Walk on Water for Cyber Monday

Happy Cyber Monday. I hope that you find all kinds of great deals online today. But as we talked about yesterday, nothing that you can purchase online or in a store can ever satisfy you. Only Jesus, His Holy presence can bring you joy, peace, and satisfaction. But that is the danger in the faith. We often times confuse our satisfaction IN Christ with satisfaction from Christ. The crowds of people clamored around Him when He filled their hunger with bread. But He wants to be more than a Genie-in-a-bottle Jesus. He wants to be our bread. And He shows this to His disciples by sending them out on the boat in the middle of the night in the middle of a storm. And all the sudden, there were in a position where all the materialistic possessions on the planet wouldn't help them. Only one thing could save them and that was Jesus, but He was back on shore! Or so they thought.

And as He strutted across the water, their fear turned to joy as they took him into the boat. And they learned the all important lesson that we all too often forget in the faith. Jesus' goal isn't to provide us with "stuff," Jesus' goal is to provide us with Himself. It's His presence, not His possessions, that satisfy. The disciples learned that. And I hope we remember it as well in the middle of life's storms when it appears as though all hope is lost. For it may be only moments away from Jesus walking across the water to reach us.

This truth and promise encourages us to live both generously and courageously. We can be generous with what God has entrusted to us knowing that he will always leave for us a basket of bread with our name on it that in and of itself will be more than we could eat. And we can live a life taking risks for Him knowing that no matter how dangerous or unpredictable tomorrow may be, He holds tomorrow. And He is willing to walk across the water to comfort and care for us in that storm when it's in obedience to Him. So be generous with your time, resources, and joy. And take risks in the faith. The disciples would've never witnessed the miracle of Jesus walking on the water if they all would've stayed on the shore. If you want Jesus to get in the boat with you, then you'll have to first get in the boat yourself!

Pray for me, pray for Torch,
BJ Sanders 

Isaiah 60:1-2
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord shines over you.
For look, darkness covers the earth,
and total darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will shine over you,
and His glory will appear over you.