November 11th 2009
Matthew 14:25-33
25. About three O clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on water. 26 when the disciples saw Him, they screamed in terror thinking He was a ghost. 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once "it's alright" He said "I am here! Don't be afraid!" 28 Then Peter called to Him, "Lord, if it is really You, tell me to come to you by walking." 29 "Alright, come" jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat, walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he looked around at the high waves he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me Lord!" he shouted. 31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed him. "You don't have much FAITH", Jesus said "Why did you doubt me?" 23 and when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshipped Him "You really are the Son of God!" they exclaimed.............
I have heard these verses in the last twenty four hours a number of times, and then this morning it was in one of my devotionals that I read, so I decided myself that God was trying to tell me something. As I sat here thinking about the devotional I read, I decided to share what I learned and write my own on the same topic "FAITH"
In the middle of the night I have been awakened many times. As a matter of fact it is usually around three am. I am beginning to think there is something to this time, and time with God....BUT I will write on that another time. So, the disciples were in the boat in the middle of the night, in the middle of a bad storm. If you think about it, I am sure that they weren't asleep if it was storming that bad out. As a matter of fact I think this is why Jesus was coming to them in the first place. They were in need of saving, and while in the act of coming to save them, a serious lesson of faith was learned. First they thought He was a ghost, then Peter decided to take a chance on blind faith, and he was told to come to Him, so he obeyed. How many times are we in a situation where we *think* we are being lead to do something by the Lord, but we do not know if it is *really* Him? So, we just ignore the pull in our Spirit. I know I have done this one too many times. Out of twelve disciples, one had enough faith to at least take the leap! Sometimes I think that is all God wants from us, is to show enough faith to start and He will carry us the rest of the way. So, that is what Peter did. He leaped to his faith! When he realized in human/fleshly thoughts....Wait a minute I am walking on water, he panicked, was filled with doubt, and started to sink/drown! As soon as his mind took over his spirit, he sank. How many times has that happened to you? If only we just went with the Spirit and not aloud the flesh to kick in, which is difficult because we have our own free will, and free will is human nature. If you notice though, as soon as Peter started to sink the Lord had him by the hand already! So, even when we start to lack in faith or doubt what we once thought was from God, He is still there holding onto us. He never lets go, we do. I mean I can picture this man getting out of the boat walking on water, and then realizing what he was doing in the middle of it, and panicking in fear! After all we all know that human beings can not walk on water. But in the Spirit anything and everything is possible. If God decided to allow me to fly one day just to show others that He does exist, I am sure I wouldn't have to grow wings. That is how mighty and powerful God is. It is us human beings that weaken Him in our own minds. We limit what God can do. We even weaken what we can do in God! Then the rest of the verses go on to say that Jesus and Peter went back to the boat. I am picturing them walking together *on the water* Accept this time Jesus is holding Peter up, or carrying him. After Peter was filled with panic and doubt Jesus had to take over and hold him to get him back to the boat safely. This is another good example of how much power the Lord has. He had to get himself and Peter back to the boat and they were both standing in the middle of the ocean, so He not only walked on water, He walked on water carrying Peter in His arms, or holding him up. It doesn't go into that much detail, but they had to get back to the boat......So, when we fall in the middle of something that god may have called us to do, even though we panicked and fell, He still helps us through the rough spot until we can stand on our own faith again. God doesn't just call us to do something, and when we need help abandon us. That is not what a loving Father would do to His child. As a parent I know this. If my Son was in need of help doing something that I asked of him, I wouldn't say "too bad figure it out yourself or fail!" I would help him finish what ever it was that I called on him to do! Then when Jesus and Peter got back into the boat, Matthew mentions that the winds ceased, they stopped...The storm just STOPPED! So, the disciples witnessed Jesus walking on water, Peter walking on obeying the command of his Lord, and the wind ceasing in the middle of a bad storm, also at the command of God! It took witnessing all of this for the other eleven disciples to have enough faith to get down on their knees and worship Jesus as the *real* Son of God! This is also another testimony of FAITH. Some of us require a lot more signs then others do. They sat in the boat in fear the whole time. Fear is a lack of faith. Fear can paralyze us completely of doing anything in the name of God. Fear limits what God can do for us too. Because of fear Peter started lacking his faith after he already started to walk on water, and he started to drown! I would