Rock the boat!

In Matthew 14:22-23 we read about Jesus and Peter walking on the water.  Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and Peter went out to meet Him.  But Peter saw the storm and started to sink, he called out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!”, and Jesus reached down and pulled Peter out of the raging sea (verses 30-31).

Jesus will do the same for us today!  He will reach down and help pull you out of your life’s raging sea.  But some of you are thinking right now: I have already called out “Lord, save me!”, but nothing is happening.  You are still sinking and you are just about to go under!  Look at verses 28-29:

 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 came to Jesus.

Peter asked Jesus to call him, and He called.  And then, watch this now, Peter got out of the boat.  Jesus has taken the first step, He died for you and me, then He called us to follow Him.  In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”.  It’s now our turn to take a step, to get out of the boat and go to Jesus, then He will reach down and pull us to safety.

Be careful little ears what you hear!

Its impossible for us to control the words the people around us use, but sometimes we are able to control the people who are around us.  Unfortunately we can’t control who our employers hire to work with us or who is admitted to the schools we attend.

For those of us who work in or study in a harsh environment language wise, Jesus has good news for us!  In Matthew 15:11 He says, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person”.  Or, its not the things that we hear and see that make us bad people, its what we say and do that define us.

This does not mean the we can surround ourselves with un-Godly things intentionally and not repeat what we see or hear and be ok.  Paul addresses something similar in Romans 6:1-2.  Paul asks, ” Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”  In other words, do you intentionally commit sins because we know that God will forgive us?  In verse two Paul answers his own question, “By no means!”  This same principal can be applied to who and what we expose ourselves to.

One area that Christians fail in, myself included, is music.  The radio can be a horrible thing for you and your children to listen too.  Good news is there are some wonderful musicians out there that are great to listen to.  Two of my favorites are Acappella, and Faulkner University’s Cornerstone.