Category: Spiritual Development

Author: Rachel Kidd

Jesus Walks on Water 

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.   

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.  

Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” –Matthew 14:25-29  

Many of us heard this bible story retold to us in Sunday School as kids, intended to encourage our budding faith in Christ. I don’t think it occurred to me then how miraculous, how frightening it would be to truly see someone walk on water in front of me.  

Sinking Feeling 

When I was 16, I had the privilege of traveling to Israel on a school trip. That incredible experience connected me in a very tangible way to the Bible that I grew up reading, making it come alive.  

My group took a bus to the Dead Sea, a greatly anticipated final stop on our educational tour. In our swimsuits and sandals, our tour guide made sure we understood that the salt concentration in the water would be unlike anything we’ve experienced before and would make our bodies buoyant. 

As prepared as I thought I was, I cannot quite describe to you the shock I felt when I slipped into the oily, crystalized water. Like a ball of dough being dropped in hot oil, you don’t sink. Instead, the thick water immediately pushes you back up and cradles you on the surface.  

 I had never felt anything like it, floating on the Dead Sea. It defies logic, upends everything you thought you knew, the principles of the universe you previously believed were concrete and unchanging.  

I can imagine that even though the disciples knew that Jesus performed miracles, seeing Him walk across the water would have been incredibly shocking. Defying the laws of gravity in front of their very eyes, upending everything they thought was true.  

 I probably would have screamed too, out of fear and disbelief. I can’t even imagine Jesus then asking me to walk out to Him, asking me to suspend my understanding of the world. I certainly would have been afraid, even knowing Jesus was right in front of me.  

Peter the Rock  

I think we are often judgmental of Peter, who’s failings are frequent throughout the Gospels. It can be easy to do, but we also should be mindful to remember Peter’s strengths and successes too.  

Peter was the only man in the boat on the Sea of Galilee to step off and into the storm. And yet, we only remember the fact that he sank because he took his eyes off of Jesus.  

Peter demonstrates incredible discernment, only walking on the water once he is sure that it is in fact Jesus, and that He has called him to do so.  

When Peter does stumble, he calls out to Jesus for help; “Lord save me!” and Jesus does. He models responding to Jesus’ call and asking for help when we need it.  

Peter is often the face of doubt, impulsivity, and misjudgement. But, he is also a great church leader, the one who Jesus called the rock. He becomes who Jesus called him, the Rock.  

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Purpose 

Like Peter and His other disciples, Jesus called ordinary people to His ministry. He used people who may have otherwise been discounted and ignored for His purposes, which often ran in opposition to the religious leaders of the time.  

In Mark 7, Jesus is sitting down to a meal with the Pharises.1 Instead of cleansing themselves in the proper way as per tradition, Jesus and His disciples simply sit down to eat.   

The Pharisees are appalled and rebuke Jesus, asking why He allows His followers to eat with unclean hands. Jesus takes this opportunity to teach, replying:  

“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” 

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. –Mark 7:6-8 

Jesus explains that it is the soul, the inner part of man, that makes us reflections of God the Creator. It is not our outer bodies, our external appearances, our cleanliness that makes us righteous in the eyes of God.  

He then declares all food clean, again defying the Jewish tradition of eating Kosher.2  

“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) –Mark 7:18-19 

Jesus says that nothing from the outside can defile a person, rather it is the inside that defiles them. It is not dirty hands, unclean foods, or unfit friends that we should be worried about. He instead places the blame on the internal and the spiritually dark.  

“…sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” –Mark 7: 21-23 

Jesus consistently and persistently flipped the rules and traditions of His time on their heads. He upturned natural laws like gravity even, calling Peter to walk on water and raising people from the dead.  

He calls ordinary people, people that will likely be scared by these abrupt changes to their world, to have faith. He calls even people like Peter, sinking Peter, to be the rock of the church and fulfill extraordinary purposes.  

Author: Charles Hegwood

The term ‘worship wars’ has become a prominent and sometimes heated discussion topic within certain Christian circles. While it may be tempting to reduce worship to a debate about musical preferences, we can learn from Jesus how He defines true worship in His conversation with the Samaritan Woman. When reflecting on John 4, we should take the time to think critically about our forms of worship and strive to deepen our understanding of what God desires in our practice. Are we worshiping God in spirit and truth? Are we seeking Jesus as our source of life? Both of these questions jump from the pages of John 4 and are worthy of our consideration regarding worship and life.  

The Samaritan Woman at the Well 

As Jesus and his disciples journeyed, weariness set in. Thirsty and hungry, the disciples ventured off to find food while Jesus rested at a nearby well. Then, a Samaritan woman approached, unaware that her meeting with Jesus would transform not only her life but also the lives of all those around her. She was about to encounter the source of living water; Jesus.  

Why was this meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman such a big deal? You see there was hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans had intermarried with the deported exiles of other lands under the Assyrian Empire. The result was centuries of mutual hatred and cultural disgust. This sets up an earth-shaking encounter between Jesus who is a Jewish man and a woman from Samaria.  