think after walking on water for a few minutes or seconds, a human would be like WOW!! I AM WALKING ON WATER! But when fear kicked into Peter's mind, he completely paralyzed every ounce of faith he had five minutes before that! I can also think to myself that is how fast satan came into his thoughts and took all of his faith away. There are many times when I have started to do something with 100% faith, no doubt what so ever, and then with in seconds I had all kinds of questions in my mind going round and round, then what ever it was that I was starting to obey the calling of God to do, satan completely talked me out of it! Not every bit of fear and lack of faith is from satan, but he will certainly try to paralyze us with everything he has. He does not want to see us doing ANY MIRACLES in the name of JESUS, especially in front of a crowd or even one person. That would be too much evidence to maybe turn another person to the Lord! That is his greatest fears. Satan has many fears, and he tries to use his tricks, lies, and deceiving thoughts to stop us from bringing more people to God. The more people that we witness to, the more people he loses any power over. Even though Peer started to doubt and started to sink, the fact that he got out of the boat at all, and walked on water was a true witness of the powers of God, the Son of God...Enough of a witness that this story is known to people all over the world, even non-believers know this story. They just chose to not believe that Jesus in His flesh, lead another human being to walk on water! They believe the deceitful lies of satan! I have read this story many times in my life, over and over again. I would suggest that you read it too, no matter how many times you already have. Maybe God is using these verses and me to tell you something that He has been trying to get you to hear for a long time. I know that Peter obeyed the Lord, and he walked on water as a witness to the power of the Lord......I read the story and obeyed the Lord by writing this devotion, so that whomever He plans on bringing to this devotion this week will hear whatever it is that God wanted me to write this for! In a matter of 8 verses there is a lot to be learned about obedience, fear, faith, lack of faith, doubt, and witnessing.......Now take it and use it however it is that god wants you too....God Bless You always with much Peace and Love
Jennifer Caccavale copyright 11/2009
July 10th 2009
John 1In the beginning (before all time) was the Word ( Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. 2 He was present originally with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. 4 In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. 5 And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it)
Jesus Christ was always in heaven. He has been here since before the beginning of time. He is the Word, the Light. The Light that became flesh, and came to earth to set us sinners free. Darkeness can not hide in the Light. The Light shines on ALL evil, when the light shines in the darkness, it exposes ALL evil. When you accepted the Holy Spirit as your Lord and Savior, He came to live with in you. He dwells within your being. You see things through the Light now. You are no longer blinded by darkness. Although darkness is deceitful, and sneaky. It is evil, and will always try to trick or deceive you. I once heard a saying that secrets keep growing in the darkness, but once you let them out into the light, they die.( I heard this before I was saved) If you want to let go of something shameful, you need to tell someone, get it out, expose it, no longer allow it to keep growing in the darkness. This is a good idea along with repenting always first to God, and accepting His forgiveness. Accept that the Word is the Light, the Light is God, and the Holy Spririt, which became flesh and walked on earth as Jesus Christ. I recently went through a situation in life that I was keeping secrets, just to keep peace between myself and a family member. People may think secrets are not the same as lies, but they are. The longer I kept this secret the bigger it grew! Darkness took over, but once I shined the Light on the secret, evil lost all power it had over me! Before I repented to the Lord, and shared my secret with the person I was hiding it from, I couldn't sleep, I was having anxiety attacks, I was having nightmares when I did sleep. The longer I held it in, and kept it in the dark, the stronger the evil grew! As soon as I allowed the Light, Christ into this situation to take control over it, I was free. This is why thr Word says the Truth shall set you free........Jesus Christ is also called the Truth. It is amazing how many different names He is called in the bible, including the Word. The Word (Bible)is His words! He spoke them into life, they are Him! So, when you are feeling surrounded by darkness, consumed, and like you are drowning.......Call on the Light to shine brightly in that darkness, He will shine His light so bright that the darkness that is trying to control you and deceive you will no longer have anywhere to hide........Darkness can not live in the Light, so as long as you keep yourself surrounded by the Light (Christ, Holy Spirit) at all times you have nothing to fear from darkness, but as soon as you turn your head for one moment, that sneaky, murdering, deceitful evil, enemy, which is the darkness will worm his way right into your thoughts. You should always keep your armor on. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was the Light, the light was the Truth, and the Truth will always SET YTOU FREE!!!!
Have a beautiful weekend, and God Bless you with Peace and Love always.......
