CONQUERING THE DISTRACTIONS OF THIS LIFE

Question:
As a Christian, how can I walk in faith?
How can I not be discouraged by the world and this life? How?

Usually people who have the most exciting, faith-inspiring testimonies are those who have been under pressure at some time in their lives.

When you get into a hard spot, that's not the time to back out and say to God, "Why did you let this happen to me."

Question:
Do not have the right to evaluate God's faithfulness?

2 Timothy 2:13
"If we do not believe Him, yet He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."

If we are faithless and are untrue to Him, He remains true and faithful to His Word and His righteous character.

2 Corinthians 13:5
"Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves."

Life is easy when you see the miracles.
People followed Jesus for the miracles that he did.

MATTHEW 14:14-36 and JOHN 6:1-21

We must learn to trust Jesus - "Storm or no Storm"!

7 PRINCIPLES IN CONQUERING THE DISTRACTIONS OF THIS LIFE

1. Jesus will never tell you to do something that you can't do.

Matthew 14:22
"And immediately Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a boat and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away."

Just because of the storms in your life, it doesn't mean you are out of God's will.

Great trials come when you walk in obedience.

We often wander, "What will people think of me if I …"

It doesn't matter how others see you or even how you see yourself, what counts the most is obeying God.
To God, your reputation doesn't count as much as your obedience to His word.

When you lose the desire to protect your image, your image will improve.
Then when people look at you, they won't see you as you see your self, but as God sees you.

So put off the old self-consciousness and instead develop God-consciousness.
Stop being dominated by the fear of man and start being motivated by faith in what Jesus has said He will do.

Jesus is never late - he is always on time!
He will make a way when everyone says it is impossible!

2. "Praying and Faith" - prepares you for the difficult things to come.

Matthew 14:23
"And when He had sent the crowds away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when evening had come, He was there alone."

Jesus told his disciples to "go to the other side".
Usually it took about 2 hour for the disciples to go across the lake, and now they had been rowing about 8 hours against a gale wind.

Jesus knew exactly where they were.
Jesus saw and sees them, and came to them walking on the water.

Prayer and faith are "Siamese twins."
One heart encourages them both.

3. When you are about to give up - you receive a new vision of Jesus.

Matthew 14:26-27
"And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a phantom!
And they cried out for fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, I AM! Do not fear."

When you run into an impossible situation, a situation you don't have the strength or the ability to handle or change and you are tempted to simply give up and accept defeat - What do you do?
Throw your hands into the air and just lay down and die?
Or do you look for Jesus in the storm - (not a ghost).

When your human strength ends, and you can't seem to see any way out, "God's miracle-working power" will strengthen your faith.
God has promise that His miraculous power will bring you through and give you a new vision of Jesus!

4. Peter had "faith" to step out of the boat.

Matthew 14:28-29
"And Peter answered Him and said, LORD, if it is You, tell me to come to You on the water.
And He said, Come.
And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus."

Peter recognized Jesus voice and he asked to come to him on the water.

The waves became rocks - Circumstances become stepping stones!

Some people never fail, because they never get out of the boat.
They will never do the greater things of God - like walking on the water.
With faith, you can go anywhere with God!

If you keep your eyes on Jesus - The impossible will become possible!

5. The power of your feet is dependent on the focus of your eyes!

In this life, there will always be storms, "But be of good cheer", Jesus said, "I have overcome the storms!"

Remember, the water that is over your head is under the feet of Jesus and He will lift you up and hold on to you.

6. Doubting will result in you sinking.

Matthew 14:30-31
"But seeing that the wind was strong, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me!
And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him; and said to him, Little-faith! Why did you doubt?"

When you take your eyes off Jesus, you see yourself - "look at me" - this is impossible!
Don't let your feelings distract you!
You must keep looking at Jesus and keep walking with your feet pointed toward Jesus and eyes focused on His eyes.
Men or circumstances cannot keep you from God, unless you let them.

1 John 5:4
"For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith."

7. Your spiritual stability in this world depends upon you.

The responsibility of your spirituality (success or failure), does not depend upon God's miraculous manifestations.

Your success or failure depends on: