Jesus Walks on the Water
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. (6:45-46)
After this miracle, after seeing the Father feed the five thousand by His grace and through our faith in Him, I sent the disciples to Bethsaida and then dismissed the crowd. It allowed me to take time to pray, to speak with the Father as I so often did. Prayer is not a matter of just speaking requests to God but it is rather a dialogue, coming to the Father and learning with Him. Prayer is a preparation for the life in heaven, for the full communion with the Father and with me. Prayer is the spiritual food that allows you to walk in the Spirit. Paul rightly said that you should pray without ceasing. For this to happen, it needs to be more than a monologue, it has to become a way of life. You have to learn to open your senses to the spiritual world, to see what I see, to hear what I hear. Love is the fire that keep your prayer life vibrant. Times of prayer is what feeds your love for us, as we pour our love in each of the children of the Father. So many limit themselves to voice requests to us and don’t wait on us. This is a good start, but not and end in itself. Our goal is not to answer all the desires of each human, but to teach to love and to enter into our love. For this to happen, people need to learn to listen much more, and not just speak requests. The more you experience this fellowship with us, the more you will find strength in your times of prayer - of fellowship with us, and that becomes the fire that sustains you, the food that nourishes you, the water that quenches your spiritual thirst. There are so many blessings we want to shower on earth, yet we need the children of God to take their place in prayer, for my Church to channel the power of our love for the creation.
And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (6:47-50)
I did not come on earth to impress people, but to show the way to the Father, to show that he wants us to manifest His loving authority over the creation. As you learn to follow the directions of the Father, the creation is submitted to you, and you will see even greater things than what the Father did through me. Under the leading of the Father, I could walk on the water. My disciples did not understand and thought I was a ghost. They did not understand how much humans have authority on the creation, when they are under the loving authority of the Father. I did not plan to scare them, but just to join them at the end of their crossing. Yet, when they saw me, they were terrified. I told them not to be afraid. Fear paralyzes your faith, and closes your heart to the Father, that is why I often told the disciples not to fear. When through prayer our love fills your heart, there is no place for fear, as it was said: perfect love casts out fear (1John 4:18). In this situation, what I did was so beyond their understanding that they were terrified. They did not understand yet who I am, or who the Father is. I did not want to scold them, but simply to reassure them.
And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (6:51-52)
Not only did I walk on water, but when I came in the boat the wind ceased. The disciples then thought that I had a kind of power to control the water and the wind. They did not understand yet that it is not a matter of power but a matter of communion with the Father. Their hearts were still looking for power more than love, their hearts were still hardened. The feeding of the five thousand was not first a manifestation of power, but a demonstration of the Father’s love through these many loaves. The Father’s love is so abundant that there were many baskets full of the rests. I had shown to the twelve how to manifest the miracles of healing and how to cast out demons, yet they did not clearly grasp what allowed them to succeed. Their hearts were still self-centered, and they did not see the hand of the Father in all I did. They did not understand what faith is all about, this loving obedience to a loving Father, this humble manifestation of his glorious authority in the creation.
As you learn from me, through Scriptures and through prayer, through the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, don’t focus on miracles or on power. Learn to welcome my love and my peace, learn to live this deep communion with the Father through me. Learn to welcome fully the Holy Spirit in your life. Don’t let your heart be hardened, focusing on power or on what you will get from us. Eternal life is not about getting a ticket to heaven and then to continue to sin, it is about knowing the Father and I, about welcoming our love and living through this love. I came to deliver from sin, that is my very name - Jesus (= Yeshoua in Hebrew, God delivers). To sin means to miss the mark of your heavenly calling. Our calling is a calling to love God and your neighbor. Our message is not complicate. The Good News is that I came to deliver from sin and its consequences, to give life in abundance. Welcome our love, discover the wonderful joy of continual prayer, become a light for your needy world. Share our love through your faith and obedience to us. Miracles of love will then naturally flow out of your life, simply because the nature of the Father will manifest itself through your sanctified heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment