Say this one with me by heart today, but please keep it tucked away in your heart, forever!
“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Dt 31:8 NIV
Because God loves us, He will go before us, He will be with us and He will never leave nor forsake us, so there is no need to stay in fear or discouragement. God has made The Way for us to be His beloved, holy children. Children, here is the image I want us to keep: a child baking cookies with his parent. The parent has already gone before the child, buying all the ingredients, maybe even measuring some things out, preheating the oven, getting all the bowls and spoons etc. The parent is with the child as they both, together, mix the ingredients, form the cookies and bake them.
There are some parts that the child can do, and some that the child should not do. For instance, for the child’s safety, he should not touch the oven. That job belongs to the parent. But mixing and forming the cookies? That’s fun for both of them! Of course, since this is a young child, he will probably have flour all over the counter, more sugar on the floor than in the bowl and egg shells into the batter too! But the parent is always with the child, never leaving their side, nor giving up on them. Without the child even being aware, the parent simply picks out the shells from the batter, remeasures the sugar to the correct amount, cleans up the flour from the counters…I hope you get the idea! This is what our Perfect Parent, our Father, does for us all the time.
This activity should be filled with joy for both the child and the parent. But what if the child begins to think he is doing this all by himself? Will he start to be afraid of the heat coming out of the oven? Will he become discouraged when he sees the shells in the batter? Will he worry about how the cookies will taste, whether they will be yummy or yucky? Will he think it is all useless to even try to make these cookies, and just gives up? My Friends, do we do this?
Listen to me, you beloved, holy child, God is always with you, always. He loves you more than the circumstances of this life reflect. Don’t give up on Him. Don’t turn away from Him. Don’t allow fear and discouragement to be your companions. When you sense yourself just beginning to fall into that pit of despair, repent. Remember this verse and its truth. Then let God help you make the cookies!
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
26- Jas 2:19
27- Dt 31:8
<>< Peace, Diane