As we briefly look at the following conversation we will see that Jesus used practical images to make spiritual parallels. He is at a well. He asked the Samaritan woman for water, but the conversation went from practical to spiritual. Jesus began talking about living water. He was telling the woman that He was the source of this living water. People went to the well for life-sustaining water but they would have to come back. What Jesus offered was radically different. The water He offered would be a spring that travels with you. This well is not fixed to one location. 

The woman is interested but still does not fully grasp it. And again the conversation moves from practical to spiritual. Jesus tells her about her life’s current condition. She was living in sin and she knew it and Jesus knew it. What she did not know is that she was speaking to the one whom all of the Scripture foreshadowed. He was the one whom every part of Scripture whispered His name. Then the conversation shifted to worship. The woman asked about worship location. She worshiped on a mountain, and the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. “Who is right?” she asked. But Jesus again took the conversation from a practical location to a spiritual one. The conversation ends with the woman telling the village that Jesus was the Messiah and Jesus stayed for two days teaching the people. 

Living Water and True Worship 

Did you catch it? As we ask the question of what is true worship in an age of ‘worship wars’ we must lock in on what Jesus said here. They are having a conversation at a well. A well was and is a location you go to receive life-sustaining water. Now compare this truth with what Jesus is saying. He offered living water that “will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” That is something you can take with you wherever you go. 

The true issue the woman seems to have with worship is location.  For the woman, it was the mountain she worshiped on and for the Jews it was Jerusalem they worshiped. These were like the spiritual wells people went to receive thirst-quenching spiritual water. And yet they would have to return to the spiritual well in a set location. Jesus offered the woman living water that removes the need for a location. Living water goes with you wherever you go. Jesus is saying the location does not matter, instead it is the source and object of worship that matters. It is no longer about a mountain or a city but a person; Jesus. Worshiping in spirit and truth must start with following Jesus and thus receiving living water.  

God is not seeking people who worship at a certain location, but people who seek Him in spirit and truth. The heart of your worship is far more important than the location and mode. People must seek God as the ultimate source of spiritual nourishment and satisfaction. People who worship in spirit and truth seek the Father over the things of this world.  

Living Water and Our Worship 

As I have already said, true worshipers seek to worship God wherever they go. He then becomes their source of spiritual life. But how does this relate to what style of worship we partake in? Again, let us as Jesus did, move the conversation from practical to spiritual.  

 Instead of location, insert musical style. Our worship of the one true God should overshadow our preferences in musical choice. That is not to say that the music style is unimportant. There is a place to evaluate certain music, lyrics, and styles. What I am saying is that we must lock in on the theme of this passage, which is that our worship must find its source in Jesus as our living water and seek Him in spirit and truth. 

Worship is a central part of our relationship with God, and encompasses much more than music or singing. It’s something that should be done throughout the day, in how we talk to others, interact with friends, and how to act when no one is watching. It is in our reading of Scripture, prayer time, and sharing of our faith. It encompasses all parts of our lives. True worship makes God the foundation and object of everything we do. Let us reflect on some questions. Are we seeking spiritual fulfillment from Christ or from somewhere else? Is true worship being offered in spirit and truth from us? These are who the Father seeks. Are you one? 

Author: Rachel Kidd

What is Grace? 

Grace is a word that so often appears in Christian texts and worship music, a word that permeates the scripture so profoundly. I think it’s also a word that is used so frequently, that its meaning is dulled. We often think of grace as an unwarranted and undeserved favor.  

So, what is grace, in all its God-intended glory?  

Grace is a generous gift from God that is freely given, unexpected, and undeserved.  

Verses on Grace 

These verses explore the scriptural definition and concept of grace more fully and they will help us understand the broader context through which God’s grace is given.  

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Ephesians 2:8–9  

Here in Ephesians, Paul describes grace not just as God’s favor upon those who have sinned, but also as a power. We see God’s grace not only as the offer of salvation, but also the means through which salvation is secured.  

 Paul also used “saved” in this context, referring to deliverance from eternal judgment.1 The refrain “by grace you have been saved” is repeated from Ephesians 2:5 for emphasis. The Greek for “have been saved” is sesōsmenoi, translating to properly, deliver out of danger and into safety; used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty [of death].2  

Likewise, faith is used here as an act of trust and reliance on God. The Greek pronoun is neuter, while “grace” and “faith” are feminine.3 The emphasis on the “this” or the act of salvation by grace and through faith, creates emphasis on who is doing the action. It is not something we can do alone, rather it can only be accomplished by God Himself.  

Understanding the use of the neuter pronoun here makes it evident that faith and grace in conjunction are gifts from God, making salvation a divine act that is not of our own doing.  

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. —Romans 5:20–21 

Most Jews in Paul’s time would have understood the law’s purpose to be to counteract human tendency towards sin, or the yetzer, which must be properly channeled.4 Rabbinic wisdom says “the more Torah the more life.5”  

 In contrast, Paul indicates that the law came in to increase trespass, not to decrease it. Once the people were given written laws from God, they understood in a concrete way the manner in which they were intended to live. Now, their sins were tangible and willful disobedience, much like Adam and Eve’s transgression in Genesis against God’s direct command.  

