Give with joy

He sees, He knows

Those men were down there that night, mingling their sweat with the waves, the salty waves that were breaking over that little boat as they were straining at the oars, and they actually thought they were going down. But it says, “He saw them toiling in rowing.” And I love that. I don’t know where you are today, and I do not know what position you’re in. You may be in a hard spot right now. You may be facing temptation and problems that are too great to bear. I have some news for you, Christian friend. He sees you. He knows your problem. Oh, today, that you might commit your way to Him in a very definite way.

Jesus, pilot me

“They feared exceedingly and said one to another, ‘What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” It was not so much the fact He quieted the storm, but the way that He did it. It had just leveled out. There was a sudden calm. And this miracle was so great that it made these men afraid. What a wonderful thing it is. He puts us in the storms of life in order that we might come closer to Him and that we might know Him better. “Jesus, Savior, pilot me o’er life’s tempestuous sea. Unknown waves before me roll, hiding rocks and treacherous shoal. Chart and compass come from Thee—Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”

Faith demands action

Light creates responsibility. Man must act who receives the truth, and we’re held responsible to the degree that we’ve had light given us. The point is you and I are in darkness until now. And we get the impression today that man is a sinner because of the fact of his weakness or he’s a sinner because of the fact of his ignorance. No. We’re lost before the light comes in, and if we don’t accept it, we’re lost afterwards. Now “if any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” This is action. God demands action on your part. And faith, you see, is action. It’s acting upon what God has said.

We are lost without Him

If a person’s heart and his eyes are open and he wants to know, then the Spirit of God is going to bring in the great truth to his heart and make these things quite real and living to him. We sometimes use the expression, “You’ll be lost if you don’t accept Christ as your Savior.” The truth is you’re already lost whether you accept Him or not. But the point is you will continue to be lost, friends, if you do not accept Christ as your Savior. And now it’s your reaction and reception of the Word of God that’s going to determine whether you’ll be saved or not. Will you trust Christ? Will you accept Him as Savior?

He brings us close

“And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother and my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.” You see, today if you are in Christ and you’re saved today, you are closer to Him than His physical mother and physical brothers in that day. And the important thing is to be rightly related to God in Christ. And having received Him as Savior, then we have the right to become the sons of God. And that brings you mighty close to Him.