Matthew 14:28–31 KJV 1900

And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

I’m Just Trying to Maintain

You’ve probably heard the expression used by someone, “I’m just trying to maintain.” When you’ve heard that expression used, it generally comes from a place of discouragement. They are depleted, dealing with despair. They are just trying to hold on.

However, for this preaching presentation tonight, I suggest that we re-frame this phrase because maintaining isn’t always an indication that something’s going wrong.

I want to argue that for Water Walkers, maintaining is an expression that things are going right. A water walker has to learn the art of maintaining.

In our passage of scripture, we see two people that walked on water, Peter and Jesus. I want us to notice that Peter only walked a few steps. His walking on water was temporary. He walking was inconsistent. Peter obtained the ability to walk on water but he did not maintain the ability to walk on water. When Peter lost his ability to maintain, he began to sink.

See the goal of a water walker is not to be like the disciples, but to be more like Jesus. The Jesus we know of and read about didn’t just start, he finished. He didn’t just begin, he ended. Our God is a finisher. He does not do anything incompletely. He may do some things incrementally but he does not do anything incompletely. So if it is incomplete, he is not done. Because when he gets done, it will be finished. If it’s not finished, he’s not done. Because when he gets done, it will be undeniably finished. It will be indisputably finished. It will be irrevocably finished. Once it’s finished, it cannot be unfinished. Because one he does a thing, it cannot be undone.

The Bible says that once he blesses you, no one can curse you. They may not agree with it, they may not like it, but they can’t undo it. They can talk but they can’t curse. They cannot unbless what God has blessed. When He opens a door, no one can shut it. They can dislike the fact that the door is open but they can’t close the door. They can hate on you when you walk in the door but they can shut the door. You cannot undo what God has done, He’s a finisher.

Philippians 1:6 KJV 1900

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

He is so committed to finishing that even as Jesus hung in excruciating pain on the cross, he didn’t die until he finished. He keep death at bay and said you can’t even come get me until I finish. He is a finisher.

If our God is a finisher, then He wants you to finish as well. I declare that the grace to finish is falling on you. That you have the spirit of a warrior and will finish this next year what the enemy talked you out of last year. The anointing of a finisher is on you.

Jeremiah 1:12 KJV 1900

Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

He will complete what his word says. He will help me maintain.

This is only encouraging to us who will be honest enough to admit that from time to time, we have maintenance issues. At some point, we’ve all had or are having maintenance issues.

It’s one thing to obtain joy, it’s another to maintain joy. It’s one thing to obtain peace, it’s another to maintain. It’s one thing to obtain focus, it’s another to maintain.

Maintenance is powerful. It’s what Darren Hardy calls, “The Compound Effect.”

The compound effect is the strategy of reaping huge rewards from small, seemingly insignificant actions. You cannot improve something until you measure it. Always take 100 percent responsibility for everything that happens to you.

Maintenance is what scripture calls faithfulness.

You can’t change anything in your life overnight, but you have to learn that actions and choices that we make each day will greatly impact our lives as we continue to live in the future.

If you were given a choice between taking $3 million in cash this very instant and a single penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days, which would you choose?

Let’s say you take the cold, hard cash and your friend goes the penny route. On Day Five, your friend has sixteen cents. You, however, have $3 million. On Day Ten, it’s $5.12 versus your big bucks. How do you think your friend is feeling about her decision? You’re spending your millions, enjoying the heck out of it, and loving your choice. After 20 full days, with only 11 days left, Penny Lane has only $5,243. How is she feeling about herself at this point? For all her sacrifi ce and positive behavior, she has barely more than $5,000. You, however, have $3 million. Then the invisible magic of the Compound Effect starts to become visible. The same small mathematical growth improvement each day makes the compounded penny worth $10,737,418.24 on Day Thirty-one, more than three times your $3 million.

Yet why is it so hard to believe choosing the penny will result in more money in the end? Because it takes so much longer to see the payoff.

We quit diets, gym programs and exercise because we don’t see the results in two days. We vow to read our bibles more, to pray more, and to be more faithful to church and to God, but after a couple of days or weeks, we have fallen off.

