{"id":6758,"date":"2011-04-16T19:00:41","date_gmt":"2011-04-17T00:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/?p=6758"},"modified":"2011-04-23T13:10:03","modified_gmt":"2011-04-23T18:10:03","slug":"blogging-through-the-gospels-matthew-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/blogging-through-the-gospels-matthew-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging Through the Gospels: Matthew 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

The reading for Sunday is Matthew Chapter 14<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When it is time to read, please start first by praying and thanking God for His many blessings. Be specific.<\/p>\n

Next present your requests to Him. Ask Him for whatever you want and need.<\/p>\n

Third, ask Him to guide you in your reading, so that you will hear his message for you today.<\/p>\n

After you read, record your SOAP observations<\/a> and then listen for three minutes. Set a timer and just\u00a0 listen to what he might be sharing. Don’t ask. Don’t thank. Just listen. (You can pray more after you listen, if you like.)<\/p>\n

Today we have guest SOAP’er. I’m excited to share what Penney heard in the reading. I love her honesty and can relate with this myself… although I am getting better at trusting.<\/p>\n

Fearing God\u2019s Call<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scripture<\/strong>: Matthew 14:30<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, \u2018Lord, save me!\u2019”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Observation<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

I need to trust in and follow after God rather than getting distracted by what I can see going on in the world around me.<\/p>\n

Application<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Peter responded to the call of God and as a result of his response, he was walking on water!\u00a0 I can just imagine the exhilaration and excitement he must have felt…UNTIL he realized that what he was doing just did NOT make sense!\u00a0 And fear struck….<\/p>\n

Looking back on this historical event, it\u2019s easy for me to say \u201chow could Peter have doubted?\u00a0 Jesus was standing RIGHT THERE BESIDE HIM!<\/span>\u201d\u00a0 But<\/strong> how often have I begun to follow the call of God to do something that would bring Him glory, only to be distracted by fear of what I could see going on around me?\u00a0 Even more than standing right beside me, Jesus LIVES INSIDE ME<\/span><\/strong>, yet I have often been fearful of doing what God has called me to do.\u00a0 And giving in to that fear?\u00a0 That\u2019s saying, “God, I don’t think You know what You are doing.”\u00a0 Such distrust!\u00a0 Such disrespect!\u00a0 In the light of day I may not DREAM of saying this to God, but in the midst of the storms of life, this attitude can sneak up on me so easily….<\/p>\n

In times of day light and times of storm alike, I MUST remember that my God is trustworthy, faithful, and reliable…more than my human mind can absorb!\u00a0 He calls me to action and wants my response to be obedience that flows from trust.\u00a0 And I can trust Him completely!<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Lord, it is sometimes hard to let go of the illusion that I am in control.\u00a0 Thank You for loving me.\u00a0 Thank You for the honor of being used to bring You glory. Forgive me for the times I have resisted in fear.\u00a0 Thank You for Your faithfulness in rescuing me from myself!\u00a0 For myself and for all those reading this I pray that You would increase our faith!\u00a0 Be glorified in us this day!\u00a0 Thank You, in advance, for hearing and answering us.\u00a0 In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Penney is a lover of Jesus, wife, mommy (thanks to the miracle of adoption!) and (very) part-time therapist\/Christian Life Coach whose personal passion is learning how to live a life of worship.\u00a0 She believes strongly in the power of the Word of God to transform lives and blogs at Better Things<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

What about you? What did you see and hear in your reading of Matthew 14? Please share with the rest of us, if you are comfortable doing so. <\/em><\/strong>Feel free to leave your thoughts, or a link to post with your thoughts, in the comments. If you do link a post, please include a link in your own post back to this post so your readers can see what others had to say, as well, and potentially join us.<\/em> <\/em>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Didn’t start reading or Blogging Through\u00a0 the Gospels<\/a> with us? That’s okay, join in anytime. Each Sunday evening I post the reading schedule for the week ahead and each evening I post the next day’s reading assignment and devotional. Feel free to jump in where we are anytime and blog or journal along using the SOAP format<\/a><\/em>.<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reading for Sunday is Matthew Chapter 14. When it is time to read, please start first by praying and thanking God for His many blessings. Be specific. Next present your requests to Him. Ask Him for whatever you want and need. Third, ask Him to guide you in your reading, so that you will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[682,275,229,672],"class_list":["post-6758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging-through-the-gospels","tag-blogging-through-the-gospels","tag-guest-post","tag-matthew","tag-soap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6758"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6835,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6758\/revisions\/6835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}