"LOOK UP!" God’s Power works for the good in our lives.
Matthew 14:22-32 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Walks on the Water
22 Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. 23 Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there. 24 By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. 25 A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples. 26 When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.
27 At once, Jesus said to them, "Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid." 28 Peter replied, "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come on!" Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him.
30 But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. 31 Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, "You surely don't have much faith. Why do you doubt?"
32 When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down.


You've all heard the story about the boy who was walking along and happened to see a $5.00 bill on the sidewalk. He picked it up, put it in his pocket and kept walking with his eyes fastened even more closely to the sidewalk. He developed a habit of looking down and in the next few months found about $3.50 in change, a few dozen cigarette butts, a ton of trash paper, and even managed to ram his forehead into a couple of lamp-posts which cured him of looking down.
In the text, we encounter Peter who, like the boy, needed to be reminded to "Look up!"
Joni Eareckson Tada learned that lesson and passed it along in an article she wrote. I share that with you this morning. She wrote, "When I was little and went horseback riding with my sisters,
I had a hard time keeping up. My problem was that I was riding a little pony only half the size of their mounts. I had to gallop twice as fast just to keep up. I didn't mind. I took it as a challenge until we came to the edge of a river. My sisters on their big horses thought it was fun and exciting to cross the river at the deepest part. They never seemed to notice that my little pony sank quite a bit deeper into the swirling waters. It was scary, but I wasn't about to let them know."
Joni was something like Peter who, whether he was afraid or not, wanted to step right out onto the water.
Well, let's turn to the text.
what's the first thing we notice?

[1]. PETER SUBDUED FEAR AND STEPPED OUT IN FAITH: VV 27,28, 29:
27 At once, Jesus said to them, "Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid." 28 Peter replied, "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come on!" Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him.
A. Now, some fear is appropriate.
1. We ought to fear foolhardy, reckless, needless courting of useless danger just for the thrill of it.
2. We ought to fear getting familiar and comfortable with sin. Saying things like every bodies doing. Or its no bodies busness what I do.
3. We ought to fear spiritual apathy and I just don’t care anymore. been there done that aditude.


B. Groundless fear, or cowardly fear in the face of life's challenges is simply deadly:
1. It paralyzes us and renders us unable to function; we can't eat, sleep, work, think. We are immobile, inactive, inert and ineffective. But busy busy, busy, like siting in a rocking - rocking but going no ware.
2. It demoralizes us and makes us want to run and hide.
3. It prevents us stepping out into new ventures of living, attempting new things for the Lord, and trying new services for our fellow men.
C. There are things which we ought to never be afraid:
We should not be afraid

1. To stand up and stand out, speak up and speak out for Christ even if we are the lone ranger and the only voice!
We should not be afraid
2. To take a step of faith we are convinced He is calling us to take even if it is to do something we've never done before.
We should not be afraid
3. To do the Biblically correct, though perhaps unpopular, thing.
We should not be afraid
4. Of enemies who vaunt themselves arrogantly against the Lord and His Church. 
We should not be afraid
5. That God will forget to recognize and care for our real needs. 
D. Remember Paul's words,
subdue fear and step out in faith:
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." 
Peter was likely afraid but he stepped out in faith, left the boat and hit the water.
So, though she was really afraid, Joni rode her mount into the river; she continues, "One crossing in particular sticks in my memory: the Gorsuch Switch Crossing on the Patapsco River. It had rained earlier that week and the river was brown and swollen. As our horses waded out toward midstream, I became transfixed staring at the swirling waters rushing around the legs of my pony. it made me scared and dizzy.
I began to lose my balance in the saddle."
That's where Peter made his mistake, too.
[2]. PETER LOOKED DOWN
AND BEGAN TO PANIC: V30:
30 But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted.
A. Human logic began to work against his faith. "People don't walk on water!
My feet aren't flippers!
What was I thinking of to step out of that boat? I'm siiiiiiiiinking!"
Human logic led him to look down and looking down led to sinking and sinking led to panic.
B. Human logic is not the litmus test of truth and right. Human understanding has led to some pretty goofy ideas.
1. Tomatoes were feared and considered poisonous. They figured out they weren't when a disgruntled wife fed some to her hubby and he lived! (Not really! I just made up that part!)
2. Bicycles were once thought to be an invention of the devil.
3. Bathing in a bathtub was once considered to be a sure way to lunacy.
C. But anytime we follow human logic, human rationale and human opinion and take our eyes off Jesus and put them onto anything else, we will begin to sink
and then to panic!
1. Circumstances may deceive, overwhelm and frighten us.
Don't look down and panic!
2. Opposition by hostile people can intimidate and frighten us.
Don't look down and panic!
3. Our own emotions can lie to us and make us feel like we're about to drown.
Don't look down and panic!
4. When you hear about more cases of anthrax or threats of further terrorism,
don't look down and panic!
D. When Peter lapsed into fear, looked down and panicked, he was a lot like
1. Joshua, who said, in Joshua 7:7
7 Then Joshua said: Our LORD, did you bring us across the Jordan River just so the Amorites could destroy us? This wouldn't have happened if we had agreed to stay on the other side of the Jordan.
He looked down and panicked.
2. Elijah who fled to hide in a cave when Jezebel the queen put out a contract on his life.
He looked down and panicked.
3. The attendant of Elisha when he saw the army of the king of Aram with horses and chariots was circling the city. He cried out in 2 Kings 6:15,
2 Kings 6:15 (Contemporary English Version)
15 When Elisha's servant got up the next morning, he saw that Syrian troops had the town surrounded. "Sir, what are we going to do?"
He looked down and panicked.
Simply stated, Peter panicked.
So did Joni as she looked down at the swirling water and began to lose balance.

