Most of us have heard the story....

Yes... a powerful story of our Lord's signs and wonders! However, I think sometimes we get wrapped up in the "signs and wonders" part... I can almost hear the preachers on television, "IF JEEEEEZZZZUSSSS.... can walk on water, then SURELY... He can pay for my NEW HOME!"

Please understand that I am stressing the emphasis on the preacher's thinking and not on making light of the Power of Christ! I do believe in that Power... I have seen it work many, many times in my own life! It's that Power in our lives that I want to discuss here!

Let's look at these scriptures:

Matthews 14:25-33

25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Wow! There is so much to talk about in these seven verses and there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible! Think if we studied them more we would learn something??? OK, back to my train of thought. Let's break down this group of verses a little more to see some real truth here.

Maybe Peter was the first to see Christ and to yell at the others to take notice. Jesus told them "Don't be afraid!"... This is our first lesson... Don't be afraid! Jesus was thought to be a ghost... but the more time we spend with the Lord the easier it will become to know when it is Him... we will become more and more aware of His presence.

In my yard, I have one type of grass that is supposed to grow and crowd-out the grass that I do not want to grow in my yard. This is a great example of Faith and Fear! Making our faith stronger is the only way to crowd-out the fear in our life. The less fear we have the more faith we have... the more faith we have... the more we are aware of His presence!

Then we read that Peter makes the statement "Lord, if that is you...". Sometimes we don't know what God is trying to tell us... sometimes we don't know if the "message" we are hearing is from Him or not... just like Peter we can ask! God, is this message from you?

The next thing we read is; "Come"... not "yes of course Peter, it is me." Our answer comes in our action... we are commanded to do something in order to find the answer... is that always the case? I am not sure... I would have to study a little more. However, here, Peter is required to act in order to know.

Next, Peter takes action... HE GETS OUT OF THE BOAT AND HE WALKS ON THE WATER! Peter walks on the water! Just a plain human like you and I... walking on water! I think this is my favorite part of everything written in the Bible! It shows that we can step closer and closer to Christ... a bigger and better relationship with GOD!

OH, BUT WAIT! Did you read the next part? The VERY next verse Peter SINKS! Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and started to sink! This is my SECOND most favorite part of the Bible! Have I lost you? I mean it this is the next major breakthrough in your life! Most people will stop right here... See, Peter isn't all that... he SUNK!....

So many times in our lives we sink... we start out in faith... attempting to walk towards Jesus and then... just like Peter we are distracted... we fall... we sink! Satan wants us to believe that WE CANNOT DO WHAT CHRIST COMMANDS US TO DO!.... The sad thing is... many of us believe him!

My message to you... KEEP READING! That's right if you have to print these verses out and tape them on your body somewhere... remember to KEEP READING... For in the last part of this same verse we find a very powerful lesson in what we are to do...

Peter faltered in his faith... and we can do that too. Ok.. Let's just be honest here... we do falter in our faith... we are not perfect and neither was Peter! Some will say.... See, we can lose our Salvation... and I disagree... when Peter faltered he did not leave the presence of Christ... Christ was still right there and in this same verse we learn a valuable example of how we are to get up when we stumble! Peter cried out... "Lord, save me!"

Peter was a fisherman... I doubt he was afraid of the water... I doubt that he could not swim... I am sure that in his life time he battled rough seas... I am sure he knew what to do in such times. We can become very skilled... a pilot is very skilled in the job he does... a teacher is very knowledgeable in the work he/she is required to preform... and some of us have done really well for ourselves financially, there is a nice retirement waiting for our golden years.... but regardless of OUR ability... Christ can override that and cause us to become weak. You have had those times where no matter what you tried... life just did not get better. This is when we have taken our eyes off of Christ... we have become afraid... we are SINKING! It is in that sinking moment that we instantly know our weaknesses... and as Peter did... WE MUST CRY OUT TO THE LORD.... we must give up pride, skill, knowledge and anything else we have come to depend on and we must CRY OUT! When a lamb is in trouble or lost... it CRIES OUT... when a baby is in need it CRIES OUT and what happens... EVERYONE AROUND IS PUT ON ALERT! Christ was put on alert and IMMEDIATELY reached out....

But see... if we were like most people we would have stopped reading a long time ago... We would have come to verse 30 and given up... not going on and reading verse 31!

DO NOT GIVE UP.... KEEP READING!!! VERSE 32....

When everything we try fails.... when we sink... when we cry out to God... He comes to our aid... AND...... THE WIND DIES DOWN!

Do you still live in the midst of the storm.... maybe it is time for you to CRY OUT... Lord, help me, I can not do it alone any more! "Lord, save me!"....