I am always in God's thoughts...
Psalms 139:17,18 How precious to me are Your thoughts,
O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would
outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
Isaiah 49:15-16 "Can a mother forget the baby at
her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may
forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of
My hands; your walls are ever before Me."
Jeremiah 29:4-13 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be
carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon; “Build houses and dwell in them; plant
gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and
take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may
bear sons and daughters - that you may be increased there, and not
diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be
carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will
have peace. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not
let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor
listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy
falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD. For thus
says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you
and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For
I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call
upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will
seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Joni and
Friends Daily Devotional
April 13, 2011
Will God Give
Up On You?
“I grieve to think how I treated my friends when I was in the
hospital. They would sit by my bedside while I lay there in stubborn
silence. They would bring magazines, and I would shrug my shoulders,
saying I wasn't interested. My friends would offer to wheel me outside,
but I would reply, ‘No, I'd rather sit here in front of the television.’
“I'm sure that I provoked a lot of exasperation in some of my
friends. A few stopped coming around, and who could blame them?
“We sometimes feel that way about God. Deep down we know we
probably provoke Him with our sloppy prayers. We feel that He must be
peeved with our ho-hum approach to Bible study. We're certain that He's
irritated with our sins and annoyed with the constant ups and downs of our
spiritual walk. God, we sadly assume, must be exasperated to the point of
giving up on us.
“If we are truly a part of God's family, we can be sure that He
will love us through the tough times. Children can be exasperating-even
children of God-but the Lord will never forget us. He will never give up
on us. Nothing, neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities,
nor sloppy praying, nor halfhearted Bible study will be able to separate us
from God's constant and abiding love.
“In light of this, how should we then live? It should humble
us to think that God will not, even cannot, walk away.
“Lord, if anyone should be annoyed or provoked, it should be me
with my halfhearted approach to prayer and Your Word. Forgive me when I
grieve You, my Friend.”
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