She wrote, "The voice of my sister Jay finally broke through my panic. 'Look up, Joni! Keep looking up!' Sure enough, as soon as I focused on my sister on the other side, I was able to regain my balance and finish the crossing."
Peter needed to do the same thing to keep from sinking.
[3]. PETER LOOKED UP
AND MADE IT BACK TO THE BOAT: VV31, 32:
31 Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, "You surely don't have much faith. Why do you doubt?"
32 When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down.
A. Once again fixing his eyes on Jesus put things back into perspective.
Jesus wasn't sinking!
Jesus was in no dither or panic!
Jesus wasn't in trouble.
Jesus was still there!
B. He will never desert us in the midst of the storm!
He will never leave us to sink into the circumstances!
He will never abandon us to our own resources as long as we look to Him in faith.
C. Notice some key thoughts in this text:
1. Peter looked up, saw Jesus and cried out to Him. It was: :
a. Simple prayer, only 3 words in the English. He had no time to say, "O Thou Who sitteth on the periphery of the universe ... Glub, glub!"
It was......
b. Fervent, passionate, eager prayer.
Peter needed help and he needed it now! 
2. Immediately Jesus acted!
a. Now, sometimes He says, "No!" flat out; and sometimes He determines that we simply need to wait!
And sometimes he say No.
and some times he say grow up first.
b. But when the need is immediate,
He is immediate in His reply and action.
3. Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter!
a. He didn't wait for Peter to dog-paddle to where He was!
b. He didn't just allow Peter to cling tenaciously to Him, He held on to Peter!

Like the little boy who walked along holding hands with Daddy on an icy sidewalk. He slipped and his feet shot straight out, but he never hit ground. He said, "Boy, Daddy! I holded on real good!" So did Daddy!
4. Jesus escorted Peter back to the boat and safety.
He doesn't just point out the way,
He is the way!
D. Sometime, maybe soon, maybe late, maybe in this life, maybe not until we are home with Him in heaven, Jesus will take us out of the storm;
He will take us to where the waves cannot engulf us;

He will walk with us to where we are out of harm's way.
There was a moment, however brief, that Jesus and Peter walked on the water side by side, hand in hand; but then they were in the boat and all was calm.
Joni's article concludes with reference to this event, "That little story came to mind recently when I was reading about Peter in Matthew 14. It seems he had a similar problem as he walked on the water toward the Lord Jesus. He looked down at the raging waters, got dizzy, and lost his balance. Because he took his eyes off the Lord and put them on the swirling waves around him, he began to sink.
How much we are like him!
Instead of resting on the Word of God, we let our circumstances almost transfix us, absorbing us to the point where we begin to lose our spiritual equilibrium.
We become dizzy with fear and anxiety And before you know it, we've lost all balance.
It's easy to panic, isn't it?
And admittedly, it's hard to look up especially when you feel like you're sinking. But my pony and I made it across the Patapsco and Peter made it back to his boat.
Thousands before you, enduring the gale force winds of circumstance, have made it through keeping their eyes on the Lord Jesus.
How about you?
If you can't find a way out, try looking up!" Don't look all around you and panic at the world's terrors.
Look up!
Don't look within you and find confusion, and anxiety.
Look up!
Look up this morning to Jesus.
Look up from your failure, it isn't the last word. Look up from your sins, they cannot bind you.
Look up from your miserable situation, Jesus has life in all its abundance to give you.
Look up from your fears, Jesus has peace for your troubled heart.
Look up into the compassionate face of Jesus Christ and you will see His hand extended to take yours -- and to walk with you through life and into eternity.
His hand can lift you,
His love can embrace you,
His grace can save you,
if you look up to him in faith.
Look up!
You'll find a Savior waiting to lift you out of the raging waves.
  The Buzzard If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
THE BAT:
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable  nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level  place.  If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
THE BUMBLEBEE:
 A bumblebee, if dropped into an open glass, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out.  It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom..  It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!  That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem!
 Just look up.
Sorrow looks back,
Worry looks around,
But faith looks up!
Live simply, love generously , care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us. Look UP!!!!
God’s Power works for the good in our lives.