Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: Never forsaken, never alone. Our Bible verse for today: The Lord is with you when you are with Him, He will be found by you, but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without instruction, but when they turned to the Lord God of Israel in their distress and sought Him, He was found by them. 2 Chronicles 15:2-4 (HCSB) Our thought for today: Return to God and He will return to you. When I read the above passage this morning during my morning quiet time, it reminded me of a man I used to know. The guy was struggling in many areas of his life and was extremely unhappy. He had been raised as a Christian but in his late teens and early twenties had drifted away from the church and from the Lord. He considered himself to be a Christian but admitted that he seldom prayed and he hadnt been in church in years. As I said, the mans life was a mess and he was angry with God about it. He demanded to know why, if God really did love Him and care about Him, then why wasnt God more active in his life and meeting some of his desperate needs? I challenged the man to consider whether or not he was really living the kind of life that God could bless. I told him, God didnt walk away from you, you walked away from God. By choice you are living outside of His will and outside of His blessing. I promise you that if you return to God, He will return to you. Thats the kind of situation the writer of 2 Chronicles was describing in 15:2-4. The entire nation of Israel had strayed from obedience to God. They were chasing after the gods of the world and consequently, they had taken themselves outside of the realm of Gods blessings. But when they finally woke up and began once again placing themselves in a position before God whereby He could bless them, there was God, waiting and eager to bless their lives once again. This is a common theme all throughout both the Old and New Testaments. God doesnt chase after us. He does invite us to come to Him, He even sends His prophets and priests and preachers to proclaim His message of forgiveness and reconciliation and blessing to us, but we have to respond to the invitation and come to Him. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30: Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (HCSB) Jesus doesnt chase after us, catch us, and force us to hold still while He attempts to bless us. Instead He invites us to come to Him. The responsibility is on us. But once we do come to Him, then we find ourselves in a position whereby He can and will bless us. While its true that God will never forsake you and He will not abandon you, it is possible for you to forsake Him and to abandon Him. When you do that you have made a choice to live without His blessings. Return to God and you will find that He is there for you. God Bless, Pastor Jim
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:47:59 +0000
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