Verse of the Day 2/13

John 6:68  Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."  New International Version (NIV)

 

Yesterday was Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  He is remembered and celebrated as a great man, a great President and his legacy left behind in so many of his writings and speeches was of a man of faith.  In a devotional, John Piper writes, "In 1862 when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11 year old son died.  Lincoln's wife tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.  Lincoln turned to Phinehas Gurley, a pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.".   Several walks and talks with the pastor 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." 

 

He later went on to say that "We cannot but believe, that he who made the world still governs it."

 

During a period which was the darkest night of the soul for me, today's verse come to mind as I was driving, literally at a bend in the road near our home.  My heart was torn, tempted to walk away from God, but another part of me wanted to cling to Him.  Jesus hand on me was stronger than the feeling in me to turn away.  He pulled me in and drew me close and has set my course ever since.  I believed in those 10 words from Genesis 1:1 and cannot but believe that he who made the world still governs it.

 

There is a God who can bring about good out of bad, who brings us, sees us through tragedies to that we may see through them, past them.  We realize that bad things can and will happen and that these tragedies can come into our lives as Christians.  But we also acknowledge that He is in control because He, as the creator is sovereign.  Through faith we come to learn, accept and believe that "all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28

 

If you are facing or are in the midst of a trial, perhaps the dark night of your soul today, don't turn, don't walk away, hold on, cling to Him.   He has the "words of eternal life", He will see you through it.

 

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 6:67-69
Amplified Bible (AMP)
67 Jesus said to the Twelve, Will you also go away? [And do you too desire to leave Me?]
68 Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words (the message) of eternal life.
69 And we have learned to believe and trust, and [more] we have come to know [surely] that You are the Holy One of God, the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God.