Get Out of The Boat!

Matthew 14:26-30

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

‘Come,’ is another way of saying, ‘you can do it, it’s your turn, start, jump, quit making excuses, break free of your fears and live your faith.’

So many of Gods people live beneath their potential, they live what we’ll call the ‘safe life.’ But occasionally you run into someone who heard Jesus say “come,’ and they went over the edge of the comfortable and predictable safe zone and they’re walking with Jesus supernaturally.

So many times, we sit back in our comfortable safe places and talk about everything we would do for God if He ever called us, not realizing that He already has – He has called all of us to come. What do you do when Jesus says come? You and I most likely will never get out of a boat and walk on top of water as Peter did. We may never, during our lifetime, be in the situation or the circumstances that Peter was in, in the middle of a life-threatening storm and physically in the presence of eye witnesses walked on top of the water. The truth, most of us have no desire to walk on the water when there is a perfectly good boat anywhere nearby. But while we may never physically leave the safety of a perfectly good boat and leap out onto a raging sea, there will be times in our lives as we follow Christ that we will be challenged to duplicate that same reckless faith and abandon that Peter had when he let go of everything so he could hold onto a word from the Lord – Come!

There is going to be a point in your faith journey, a time when you must choose the high road or the low road, if you choose the higher road it means you will must let go of the safety and comfort of what you know, and step out in faith. It takes faith just to ride out the storm. It takes faith to keep your sanity when all hell is breaking loose against your family, your finances, your health, and your ministry.

Some people are quick to criticize those other disciples as being fearful and faithless, but not me. I know how it feels to be in a storm, and I know how much faith it takes just to stay in the boat and ride it out. It takes faith to keep praising, to keep trusting, to keep tithing, and keep sowing, and keep confessing when you can’t see or feel any relief. I know what it’s like when you can’t see anything but storm clouds and rough waters, when all you can do is just hold on and ride it out. No, I’m not going to condemn them, they made it thru the storm, they made it to the other side, and that’s something to shout about!

I know I'm going to make it through the storm I'm in now, sometimes it feels like I’m not, sometimes it might look like I’m not, and the devil wants me to think that I’m not, but I am going to make it to the other side. I got news for the devil and the naysayers, this ain’t my first storm! I been through a few, and I’m still here. I've gotten wet, I've been nearly drown, but I'm still here! So, I’m telling the Lord, I’m still gonna love you, I’m still gonna serve you, I’m still gonna praise my way through the storm! Hallelujah, my God is calling me to come!

No, I will not criticize them, but I have one thing to say about those other disciples, they missed the opportunity to take the high road. You see they were brought to a place where they could choose a greater glory. They missed the testimony of a water walker. Their testimony was, “We made it, we survived, we rode out the storm.”

On the other hand, when Peter began to testify, his testimony was much different from the other disciples. Yes, he was in the boat with all the rest, and yes, he feared for his life like all the other disciples. But when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water something happened on the inside of Peter, faith told him, you can do that, if Jesus can do it, you can too. Something inside of Peter said: If the teacher can do it, so can the students. All he needed was a word from the Master, and then Jesus said, “Come.”

All you need is a word from the Master. There may be a thousand voices telling you that you can’t do it, and a thousand reasons why you can’t do it. You’re not educated enough, you're not old enough, you're too old, you’re from the wrong side of town, you don’t have enough money, you don’t have any experience. But if you have a word from God, you can do the impossible. You can go where they said you could never go, and you can do what they said you can never do, and you can be what they said you could never be, and you can have what they said you could never have (Philippians 4:13).

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” – Matthew 9:23

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” – I John 4:4

Peter had a word – ‘Come.’ That’s all he had, but that’s all he needed. No doubt the disciples argued with him and told him, it was impossible and begged him to stay in the boat and stay on the same faith level that they were on, but Peter had heard the voice of the Lord calling, come.

Everyone in the boat had the same opportunity Peter had to walk on the water, the circumstances were the same, Jesus was the same, the word was the same, but hey chose to hold on to the boat. Peter chose to step out on the Word. When Peter stepped out on the word of Jesus, he stepped into a fresh anointing, a new anointing. He stepped into a supernatural water walking anointing, He began moving and walking and operating in the same realm and the same anointing that Jesus was functioning in.

Jesus didn’t force Peter to get out of the boat, Jesus didn’t threaten Peter. Jesus didn’t condemn the other disciples for not walking on the water. Jesus simply came to them all in a way that presented an opportunity for them to move to another level in their faith. He created an avenue for them to step from one realm of anointing to another, he called them to a higher experience, and a higher manifestation of his power in their lives. But only one took that step.

That step separated Peter from the rest of the disciples. That step drew a line between the doers and the watchers, between the boat sitters and the water walkers. I prophesy and I declare to you that there is a new stirring in the spirit, and many who have been comfortable and satisfied in the boat of mediocrity and religious expectation and traditions of man are getting uncomfortable. The Spirit is calling, Come!

Many of Gods people are beginning to realize that they weren’t created for the confines, restrictions, and the limitations of a powerless religion. In other words, you’re discovering your destiny, you are discovering your purpose and you are discovering the God’s power can resides in you. You are discovering that you are not chickens, you’re eagles.

You can choose to live on the lower plane as a chicken, but your eagle spirit will never be satisfied. Some reading this message and you can’t figure it out, you’re uncomfortable, you’re uneasy, edgy, and irritable. You go to church, but you leave feeling like something’s still missing, and you want to blame it on the Pastor, or the praise and worship team, or the teacher or the evangelist. But the truth is, it’s not their fault, a different job, a different wife, or a different church, or more money, isn’t going to fix it.

The problem is that your spirit has heard the Master say come, your spirit wants to break free, but your flesh is trying to hold you in captivity. It’s the anointing that is calling you, and it’s the anointing that is pulling at you. It’s that same anointing that pulled Peter out of that boat. It’s that same word that called Peter to a life in the supernatural.

You can talk about the Peter that started to sink, that was rebuked by Jesus, that denied he even knew Jesus if you want to dwell on the negative. But I prefer to talk about the Peter that walked on the water, cast out devils, healed the sick and raised the dead and preached the inauguration of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost and 3,000 souls were saved. I want to talk about the man who let go of everything to take hold of one word from God.

At some point you must make a choice: Are you going to live by what man created, your status, your reputation, or are you going to live by what created man? The Word of God. He stepped out into nothing and with a word he created everything. All you need is a word from Him to create your opportunity to walk in the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost - and he spoke it through Peter, the one who took a single word from Jesus and became forever known as a water walker - here's your word: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” – Hebrews 11:3

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” – Revelation 22:17

Don’t just sit there, get out of your boat and follow Peter into a new anointing! Don’t be afraid, the Lord is ready to take your hand.