(unmarked journal entry – presumably from matthew 14)

it’s that first step, isn’t it?

getting up the nerve to actually let go of what we consider ‘safe’ in order to follow God’s commands for our lives. it seems impossible, like there really is no way this can be done. but we need to remember that God’s strength is shown at its best in the midst of our weakness.

when it comes to self reliance, there is no room at all in the Kingdom.

we will never build anything God-sized when we work from our own blueprints & resources. we will continue to come up short every single time. but when we take that faith-step, amazing things will happen. we will do more than walk on water, we will see even greater things!

but we have to take that step onto the water, with the waves churning and the wind blowing. in the midst of the hardship, Jesus will be there to give us all the encouragement we will need to get the job done. and when it’s over, walking on the water will seem like no big deal.

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this is something that all of us who claim Christ already know. it is a simple message. i will never proclaim to have anything incredibly deep and profound. i do not seek anyone’s admiration for having ‘great thoughts.’ my desire is to simply and approach-ably communicate the message of God. and so, giving up our feeling of ‘safety’ like it is some sort of right in our lives is crucial. far too many western Christians operate under this umbrella of safety. we figure that as long as we are being good little boys and girls, and we go to church on a fairly frequent basis, that we are doing just what needs to be done. we suppose that God is happy with our bare minimum effort. we try to just skirt by, never really growing or stretching or taking any ‘big’ steps in our faith walk, because that sort of thing is reserved for either missionaries, preachers or religious nuts.

and so we plod forward, moving mostly forward, sometimes with a good, long lateral movement, and feel like we’re doing alright. but holy cow who ever taught us, or showed us that God is pleased with complacency, self reliance and a dead faith? what do we think we’re doing? what good do we think we are accomplishing? we need to walk down the aisle of our churches yelling ‘dead man walking’ because there is so much nothing going on in the lives of those who call themselves “God’s people.”

give up your safety (i say this to myself, as well) and step forward. don’t set a time to do this later. do it now. get up from the computer, and go.

go!