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- 2026-01-26T19:09:28.401Z
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- 1161
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- 814 And how miserably Peter failed! He not only could not walk on the water, but lost even his ordinary fisherman’s courage. I doubt if there was another man in the boat who would have been frightened if he had fallen overboard. But Peter, a strong swimmer, lost his presence of mind, became frightened, and cried out, “Lord, save me!” I wonder if some of the disciples did not whisper, “Served him right!” when they took him from Jesus’s hand and lifted him back into the boat?
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816 Somebody who reads this will say, “If Peter had only had faith enough he might have walked on the water,” for Jesus rebuked him, saying, “O thou of little
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819 faith!” True. But Jesus did not help him have any such faith. On another occasion he said to Peter, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.” This time He let it fail.
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821 A man said that he was going to live alone by faith and prayer, so would not work. His clothes became seedy, his home was mortgaged, he began to sink financially and socially, and but for the “helping hand” of a friend, would have “gone under.” You see, this man was presumptuous in thinking that God would feed him, when God has said of everybody else, “If a man will not work, neither shall he eat.” Ravens fed Elijah when there was no other way of his getting food. And if you are doing God’s service, and come to want, He will help you through. But the only ravens that come to a man who will not try to earn a living are such ravens as come to men dying in the desert, to pick their bones.
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823 A young man of my acquaintance was very fond of the company of a set of wild
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826 and dissipated fellows. I advised him not to go with them, for the rule is, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” But he said, “Oh, I am able to take care of myself wherever I am.” He was presumptuous. He sank in the waters of dissipation before he was twenty-five years old.
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828 It is a grand thing to trust in God when you are sure you are doing a thing that is necessary, or that is on the line of his commandments. But it is a foolish thing to trust that He will help you carry out your mere whims or conceits.
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830 Peter afterwards did things as wonderful as walking on the sea would have been; but they were things that were helpful to others, as when he healed the sick; or they were miraculous deliverances when he had got into trouble while doing his duty, as when the prison opened. Be afraid of nothing if you are sure you are humble and right.
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832 One of the grandest characters in old English history was Saint Cuthbert. Once
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835 when he was on his mission of mercy to the poor people, a storm drove his little boat on the coast. His comrades were disheartened, and cried: “The snow closes the road along the shore, and the storm bars our way over the sea. What shall we do?” The brave man replied, “There is still the way of heaven that lies open.” On they pushed, and somehow made their journey in safety. But if Cuthbert had tried to show how Heaven would help him to work a miracle by walking on the raging billows of the North Sea, the world would never have heard any more of him. Says the Psalmist, “Trust in the Lord, and do good.” But there is no use trusting in Him if you are doing anything else.
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836 .
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837 Mary in the Garden
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839 Jaffa, Palestine.
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840 ^{}[]
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