To Walk On Water

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16

Some of us were never taught to conquer our fears. But God loves to call us into the uncomfortable and break mans rules. He wants us to know and face our fears so we can be better warriors, less susceptible to the enemies schemes. 

As long as we have fear in us, we're vulnerable. As long as we're comfortable we are missing our true purpose in this life and we're missing out on seeing what what God can do in our lives firsthand.  As long as we stay in the boat we are blinded to the stuff in us that God wants to heal and change because it's what is outside the boat that works as sandpaper to surface what is already there. 

He will apprehend us- as much as we want Him to. Our hearts need to be apprehended, taken captive, by Him in order to break free from the fears and faulty thinking in our heads. And in order for that renewing of the mind to take place, we need to surrender our fears and get out of the boat. We need to be willing to be changed, strengthened and set securely on His foundation so that we can be true warriors. We need for Him to show us what the "warrior" should be like. 

I write things like this because it's what I need and it's what I feel led to share. This particular topic was one the Lord spoke specifically to me about. He gave me the words above and He molded that morning around His message for me. He sent my son to tell me about his first vision, which had everything to do with this topic. But then, He reminded me that other people need this message too. It is appropriate for all of us.  

We, especially in America, lean towards the comfortable; comfort and efficiency are molded into our culture even so much that it bleeds into our faith. But we've got to be careful with this because that comfort, meshed with following Jesus won't work. Our culture will cause us to compromise our calling, our walk with Him for the stuff that makes us comfortable. 

I struggle with this myself, so please don't think I am finger-pointing. I am heavily convicted lately of the things I should do, but don't because it is hard, I am not good at it or I'm afraid. 

I dare to say that following Jesus isn't comfortable, but very uncomfortable most of the time. We are, and will be, called to do some hard things, some awkward and scary things. Those are the things that stretch and grow us into what we were created to be. They help us see what we're capable of when we put our trust in Jesus. It would be such a shame for us to spend our time here never knowing what our purpose and calling is, sacrificing true contentment and peace for a mere facade of it.