Passage of the week:
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land,[a] for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
– Matthew 14:22-33
Hi everyone,
Everyone experiences fear. It’s an emotion that can take the bravest, strongest, biggest and most faithful and turn them upside down. In our world today, the fear of uncertainty and instability is one that affects all of us. Like Peter, even though Jesus calls us to have faith, to listen to His words, and act on His commands, the fear of whether His words are true and whether He’ll protect us cripples us from doing what our hearts are telling us to do. Because we know that every time we’d do this without Jesus, we will fail – because water is water, and not solid ground. However, when we look at it differently and consider that it is because of Jesus that we can walk on water, even though it shouldn’t be possible, that crippling fear goes away and we begin to experience the freedom that He offers, and begin to do the things He commands us to do. Our Psalms of Devotion for this week reflect on the freedom we receive when we believe and act on faith to follow his direction and commands.
Hope you have a great week and that you are blessed by this devotion.
– Jon
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