June 13, 2008
No matter how desperate our situation, if we call out to Christ, he will always beckon us to him.
"During the fourth watch of the night 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,' Jesus said." — Matthew 14:25-29
There are many times when we find ourselves drifting aimlessly on the ocean of life, but if we really look we can see Christ and he's telling us one thing, "Come to me."
I truly believe that is something we need to understand about God, is that He wants us to come to him. Everybody is welcome.
There are so many people out there who say they believe in a "supreme being," but that whatever that is, he or she doesn’t get involved in human affairs.
That's like saying, "I believe in the sun, but not the light that comes from it."
Life can only come from God, and God wants us to humbly come to him. If the offer from Jesus to come to him was not out there, we would have no salvation.
If we look at other religions, like Islam, salvation only comes through works. They can die as martyrs, which many believe gives them an express ticket to paradise, and for those who are not martyred, they have to wait on Allah to weigh their actions. For those whose good works outweigh the bad are delivered.
As a Christian, though, we know that anything we do can never merit our acceptance to God because we are sinful beings. It is impossible for us to earn heaven by our works.
However, we know our salvation without a doubt because we serve the true Living God, Jesus Christ, and that if we answer his call to come to him, then we have attained salvation because the only way to obtain it is through the blood of Jesus Christ who said he is the only path to salvation.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6
Most of the folks who read this have already made that decision to believe in Christ and have answered his call to come to him, but sometimes we forget about Jesus and begin to sink.
"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he was the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord save me!" — Matthew 14:29-30
That seems to be my daily cry to the Lord, "Lord, save me." I always tend to get myself in a mess. I get in the mess because I lose focus on Jesus. I lose focus on Jesus because I pay too much attention to what's going on around me, then I get in trouble and have to call on him to rescue me from my idiocy.
Well, I can take comfort that I'm not alone, at least we know Peter and the other disciples could lose sight of Christ in their lives.
Still, we are without excuse. Let's finish this scene Matthew paints for us.
"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 14:31-32
Jesus beckons us to him, and we move toward him, but sometimes we don't go straight to him and we have to call on him, just like Peter had to do.
Now, Christ could have let him swim back to the boat in choppy waters. He could have let Peter drown, but that didn't happen. You see, we serve a God who takes an active interest in our daily lives. If we cry for help, he will rescue us, though we may have to learn a lesson in the process.
Jesus scolded Peter, telling Peter his doubts caused him to sink.
We can't forget that Christ is what keeps our spiritual heads above the water. Though Satan and the world tugs at us constantly, Christ will keep us from drowning and raise us above the stormy seas.
Now, I would like to take a little time and ask everybody to pray for the people up in the Midwest who have lost loved ones in the storms over the recent weeks. I really would encourage you to pray for the parents and family of the Boy Scouts who were killed and injured by the tornado Wednesday evening. I could never imagine the grief they are going through right now. But in all of that destruction, I saw a ray of hope shining through the rubble.
In an Associated Press story I read where one young Scout, in a moment of terror few of us will ever experience, didn't cry out for his mom, dad or one of the Scout masters around him. No, he called out for the one he knew could help.
Here's an excerpt from the story:
Ethan Hession, also 13, said he crawled under a table with his friend.
"I just remember looking over at my friend, and all of a sudden he just says to me, 'Dear God, save us,'" he said. "Then I just closed my eyes and all of a sudden it's (the tornado) gone."
The faith of a child, dear friends, can be a lesson to us all. I don't know the young man's name, but stop and think about how many lives may have been saved by this young boy's simple supplication, "Dear God, save us." Only God can quiet the storms around us.
Fancy sermons and well practiced orations do little to help us. Christ calls us all, it is up to us to answer his call.
Now, here is the best part, because whenever we call on Christ, no matter the circumstances, he always answers our call.
"During the fourth watch of the night 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,' Jesus said." — Matthew 14:25-29
There are many times when we find ourselves drifting aimlessly on the ocean of life, but if we really look we can see Christ and he's telling us one thing, "Come to me."
I truly believe that is something we need to understand about God, is that He wants us to come to him. Everybody is welcome.
There are so many people out there who say they believe in a "supreme being," but that whatever that is, he or she doesn’t get involved in human affairs.
That's like saying, "I believe in the sun, but not the light that comes from it."
Life can only come from God, and God wants us to humbly come to him. If the offer from Jesus to come to him was not out there, we would have no salvation.
If we look at other religions, like Islam, salvation only comes through works. They can die as martyrs, which many believe gives them an express ticket to paradise, and for those who are not martyred, they have to wait on Allah to weigh their actions. For those whose good works outweigh the bad are delivered.
As a Christian, though, we know that anything we do can never merit our acceptance to God because we are sinful beings. It is impossible for us to earn heaven by our works.
However, we know our salvation without a doubt because we serve the true Living God, Jesus Christ, and that if we answer his call to come to him, then we have attained salvation because the only way to obtain it is through the blood of Jesus Christ who said he is the only path to salvation.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6
Most of the folks who read this have already made that decision to believe in Christ and have answered his call to come to him, but sometimes we forget about Jesus and begin to sink.
"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he was the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord save me!" — Matthew 14:29-30
That seems to be my daily cry to the Lord, "Lord, save me." I always tend to get myself in a mess. I get in the mess because I lose focus on Jesus. I lose focus on Jesus because I pay too much attention to what's going on around me, then I get in trouble and have to call on him to rescue me from my idiocy.
Well, I can take comfort that I'm not alone, at least we know Peter and the other disciples could lose sight of Christ in their lives.
Still, we are without excuse. Let's finish this scene Matthew paints for us.
"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 14:31-32
Jesus beckons us to him, and we move toward him, but sometimes we don't go straight to him and we have to call on him, just like Peter had to do.
Now, Christ could have let him swim back to the boat in choppy waters. He could have let Peter drown, but that didn't happen. You see, we serve a God who takes an active interest in our daily lives. If we cry for help, he will rescue us, though we may have to learn a lesson in the process.
Jesus scolded Peter, telling Peter his doubts caused him to sink.
We can't forget that Christ is what keeps our spiritual heads above the water. Though Satan and the world tugs at us constantly, Christ will keep us from drowning and raise us above the stormy seas.
Now, I would like to take a little time and ask everybody to pray for the people up in the Midwest who have lost loved ones in the storms over the recent weeks. I really would encourage you to pray for the parents and family of the Boy Scouts who were killed and injured by the tornado Wednesday evening. I could never imagine the grief they are going through right now. But in all of that destruction, I saw a ray of hope shining through the rubble.
In an Associated Press story I read where one young Scout, in a moment of terror few of us will ever experience, didn't cry out for his mom, dad or one of the Scout masters around him. No, he called out for the one he knew could help.
Here's an excerpt from the story:
Ethan Hession, also 13, said he crawled under a table with his friend.
"I just remember looking over at my friend, and all of a sudden he just says to me, 'Dear God, save us,'" he said. "Then I just closed my eyes and all of a sudden it's (the tornado) gone."
The faith of a child, dear friends, can be a lesson to us all. I don't know the young man's name, but stop and think about how many lives may have been saved by this young boy's simple supplication, "Dear God, save us." Only God can quiet the storms around us.
Fancy sermons and well practiced orations do little to help us. Christ calls us all, it is up to us to answer his call.
Now, here is the best part, because whenever we call on Christ, no matter the circumstances, he always answers our call.
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