Jennifer Caccavale
6/22/09
Wisdom, Peace, and Health
I was awoken again the other night. God seems to be getting me up a lot these days late at night when it is quiet and peaceful. I grabbed my bible, and I kept opening up to Proverbs 3. I read it many times, and was very WOW'd that I had never realized before how much wisdom and teachings are in one proverb. I know this is what proverbs are mostly for wisdom, but 3 really seems to hit every area of life in 35 verses. I am not going to write the whole thing out, I am going to write the few verses at a time, and what God brought to me while I was reading them, and then move on to a few more verses and so on. I was trying to figure a way how I wanted to do this on almost all of the verses, and I prayed and waited for God before I wrote it. I pray that this brings you as much knowledge, understanding, and peace as it did for me! May God open your eyes to see and your ears to hear as you read His word.....In Jesus name, Amen!Pv3:5-8 5. Lean on, trust in and be confident in the Lord with ALL your heart and mind and do NOT rely on your own insight and understanding. 6. In ALL your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He WILL make straight and plain your paths. 7. Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn entirely away from evil. 8. It shall be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your bones........In these verses it is very clear to not rely on our own understanding, or mans understanding for that matter. I was in church this morning and it was a God-incident that after reading this proverb over and over, my Pastor spoke about people needing human confirmation because they have so little faith in God. This is saying to NOT lean on mans knowledge or understanding, to turn to the Lord for His knowledge and wisdom. It is even clarifying that it is healthy for us to do this, that it will be good for our nerves and bones. In this version, the amplified it says the word sinew, so I looked it up. This is what a sinew is, and I find it totally awesome that whomever wrote this version turned the Greek to these words and how the sinew is the part that holds the tendons, muscles and tissue all together. knowing that the Lord built our bodies so intricate that He put every little part and detail in order for our bodies to work right, and be strong. This is a definition of a sinew from wikipedia........A tendon (or sinew) is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone[1] and is capable of withstanding tension. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fascia as they are both made of collagen except that ligaments join one bone to another bone, and fascia connect muscles to other muscles. Tendons and muscles work together and can only exert a pulling force.
I found this so interesting because in this whole system we also have nerves too, so God KNOWS exactly what we NEED to keep our bodies strong and of good health! It is also very clear that we are to recognize Him in ALL our ways, not some, or when we feel like it, ALL!! We are not to put anyone or anything above our Lord God.
Proverbs3:11-12
11. My son, do not despise or shrink from chastening of the Lord ( His correction by punishment, or by subjecting suffering or trial); neither be weary of or impatient about or loathe or abhor His reproof. 12. For whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
Our God loves us very much. It took me many years to be able to call Him Father. I heard that was common in women that have had Father issues with their earthly Fathers. I am now just beginning to see Him as my Father, my Heavenly Mighty Father. The Father that can answer ALL of my questions, prayers, desires of the heart, and knows every little detail about my life, but still loves me if I fall or fail. I know in my life there has been so many trials and pain that I have lost count long ago. If I look back on many of them, I can tell which ones were from my Father and which were flesh or the enemy. I also know that even when the enemy is attacking me strongly my Father will allow it to be, so that I may learn and grow from it OR because He knows I have already been through them before and that I KNOW how to get out of it. He has already taught me before, and in order to grow in the Lord, our Father can not be saving us all of the time. When He has already taught us how to get out of despairing pits before many times. It is like watching a child learn to walk. They fall, and keep getting up. He watches us, He sees our struggles, and I believe it pains Him to watch, but then when we finally figure it out, and say Oh I get it it! I know what to do, I have been through this before and God, my Father already has taught me how to handle this.....He is up there in Heaven smiling down on us, saying that's my child, She/He learned well! Just like a parent would be on the sidelines watching a child in a sport or going through a trial of their own, and coming out standing. Our Father on Heaven knows what we have learned, and what we haven't. He knows when to step in, and when not too. Many times I think He should be stepping in much earlier than He does, but that is because if it is painful I do not want to feel it. I do not want to deal with it. Just like a child that would rather their parent take care of the obstacle for them, We wait on God saying "where are You, why aren't You here fixing this for me?" So, as we grown in our walk with Him, we graduate in seasons, and to different levels. He knows what level we are on in His eyes, not mans. Every level there is a new devil, and a new trial or fire, but when we get through it....I picture Him up in heaven smiling and clapping just like a Dad would, proud of us that once again we learned what we needed to for whatever His call is on our life for us! We can not fulfill our call, until we are able to know how to deal with things in a spiritual warfare on our own. I mean God is there, He is always there. But without expecting Him to fix everything for us, or those total dumbfounding miracles that kept us going when we were newer Christians, and when we fail or fall back sometimes the only way He can get us to understand is to reprimand us in a loving way. He knows everyone of us individually, and He knows what each of us needs to learn, and how we may need to be chastened.
Proverbs3:13-18
13. Happy(blessed, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding(drawing it forth from God's word and life's experiences) 14. For the gaining of it is better than gaining of silver, and the profit of it better than fine gold. 15. Skillful and godly Wisdom is more precious than rubies; and nothing you can wish for is to be compared to her. 16. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor. 17. Her ways are highways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her; and happy is everyone who holds her fast.........
