Matthew 14:31 (NKJV) And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
The greatest struggle in the Christian walk and the fight of faith is whether to choose to continue to believe in the Word or succumb to the natural pressure in the form of facts and figures. The deciding factor is faith in God and His Word. It is a matter of how convinced we are regarding what God has spoken. The faith muscle is developed by exercising our faith and stretching it.
In the passages of Jesus calming the storm and Peter walking on water, Jesus would have been an unjust God if He hadn’t told the disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side” (Mark 4:35), or given Peter the Word “Come” (Matthew 14:29). Therefore, Jesus did have some expectations towards His disciples after He had spoken to them, which is to have faith in His Word.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Although God loves us whether we live by faith or otherwise because God’s love for us is not dependent on anything we do, for God to be pleased with our lives and have pleasure by our lives, we must live by faith. We are to believe and have faith like the centurion that there is tremendous power and authority in the Word of God, especially when it comes to walking in the will of God for our lives because it will help our faith to have an anchor despite the ever-changing circumstances!
It means once God has given us His Word for His plan and will for our life, it is a done deal. We are to take God’s Word for it for God and His Word are one!
There is nothing radical about faith because we either believe that God exists, or He doesn’t. If we are a believer of Jesus Christ, the lifestyle of faith is inevitable, because the Christian life is a walk of faith on earth till we enter heaven. If we believe that Jesus has gone back to prepare a place for us, we are pilgrims on earth, and we should be walking out our faith in God, practising and serving Him with our gifts and talents because we know that heavenly rewards await us. Instead of just living to make a name for ourselves, let us choose to live by faith and carry out great exploits for God!
Sermon Series: Walking on Water
在神的国里当有信心
马太福音 14:3耶稣赶紧伸手拉住他，说：“你这小信的人哪，为什么疑惑呢？”
在基督徒的属灵历程以及信仰的争战中，最大的挑战是选择继续相信神的话语，还是屈服于以事实和数字所呈现的自然压力之下。决定性的因素取决于对神和祂的话语的信心。这是一个关于我们对待神的话语有多大信心的问题。信心的肌肉是通过操练与拉伸我们的信心而发展壮大的。
在耶稣平息风暴和彼得行在水面上的经文中，如果耶稣没有对门徒们说，“我们渡到那边去吧。” (马可福音 4:35)，或对彼得说“你来吧”(马太福音14:29)，那祂将会是一个不公正的神。因此，耶稣对门徒说话之后，确实对他们有所期待，祂盼望他们对祂所说的话有信心。
希伯来书 11:6人非有信，就不能得神的喜悦；因为到神面前来的人必须信有神，且信他赏赐那寻求他的人。
虽然无论我们是否凭信心而活，神都爱我们，因为神对我们的爱并不取决于我们所做的任何事，但是，为了得神的喜悦和让我们的生命蒙悦纳，我们必须凭信心而活。我们要像百夫长一样相信并坚信，神的话语中蕴含着巨大的能力和权柄，尤其是当我们在生命中行在神的旨意里时，因为这将帮助我们锚定信心，无惧变化莫测的世事！
这意味着一旦神因祂的计划赐给我们祂的话语，也在我们的生命里赐下祂的旨意，那么一切就成定局了！我们当信靠神赐下的话语去行，神与祂的话语原为一！
信心没有什么非同凡响之处，因为我们要么相信神存在，要么不相信。如果我们相信耶稣基督，那么凭信心而活的生活方式是不可避免的，因为基督徒生活是一次在地上的信心之旅，直到我们进入天堂。如果我们相信耶稣已经回到天上为我们预备住所，我们在这世上不过是客旅，我们要活出我们在基督里的信心，操练我们的恩赐和才能来服事祂，因为深知道将来我们会得到天上的赏赐。为了避免我们活着只是为了自己扬名立万，让我们选择凭信心而活，为神行大事。
讲章系列：行在水面上
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