Gary Carpenter Ministries
Monthly Partner Letter

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Dear Partner,

It was the darkest time of night, sometime after three o'clock in the morning, when Jesus walked up to the edge of the Sea of Galilee. The wind was blowing strong in his face. The waves were boisterous and came pounding onto shore. He strained His eyes to see as far as He could across the water but there was no sign of his disciples or their boat. They had left to cross over to the other side about nine hours earlier. Jesus had remained alone to pray and spend time in fellowship with His Heavenly Father. During that time of fellowship the Spirit alerted Him that it was time for Him to cross over to the other side as well. There were no boats available for His use, yet the Spirit bid Him to cross the Sea of Galilee, which was roughly five miles wide at that point. Jesus stepped out on the water in full faith and obedience and the laws of physics were superseded by the laws of the Kingdom of God. The water supported His weight and He confidently began His journey to the other side. Not only did the laws of physics change in order that the will of God be accomplished, but the Spirit of God directed every step so that He was guided perfectly to the exact spot on the Sea where His disciples were struggling to make progress against the strong headwinds.

Mat 14:23-33   And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

At first the disciples were afraid until they heard the familiar voice of the Master. Peter said, "Lord if it be thou, bid me come." The Lord said, "Come" and on the strength of that word, Peter stepped out of the boat and notice ... the laws of physics were overridden again by the laws of the Kingdom of God and for all eternity it is recorded that a normal man ... walked on the water. For as long as Peter kept Jesus in the center of his focus and did not begin looking at the surrounding circumstances, he continued to walk on the water. But when his physical senses began taking dominance again, seeing the waves boisterous, then the normal laws of physics once more dominated his life and he began to sink. "Lord save me" is still a good prayer when we know not what to do. Thank God He is still merciful and gracious to us even when our faith is weak. But learn the lesson well … when we focus on our physical senses and our natural reasoning processes more than on Jesus and the Word of God, we become dominated by the natural physics of this world rather than by the supernatural physics of the kingdom of God.

I have no desire to walk on the water just for the sake of doing something supernatural, but as we press into genuine revival, the Lord is bringing our thinking more into line with how He thinks. In my meditation times I have put myself in that same spot at the edge of the Sea of Galilee, in the darkest hour, with the wind blowing in my face and hearing the Spirit of God saying, "Cross over to the other side." My first reaction would be in the natural, looking around to see if a boat was available, or a lifejacket, or a raft, or ... something! If nothing was available, then I would next conclude The Lord must be wanting me to swim across. But swim for five miles? It would seem unlikely to me at my present level of transformation that my mind would even conceive the thought ... "Just step out on the water and walk across." Yet that kind of thinking is precisely the kind the Holy Spirit is instilling in us. WE CAN DO WHATEVER THE LORD CALLS US TO DO … EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO THE RATIONAL MIND! That is the mindset that releases the power in such verses as:

Luk 18:27   And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

Mar 9:23   Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

The supernatural things of God are not mentally discerned. They are spiritually discerned. The amazing thing is, when we were saved we received a spirit within us that is literally born of God. That "new creature" on the inside of us is spawned from God, and has the capacity to be taught by God the Holy Spirit the "possibilities" of the Kingdom that overturn the "impossibilities" of planet earth. Paul described the learning process this way:

1Co 2:12-14   Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

As we yield ourselves to the meditation of God's Word and to prayer, the Holy Spirit begins revealing to us the truths of the Kingdom of God. Wonderful things. Incredible things. Things too wonderful for the natural mind to believe on its own accord. But our spirit has the capacity to understand those things. As we allow the Holy Spirit to educate our spirit, then our spirit begins revealing those truths to the natural mind and we become the supernatural people that we truly are … sons of the living God through whom God can continue to do His miraculous works.

Php 2:13   For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Sue and I love you and appreciate you.   We thank God for your generous and giving heart.   God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

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