Verse of the Day 2/12

 

John 6:68-69  Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹ and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."  English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Today's verse is one that is dear to me, I had known it and memorized it and it came back to me in the deepest trial of my life  It was as if Jesus was asking me the question that He asked of Peter in today's passage.  It is a realization that once you have found Him (or actually, He finds and calls you) that there is nowhere else to turn to find the answers to life's challenging questions.  We rely on our faith in Him, "we have believed and come to know" in the past circumstances of our life that Jesus is the Savior, the Holy One of God.

 

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  I read the following about him and his faith in John Piper's devotional.

"Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this day in 1809, remained skeptical, and at times even cynical, about religion into his forties. So it is a most striking thing how personal and national suffering drew Lincoln into the reality of God, rather than pushing him away.  In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln's wife "tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums." Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.   Several long talks led to what Gurley described as "a conversion to Christ." Lincoln confided that he was "driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go."

Some come to know Christ early in life and may wander, but the challenges of life bring them back to the realization that Jesus has the words of eternal life.  Others, like Abraham Lincoln come to the same realization later in life, in those challenging times.  The personal trials will cause people to search for answers and through that search in those trials they come to know Christ.  Later in his life, Abraham Lincoln would face challenges of the battle over slavery which led to the civil war.  He was able to lead the  country the way he did because he had "come to know" that Jesus was the Holy One of God and that Jesus was where he needed to go to find the pathway through the greatest trial of his life and our country.

 

In the trials of life, may we come to that realization that Jesus is our go to person who has the "words of eternal life".

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

John 6:67-69The Message (MSG)

^66-67 After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: "Do you also want to leave?"

^68-69 Peter replied, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We've already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God."