... step our of the boat on the basis of what he saw. He stepped out of the boat on the basis of what he heard. He just heard one word, “Come”. But that was enough to create sufficient faith in his heart to get out of the boat. Peter did not walk on the water by sight, but by faith. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans10:17 Most people would have said, “Lord, if that is you, settle this storm. Calm the wind and the waves. Come over here where we can see you better. Take me by the hand that I might get out of the boat with you.” But Peter jumped out of the boat on the basis of hearing one word, “Come”. He had one word. Don’t ever put Peter down for beginning to sink. Don’t ever say a negative thing about Peter until you see how you respond to the storms in your life. Peter had one spoken word, “Come.” Would you have followed Jesus on the basis of one word? People talk about wanting to see Jesus. They are not really interested in hearing the Word. But the Word of God says that it is hearing the Word that brings faith, not seeing Jesus. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water by faith. But in verse 30 there is a sudden change. “He SAW the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying, Lord save me.” The reason he began to sink was not because he looked at the waves. No, notice it says, “He saw the wind boisterous.” Have you ever seen the wind? I haven’t. But, I have seen and heard the results of it. I believe Peter began to sink because he started listening to the wind instead of the Word. Verse 30 says, “He was beginning to sink.” It does not say, “He sank.” It does not say, and when Peter had gone under for the third time, then Jesus took him by the hand. No! Peter called out to Jesus to save him and Jesus immediately took him by the hand. When they got in the boat, the wind ceased. If you are staying under condemnation about missing it in your relationship with God, it is because you are keeping yourself under condemnation. Or you are allowing somebody else to keep you under condemnation. God does not have anything to do with condemnation. He is waiting for your cry. “God save me, forgive me, deliver me, help me.” Immediately when you do cry out, Jesus will stretch forth his hand and deliver you. One of the most beautiful things about this story is that after Peter missed it, he walked on the water again. Peter and Jesus walked on the water back to the boat, “And then the wind ceased.” Let’s imagine that I saw you take a step of faith and then really miss it. What would happen if I walked up to you and said the same thing Jesus said to Peter? “Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” You know what would happen? If you didn’t get mad you would probably get under condemnation. If I pointed my finger at you and said, “You only have a little bit of faith. What is the matter with you? Why did you doubt?” Six months from now you would still be digging out from under condemnation. As Jesus stretched forth His Hand and caught Peter He said, “Oh thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt?” That is a rebuke. That is not condemnation. There is a difference. John said, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world: but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17 Condemnation defeats you, but a rebuke will ... See WALKING ON WATER - Pg 12 JUNE 2025 GLAD TIDINGS 11 I was telling my wife that we needed to have more of a heart for God. I said, “You know, Honey, folks can be good Christian people that love the Lord, go to church, work in the church and do a lot of charitable things, jet still don’t truly have a real heart for God.” When I said that I didn’t really know what it meant, until I began to think about King David. A simple plain man, yet he was hand picked by God. He was a man with all the human frailties and weaknesses like you and I. His life was full of failures, torment and sorrow, but one thing that set him apart was the fact that he was a man after God’s own heart. He had a heart for God. He sought after God most of his life and he did it fervently. Not half heartedly. He wanted God’s heart beat to be his very own. In other words there’s a lot of good church people with the best intentions that put their whole body into working for God without really putting their heart into it. I should know. I did that for years. Going too church and working in the church, more out of tradition and a sense of civic duty, rather than from the heart. Going through the routine without a true love for lost souls. You see, the heart of God is to win the lost at any cost. His special creation that He loves so much went astray, and God wants them back. Amen! You see we sing “To Be Like Jesus” without thinking that to be more like Him we’ve got to put our very heart and soul into the ministry. Into the kingdom work. Our whole goal should be to win souls for Christ. To preach deliverance to the captive and to bind up the broken hearted. Now, too many of us say, “That’s the preacher’s job. I’m not a preacher.” I’m glad you said that, because preaching is just a portion of the work of God. The greatest work lies out in the field. As one of the Wesley boys said, “The world is my parish.” The harvest for lost souls is ripe and plentiful, but the laborers are few. We must all put our hand to the plow, so to speak. All true born again Christians are called ministers of the gospel and we are to be like King David. Seek after God’s very heart. Have a heart for God. Go to bed with God on your mind and wake up the same way. As the bible says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” There’s a charge card commercial that says, “Go for the gold.” Well, I say, “Go for the heart. For the heart of God.” Can you say amen? u GARY TOOLE EXPRESS LOCATION: 1001 N Madison Ave Douglas Ga. In the old Preferred Loan & Tax Bldg Come See Us For Your: Personal Loans - Tax Loans - Filing Taxes LOAN AND TAX SERVICE 912-389-1040 A HEART FOR GOD Todd Wade - Owner Jasmine Gusman - Douglas Mgr WALKING ON WATER - Con’t
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