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 Chapel
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...Doubt Not...
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Matt. 14:15... And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
Please note in the preceding scripture that the disciples of Christ did as the rest of us do consistently. They looked upon a situation in a carnal, worldly light. People were getting hungry, so they reasoned that the only way for them to get fed was to go to the nearest store and buy something to eat. As Christians, however, we need to realize that the God we serve is unlimited, and try to see things in that light instead. Notice what happened then...
Matt: 14:16... But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17... And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes
18... He said, Bring them hither to me.
19... And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20... And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21... And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Now I'm sure that we all think, If I had been there, I would have believed anything after that. But would we, really? We are all human, and therefore tend to think in normal human terms. The disciples were all there, and saw the miracle, but notice what happened shortly thereafter...
Matt. 14:25... And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26... And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27... But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28... And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29... And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
Here was Peter, a normal human being, having witnessed a bit earlier, a tremendous miracle in the feeding of thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread, walking on the water because the Lord Jesus had told him to come on. Then what happened? He suddenly began to sink.
One would think that after witnessing such miracles, and after even taking part in one, Peter would have had limitless faith. But he did what we all do in our everyday lives; he began to look at the waves around him. Because of this, he began to doubt, and then to sink. And that is the point of this message... this man walked on water for a few seconds, then lost it. Why?... The situation did not change. The waves were there when he started. Jesus was still before him. He was the same Peter who stepped out of the boat... so why did he start to sink?
The answer is critical... he began to doubt. That's all he did... he began to lose his absolute faith. Peter began to doubt. Had he not lost that faith, he would have walked out to Jesus and back in with him. Repeatedly throughout the Bible, the Word tells us to doubt not, and it reminds us that if we accomplish this, we can move mountains. Our problem is, we think in carnal, human terms. We have great trouble trying to think spiritually. But we have to keep trying. We need to study the Book and live the life. We need to think spiritually, without looking at the waves around us... We need to "Doubt Not".
In Jesus' Name,
AMEN
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