“….For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)

 

“….For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)

  Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines forsake as:

1.      To quit or leave entirely; to desert; to abandon; to depart from.

    Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. He is always there, waiting for us to come to Him and find rest and peace. Whenever a person backslides or completely falls away from the faith it is not the Lord’s fault, God does not forsake us: it is the person who forsakes the Lord. We have a free will, we have to surrender to the Lord to be used by Him; therefore, we can choose to take our will and walk away from Him in our own strength.

    The choice is yours, dear friend, Christ will never leave you or forsake you, but you can. Will you surrender to Him today? Will you consecrate yourself unto Him?

  Lord, O how often I have walked in my own strength; forsaking You and asking why You left me. Lord, You never left me….but I walked in my own strength. Lord, help me today to walk and live following You. I don’t want me, but You. Empower me by Your Spirit to live a life wholly consecrated to You. In Jesus Name, amen.

 

Thought 237: 2009 Clarity. . . . 2010 Moving Forward from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 237

2009 Clarity…. 2010 Moving Forward

 A previous pastor at my church, Pastor Brock, preached a couple of sermons, each at the beginning of separate years in which he testified to what God had spoken to him about the coming year. God revealed to Pastor Brock that the year of 2009 would be a year of CLARITIY in our decisions, dreams, and desires; the truth was that it was a year of clarity for me. When I look back to 2009 I remember the joy of rededicating my life to the Lord, of being called into the ministry, of being told to write this book, of water baptism, of the birth of my second sister, and of much more. It was a year of clarity! Is all this a big coincidence? No, this is God simply using a servant of His to spread His word to His people and it was proved true over the course of that year!  Nothing happens by accident, because God reigns over all. God still speaks today, He is not silent and uninvolved!

In 2010, a few months before God moved him to a different state, Pastor Brock again had a message. This time the message was Moving Forward in faith, future, favor, and finances. Well, it is only September 9^th as I am writing this, but yet again this message has rung true in my life. This year hasn’t been as clear as last year was and I have had to exercise faith much more. Likewise, financially, God has blessed me with work and monetary gifts, my average income per year, based on a rough estimate will be doubled by the end of 2010.  In terms of favor (grace), God has been raining down many blessings this year: from completing my Gold Medal of Achievement (like Eagle Scout) to the blessing of being self-taught in 11^th Grade (except for Spanish and geometry)—I am also doing better and developing self-teaching skills that are bound to prove beneficial over the course of my life. In addition, God has helped me to realize that my work with young men isn’t about helping them earn a Gold Medal of Achievement that is simply a benefit. The ultimate goal is for me to continue to be faithful to Christ and mentor the young men that God allows me to serve. God also led me to start teaching a Young Adult Bible Study which has had some pretty neat results.

To keep this short, I won’t go on about the many other ways the Lord has blessed and helped me Move Forward this year, but I pray the Holy Spirit will reveal to you some of the things that He has done in your life over the course of a years’ time.

  I have found that writing a list or article about what God has taught me throughout a year to be a source of encouragement. Perhaps if you develop a similar compilation it will be an encouragement to you.