DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE(1-3)Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor)

Dearly Beloved,
DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE

“‘Come,’ [Jesus] said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on
the water and came towards Jesus” (Matthew 14:29 NIV).
Miracles are extraordinary events manifesting divine intervention in
human affairs. They are what we consider impossible. Most of the
miracles are God’s clever responses to impossible situations. It is a
fact that God will not come down from heaven to do any miracle. He
uses people. At times, the people that He uses are the very ones that
the miracles will happen in their lives. This was what happened in the
narrative that was found in Matthew 14:25-33. Two people (Jesus and
Peter) did something that is impossible: walking on water. One may not
be surprised that Jesus walked on water. After all, He is the Lord
over everything. However, for Peter, an ordinary man, to do the
impossible by walking on water he had to do some things that are
worthy of note.
The first thing that Peter did was that he recognized the Lordship of
Jesus (verses 25-28a). Earlier, when the other disciples with Peter
saw Jesus Christ walking on turbulent water at night, they thought
that Jesus was a “ghost.” Jesus had to reassure them that it was He.
Peter later addressed Jesus as “Lord.” Many people also do not
recognize Jesus as the Lord because of the circumstances around them.
The second thing that Peter did was that he took initiative (verse
28b). He saw Jesus doing the impossible, and he took the initiative of
asking Jesus to ask him also to do the same thing. Our heavenly Father
knows what we need, but He wants us to take the initiative of asking
Him for them (see Matthew 6:8). No wonder, Jesus asked Peter to come
to Him after Peter had taken the initiative.
The third thing that Peter did was that he was ready to leave his
comfort zone (that is, the comfort of the boat) (verse 29a). In spite
of the fact that the boat was been buffeted by the waves, it was safer
to be in the boat than to be out of the boat on the water.
Psychologically, leaving the other disciples behind in the boat would
have been a problem for Peter, but he did not consider that. Anyone
that will do the impossible will be ready to leave his/her comfort
zone regardless of anything that might cost him/her. Such a person
will not be satisfied with the average situation he/she finds
him/herself.
Are you ready to do the impossible of walking on the trouble water of
your life? Then be ready to do these three highlighted things. More of
what Peter did to do the impossible will be highlighted next week.
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
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Dearly Beloved,
DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE (Part 2)
"But when [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out,
"Lord, save me!'" (Matthew 14:30 NIV).
In the first part of this message, we saw how Simon Peter was ready to do the
impossible by doing three things: he recognized the Lordship of Jesus; he took
the initiative of asking to walk on water; and he was ready to leave his comfort
zone (that is, the comfort of the boat). He also did other things that are
worthy of note for anyone who also wants to do the impossible.
The fourth thing that Peter did was that he moved toward Jesus (verse 29b). When
he got down from the boat and started walking on the water, he did not move
towards any other direction except the direction of Jesus. He knew that he was
walking on water because of Jesus because without Jesus he could do nothing (see
John 15:5b). He was not full of himself. Anyone who will do the impossible must
be ready to be God-conscious and not self-centred.
The fifth thing is that anyone that will do the impossible must be ready for
trials of faith (verse 30). One has to take note of something here that the
writers of the Gospels were silent of: what did the other disciples say or do
when Peter was getting down of the boat and started walking on the water? Did
they discourage or encourage him? If they did not say or do anything as the
Bible portrays it, what was the effect of their indifference to Peter? Anyway,
Peter was walking on the water, but he considered the prevailing circumstance
(the wind) and he started to sink. The action or inaction of the other disciples
and the turbulent wind were trials of faith for him. Unfortunately, he lost
focus of Jesus that he was moving toward. This made him to start to sink. A
matter of fact is that in this world, anyone that will do the impossible will
face many trials of faith. Such trials that may be in form of anything either
good or bad are inevitable (see John 16:33; Acts 14:22; 1 Thessalonians 3:4; 2
Timothy 3:12). How do you react to them? Was it possible that Peter doubted as
he was walking on the water? James said, "But when you pray, you must believe
and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven
and blown about by the wind. A person like that, unable to make up his mind and
undecided in all he does, must not think that he will receive anything from the
Lord" (James 1:6-7 TEV).
Peter did the right thing: he called on the Lord (verse 30b). He did not rely on
any other thing. As a professional fisherman, he could rely on his professional
experience and try to swim either back to the safety of the boat or to Jesus. He
might have remembered one of the many promises of God. One of such promises is,
"Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me"
(Psalm 50:15 NIV. See also Psalm 91:15; Jeremiah 33:3; Matthew 7:7; James 5:13).
Are you ready to do the impossible of walking on the trouble water of your life?
Then be ready to do these highlighted things. Wait for the concluding part next
week.
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).

NB
In addition to the blog of daily quotes and other edifying blogs in my Internet
ministry, I have just recently created another blog for at least a verse from
the Holy Bible every day. Here is the link to the weblog:
http://bibleverseofthedaybypastorbayo.blogspot.com/. Bookmark or save it and be
visiting it every day for daily edifying Bible verses. God bless you!

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Dearly Beloved,
DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE (Part 3)
“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little
faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31 NIV).
The first two parts of this message highlighted some of the things
that Simon Peter did to do the impossible by walking on the water: he
recognized the Lordship of Jesus; he took the initiative of asking to
walk on water; he was ready to leave his comfort zone (that is, the
comfort of the boat); he moved toward Jesus; he was tested; and he
called on the Lord. This concluding part is more or less what Jesus
Christ did in response to Peter’s action.
Anyone that will do the impossible will certainly experience Jesus’
faithfulness (verse 31). Peter had been doing extraordinarily well
before he did the wrong thing by shifting his attention from Jesus,
and he saw the repercussion. Nonetheless, he retraced his steps by
calling on Jesus for help. The interesting thing here is that Jesus
was ready to help Peter, and He did help him. In spite of Peter’s
seeming unfaithfulness and little faith, Jesus remained faithful.
Apostle Paul confirmed this: “Here is a trustworthy saying: ...if we
are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself”
(2 Timothy 2:11, 13 NIV. See also Lamentations 3:22-23).
Anyone that will do the impossible will learn something from Jesus
(verse 31). Take a closer look at this verse: was Jesus’ comment here
a rebuke or commendation? If it was a rebuke, why did Jesus rebuke
Peter and not the other disciples? However, to me, it was both a
commendation and a rebuke. At least, Peter had little faith while the
other disciples did not have any. One does not need a giant faith to
move mountains. Hear Jesus: “I say to you, if you have faith as a
mustard seed [a very small seed], you will say to this mountain, ‘Move
from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible
for you” (Matthew 17:20 NKJV). Jesus expects us to take that little
step even if we will stumble in it. A crawling child is not afraid
that he will stumble as he takes his steps. Though, he falls, he tries
again. Jesus rebuked Peter not for taking steps of faith, but for
doubting in the process. If you will do the impossible, do not doubt
that God can do the impossible through and in you. The other disciples
that were in the comfort of the boat were neither rebuked nor
commended.
Lastly, anyone that will do the impossible will indeed experience that
God does the impossible if he is ready to do all the highlighted
things that Peter did. Peter wanted to do the impossible, he did some
things, and he experienced the God that is above all the impossible in
his life. Do you also want to experience this God? Then dare to do the
impossible by doing like Peter. You will indeed do the impossible of
walking on the trouble waters of your life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).