You don’t have to beg God to perform His promises. All you have to do is accept them! They are there for the taking. Is your heart open for the receiving?
Remember Peter when he was on the boat and saw Jesus walking on the water? He said, “If that’s you Lord, bid me to come.” Peter wasn’t expecting an answer. He thought it was a ghost! But Jesus said, “Come.” And Peter looked at the rest of them in the boat and I bet he thought, “Did He just say what I thought He said?” The Bible says Peter got out of the boat.
Attitude And Faith
That’s what I’m talking about when I say that faith is a two-fold constitution. First is the attitude of faith. It was exemplified in Peter’s request: “Jesus, if that is you, bid me to come.”
When Jesus responded by saying, “Come,” He was essentially saying, “Now, Peter, walk in the faith that you have spoken.” Peter then moved into the second part of the two-fold constitution of faith: action! He exemplified the action of faith by taking a step out of the boat.
After Jesus responded to Peter, Peter had a responsibility to own up to his own faith-filled words. The same is true for you and me. We have a responsibility to have an attitude of faith by saying, “If it’s you Jesus, I will do this thing. I will meet you on the water.”
When He responds favorably, it is then our responsibility to move into action and do that thing which God has shown us. That is the two-fold constitution of faith. Attitude and action, saying and doing. You can’t separate these two. You must have both working in your life to receive optimum results.
Taking that step out and doing something that isn’t certain in the natural can be really unnerving if your eyes aren’t fixed on Jesus. Focusing on the Lord is the only way to get through those situations, because your natural mind is going to try to protect itself! Your mind might be thinking, “You are some kind of fool thinking that you can walk on water!”
That’s what happened to Peter. He started looking at the water instead of Jesus and started doubting. And what does doubt do? You know. It stops faith from working. Peter sank because of that and Jesus had to pull him up so he wouldn’t have to swim back to the boat.
But you know the wonderful thing about Jesus is that even if you do get your eyes off Him and end up falling in the water, He won’t leave you there to drown. The Lord is out there with you and He is going to pick you up when you put your eyes back on Him!
You can’t lose! When you make that first step toward Jesus, you are getting away from the religious crowd in the boat and you’re stepping closer to God. If you mess up and fall in the water, He is out there with you, reaching out His hand. And either way you’re still closer to Him than you were in the boat!
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”