My soul, where would you have been this day?

ByJohn MacDuff

(You will find it helpful to Listen to the Audio above, as youread the text below.)

Romans 8:38-39
, "I am convinced that . . .
 neither death nor life,
 neither angels nor demons,
 neither the present nor the future,
 nor any powers,
 neither height nor depth,
 nor anything else in all creation,
 will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!"

"Satan has desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you Simon, that your faith should not fail." Luke 22:31, 32

What a scene does this unfold . . .
  Satan tempting, Jesus praying!
  Satan sifting, Jesus pleading!
  "The strong man assailing," "the stronger than the strong" beating him back!

Believer, here is the past history, and present secret of your safety in the midst of temptation.

An interceding Savior was at your side, saying to every threatening wave, "Thus far shall you go, and no farther!"

God often permits His people to be on the very verge of the precipice, to remind them of their own weakness; but never farther than the brink!

The restraining hand of Omnipotence is ready to rescue them, "Although he stumbles, yet he shall not be utterly cast down." And why? "For the Lord upholds him with His right hand!"

The wolf may be prowling for his prey; but what can he do when the Shepherd is always there, tending with the watchful eye that "neither slumbers nor sleeps?"

Who cannot subscribe to the testimony, "When my My foot was slipping, Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up!"

Who can look back on his past pilgrimage, and fail to see it crowded with monuments with this inscription:
"You have delivered . . .
  my soul from death,
  my eyes from tears, and
  my feet from falling!" Psalm 116:8

My soul, where would you have been this day, had you not been "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation?"

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
 no one can snatch them out of My hand!
 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;
 no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand
!" John 10:27-29