Call on Him!

In the Bible Jesus says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come in!" (Revelation 3:20.) Jesus is more willing to come to us than we are to receive Him. I try to tell people how simple it is to receive Jesus. All you have to do is be like a drowning man: stop struggling, let go of your tiny piece of flotsam and let Him rescue you. I understand that one problem the rescuer has is that while the drowning person is struggling so much, it is hard for the victim to trust their saviour! The panic and desperation to be saved actually makes being rescued even harder.

Healing, deliverance, forgiveness… stop struggling to rescue yourself, relax and let Him deliver you. That wonderful hymn writer put it so powerfully: 'Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy Blood was shed for me… I come.' We all need the touch of someone who loves us. So many of you reading this have secret problems you cannot share; they are too deep, too personal. Tell everything to Jesus. It's the only way to be healed, delivered, set free. He already knows, He understands and He's waiting for you to come to Him. He lived here on earth like you in order to understand all the problems we face, that's why He does not condemn. Talk to Him. He's listening. Ask Him for help. And receive His peace.

The importance of time

Time with God is so important. If only you and I knew the time that God had chosen, it would make so much difference to us. Yet, it is this 'not knowing' that grows our faith. When Jesus walked on the stormy water towards the disciples, it was the fourth watch of the night. This is the most dangerous and most difficult hour in the night - the time when most people die, when the body temperature is at its lowest. It's the time when some of the biggest fears and the biggest problems come, just before the new day dawns. It is so significant that when Jesus is walking towards the disciples in that storm-tossed ship, the time that He chooses is the darkest hour, when the storm is at its highest. But Jesus is there! In your life and mine there are many times when we need the power of God to deliver us, but God's timing is perfect, coming at the darkest hour, when the storm is at its fiercest and our need the greatest.

I am older than most of you reading this. I have had many kinds of problems, many different needs, but I believe in miracles. Over the course of my lifetime I have learnt that God always answers prayer. But to see the answer at the right hour we have to be ready, we have to be obedient, and God will answer - at what seems the last minute. One minute before the crisis erupts.

Every one of us can be in a storm, just like the disciples in the boat. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water their first reaction was fear. They thought they had seen a ghost, they didn't realise it was Jesus. - How often do we react like that? Jesus is about to answer our deepest prayers, yet the 'answer' frightens us: there is a strange comfort in the familiarity of our problems.

The disciples were convinced their boat was going to sink and that they wouldn't last the night. In the darkest hour of your night, when your financial problems are the greatest, when your sickness is getting worse, when you're crippled with pain, when you cannot escape from alcohol or the power of drugs, in that dark hour, there is one person who will always be there - Jesus. And He chooses the darkest, the hardest, moment to come and walk towards you. You may need Jesus like you've never needed Him before, but He is walking towards you to deliver you right now. Jesus is close to you right now.