Look To God!!

The mind wanders, casting about. It worries over today and tomorrow, growing dizzy with its troubles and trials. These troubles vanish when we look to God, but we must truly look: to look means to concentrate fully on Jesus. This, in effect, is the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount: we must narrow all our interests until the attitude of our mind and heart and body is concentration on Jesus Christ. (Matthew 5–7) 

To look to God is to be saved. We have stories and ideas in our minds of great Christian saints and heroes. We think we must emulate their lives to be saved. But there is no salvation in emulation; it is not simple enough. “Look unto me, and be ye saved,” says God. Not “you will be saved” but “you are saved.” 

We get preoccupied and grumpy with God, and all the time he is saying, “Just look.” Concentrating on God is a great spiritual challenge. It is easier in times of trouble, when we desperately need him, than in times of peace and contentment. God’s blessings absorb us, pulling us away in delighted distraction. We must not let them. Though a thousand wonderful things vie for our attention, we must learn to let them come and go, keeping our focus on God. “Look unto me,” says God. The moment you look, salvation is. 

[Oswald Chambers] 

Isaiah 45:22 ... Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

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The Missionary's Goal

He said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…" (Luke 18:31) 

In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. 

We start with Christ, and we end with Him until we all come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. 

[Oswald Chambers] 

Ephesians 4:13 ...  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: ❤

Christ Awareness

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. 

[Oswald Chambers]

Matthew 11:28-29 ... Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.❤

Building For Eternity

Our Lord refers not to a cost we have to count, but to a cost which He has counted. The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal and hatred; the deep unfathomable agony in Gethsemane, and the onslaught at Calvary the pivot upon which the whole of Time and Eternity turns. 

Jesus Christ has counted the cost. Men are not going to laugh at Him at last and say, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” The conditions of discipleship laid down by Our Lord in Luke verses 26-27 and 33 mean that the men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything. “If any man come to Me, and hate not, he cannot be My disciple.” 

Our Lord implies that the only men and women He will use in His building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately and devotedly beyond any of the closest ties on earth. The conditions are stern, but they are glorious. All that we build is going to be inspected by God. Is God going to detect in His searching fire that we have built on the foundation of Jesus some enterprise of our own? These are days of tremendous enterprises, days when we are trying to work for God, and therein is the snare. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God. Jesus takes us over for His enterprises, His building schemes entirely, and no soul has any right to claim where he shall be put. 

 [Oswald Chambers]

Luke 14:28 ...  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? ❤

The Spiritually Vigorous Saint

A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we will have the realization of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives, and He will bring us back to the same point over and over again until we do. 

Self-realization only leads to the glorification of good works, whereas a saint of God glorifies Jesus Christ through his good works. Whatever we may be doing, even eating, drinking, or washing disciples’ feet, we have to take the initiative of realizing and recognizing Jesus Christ in it. Every phase of our life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father even in the most menial task. “Jesus, knowing…that He had come from God and was going to God took a towel and began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5). 

The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him…” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of  circumstances.

[Oswald Chambers]

 Philippians 3:10 ... That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ❤

Spiritual Character

The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight.

- Oswald Chambers

Matthew 6:3-8 ...  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.❤

Sinful Man

An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants! The fact is, that nothing makes more manifest the terrible depravity of man's heart and his enmity against the living God, than to have set before him One who is infinitely and immutably holy. 

No, sinful man was no more likely to devise a holy God, than to create the Lake of Fire in which he will be tormented forever and ever! 

 [Oswald Chambers]

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Psalm 5:5 ... The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Psalm 7:11 ... God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

Hebrews 12:29 ...  For our God is a consuming fire. ❤

Remain Focused!!

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. 

 [Oswald Chambers]

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2 ❤

Spiritual Life

The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don't want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. The attitude of a child of God should always be, 'Speak, for Your servant hears.'

[Oswald Chambers]

Isaiah 6:8 … Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

John 10:27 … My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Ephesians 4:21-23 … If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;🕊

Pitch Your Tent

We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be.

[Oswald Chambers]

Psalm 46:10 ... Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.


Job 22:21 ... Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.


Proverbs 1:5 ... A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:❤

Discouraged or Devoted?

Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.  Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him. He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.

Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened, not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him.

Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain. He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.

[Oswald Chambers]

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Luke 18:22-23 ... Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.  And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

Matthew 4:19 ... And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

John 12:26 ... If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.❤

Chambers Quotes

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.

The dearest friend on earth is a mere shadow compared to Jesus Christ.

Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man.

You will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.

When it is a question of God’s almighty Spirit, never say, ’I can’t.’

We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered foe, so he is, but only to God, not to us.

Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.

A good book, in the language of the book-sellers, is a salable one; in that of the curious, a scarce one; in that of men of sense, a useful and instructive one.

When a man is at his wits' end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality.

[Oswald Chambers]

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His Birth and Our New Birth

Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent, the appearance of God in human form.

Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” --- This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.

God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.

[Oswald Chambers]

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Matthew 1:23 ... Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luke 1:35 ... And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Galatians 4:19 ... My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

John 3:7 ... Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.❤

Inner Invincibility

How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.  Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility. If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.

[Oswald Chambers]

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Matthew 11:29 ... Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Hebrews 12:6 ... For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Isaiah 40:29 ... He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Nehemiah 8:10 ... Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.❤

Co-Crucifixion

Have you made the following decision about sin that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you, not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.  Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, “Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.

This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you?  If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God. Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life?

[Oswald Chambers]

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Romans 6:11 ... Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:6 ...Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Galatians 2:20 ... I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.❤

By Faith - Not Emotion

For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time. A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.” How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears to me”? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!” Never live for those exceptional moments they are surprises. God will give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life, our work is our standard.

[Oswald Chambers]

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2 Corinthians 5:7 ...    (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

Galatians 3:11 ... But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 1:17 ... For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.❤

Pay Close Attention

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God,” yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless, you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.

[Oswald Chambers]

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2 Chronicles 15:17 ... But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.




Colossians 3:2-3 ... Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.


Hebrews 12:1 ... Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,❤

Ready In Season

Many of us suffer from the unbalanced tendency to “be ready” only “out of season.” The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.” In other words, we should “be ready” whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times. If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you.

[Oswald Chambers]

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Ezekiel 38:7 ... Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

2 Timothy 4:2 ... Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

1 Peter 3:15 ... But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:❤

The Light That Never Fails

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come, people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “…no one stood with me, but all forsook me. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do, to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware.

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.

[Oswald Chambers]

Exodus 34:29 ...  And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ...  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:6 ... For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.❤

All or Nothing

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.

[Oswald Chambers]

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John 21:7 ... Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

Matthew 14:26-27 ... And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

Mark 4:39 ... And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.❤