7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and JUMPED INTO THE WATER. John 21
Once Peter saw Jesus he JUMPED INTO THE WATER, AN UNSTABLE ELEMENT, TO GET TO HIM. Sometimes if we’re going to get to Jesus and all that He has for us we will have to JUMP OUT OF THE BOAT AND INTO THE WATER. It may feel very uncomfortable leaving the security of the boat, but Jesus may well be calling some of us to ‘Take the Plunge’ into the unknown for him. The Lord JUMPED out of Heaven and came to the earth to rescue mankind. He laid aside His Divinity and put on humanity so that He could fully identify with us and open the way back to the Father.
The Lord knows our strengths and weaknesses, He knows what each of us is capable of doing in cooperation with Him for the Kingdom. It may stretch our current faith, but as we step out with Him and doors begin to open our faith can grow stronger and we can carry more. The old analogy of climbing a ladder step by step, starting from the lowest rung, still holds true. Then again, the step we’re being led to take may seem small and insignificant, but the scripture tells us ‘not to despise the day of small beginnings’. Zechariah 4:10
47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in – a river that no one could cross. Ezekiel 47
Johnny Enlow spoke on this recently and said that the Church needs to be stepping out into ‘swimming waters’ in these days. While we stay on our own feet in the shallows we’ll never enter into all that God has for His Church at this time.
To return to Peter at the lakeshore on the Sea of Galilee when he and the others met the Lord for the third time after His resurrection.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and DRAGGED THE NET ASHORE. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. John 21
Peter was the one who landed the miraculous haul of fish. Peter had not yet been received nor restored by the Lord, yet he was the one who landed the fish. The Lord went on to fully restore Peter and he led the disciples on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand came to the Lord in Jerusalem. I believe that the Lord will use many who are estranged from Him at this time to bring in great numbers of people or fish in coming days. These ones will be able to reach people who would never come into a church, yet are very precious in God’s sight.
May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.