Matthew 14:22-33:  "Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.  Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, 'It is a ghost!' And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.'  And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.'  So He said, 'Come.' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Truly You are the Son of God.'"


After Jesus had learned of John the Baptist's death, He went with His disciples to rest.  A crowd wanted to learn from Him, so He taught them (and fed them).  After He went by Himself to pray (and His disciples went by boat to the other side), Jesus appeared to them on the water.

The disciples were afraid that they were seeing a ghost.  After Peter knew it was Jesus, he showed his faith by walking on the water to meet Jesus.  When he saw the waves, he was afraid and started sinking, but Jesus reached out and saved him.

What can we learn from this?  We may quickly respond by faith in life sometimes, but then we lose sight of Jesus (as did Peter when he sank), and we begin to sink, ourselves.  We sink in our faith, sink in our fears, and sink in thinking we are worthless or not worthy to do God's work.

There's still much to get done, so look to Jesus to help you accomplish what He has for you to get done.  So, are you sinking ... or walking with Christ?

"The wicked takes and the righteous gives."  That's the Jeremy Summary of Psalm 37:21.

"The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives" (that's what the Bible actually says).

If you want to be seen as wicked, borrow and don't repay.  If you want to be seen as righteous, show mercy and give.

But does this mean that the righteous shows mercy and that the righteous also gives?  That is a possible interpretation of it, but the way I see it is that it's two contrary things that the wicked and the righteous do (the wicked takes and the righteous gives).  If this interpretation is correct, then, another way to see the righteous is that he (or she) shows mercy through his or her giving.

God wants us to give generously.  When is He calling you to show mercy through your giving?  One way you can demonstrate this is by helping the poor in your community.  Another way is through donating to us, as we've pledged to help a Christian maternity center in Romania as well as planning children's homes, an afterschool program, a food distribution program, and a job preparation, all to help the community around us who is in need, and to be able to open the doors to share with them the Gospel of Christ.  You can donate here.

No matter how you do it, how is God calling you to be righteous through giving to those in need today?

"Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.  By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You."
(Psalm 71:4-6)

We're going to go through hard times.  However, remember, you've gone through hard times in the past, and you're still here.  God has gotten you through those, too.

The same God that brought you out of those trials and tribulations can get you out of these trials and tribulations.  He saw your situation before you did, and if you're His, He's working it out for your good.  Praise God in the good times, praise God in the hard times.