When WALKING ON WATER (walking in the supernatural and beyond your abilities),
there are four things that will try to hinder you.
1. The Deep
2. The Dark
3. The Distractions
4. The Distance
For Peter to get out of the boat he only had to hear the Lord say the word "COME" Yet he had to OVERCOME His fear of the surrounding elements.
We must OVERCOME if we are going to remain standing until we reach our destination, which is to get to Christ.Let us look at a few things that were challenging Peter.
1. This was one DEEP situation. What was the Depth of water under him. He was in over his head.
2. The DARK. It was not bright and sunny. Christ in the middle of the sea was His Guiding Light. This miracle was not happening in the easiest of surroundings or circumstances.
3. The DISTRACTIONS. The splashing of the waves, the wind and the lighting would have been a constant reminder he was out of his element.
4. The DISTANCE. From the boat to Jesus was a good distance away. So it is when we begin a new journey in the Lord.
We have our beginning or our ALPHA moment. What we need to get to the end or our OMEGA takes great courage and FAITH. We can make it though if we can realize one very important key.
The Lord has given us all we need to OVERCOME! HIS LOVE!
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
It is the Love of God that gets us through all of our trials and tests.
NOTICE: LOVE has a BREADTH, LENGTH,DEPTH, and HEIGHT.
No matter how Deep or Dark the Situation, no matter how many Distractions and no matter the Distance His Love will see us through.
His Love is Deeper than the Depth of the Waters.
The Breadth (width ) of His Love is wider than the Darkness trying to surround us.
The Height of His love is greater than the Distractions trying to get our attention. The waves, the flashes of lighting and the rain from the storm.
There is no LENGTH to His love that can DISTANCE us from Him.
Just like He said to Peter, He says to all mankind. COME!
NO MATTER WHAT CHALLENGE IS FACING YOU, YOU WILL MAKE IT BECAUSE HE CALLED YOU!
Add your name here _____________________ Jesus says "COME!"
Maybe we are asking the wrong people to pray for us.
When Hannah was barren she went to the temple and Eli blessed her.
1Samuel 1:17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
Did you know there is a difference between having someone pray for you and finding someone in Authority who can command the blessing for you?
Sometimes a person cannot get a breakthrough because they are sitting asking the wrong leadership or asking the wrong people to pray for them.
When we can't get a break through we need to find that one who can command a thing at the word of the Lord.
When Naaman had leprosy he had to get out of his comfort zone and go to a place he did not think was worthy of him.
He had to be completely stripped of his pride in order to submit to the word of the prophet to receive his healing.
Could it be that the place that we think is least worthy of us is the place that holds our miracle?
2 Kings 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
Naaman had a thought on how things should go for him.
His pride said that the servant of the Lord should do this or that.
In vs 12 He says Abana Pharpar were much better for a miracle than the Jordan.
Jordan - means descent or descender.
In order to get a miracle he had to lower or humble himself in the place that the word of the Lord had directed him.
Abana - means support.
Phapar - means stone or stony
Naaman had thought his own land which had supported him was better.
A place where he felt he was standing on Solid Ground or firmly.
Support from family ... job ... culture ... nation ... church ... pastor ... is Honorable.
It is good to be able to stand confidently and feel secure.
At the same time we must not make it an idol.
Sometimes a person will miss there miracle because they stay stuck in the place they feel supports them and they do not humble down or descend into the place that will grant them their breakthrough.
In order to receive a miracle we must allow ourselves to be in a humble and broken place.
We must then become obedient to the word of the Lord.
In vs 13 Naamans servants reason with him and he humbles himself and in verse 14 he obeys the word of the prophet and is completely healed.
Could it be God is breaking our pride?
Where is the word of the Lord and where is that place we need to become humbled?
The power of the spoken word when directed by the Lord is an incredible force. We find in many passages of scripture, God giving specific instruction to His servants what to speak.
Prophets are instructed to speak exactly what has been told to them and to not add or take away from the His Word. De 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Pr 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Rev 22:18-19
It is made very clear that any person who adds or takes away from the Word of the Lord will receive severe punishment.
We must remember it was His Word that formed and framed everything in the Universe and that His Word never returns void. His Word always has an impact and has a specific assignment that must be fulfilled. What many fail to see is that the Word is spiritual and it has an immediate affect on the natural realm. So when we speak wrong or in a way that is contrary to the Word or His directives, it is not fulfilling His desire and brings forth an improper representation of Him and the Kingdom.
One of the awesome things about the Word of God is that it bypasses all of the natural laws that man understands.
When the Lord spoke to Ezekiel a clear directive was given.
Eze 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
Here we see a very clear picture of the word of God bypassing the natural process of degeneration and we see regeneration in operation.
What we must understand, for those of us who are called to prophesy to the elements, continents, atmospheres, and regions that we must speak exactly as we have been instructed. If we speak presumptuously, we can move into self will and that can turn into witchcraft.
When the Lord spoke to Elijah, God used His prophet to change the natural order to fulfill His will in the Earth.
1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
God was out to prove a point. Ahab had re-instituted Baal worship that had been removed and destroyed by the Prophet Samuel. It was believed that Baal was the God of fertility and would bring increase in three areas.
Fields- meaning harvest of grain and field products
Flocks- meaning an increase of animals
Families- that Baal would bring increase to family members
YHWH had to prove Baal was not God and He had His Prophet in place to speak to the Natural realm to accomplish this. So the land goes into a three and a half year drought at the Word of the Lord.
Jas 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
What did the Lord do? He implemented His Word to change the natural order of the Earth.
Please examine this picture as it shows the natural order for the Earths watering system.
We have a natural process that waters the Earth.
Clouds form rain
Rain falls on the Earth creating water
Water turns into vapor and returns in a condensed form to create more clouds starting the process all over again
Condensation- clouds form
Precipitation- rain falls
Evaporation- vapor rises
When it came to the set time appointed by God, Elijah was sent after 3 1/2 years to release the rains.
1Ki 18:1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
Now what happened? When God had the Prophet speak the first time it stopped the natural process of vapor returning to the sky. God locked the vapors in the waters. Let us look at 1 Kings 18 after the battle with the false prophets. Elijah cast himself down upon the Earth and gives instructions to servant .....
1Ki 18:42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,
The Prophet postures himself and makes intercession
Ahab runs off to eat and drink rather than repent.
43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
There arises a little cloud out of the sea. VAPOR! This vapor had remained locked up in the sea and had not returned into the sky to create condensation in the atmosphere so that clouds could form.
The sea is a symbol for humanity and this is exactly the same thing that is happening with the people of God. Because they are failing to release properly, the Heavens are not releasing their Rains upon the Church, the Earth, the lost,or the people of God.
What is locked up today? Prayer, worship, intercession, praise. We keep looking to Heaven, but the problem is not in the Heavens. It is locked up in the waters of the Earth, meaning humanity.
45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
Once the vapors had been released, the clouds were once again able to form in the atmosphere.
Evaporation (vapor released), Condensation (cloud forms), Precipitation (rain released). It finally rains after 3 1/2 year drought at the Word of the Prophet
Speaking God's Word in His timing will release the vapor that creates the rain.