 And yet, Paul says that Christ’s salvation is shown in that grace abounded even more than these increasing sins. This tells us the immense power of salvation, that it can cover even the most egregious of transgressions against God’s law.  

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 

My grace is sufficient.  

Paul says that God’s grace is sufficient in the present tense, emphasizing the abundance and the completeness of God’s grace. It is freely given to all believers, even the ones who are insecure in their weakness. I find this incredibly comforting, resting in the knowledge that even in my weakest moments, God’s grace is more than sufficient.  

Paul says that God’s power is most evident and perfect in the weakness of man. Paul’s own imperfections and past failings became the stage for God to showcase His great power and grace. Because of this, Paul says he is able to boast of his own weaknesses and suffer gladly through persecution. We see an example of God’s great work in Paul’s life, transforming him from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle and church leader. God’s power forever altered the course of Paul’s life, and God’s granting of his power to Paul for the work of missions and ministry, were two things  Paul never fails to admit or be thankful for.  

Living in Grace 

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. – Luke 6:22 

Even in the face of persecution, Jesus modeled grace. He tells His disciples to do the same, blessing even the ones that hate and curse them for their beliefs. It seems impossible to do, to be so kind to even the most hateful people. And without God, it certainly is.  

Understanding the abundance and power of God’s grace is the first step in living a grace based life. Without the Holy Spirit and Christ’s salvation, leading in grace is nearly impossible on our own. Without grace, we are stuck in a cycle of desperately trying to live up to expectations we can never fulfill and getting down on ourselves for failing. Instead, a life with Jesus and His abounding grace offers contentment, a comfort in knowing that He is always good enough. We need the grace of God working in our own hearts and lives first, transforming us like He did Paul.  

Becoming a Believer in Christ and accepting the gift of God’s grace means a divine softening of the heart. It changes the way we think, as the Holy Spirit sanctifies our desires to align with God’s. Loving our neighbors as ourselves becomes easier as we spend more time in scripture, in prayer, and in fellowship with other believers. We begin to see grace as something to naturally be extended to others, as God so freely gave it to us.  

Author: Rachel Kidd

What is Justice?  

The word justice carries many connotations for people, including social justice concerns and the judicial system. What justice means also varies depending on cultural and geographic context, carrying a very different connotation in the West versus Eastern cultures, for example.  

Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle saw justice as the aspirational ideal for society and the individual.1 In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words for justice, sedeq and misphat, provide distinction between interhuman justice and individual justice, both of which were seen as divine commandments.2 Sedeq is a broad, social distributive justice, while misphat is vindication or restoration for an individual, whether wrongfully accused or targeted.3 The absence of justice in Old Testament understanding meant a separation from God.  

In the New Testament, justice is referred to in the Hebrew dikaisyone, or righteousness and justice. It is most frequently used to understand one’s relationship with God rather than social relationships.4 Distributive justice refers to the redistribution of wealth as dictated in the Gospels, as understood by theologians such as Basil and Chrysostom.5  

Alexandrian Christianity understood the just individual as a desired character trait, although later Augustonian theology believed human nature to be incapable with the concept of justice.6 Justice is divine in most Christian contexts and is therefore perfect and complete.  

Cultural connotations of justice vary broadly. Interhuman justice, as interpreted by Latin American Liberation theology, understands divine justice as only fully actualized when the most vulnerable are protected and cared for. Likewise, intersectional feminist understanding of justice includes all marginalized people groups and warrants impartial treatment, free from bias based on race or gender.7   

No matter your theological leaning, justice is at its core, a divine understanding of how to treat others with respect and an impartial determination of what is just. God is just and His scripture tells us how to lead with justice.  

Jesus and Justice 

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers

—Matthew 21:12-13 

In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  

—John 2:14-15 

When I think of a righteous and just intervention in the New Testament, I first think of this scene, described in Matthew and John. We see Jesus entering the temple, filled with righteous anger. He sees the section of the temple designated for non-Jews or Gentiles to pray, overrun with salesmen and money changers. Instead of creating a welcoming place for all people to be able to pray and worship, the temple had become exploitative and consumed with profit.  

 We see Jesus angry, but not in a vindictive way. He is angry for the exploited and the vulnerable, stepping in to prevent those in power from harming the least of these. 

How can we direct our righteous anger for good like Jesus does?  

How do we pursue Godly justice in our Lives? 

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 

“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. 

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, 

“‘From the lips of children and infants 

you, Lord, have called forth your praise?’” 

And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night. 

—-Matthew 21:14-17 

After Jesus overturns the tables of the money changers, He heals people who come to Him at the temple. He turns from a moment of anger to one of healing, demonstrating incredible control over His emotions. He is deliberate and intentional in His actions and His words, modeling for us how to pursue justice. He does not do one without the other, he couples action with healing. 

What does both action and healing look like for us today? I see this in organizations like Shared Hope International, a Christian ministry committed to ending child sex trafficking. They pursue justice through judicial means, working towards legislation fighting human trafficking and educating law enforcement, while also rescuing and caring for survivors. They work on both ends, working with survivors of sex trafficking towards restoration and prosecuting the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. You cannot achieve justice as Jesus demonstrated, without both action and restoration.