Three Friends

Let’s take three buddies who all grew up together. They live in the same neighborhood, with very similar sensibilities. Each makes around $50,000 a year. They’re all married and have average health and body weight, plus a little bit of that dreaded “marriage fl ab.”

Friend number one, let’s call him Larry, plods along doing as he’s always done. He’s happy, or so he thinks, but complains occasionally that nothing ever changes.

Friend number two, Scott, starts making some small, seemingly inconsequential, positive changes. He begins reading 10 pages of a good book per day and listening to 30 minutes of something instructional or inspirational on his commute to work. Scott wants to see changes in his life, but doesn’t want to make a fuss over it. He recently read an interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz in SUCCESS magazine and chose one idea from the article to implement in his life: He’s going to cut 125 calories from his diet every day. No big deal. We’re talking maybe a cup of cereal less, trading that can of soda for a bottle of seltzer, switching from mayo to mustard on his sandwich. Doable. He’s also started walking a couple thousand extra steps per day (less than a mile). No grand acts of bravery or effort. Stuff anyone could do. But Scott is determined to stick with these choices, knowing that even though they’re simple, he could also easily be tempted to abandon them.

Friend number three, Brad, makes a few poor choices. He recently bought a new big-screen TV so he can watch more of his favorite programs. He’s been trying out the recipes he’s seen on the Food Channel—the cheesy casseroles and desserts are his favorites. Oh, and he installed a bar in his family room and added one alcoholic drink per week to his diet. Nothing crazy; Brad just wants to have a little more fun.

At the end of five months, no perceivable differences exist among Larry, Scott, or Brad. Scott continues to read a little bit every night and listen to audios during his commute; Brad is “enjoying” life and doing less. Larry keeps doing as he always has. Even though each man has his own pattern of behavior, five months isn’t long enough to see any real decline or improvement in their situations. In fact, if you charted the three men’s weights, you’d see a rounding error of zero. They’d look exactly equal.

At the end of ten months, we still can’t see noticeable changes in any of their lives. It’s not until we get to the end of the eighteenth month that the slightest differences are measurable in these three friends’ appearances.

But at about month twenty-five, we start seeing really measurable, visible differences. At month twenty-seven, we see an expansive difference. And, by month thirty-one, the change is startling. Brad is now fat while Scott is trim. By simply cutting 125 calories a day, in thirty-one months, Scott has lost thirty three pounds!

31 months = 940 days

940 days x 125 calories/day = 117,500 calories saved 117,500 calories saved x 1 pound/3,500 calories = 33.5 pounds!

940 days x 125 calories/day = 117,500 calories saved

117,500 calories saved x 1 pound/3,500 calories = 33.5 pounds!

Elephants Don’t Bite

Have you ever been bitten by an elephant? How about a mosquito?

It’s the little things in life that will bite you.

For most of us, it’s the frequent, small, and seemingly inconsequential choices that are of grave concern. I’m talking about the decisions you think don’t make any difference at all. It’s the little things that inevitably and predictably derail your success.

I skipped church this Sunday, I didn’t pray this morning, I haven’t read my Bible all day. So what? One day can’t hurt me.

You alone are responsible for what you do, don’t do, or how you respond to what’s done to you.

No matter who was elected president, how badly the economy tanked, or what anybody said, did, or didn’t do, I am still 100 percent in control of me.

Maintenance is to do a thing until it works, To stick with it something until it sticks with you. To strike the match until it catches fire. To dig until you strike oil. To keep pressing your way through until you get a breakthrough.

Don’t stop digging until you find what your digging for. Don’t stop praying until you get what your praying for.

From the text I read, I want to reveal that water walkers aren’t revealed in their ability to get out of the boat. They are revealed in their ability to stay out. True water walkers aren’t revealed when they start, they are revealed in when they finish.

It’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish.

2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV 1900

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

For nothing works without faith.

James 1:6 KJV 1900

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Faith is to our lives what a float is to a child in the pool. Faith is what we walk on.

Are we filling our floats on Sunday and then making decisions and choices Monday thru Saturday that are slowing letting the air out.

It only takes a small leak to deflate a float.

Mark 9:24 KJV 1900

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.