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I love that even though things in our lives are always changing, God stays the same. As circumstances around us change,
they move us to get to know God in new ways. We have all been through times when we tried to look for the answer in different
outlets such as magazines, other peoples advice or even just trying to figure it out on our own, but nothing solves the concerns
that we have - at least not on a long term basis. When we finally turn to God, He always is the answer. In Psalm 23, David
(a man whose life was riddled with inconsistent situations) expressed his security in knowing God: The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides
me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me...
Peter knew that Jesus was the one real thing,
in Matthew 16:16, he says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God". He saw Jesus meeting people in their needs wherever
he went: healing the sick (Mark 7:32-35), driving out demons (Luke 4:33-37) raising the dead (Luke 7:11-17), forgiving the
sinners (Mark 2:1-12) and speaking life into people with no hope (John 4:7-26). Peter realized that this man he was following
was the one answer to every single human heart. Imagine what it must have been like to walk and talk with Jesus and see him
outworking the Father's will everywhere he went! Jesus calmed the storm, he caused abundant fish to leap into the fishermen's
net, he fed thousands of people with a meager portion of food. By his life on earth, he demonstrated that he was the one real
thing!
Jesus is the same today as he was in Biblical times, he is still able to meet all of our needs and demonstrate
his miraculous power in our day to day activities. God chooses to speak to us and to be intricately involved with our lives.
Sometimes, people cant believe that this fact is true for them and feel too worthless to even imagine that God would want
to speak to them or reach out to them and heal or forgive them. God loves everybody with an equal love though, and His love
is not just a puny trickle, it is a gushing, ever flowing stream! No matter who we are or where we are from, God is the one
true thing. If you feel far away from God, or that you dont know Him as your all sufficient Lord, pray to Him and ask Him
to reveal Himself to you in that intimate way. Those who know God in this close way still go through hard times, but they
know that God will bring them into peace, He will speak His word clearly and as they trust their Shepherd, they will experience
His great faithfulness again. They join with Peter in saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life..."
(John 6:68)
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