Do you fancy a walk on water? How about moving a mountain at command, or parting waves with the flick of a Moses hand?
Nothing is impossible if you have faith. But to gain faith one has to eschew doubt.
How do we do that?
In the face of outrageous pessimism how do we vanish the horned-shadow of qualm?
If you understand your holy inheritance, you, like me can call upon the power of ten thousand angels and your doubt will squirm behind you like a cowering Satan.
_______________________________________________________
I love the story in the bible about Jesus of Nazareth, and the disciple Peter, when they walked on water. It is a great example of faith!
I love it for several reasons, not least that I do worship Jesus Christ.
Some people think that the story is parabolic or a fancy allegory or an imaginary figment of some historical imagination. I choose to believe that it is one of the true miracles of Christ and my faith in that legend is important to me. The story goes thus;
Peter and the disciples of Jesus Christ are on a ship out at sea. This was when they were still men of the world, casting nets for a fishy catch, before they because fishers of men. On this occasion the sea - as it is prone to do in biblical lore took a stormy turn for the worse and started tossing the ship like a piece of balsa. The waves were raging and the disciples feared for their very lives. But the fear of the contrary sea was nothing next to the terror they felt when across the tumultuous waves strolled Jesus of Nazareth as casual as you or I on our Sunday amble.
He was walking on the water.
The men were terrified and thought Jesus a spirit, and when he spoke to them in their terror it doubled. When Jesus saw their fright he begged them to fear not, it is I, Jesus. He tried to reassure them that he was no sprit, but they were not convinced.
If it is really you Jesus a doubting Peter said, then bid me to walk beside you on the water. So Jesus bid him out from the boat and Peter - filled with faith was able to walk on the sea too. But, as he walked across the waves towards Jesus and he saw the rage of the water beneath his feet and all around him Peter suddenly erred. A second of doubt became a crippling loss of faith and he quickly started to sink into ocean. He cried out; save me Jesus, save me. Jesus held out his hand and lifted Peter out of the water and said why didst though doubt me of thou of little faith?
Faith had enabled Peter to walk on water. Lack of faith saw seen him sinking faster that the £ against the $.
When he asked Jesus for help, Peter called upon the power of ten thousand angels.
We can all do this, any time we want. We can all close our eyes and ask our God to help us, to guide us and when necessary to save us.
I ask for help every single day.
The two men returned to the ship, where the storm suddenly and miraculously calmed.
What I love about this story is what it represents to me. Whether you believe in Jesus Christ or miracles is of little consequence, what is important is that you see the literal meaning of this story. To me, the ship that the disciples find themselves on represents the world of comfort and safety; the known. Your safe comfortable world, your job, your house, your cult, your relationships, your cast and your beliefs. It represents what you know. The stormy water of course, that galaxy of salty wet represents discomfort, the dangerous unknown, the big world out there.
And Jesus walking on the water represents the seemingly impossible.
And let us be in no doubt of one thing; the impossible is never really impossible, it is just an opportunity that we have yet to find a solution for.
Jesus himself in the story represents faith.
And what Jesus is saying is I am doing something that you believe is impossible to prove to you the possibility of the impossible.
When Peter has faith he walks on water, the same as Jesus, when he allows doubt to enter into his mind he starts to sink. It is his faith that creates the miracle and his lack of faith that make impossibility out of the possible.
For Peter to achieve his miracle (in this case to walk on water) he has to leave the safety of the known, the safety of the ship, and step out into the unfamiliar (or the frightening), Jesus is acting as a man of congruence, he is saying I can do it, I am showing you that it can be done, now you do it. By walking on water he demonstrates the miracle in order to make it possible for all. He is the embodiment of his message, he is his own gospel. He is not just saying it can be done and simply expecting you to believe, he is showing that it can be done so that believing is easier.
I re-read the story of Jesus walking on water again yesterday. I like to re-visit the miracles periodically. I find them to be an inspirational reminder of my heritage. Especially in these so called recessionary times. The first thing I did after I closed the bible was look at my own life, my own beliefs, my own safe boats and my own impossible dreams. And I reassessed them. And whilst I dont plan to make a literal attempt at walking on the sea any time soon (all in good time my friends all in good time) I definitely and unequivocally am going to break my comfort zones and re-classify my list of impossible things. And more that anything else I am going to ask for more faith so that, even if water walking and mountain moving and the parting of large expanses of sea are not at the top of my to-do list, all those other impossible dreams will be. Because . (because, because, because ) nothing is impossible if you have faith!
Faith is charged with the power of ten thousand biblical angels, and if we call upon the ten thousand, mountains and seas and water walk-ways will be very small pickings my friends, man even the stars and the constellations will quiver before out might.
