Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Matthew 14:28-29 (AMPC)
And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. He said, Come! So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
Every time we've taken a great leap of faith, it has led to miracles. every time we have stepped out in faith action, in giving financially, or in ministry, we activated the supernatural!
Before coming to Hawaii we sowed tens of thousands of dollars… we took a leap of faith in coming and in sowing and we have lived on miracle provision since. Even though as pastors we have not received a salary for many years now, God has supernaturally increased our net worth at least five times and paved the road with miracles here in Hawaii… the Lord has raised up an amazing church with wonderful people, we now own a beautiful home here in Paradise, all of our needs are met, and we are blessed beyond measure!
We literally live in a land of miracles on a daily basis… personal miracles as well as miracles in ministry! God is good! This journey, filled with miracles all started with a leap of faith, we leapt out in faith, taking every Word of God and every promise from His as literal truth, and the Lord has met our faith beyond measure!
PETER TOOK A LEAP OF FAITH, AND IT ACTIVATED GOD’S MIRACLE-WORKING POWER…
Matthew 14:25-33 (AMPC) And in the fourth watch [3:00 am] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright. But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid! And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. He said, Come! So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus. But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]! Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God!
THE MOMENT PETER TOOK A LEAP OF FAITH, THE MIRACLE WORKING POWER OF GOD WAS ACTIVATED!
After walking on the water, Peter took his eyes off Jesus and ‘perceived’, or thought about what he was doing… he saw the waves, felt the wind, and became aware of the dangers around him… he immediately began to sink, and Jesus had to rescue him. What follows is often misunderstood… Jesus said to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
A better contextual translation for the Greek word for ‘little faith’ would be, ‘short faith’, or ‘faith that only lasts a short time’. The Greek word translated ‘doubt’ literally means ‘double-minded’… so, a clearer translation of what Jesus said to Peter would be this… “Peter, you started out in faith, why did you only stay in faith for such a short time and allow double-mindedness to enter?”
DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS IS THE ENEMY OF FAITH!
DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS IS A MIND THAT BASES ITS DECISIONS ON THE WORD MIXED WITH CIRCUMSTANTIAL REALITIES.
“THE WORD SAYS… ‘BUT’ THE DR. SAYS…”
Peter defied all natural laws and all logic when he walked on water. he walked on water by faith in the word of God, casting aside circumstantial realities! He began to sink when he considered what he was doing based upon ‘worldly circumstantial logic’, and his faith was short lived.
WORLDLY CIRCUMSTANCE BASED LOGIC MIXED WITH FAITH CAUSED DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS AND KILLED ALL FAITH!
James 1:6-8 says, “Ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS WILL BLOCK YOU FROM RECEIVING ANYTHING FROM THE LORD!
ONLY CONSIDER THE WORD AND THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT, AND THEN LEAP BY FAITH!
ONCE YOU TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH, STAY IN FAITH AND IGNORE CIRCUMSTANCES!
At this point in my message, it is necessary to make a couple of precautionary remarks… firstly, it is better to live entirely according to worldly, circumstance based logic and to use common sense, than to mix circumstantial worldly logic with faith… circumstantial, worldly logic will circumvent faith and will block the miracle working power of God. Mixing circumstance based logic with Word based faith is not balanced, it is double mindedness and a doubleminded person cannot receive anything from the Lord! Therefore you need to make a choice, either single-mindedly live according to the Word in faith, or, single-mindedly live without faith according to worldly circumstantial logic, but do not mix the two.
Another thing that I need to say is, if you cannot discern the voice of God, and the leading of the Spirit, and if you are not consistent in the Word and in prayer, start with ‘small leaps’ of faith… in other words, do not go off your medication, give away your home and your cars, and move to India as a missionary as a first step, lol… missing God at that level would destroy your life.
Start testing your ability to hear God by taking ‘smaller’ leaps of faith. God will back up a leap of faith that is based upon the leading of the Spirit and the Word, not a leap of presumption, or a leap of foolishness based upon what you THINK, may be the leading of the Spirit!
A LEAP OF FAITH, BASED UPON THE WORD AND THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT WILL LEAD TO A LIFE OF MIRACLES!
In Mark 11:23 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God (have the God kind of faith). For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt (is not divided in his thinking – is not double-minded) in his heart, but believes that those things he says (in faith) will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
Note, Jesus did not say, “whoever says to this mountain, ‘be removed and cast into the sea’ in faith will have what he says”… Jesus added, “and does not doubt”. whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and IS NOT DIVIDED IN HIS THINKING… is not doubleminded, but believes that those things he says (in faith) will be done, he will have whatever he says”
The story of Abraham really demonstrates what the Lord is imparting today…
Romans 4:19-21 – “And not being weak in faith, Abraham DID NOT CONSIDER HIS OWN BODY, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He DID NOT WAVER at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, AND BEING FULLY CONVINCED that what He had promised He (God) was also able to perform.”
WHEN YOU ONLY ‘CONSIDER’ THE WORD AND THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT BEFORE A LEAP OF FAITH, GOD WILL PERFORM A MIRACLE AND BRING IT TO PASS.
When, on the other hand, you ‘consider’ circumstances and the ‘reality’ of things, you are entering the land of doublemindedness and risk circumventing your miracle… if Abraham had ‘considered’ his own body and the deadness of Sarah’s womb, Isaac would never have been conceived… if Peter had ‘considered’ according to worldly logic that he did not have the natural ability to walk on water, he would have never walked on water!
SOME OF US CONSIDER TOO MANY THINGS BESIDES THE WORD AND THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT!
CONSIDERING THE NATURAL WILL CIRCUMVENT THE SUPERNATURAL EVERY TIME!
ASK JESUS WHAT HE WOULD HAVE YOU DO TODAY!
HEAR THE WORD, BE LED BY THE SPIRIT, AND TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH… THEN EXPECT A MIRACLE!
CONFESSION
“Jesus, from this day, I will walk by faith!
I will no longer be double-minded!
I consider Your Word, and the leading of the Holy Spirit only.
I leap by faith, I speak by faith and I live by faith, in Jesus Name!
Holy Spirit, help me to become fully convinced that the Word, and the promises in the Word are for me!
I cast down doubt, unbelief and double-mindedness, and I continue in strong faith, in Jesus Name!
As I take one leap of faith after another, I will live in the land of miracles!”
In His amazing love, Nick
