, but to help others to stand.
This is war. It will seem peaceful on the outside, that’s the deception, but don’t fall for that. We are in a spiritual war. Let us never forget that!!!
Ephesians 6:10
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
Live in the Light of Our Lord 