GOD BLESS
Nothing is impossible if you have faith. But to gain faith one has to eschew doubt.
How do we do that?
In the face of outrageous pessimism how do we vanish the horned-shadow of qualm?
If you understand your holy inheritance, you, like me can call upon the power of ten thousand angels and your doubt will squirm behind you like a cowering Satan.
_______________________________________________________
I love the story in the bible about Jesus of Nazareth, and the disciple Peter, when they walked on water. It is a great example of faith!
I love it for several reasons, not least that I do worship Jesus Christ.
Some people think that the story is parabolic or a fancy allegory or an imaginary figment of some historical imagination. I choose to believe that it is one of the true miracles of Christ and my faith in that legend is important to me. The story goes thus;
Peter and the disciples of Jesus Christ are on a ship out at sea. This was when they were still men of the world, casting nets for a fishy catch, before they because fishers of men. On this occasion the sea - as it is prone to do in biblical lore took a stormy turn for the worse and started tossing the ship like a piece of balsa. The waves were raging and the disciples feared for their very lives. But the fear of the contrary sea was nothing next to the terror they felt when across the tumultuous waves strolled Jesus of Nazareth as casual as you or I on our Sunday amble.
He was walking on the water.
The men were terrified and thought Jesus a spirit, and when he spoke to them in their terror it doubled. When Jesus saw their fright he begged them to fear not, it is I, Jesus. He tried to reassure them that he was no sprit, but they were not convinced.
If it is really you Jesus a doubting Peter said, then bid me to walk beside you on the water. So Jesus bid him out from the boat and Peter - filled with faith was able to walk on the sea too. But, as he walked across the waves towards Jesus and he saw the rage of the water beneath his feet and all around him Peter suddenly erred. A second of doubt became a crippling loss of faith and he quickly started to sink into ocean. He cried out; save me Jesus, save me. Jesus held out his hand and lifted Peter out of the water and said why didst though doubt me of thou of little faith?
Faith had enabled Peter to walk on water. Lack of faith saw seen him sinking faster that the £ against the $.
When he asked Jesus for help, Peter called upon the power of ten thousand angels.
We can all do this, any time we want. We can all close our eyes and ask our God to help us, to guide us and when necessary to save us.
I ask for help every single day.
The two men returned to the ship, where the storm suddenly and miraculously calmed.
What I love about this story is what it represents to me. Whether you believe in Jesus Christ or miracles is of little consequence, what is important is that you see the literal meaning of this story. To me, the ship that the disciples find themselves on represents the world of comfort and safety; the known. Your safe comfortable world, your job, your house, your cult, your relationships, your cast and your beliefs. It represents what you know. The stormy water of course, that galaxy of salty wet represents discomfort, the dangerous unknown, the big world out there.
And Jesus walking on the water represents the seemingly impossible.
And let us be in no doubt of one thing; the impossible is never really impossible, it is just an opportunity that we have yet to find a solution for.
Jesus himself in the story represents faith.
And what Jesus is saying is I am doing something that you believe is impossible to prove to you the possibility of the impossible.
When Peter has faith he walks on water, the same as Jesus, when he allows doubt to enter into his mind he starts to sink. It is his faith that creates the miracle and his lack of faith that make impossibility out of the possible.
For Peter to achieve his miracle (in this case to walk on water) he has to leave the safety of the known, the safety of the ship, and step out into the unfamiliar (or the frightening), Jesus is acting as a man of congruence, he is saying I can do it, I am showing you that it can be done, now you do it. By walking on water he demonstrates the miracle in order to make it possible for all. He is the embodiment of his message, he is his own gospel. He is not just saying it can be done and simply expecting you to believe, he is showing that it can be done so that believing is easier.
I re-read the story of Jesus walking on water again yesterday. I like to re-visit the miracles periodically. I find them to be an inspirational reminder of my heritage. Especially in these so called recessionary times. The first thing I did after I closed the bible was look at my own life, my own beliefs, my own safe boats and my own impossible dreams. And I reassessed them. And whilst I dont plan to make a literal attempt at walking on the sea any time soon (all in good time my friends all in good time) I definitely and unequivocally am going to break my comfort zones and re-classify my list of impossible things. And more that anything else I am going to ask for more faith so that, even if water walking and mountain moving and the parting of large expanses of sea are not at the top of my to-do list, all those other impossible dreams will be. Because . (because, because, because ) nothing is impossible if you have faith!
Faith is charged with the power of ten thousand biblical angels, and if we call upon the ten thousand, mountains and seas and water walk-ways will be very small pickings my friends, man even the stars and the constellations will quiver before out might.
GOD BLESS
