Knowing the heartbeat of God for you…Part 3
We all go through stuff
We have trials, struggles, battles in this life. These battles come for various reasons, sometimes it is the evil in the world coming through others to us, sometimes it is the harvest of sin ours or others in our lives, sometimes it is the devil if we are open to allowing him access, sometimes it is simply time for us to grow and we are provided with an opportunity to do so. If we were honest, we would recognize any of these reasons as an opportunity to grow
As Christians, we don’t want to admit it but we are still in this world and we still battle stuff…it shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus, Paul and Peter, and James all told us we would….
Here is a list of scriptures you don’t want to know
Jesus -Matthew 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Paul – Romans 5:3-5 “And not only that but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Peter -1 Peter 1:6,7 “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
James -James 1:2,3 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” NASB
BUT here is a story of Jesus that will help you understand His heartbeat for you and for the struggles you walk through
To give you the complete story I needed to combine two passages for you.
Mark 6:45-50
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”
Matthew 14:28-32
28 Peter said to Him, “Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.
Mark 6:51,52
51 “Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”
I started out sharing, everything is an opportunity for growth….the disciples had just fed probably 30,000+ people with a few loaves and fish. Not only had they fed them but they had more left over than they were originally given….just in case you don’t know, that is the way God always works….you can’t outdo God when you choose to trust Him whether it is with time, talent, or treasure
Out of this miracle here is what happened….
Mark 6:45,46 “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.”
Notice what Peter is saying here, as this is Peter’s Gospel…Jesus made them get into the boat to head into the storm.
Last week was Father’s day and you might say to yourself, “What kind of loving Father would purposely send His children into danger ?”
If we only look from a temporal point of view, a “right now” point of view it would seem that way. We will deal with that in a few moments, for now, I need you to look at what happened here. The disciples performed a great miracle. It was they who handed out the food that multiplied and fed the masses and Jesus is saying, “get into the boat and cross the lake”…he didn’t warn them that the storm was coming he just sent them with the knowledge of the miracle, the violation of physical law that they performed.
God is drawing us ever closer to Him. He is giving us His heartbeat. He is showing us we can trust Him and the miracles He will do for us. We saw it a couple weeks ago with Bonnie, Ken, and Sarah’s testimonies, how he delivered them from fear and disease and showed them that He loved them
The challenge is, as humans we have a, “What have you done for me lately, mentality!” when it comes to everything…
Penguins can win the Stanley Cup, Steelers the Super Bowl, people can bless us, and God can move the mountains and we treat it all the same….”That was fine when it happened but what have you done for me lately”
The disciples had that attitude and it cost them, but Jesus wanted to give them the Father’s heartbeat so he sent them for a boat ride
What did Jesus do? He knew what he was sending them into, so He went to pray.
I believe he prayed they would have their hearts open to the Holy Spirit’s work and that the Father’s heartbeat would come alive in them that they would know that God would always be with them, that he desired for lives to be changed, to understand they don’t need to ever fear and people to see Jesus
Mark 6:47, 48a
47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them
When we understand the Father’s heartbeat we remember that we are never alone
Hebrews 13:5b,6
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” 6 so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?”
Jesus sent them and he knew what they would be facing. Our Father knows exactly what you will be facing, always. Nothing is ever a surprise to him he will not leave us
Jesus is always praying for us
Romans 8:33 – 35
Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
When you have the Father’s heartbeat you know you are never alone and not only are never abandoned by the one who loves you the most, but Jesus is always, always, always praying for you!
He was doing that as the disciples were facing their greatest fear, one in which Jesus had sent them, one in which He was in control. The same Jesus who broke the laws of nature to feed over 30K with the loaves and fish, but they forgot very quickly who he was and what he did for them.
When we have the Father’s heartbeat we know our lives are in His hands we don’t need to worry about even life and death because we know we are so desperately loved that until God’s plan is fulfilled nothing can rob us of life…we learn to trust God and his plan, not our circumstances.
Mark 6: 48b – 50
…at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”
They are in a raging storm and Jesus walks right beside them and intends to keep walking…they all see Him walking right past him…they couldn’t imagine it. What is going on? It looks like Jesus but it is walking on the water, so it must be His ghost or something
He had to be close enough in a raging storm for them to hear him.
When you are in your storm remember He promised he would be there even in the valley of the shadow of death as the Psalmist wrote in the 23rdPsalm…He is right there…he is not going to be an active participant in your trouble but he will be outside of it waiting to be invited into it to bring peace….the Father’s heartbeat is that you understand the storms are only there for you to know and understand what you believe, for you to learn to trust Him, that He is always with you and always standing for you!
Their destiny was not complete yet so they had no reason for them to fear death if it was their time still no reason to fear because they were going to their reward.
The story of Peter’s walking is only in Matthew’s record of this incident. Why is this important? It shows us the Father’s heartbeat for us to trust Him as well
Matthew 14:28-32
28 Peter said to Him, “Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.
Peter wanting to verify it is Jesus said, “if it is you, then I can do the same thing you are doing if you say it is OK!” Sometimes our struggles can provide unique opportunities to stretch our faith
As much as Peter takes a bad rap for this, only two men in history have ever walked on water, Jesus and Peter
Even though he sank, he still walked on water. The Father’s heartbeat is for us to not be afraid to be stretched the way He wants to stretch us. If we fail in trying to walk by faith he will catch us.
In our battles, in our fears, we can choose to keep struggling or know Jesus is right there and is able to deliver us.If we are willing to allow him and stop our struggling and know the Father’s heartbeat that we can feel him and even see him in our struggle knowing that he is building our faith and getting us through it, making us stronger all the way.
Mark 6:51,52
51 “Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”
This is the second time in just a few weeks where Jesus calmed the storm. Jesus’ challenge to Peter’s faith was because of that as well as the miracle of the loaves and fish..all along he is trying to help them understand the Father’s heartbeat yet rather than allowing it to happen they allowed the natural circumstances to steal their understanding of a supernatural God…they chose to harden their hearts rather than have His heartbeat
When we have the Father’s heartbeat and any trial, struggle battle comes our way we now know we can rest in His
Peace – because He is the prince of peace we have no fear of the future, of sickness, disease, finances, because He has our lives in his hands
Life – because he is the way the truth and the life. He brings life to everything, and life abundantly every struggle is an opportunity for Him to bring life when we have His heartbeat
Joy – because it is his desire to fill us with Joy, always. It is his desire to give us all that we need that we might be at peace have life and our lives are completely joy-filled this too is the Father’s heartbeat
These things are not dependent on circumstances but instead on your knowing the heartbeat of God.
May I ask you today, where are you in your struggles, trials, difficulties?
Do you understand God’s great love for you in such a way that you are walking in peace, life, joy, love despite the circumstances?
If not, allow this portion of your life to be filled with the Father’s heartbeat for you, you will overcome every time.
Remember all those scriptures we read from the beginning that we really don’t want to know? Each of them was saying, “you’re going to go through stuff, but God will never let you down, in fact, He will give you great victory through it if you will just trust Him!
Reread them in the notes if you need to, reread them often or until you get it and then you will have peace, life, and joy but come this morning for prayer to get you started