A time of change

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.  The youth of Miami were singing to their Savior, crying out for change in our generation before Pastor Frank began his new message of the night.  We need to see a shift in the way we think, in the way we act, in the way we do everything in our nation.  The Kingdom of God needs to be brought into every corner, every school, every club, and every place that has people in it.  Only through His values, His morals, His standards, will your city or nation ever see a true change.  His people need to turn to Him in prayer, which is exactly what happened as worship got deeper into His presence.

Pastor Frank had everyone get into groups of three and pray for change.  We prayed for each other and the territory of Miami.  We need to possess what was taken from us.  We need to get on our knees and just pray, pray, pray!  Because of all this prayer, we’ve seen people’s lives become completely changed, completely healed and delivered in our barbeque parties for the new believers.  People are being set free from sexual addictions, blunts, living without a purpose, alcoholism and smoking, depression, and the list goes on and on.  God is truly moving amongst the youth of Miami.

“22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 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. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”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?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33

The storm is blowing

Thousands of people are slaves of fear, darkness, other people, addictions and more.  Young people are bound to this demonic spirit, fear.  They fear they will lose their job or education.  The scriptures say that as the disciples were in the lake, the storm arose.  I want you to realize that in your walk with God, storms will arise.  Maybe you sail for a little bit, and things are cool and nice, but let me tell you, the storm will come.  You must be ready for the storm!  The storm will come sooner or later.  The bible says that Jesus came walking to His disciples, walking on the water.  Jesus had to walk on the water to show Peter that He had dominion over the situation.  He had to show Peter that He is in control.  Everything has been placed under Jesus’ feet.  He’s getting ready to walk on poverty, on sickness and on unemployment right now.  All of His enemies have been placed under His feet.  Whatever gets you afraid, Jesus is about to put His foot on it.  Put your foot on the devil’s neck!

Even when you feel you’ve lost hope, that nobody cares about you, Jesus is going to be there to save you.  Jesus walks on water!  Verse 26 says the disciples were terrified and said “it’s a ghost!  Then they cried out in fear.”  Fear will always follow lack of discernment.  When you can’t discern what is in front of you, you get afraid.  When you can’t tell if it’s God or satan, you will be afraid.  When you can’t tell if it’s the right decision, fear will creep in.  The bible says the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost, but what they saw was really the Holy Ghost!  That situation you are dealing with isn’t really the devil, it’s God.  When they threw you out of your job, God was behind it.  When your mother threw you out of the house, that was God, because He had to equip you for war.  If you had it all, you would always be weak, but God needed to teach you to hustle, to stand up when everyone wanted you down.  Your thinking “was it the Lord, or was it the devil?”  I came to tell you it was God!  He meant for good what the devil meant for evil.  He turned your poverty around, He turned your fear around, He turned your sickness around.  It was Jesus behind the backbiting, behind the nightmares, behind the wrong deal, it was Jesus!

Take courage, it is I

When Jesus saw that they were afraid, He told them to take courage.  When they kicked you out of your house, Jesus says to you, “Take courage!  It is I!”  One word from Jesus will open your eyes.  He did it because He wanted to make sure you would step out of the boat.  Tell somebody, “it wasn’t the devil, it was God.”  Fear will always follow lack of discernment, but when you know that it’s Him, you shall know the truth.  Uncertainty will kill you when you don’t know.  It will pull your nerves apart.  It will put your brain to think four times more.  Yet, when you know that it was God, the truth will set you free.

In verse 28, Peter says “if it is you.”  Jesus just told Him “be encouraged, it’s me.”  Even after walking on water, Peter still questioned Him.  Jesus told him “come”.  Peter didn’t first walk on the water; he walked on the word that Jesus spoke.  Jesus is about to speak a word over your mess, and He’s going to solidify all the sandy and shady junk in your life.  Before they wouldn’t give you the job, but Jesus said come, and His word is going to hit the door and it’s going to burst wide open!  You need to be giving God glory right now because His word is moving!  He said “come” to Peter.  His word can turn a drug addict into a man of God.  It didn’t matter what kind of boat they were in.  Jesus’ word was more than enough to lift Peter’s foot over the edge of the boat and put him on the water.  I don’t care what your momma or daddy told you, Jesus’ word is bigger!

You will never keep walking on water if your faith lacks.  If your faith fails, you will never be able to continue to move in that water.  Say “fearless”.  Peter walked on the water and went towards Jesus, but he saw the wind.  If you look at the wind, you will never stay where God called you to walk.  If you think your mentor is God, you got a problem.  If you think that leader over you is running the universe, you got a problem.  When you step out of the boat, to keep walking on the water you need faith.  Faith overcomes fear.  Faith is the main ingredient of consistency.  If you want to be successful in anything in your life, you need faith.  Fear vs. faith.  When fear says “you’re going to end up a mess”, faith will say “I’m more than a conqueror, and He that began a good work in my life will finish it.”

Where He abides, fear must go

“7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  2 Timothy 1:7

“18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”  1 John 4:18

The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  You need to realize that when you face the darkest hours in your life, there is somebody who is always with you.  It doesn’t matter what you will face; whether it’s death, betrayal, poverty, whatever you face, He is always there with you.  The love of God will drive out any fear that there will ever be in your life.  That’s the way He is.  Where He abides, fear cannot stay.  Let’s review:  1. Faith will overcome fear 2.  Have the knowledge that God did not give you fear, but power to overcome it 3.  The love of God will cast out fear in your life.

Has there been fear in your life?  Peter said to Jesus “Lord, save me!”  Jesus reached out and took his hand.  Have you walked away from Jesus?  Maybe you stumbled on this recap for whatever reason, someway; somehow you ended up reading this.  The bible says every person is a sinner, and has walked away from the grace of God.  If you let Him, He can become the Lord and Savior of your life right now.  Not a religion, but a relationship.  You’re in the middle of a tribulation, in the middle of a mess, but you need Jesus to speak a word over your life.  Surrender your life to Him right now.  Come to Jesus.  He will hold you, give you a new start in life.  If you identify with what you read, if you feel empty on the inside, you need Jesus Christ right now.  I want you to sincerely, from your heart, pray this:

“Father, I come to you recognizing that I’m a sinner and my sin separates me from You.  I confess you as my Lord and Savior.  You died and rose on the third day.  I die to my ego.  Forgive me from all of my sin and wash me clean with your blood.  I break every covenant with the devil, the world and my ego.  If I were to die I would be in your presence, in Jesus name amen!”

If you made that prayer I want you to e-mail us or leave us a comment.  We are here to serve you, so however we can help you, let us know.  Thank you, God bless you