Bible League: Living His Word I drew a picture of you on my hand. You are always before my eyes.When we go through the trials, troubles, and tribulation of life there is always the temptation to think that God has forgotten us. In Isaiah 49:14, for example, the people of Zion are quoted as saying, "The Lord has left me; the Lord has forgotten me." During such times, we tend to think that God is far away from us, that He does not really care for us, and that He has forgotten all about us. Although it may not seem like it at times, the message of Isaiah is that nothing could be further from the truth. In order to illustrate his point, in an earlier verse Isaiah drew an analogy between a mother and her child and God and His people. He quotes God as saying, '"Can a woman forget her baby? Can she forget the child that came from her body? Even if she can forget her children, I cannot forget you" (Isaiah 49:15). God's memory of us, in other words, is even greater than a mother's memory of her children. Psalm 27:10 says, "Even if my mother and father leave me, The LORD will take me in." We are God's children, and He cannot forget us because we are the "apple of His eye" (Zechariah 2:8). In order to press home his point, Isaiah quotes God as saying that "I drew a picture of you on my hand." God, one might say, has a tattoo of us on his hand. The image is meant to convey the idea that God cannot put His hand to anything without being reminded of us. Far from forgetting about us, God cares so much that He tattooed His hand with our pictures. Thus, we are always before the eyes of the Lord. Although God may allow the trials, troubles, and tribulations of life into our lives, we should not draw the conclusion from this that He does not care about us and that He has forgotten about us. Indeed, "The LORD will lead you. He himself is with you. He will not fail you or leave you. Don't worry. Don't be afraid!" (Deuteronomy 31:8). God really cares about us. God has not forgotten us. He has the pictures of us to prove it. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNehemiah 7, 8 Nehemiah 7 -- Census of Returned Exiles NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Nehemiah 8 -- Ezra Reads the Law, Restores the Feast of Tabernacles NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 3 Acts 3 -- Peter Heals the Lame Beggar, Speaks to Onlookers NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.Insight Jesus described leadership from a new perspective. Instead of using people, we are to serve them. Jesus' mission was to serve others and to give his life away. A real leader has a servant's heart. Servant leaders appreciate others' worth and realize that they're not above any job. Challenge If you see something that needs to be done, don't wait to be asked. Take the initiative and do it like a faithful servant. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Songs 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse.The heart of the believer is Christ's garden. He bought it with his precious blood, and he enters it and claims it as his own. A garden implies separation. It is not the open common; it is not a wilderness; it is walled around, or hedged in. Would that we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear Christians saying, "Well, there is no harm in this; there is no harm in that," thus getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the question of how far it may go in worldly conformity. A garden is a place of beauty, it far surpasses the wild uncultivated lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the best moralist, because Christ's garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is poor compared with Christ's deservings; let us not put him off with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls his own. The garden is a place of growth. The saints are not to remain undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the Husbandman, and the Holy Spirit the dew from above. A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself, as he doth not unto the world. O that Christians were more retired, that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with much serving, so that we have not the room for Christ that Mary had, and do not sit at his feet as we should. The Lord grant the sweet showers of his grace to water his garden this day. Daily Light on the Daily Path Matthew 17:20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.Judges 4:8,23 Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." • So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. Judges 6:27,36,39,40 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father's household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night. • Then Gideon said to God, "If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, • Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground." • God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground. Revelation 3:8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Zechariah 4:10 "For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel-- these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth." 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" Hosea 14:5,6 I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. • His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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