It's All in How You Look at It
Scripture Reading: Psalm 121
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Yesterday we were listening to the radio and there was a song that came one.
Kristen, my 17 year old daughter, looked at me beaming and said I love this Psalm.
Did you pick up on that, she said psalm not song? She said that psalm 121 is her
favorite psalm and she proceeded to quote verses one and two. I was thoroughly
blown away. What awesome words to hear and to say, but most importantly, to
believe. To really believe those words is true power and strength. I believe it is the
key to the peace that passes understanding that we've all heard about.
Do you remember hearing or reading about Jesus walking on the water? At first the
disciples were afraid, they thought He was a ghost. Why? Why were they so afraid?
Lets analyze. The laws of nature are pretty basic and consistent. When you step off
the pier, you're going to sink. But Jesus shows us here that God is above the laws of
nature, or better said He's not limited by the laws of nature. I've heard evolutionists
say that God used the laws of nature to create the universe. And they'll say that it
would be deception for God not to have used those laws because He knew we would
get smart enough to look at creation for answers but I think that's a cop out. First of
all, Jesus makes it abundantly clear during His hike across the Sea of Galilee, that
God is not restricted by natural laws. He created those natural laws and with one
single word from His mouth could easily turn them on their head. If Jesus was not
bound by natural laws on the Sea of Galilee, why would anyone assume that God
was bound by them at creation. And secondly, it could only be considered deception
if He hadn't taken the time to tell us, more than once in scripture, exactly how much
time it took for to create the universe. Six days with one day off to rest. See, no
deception, full disclosure.
So, anyway, lets get back to Jesus on the water. After He tells them not to be afraid,
Peter makes a request.
Matthew 14:28-31
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the
water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to
go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink
he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little
faith, why did you doubt?”
Now, look at this. We've already established that God is not restrained by the
physical laws of nature but in this passage we see that Peter, a mere human male
with no divinity, is able to step outside the binds of the physical into the
supernatural. The last part of verse 29 says that he walked on the water. He was
able to do that which man can not do. That which is clearly impossible. You may see
some magician appear to do this but do not be deceived, his is the art of deception.
There is something under the water that makes it only appear as if he is walking on
the water. Jesus and Peter, for a time, actually did it.
So, where did Peter mess up? It was when He took His focus off of His Lord and
Master, and put his attention on the circumstances around him. Peter thought about
the fact that He could not do that which he was doing. How many times does this
happen to people? How often does God give someone an idea to do something, or
they actually begin doing something that God has led them to do and then realize
that they can't do it. What's the first thing that people usually do? Usually, just
through human nature, the first thing people do is start trying to figure out either how
they can do something or how they can get someone else to help them do
something. Many times people will have faith in the beginning; they'll trust that God
will make a way but when the wind starts whipping through our hair and the waves
start crashing over, just like Peter, their eyes quickly move off the Savior and onto
the circumstance.
So, how do we keep our eyes in the right place and on the right things and in turn off
the wrong places and off the wrong things? Paul gives us the answer to this one in
Philippians 4:8, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever
things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good
report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Meditate on the good stuff! Fill your mind and your heart with the good thoughts!
Guard your mind and heart from the negative; the evil and vile things! That is the
only way we will overcome. Remember Psalm 121, that your help comes from the
LORD. Not from some unreliable human source or from yourself, but from the
LORD, the creator of the universe; maker of heaven and earth. We have to keep
focusing on the truth in God's word and not on the deception of the world.
Psalm 18:1-3
1 I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Psalm 27:1-5
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
Jesus gave us a perfect picture of everything we would need to walk with the LORD
in His kingdom. He gave His disciples a hard saying and many of them could not
comprehend and left His teaching because of it. John 6:54, Whoever eats My flesh and
drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Let me first make it
perfectly clear, if you read Torah you know that God did not want anyone to be a
cannibal or to actually drink blood. He says more than once not to drink blood. That
was something that the pagans did. So what could Jesus have meant by this
saying? Well, once again, when you read Torah you know that God says the true
bread of life is His word. John made it clear that Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the
bread of life, the word of God. He told the enemy in the wilderness that man does
not live by (physical) bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God. In the LORD's prayer He has us ask God to give us our daily bread. That's not
just asking God to feed us but having a need and desire for His living word every
day. The word tells us that the life is in the blood. God gave man life by His breath;
His Nafesh (Hebrew); His Spirit. So if the life is the blood and the life is the spirit,
then the blood is a symbol of His Spirit; His Holy Spirit. So everyday we need to fill
ourself with His body; the word of God, and His blood; the Spirit of God. And if we do
that, we will have everything we need to not only talk the talk, but to also walk the
walk.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 27, 2006