TODAY’S THE CROSS DEVOTIONAL YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT ME! “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”” Deuteronomy 31:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Philippians 1:6 Here comes a confession. A big one. I actually had the sickening audacity to be up in the middle of the night telling the Lord how much I didn’t feel He cared about me! Oh, sure, I believed He loved me. But not that He cared! My heart was filled with fear, worry, doubt, distrust, and my soul was weary, so weary. From the trials of this life. Of course the Lord in His utter disgust and contempt made the big pronouncement that He would now leave and forsake me, that He was through with me, that He had given up on me, that He would now find a replacement for me, someone better, smarter, more filled with faith, someone who wasn’t so messed up as me. Right? WRONG! The Lord in His amazing love, mercy, grace, kindness, and patience led me to repentance for my wrong thinking and helped me to go back to sleep and get much needed rest. Then, come morning, He filled me with His love and helped me to press on in my life and ministry. His mercy is stunningly awesome! His love is infinitely unfathomably glorious! His patience we can’t even conceive of! His kindness is like no human being is even capable of! Oh, how magnificent is the Lord! Instead of turning away from me, He draws me closer to Himself. He changes me. He forgives and restores me, revives and refreshes me, calls me over and again to learn to trust in Him, to rest in Him, to learn from Him, and to carry on. In His strength. For His phenomenal everlasting glory! Friend, when we have fallen, when we fall short, when we do as I did, we need to turn to the Lord seeking and receiving His forgiveness, to turn to His Word, to believe His love for us, to believe His Word to us, and to yield ourselves to Him as He continues His work in and through us. Let us press on! |