Tag: GodIsForUs

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Followers, Friends, Family

I wish you could sit with me in the mornings and hear the words that the Lord drops into my heart. Although they can’t be heard audibly, they thunder in my soul.

“‘Wash yourselves clean! I hate your filthy deeds. Stop doing wrong 17 and learn to live right.
See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help the oppressed.’

An Invitation from the Lord

18 I, the Lord, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool. 19 If you willingly obey me, the best crops in the land will be yours.” Isaiah 1:16-19 CEV

When the Israelites were delivered from Egypt they had God’s promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people”. (Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12)

But they forgot to serve God and went their own way and served other gods and also their own selfish ambitions. However, God did not forget them. He invited them to come, sit with Him, talk things over and He would forgive their sins and make them clean again. They were followers.

Jesus also had a group of people who were faithful followers and before He died Jesus elevated their relationship to one of friendship.

“14 And you are my friends, if you obey me. 15 Servants don’t know what their master is doing, and so I don’t speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything my Father has told me.

16 You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. 17 So I command you to love each other.” John 15:14-17 CEV

For three years they had followed Jesus. They had their up’s and down’s; Jesus taught them how to honor the Father. They had seen many miracles. Their time on earth together was coming to an end. Jesus reminded them that they had been chosen, we too have been chosen. He also reminded them that the Father would be attentive to their prayers.

Followers become friends. Friends become family.

“Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children. 15  God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. 16 God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. 17 His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.” Romans 8:14-17 CEV

Family.

We have been invited to become family. Our heavenly Father is just, kind, and good. He is faithful, all-knowing, all-powerful, unconditionally loving. Nothing can separate us from His love. (Romans 8:35)

Christ suffered persecution and rejection. His words were misunderstood, and He was ridiculed for saying that God was His Father. We will experience some of the same because we are His family.

Since we will share some of the same challenges and hardships, we have His promise of help.

“ Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16 So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:15-16 CEV

We are family and God, our Father, is always there for us.

Followers, friends, family. I was a follower who became a friend but then I was adopted and now I’m family. Family is the best!

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Choosing Sides

To say I wasn’t very athletic as a kid is an understatement. I was quite often the last one chosen when the neighborhood was picking teams for the softball game. One time when we were teaming up my brother chose me, I was on cloud nine. He was the best at baseball, and he chose me when he could have picked a better player.

I can still remember how special I felt!

How much better is the feeling we get when we know that God has chosen us?

“It doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. 12  God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.” Colossians 3:11-12 CEV 

It doesn’t matter our nationality, our station in life, our education or our financial standing; what’s important it that Christ died for all of us. He is what matters. God loves us and has chosen us to be His own.

Now the question is do we choose Him?

“All of you nations, come praise the Lord!  Let everyone praise him. 2 God’s love for us is wonderful; his faithfulness never ends.  Shout praises to the Lord!” Psalm 117 CEV

His love is wonderful and His faithfulness to us never ends. Never! Not ever? No, Never!

“Tell the Lord how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful…5 When I was really hurting, I prayed to the Lord. He answered my prayer, and took my worries away.
6 The Lord is on my side, and I am not afraid of what others can do to me. 7 With the Lord on my side, I will defeat my hateful enemies. 8 It is better to trust the Lord for protection than to trust anyone else, 9   including strong leaders.” Psalm 118:1,5-9 CEV

Choosing sides? It is better to have the Lord on our side than anyone else. When we side with the Lord we are on the winning side. He has chosen us; it’s up to us to make Him the captain and Lord of our days.

“What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us?” Romans 8:31 CEV

Remember what I said about my brother choosing me to be on his team? It would have been silly for me to try and tell him how to play the game. He was the expert baseball player, not me.

In life, it’s better for us to trust the expert. The One who has faced every temptation and won.

“Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16 So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:15-16 CEV

“It is better to trust the Lord , He will take away all of our worries” – He’s on our side, we’ve been chosen!

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Never Abandoned

While looking through some pictures yesterday I was reminded of a dog we rescued. He is such a sweet boy but for whatever reason he had been abandoned in the desert near our home.

We found him on the local Humane Society’s website and adopted him. Such a loving nature and he fit in well with the dog we already had. After a few months he seemed to be fitting in perfectly, from all outward appearances things were going great.

One day Dave and I loaded both the pups in the truck, and we took off for a scenic ride. We stopped frequently, getting out to enjoy the view, take pictures and stretch our legs. The first couple of stops went off without a hitch. But then we began to notice a change. He became more reluctant to get out of the truck and didn’t want to wander too far from where we were parked. If Dave headed back to the truck before me, he ran ahead and waited worriedly by the door, anxious to get in. Each stop he became more and more reluctant to get out.

That’s when we realized he must have thought we were going to abandon him like he had been before. We took extra time to love on him and show him that he would be ok.

Remembering that day’s ride got me to thinking about how we react in certain circumstances. What is it that triggers things in our memories that make us insecure? What causes us to worry unnecessarily?

“Lord, don’t leave me. My God, stay close to me. 22 Come quickly and help me. My Lord, you are the one who saves me.” Psalm 38:21-22 ERV

Have you ever prayed a prayer like that before? I think we all probably have.

We can overcome those fears of abandonment and loneliness when we experience the Father’s love. He promises to never leave us and He never breaks His promise.

“…God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.’” Hebrews 13:5b ERV

“Lord, those who know your name come to you for protection. And when they come, you do not leave them without help.” Psalm 9:10 ERV

I’m not really sure why the Lord put it on my heart to share these thoughts with you this morning but I do know that He must have someone who needs to hear this message. You aren’t alone. There is Someone who loves you enough to die for you and He won’t abandon you now!

“So what should we say about this? If God is for us, no one can stand against us. And God is with us. 32 He even let his own Son suffer for us. God gave his Son for all of us. So now with Jesus, God will surely give us all things.” Romans 8:21-32 ERV

God the Father is with us! We are never alone.

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Which Trail?

This summer Dave and I met a very nice couple from the Phoenix area. They camped at our campground for two weeks. They are avid hikers. Their energy is something to be envied.

The first night we met them, it was close to dusk. They stopped to talk and ask us about some hiking trails in the area. That day they had been out on a trail, a long loop, around the lake and back woods. They admitted that they had taken the wrong fork and instead of being a 6 mile hike as they had planned, they ended up hiking almost 16 miles.

Wow!

They said they had seen some of the most beautiful country and were glad that they had that experience.

I can’t say that has always been the case for me. Life has taken me down some trails I didn’t expect or want. However, the thing that has always been true is I have never been alone. Even the times I was off doing my own thing, not asking the Father for His direction or His purpose, He never left me alone and He won’t abandon you either.

Case in point: Remember Jonah? In complete and utterance disobedience, he ran from God. God told him to go to Nineveh and preach. Jonah went to the docks and got on a ship headed to Tarshish, in the opposite direction. He was running from the Lord. Even in that, God didn’t abandon Him.

“I had sunk down below the underwater mountains; I knew that forever,  I would be a prisoner there. But, you, Lord God, rescued me from that pit. 7 When my life was slipping away,  I remembered you—in your holy temple you heard my prayer.” Jonah 2:6-7 CEV

The Father doesn’t approve of our disobedience but He won’t disown or abandon His children. For that we should be extremely grateful.

“What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side,[a] speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? 36 It is exactly as the Scriptures say,

“For you we face death all day long. We are like sheep on their way to be butchered.”

37 In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Have you been on the wrong trail? Do you feel you are out there all alone? Do what Jonah did and cry out to the Father for help; He is there and He will rescue you!

He will guide you back to the right trail. Nothing can separate us from the love of God!

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