Walk of Faith

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Matthew 14:29: '“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.'

The blog last Friday (7th February 2025) closed with these words:

So, are you ‘ready to follow HIM?’

‘COME!’

Did you respond to Jesus’ voice? Or, did you move away from Him and His word sufficiently enough to no longer hear His voice? Then we wonder why we’ve lost the zeal and excitement of our walk of faith.

Gregg Levoy describes this as the common cold of the soul:

"To sinful patterns of behaviour that never get confronted and changed,

Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed –

Until weeks become months and months turn into years;

And one day you’re looking back on a life of deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had;

Great bold prayers you never prayed;

Exhilarating risks you never took;

Sacrificial gifts you never offered; 

Lives you never touched.

And you’re sitting in a recliner with a shrivelled soul, forgotten dreams and you realise there was a world of desperate need,

And a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself.

You see the person you could have become but did not;

You never followed your calling."

Walk of faith

We are exploring what it means to step out of our boat, take some risks and go places we could never go in our own strength. It's simply a story about obedience and extreme discipleship.

My first question to you at the start of 2025 was this: “What’s God calling you to do and what’s stopping you from accepting His invitation and stepping out in faith in obedience?”

Responding to Jesus will always mean moving out of the comfortable and predictable and trusting Him in the walk of faith.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaxEXZqpRcA

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Walk of faith always requires a new focus

Peter saw with eyes of Real, Radical and Reckless faith.

From time to time, he understood what Jesus was asking him and showing him. He saw it so clearly, and sometimes he got it! This is one of those times. In obeying Jesus’ call, Peter actually finds himself moving closer towards Jesus. That’s what the walk of faith does!

It's a picture of the church that’s prepared to move out, on Jesus’ say-so, seeking a new identity in becoming more like Him.

We need to walk by faith. The church is empowered to do incredible things in the world - impossible things, unimaginable things - Jesus things!

A walk of faith will require a new focus on Jesus; Peter got it and lived it!

What would “stepping out” in faith look like in your personal arena and network of influence with your family, friends, work, or with your finances, your time and witness?

Walk of faith will always require a first step 

Peter’s water-walking experience began with a first step and it led to the most exhilarating walk of his life. Peter’s first step was in the midst of the storm. Please note, imperfect conditions are often the perfect place to start if we are going to experience a greater measure of the power of God in our lives. This will usually involve the first step principle. It will usually require trusting God enough to take a step of faith and obedience.

It will mean...   

Claude T. Bissell said, “We risk more than others think is safe; dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible!”

What barriers or fears make stepping out in radical faith difficult for you right now?

Are you “hanging onto” anything that keeps you from following Christ? Is it stuff? People? The past?

2 Corinthians. 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight." 

It's a very short description of a Christian! And yet how liberating! It sums up the whole experience of those that are born of God. How’s your WALK as a Christian going?

“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.”

Campbell Morgan said, “Faith is the venture that steps off the tangible; and in the doing of it, demonstrates to its own soul the reality of the intangible.”

Jesus, speaking of the insurmountable challenges of the Christian life to the Rich Young Man said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Notice Jesus said, ‘with God.’  ‘With God’ means being united with God by faith.

In Mark chapter 9, a desperate father with a demon-possessed son, was anxious for his son's healing, so he comes to Jesus to ask Him to help him: “if you can.” “If?” Jesus says. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” “I do believe,” the man says, “Help my unbelief.” Like most of us, he was a mixture of trust and doubt. How much faith did he have? He’d made the first step, “Enough to come to Jesus,” “And that was enough!”

Ask yourselves, “what am I doing that I could not do apart from the power of God?”

• Maybe it’s taking the risk of sharing your faith at work.

• Maybe it’s tithing and giving sacrificially.

• Maybe it’s using your God-given spiritual gift/s.

• Maybe it’s becoming vulnerable in asking for help.

If we want to experience the power of God in our lives, we must be willing to make the first step.

Stop and consider what it’ll mean!

Elisabeth Elliot asks, “Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counsellor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don’t need to search any further for security.”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrAafe7Mns

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Walk of faith always leads to the more of life

I believe today, like Matthew’s church in 70AD, there’s a call to the more of life. There’s more to life than living a comfortable, risk free, trouble-avoiding Christian life. There’s got to be MORE! 

John Ortberg said, “I believe there is something – Someone – inside us who tells us there is more to life than sitting in the boat. You were made for something more than merely avoiding failure. There is something inside you that wants to walk on water – to leave the comfort of routine existence and abandon yourself to the high adventure of following God.” 

Christianity is not an addition to, or improvement of, the old life; it is a new life altogether.     

Let me ask you an important question: What’s stopping your next step towards Jesus? What is it that holds you back?

For Fred it’s his work. He’s been stuck at a dead-end job for years and he’s afraid that he’s missed his calling, but he can’t leave it.                                

For Kathy, it’s a relationship. She’s been involved for as long as she can remember with a guy that’s afraid of commitment, yet she’s too tired and afraid to confront him about it.

For Doug, it’s secrecy. He’s worried that he might have a problem with gambling, but he vehemently denies it whenever anybody asks him.

Peter, in making the step of faith, walks away from the familiar, the safe, from the way it has always been done, and he walks on water.

In what area of life are you shrinking back from fully and courageously trusting God? Leaving it may be the hardest thing you ever do. But if you want to walk with Jesus to the ‘more of life’ you’ve got to make the next move and accept His invitation to COME! 

Rev Browning Ware once said, "Our worst circumstances may be God's best opportunity to bring new meaning to our lives."

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