Once again this is a very strong definition of Wisdom, and one thing I noticed was the word godly is not in capital letters, but in using it as godly Wisdom, Wisdom is the capital lettered word, which means that Wisdom is referring to God in these verses. He is Wisdom! The closer we get to Him, the more we get to know Him, the more we read His word, spend time in meditation, praise and worship....This is where we gain His wisdom, or godly Wisdom, meaning God Himself within us, the same Wisdom He has is with in us, in our spirit within. If we are saved and have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior..Then we have the one and only living God within us, which means we have His Wisdom too. We just have to learn how to find it, which I mentioned above the closer we get to Him, the more we get. Then the verses go on to saying that Wisdom is the length of days we have, it is the tree of life for us. So, for many of us here that have health issues and suffer great pain, maybe if we tried to gain absolutely ALL of the wisdom we can possibly get from Him, all of His wisdom, the wisdom that we already have dwelling within us, in our inner man, than we may have much relief of pain and illness. I am not saying healed because that is up to Him, and I already have learned personally that God chooses to heal certain things, and others He does not. I do not know why, and I am sure we will all find out one day soon enough. But while we are down here, our ultimate goal is to be more like Jesus. To be more Godly. To have His wisdom and to use the love we have inside of us too. It also says that it is better than any silver, gold, rubies, and that the more we have the more peace that we will have. So, get closer to your Father in Heaven, gain more wisdom, which usually comes from life's trials as verse 13 says, we gain wisdom through God's word or life's experiences, and those are usually the painful ones! But this is a direct manual telling us exactly how to gain health, peace, and wisdom. How to deal with life. the main answers here besides the ultimate one which is LOVE, seems to be WISDOM. We seem to make things so hard for ourselves sometimes. I know that I do! So much harder than it all really has to be, and I go back to what I said before....I believe that is why God just leaves us be, not alone just hangs around watching us to see if this time we are finally going to get the light bulb WOW! Just as I did as I was reading proverbs 3. As I do many times when I am reading the Word. I also know that God has reaffirmed this many times, so that is why I feel I am writing this from Him, for whomever may need to be hearing this because after re-reading this at 530am this morning, and than getting up and going to the first service at church( which I do not do morning services), but God made sure I was awake bright and early! In church the things we learned were very similar to what I am writing. It was not on this chapter, but the lessons were very close! God spoke to me so loudly this morning in church, and I also felt He was saying to tell His people. We should never rely on a man's opinion, knowledge or wisdom over our heavenly Father's first! God has made it all perfectly clear in these verses, He wants us just to get closer to Him and have a relationship with Him. He does not always want us running to Him, only when we NEED something or are afraid and worried or anxious over things! Do you really want health to all of your bones, plain paths to take, the knowledge to know which ones to take, calm nerves, peaceful nights, good rest, and sleep? Then go ahead and get closer to your Father, He is waiting for you! Pv3:24 When you lie down, you shall not be afraid; yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet..I know when I finally threw my hands in the air and said I give up God, I am not taking my own will back anymore, it is all in Your Hands! I want to know more, I want a relationship, not just to call on you during rough trials in life, and I started to praise Him, pray more, read the Word a lot every single day, I started to gain much more Wisdom! I speak in tongues everyday now because that too is more wisdom. It is God's wisdom for me to pray for things I may not know I am to pray for, or for private communion just between God and me! It is a real cool relationship with Him, I get many words from Him, and much knowledge while I am in that space in the Spirit. When you awake at night and you are hurting, you are troubled, you are not able to sleep....Pick up the bible, start to read it, pray, talk to God as if He was sitting in the bed right next to you, He is.....You will start to feel and see many new changes happening with in, and on the outside! I believe this is the recipe for us to have a Godly life and a great walk and relationship with Him....Is to Love like Him, Have His Peace, and Wisdom. It is medicine not only to our nerves and bones, but every area in our life! It can change things you would never imagine, it can change people, the miracles you will see are astounding. Things are really hard in our walk a lot of the time, but to just sit back and watch the miracles that happen when we are doing all we are supposed to be doing, and using all of the godly Wisdom and Knowledge that we have, in making choices in our life. I believe when God is smiling down on us, anything can happen! I pray for His wisdom everyday, so that I know I am making the right choices, the choices that are from God, not man or better yet not the enemy! Make your choices by listening to Him, using the Wisdom He has put with in you in your inner man, and sit back and watch your life and how it will change!
I pray that I was speaking to someone when I wrote this because it has been burning in my heart for 3 days now, and it is Proverbs 3, and then after church I figured........YES!! I am going to write whatever the Holy Spirit leads me to write on this tonight! I pray that it will touch you in the way that it was meant to by our heavenly Father God, and that you get the wisdom, peace, love, and strength that you need in life....May you be blessed all through the week. God Bless You ALL
Jennifer Caccavale
