Joshua 23:6 "Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;"
The Word of God tells us how to live. It also shows us how to love. God's love for us NEVER changes. If anything changes...it is our love for Him.
We should NEVER deviate from the Lord...His Word...or His ways. We have a tendency to walk away from God. This happens when our love for Him grows cold. If we would always keep fresh in our hearts and minds the sacrifice Christ made for us...our love would not grow cold. When our love grows cold and we find ourselves getting away from Him...it hurts Him terribly.
There is a price to be paid for walking away from the Lord...His Word...and His ways. Some don't care and they walk away anyway. People need to realize there are consequences to walking away.
(vs. 8) "But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day." In this verse cleave means to stay obedient to God. Obedience is key to staying close to God.
(vs. 10) "One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you." God will fight for us if we'll stay close to Him and live for Him. Sometimes it takes resigning from all others to love and serve God. That includes family at times too.
The Lord showed me two things out of the message my husband preached. They are nothing profound or new...just things I needed to be reminded of.
First of all...the situation our family is dealing with has been the most difficult and most hurtful thing that I think I have ever experienced. My problem has been that I've focused on MY hurt. What I saw through this message was that my hurt is bad...but the Lord hurts so much more by what is going on. He hurts whenever one of His children are disobedient and going contrary to His will for their life. All I've been able to focus on is the sacrifice my husband and I have made for this person and all the love we have shown them...only to be treated the way we are being by them. But I realized while my husband was preaching that Jesus sacrificed a whole lot more for them than we have. I've been focusing on me and I needed to be focusing on the fact that He is hurting more than I am.
Second...I also realized that the Lord is fighting for me. I need to quit focusing on looking for signs of progress or ways to help the situation and let Him fight for me. He loves that person so much more than I do.
(vs. 10b) "...for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you." He promises to fight for us. We just need to stay right in our relationship with Him and do what we need to be doing and let Him take care of the rest.
I thank God for reminding me of these things. I had let the problem become so big that I had forgotten them. Thank God He knows our frame and our hearts and knows what we need!!
16 comments:
Mrs Julie what a tremendous post. I never really thought about it that way before. It is true how much must the Lord hurt when we get out of his will after all he has done for us. Also thank the Lord when we don't see progess in a situation that God is fighting on our behalf. We serve a God that no matter what we are going through in our life is good no matter what. We are continuing to pray looking for the day that prayer is answered.
Bro Tim
Sis. Julie -- this is such a blessing! I sent you an email that actually goes with this quite nicely; but I sent it out yesterday morning, before you posted this! God is good. Just keep your heart open to hearing what He is teaching through all this, and He will work all things together for good because you love Him and are called according to His purpose. Sis. Juanita (Xanga)
bro. tim...thank you so much!!
sis. juanita...I received that email and it was a real blessing!! I haven't had opportunity to respond to my emails yet. I got a couple yesterday that were ordered from the Lord. Thank you so much!!
Still praying for you, Julie!
I can think of many people who have walked away from the Lord and is now hurting because of it. Yet, it's really sad that even though you try and tell them, they still don't see the need to get their heart right. Their life is a mess, but they refuse to come back to God.
It does hurt. And yet, our hurt really does seem little when compared to the Lords. Thank you for this post.
sis. janie....thank you!!
sis. theresa...I can't believe I was considering my hurt more than the Lord's in all this. Thankfully He showed me where I was wrong.
Sis Julie,
I am continuing to pray for your heart break, and for you to find peace...The Lord will indeed fight for you..He knows your heart and he knows what we need...
{{Hugs}}
Mimi
sis. mimi..thank you so much!! I certainly do need His peace in the situation. I know He'll give it to me.
Dear Sis.Julie, I'm happy you have found your true focus point in the Lord. I know that the Lord does hurt when we turn from His ways, but it blesses me to know that he doesn't despair which is what we do when we hurt a lot of times. He also encourages us to be of good cheer, even when we face tribulations, for He has overcome the world. John 16:33
You are not alone Sis.Julie, the Lord is with you, just keep your eyes on Him :)
Big hug
sis. jimena...It is definitely a blessing to know we aren't alone. I have felt very alone in all of this...but that is because I lost my focus. He has assured me that He is with me through it all!!
What a tremendous post...I think what you learned from the preaching we can ALL apply in areas of our lives.....
You brought it down to where the rubber meets the road.
Still praying Julie,
Deby
sis. deby...Amen!!
Sis. Julie,
We are praying for you and your family. I'm so glad God knows that we are human and so kindly shows us where we need to be changed and made more like Him.
Sis. Tammy Tooley
sis. tammy....Thank you so much for leaving me a comment!! I appreciate your prayers so very much. You and your family are such a blessing and we love y'all so much!! You are in our prayers as well.
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