Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Matthew 14:22-36
Set – Matthew 14-15
Go! – Psalms 134; Matthew 14-16
Matthew 14:22-36
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on to the other side of the sea while He dismissed the crowd. 23 Then, after the crowd had gone, Jesus went up to a mountaintop alone (as He had intended from the start). As evening descended, He stood alone on the mountain, praying.
24 The boat was in the water, some distance from land, buffeted and pushed around by waves and wind. 25 Deep in the night, when He had concluded His prayers, Jesus walked out on the water to His disciples in their boat. 26 The disciples saw a figure moving toward them and were terrified.
Disciple: It’s a ghost!
Another Disciple: A ghost? What will we do?
Jesus: 27 Be still. It is I. You have nothing to fear.
Peter: 28 Lord, if it is really You, then command me to meet You on the water.
Jesus: 29 Indeed, come.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. 30 But when he remembered how strong the wind was, his courage caught in his throat and he began to sink.
Peter: Master, save me!
31 Immediately Jesus reached for Peter and caught him.
Jesus: O you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and forth between following Me and heeding fear?
32 Then Jesus and Peter climbed in the boat together, and the wind became still. 33 And the disciples worshiped Him.
Disciples: Truly You are the Son of God.
34 All together, Jesus and the disciples crossed to the other side of the sea. They landed at Gennesaret, an area famous for its princely gardens. 35 The people of Gennesaret recognized Jesus, and they spread word of His arrival all over the countryside. People brought the sick and wounded to Him 36 and begged Him for permission to touch the fringes of His robe. Everyone who touched Him was healed.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Two things I want you to notice from what you heard today. First, take note of My prayer schedule and its importance to Me. I talked to the Father for long periods of time and I talked to Him often. I plan to talk with Him several times a day, but sometimes that plan is interrupted. When it is, that doesn’t stop Me from spending time with Him. When the crowds found Me praying on the sea shore and interrupted My quiet time with the Father, I stopped and met their needs.
I spoke to the crowd from the shore until the crowd grew so large I had to get into a boat so all could hear Me. At the end of the day, I sent the crowd away and sent My disciples ahead of Me across the Sea of Galilee to Gennesaret. I went back up on the mountainside to a quiet place to resume My conversation with My Father. Although the day had been long and the disciples departed without Me, time with the Father was more important than rest. I spent the evening hours and stayed deep into the night talking with Him.
The second thing I want you to remember is Peter’s actions. Remember that a disciple when I walked the earth was one who became like his teacher. He studied under his teacher until he dressed like him, talked like him, adopted his habits and mannerisms. In essence, a disciple became the next generation’s copy of his teacher to carry on the legacy of his teacher.
With that thought in mind, think about Peter and all the other disciples crowded in that boat in those early hours of the morning. Only one of those men chose to be enough like Me to climb out of the boat into the darkness and walk on the water. Only one overcame his fear and put enough faith in Me to be like Me in those few moments. Did he later fail and fear the waves and begin to sink? Yes, he did. But Peter was the only one at that point in our journey together to do what I was doing at the moment and forget everything else around him. Peter alone disregarded everything he thought was truth and believed me enough to get out of the boat. When he did, he walked on the water, just like Me.
So, spend time talking with Me. A lot of time. Never sacrifice the time you should spend with Me. It’s important. And when you spend time with Me, you’ll do amazing things. You might even do some things you never imagined you would ever do. You might even end up doing things as remarkable as Peter, like walking on the water to Me. You just never know.
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