Hey everyone whats up! I know I haven't talked to some of you in a long time……where's the love? Things have been going good here, but anyways, I thought I would write one of those "crazy thought" things, since I havent done one in a long time. At this point I really don't know what im going to write about…..i always write about something that is going on with me, or something God has been slapping me in the face with. There are a lot of those things right now, so im just going to start writing….see where it ends up…who knows, maybe something will be written here that a couple of you can relate to and learn from. But hopefully and more importantly, you wont remember much about what I have to say in my ramblings, but what God might want to say to you through this.
God has continually been reminding me of a very important promise he made me and you a long time ago. This promise is first found in Deut 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Isnt that a cool promise? I don't know about you, but that is a cool verse to me…..it pretty much rules out the whole concept of loneliness doesn't it? Think about that a minute, God the creator of the whole freakin universe, the king of kings, the Big Cheese, the one who knows everything and can do anything, will never leave us or forsake us, even in our worst moments.
Unfortunately, it isn't to say that we don't try to leave him and forsake him just about everyday. Why is this?? Somehow we have developed this idea that we can have God near us when we want him there, but other times we can do our own thing, leaving God and forgetting about him. If the word is true, and I think it is, then this cant be done. (leaving God that is) He has been, and will always be, with you, no matter what. It also goes on to say he will not forsake you. Pretty cool stuff. This reminds me of a conversation I had the other day with a friend of mine. She said something to the extent of "you are in to all of the 'God stuff' ya know?" I don't even remember what we were talking about, but it sparked one of those rare thoughts in my mind and I got to thinking about it…..how people look at Christianity as just another hobby. Its sad, but a lot of people do seem to go about the whole 'God thing' this way, you know….as just another ritual or the 'thing to do' at the time. Ive probably been guilty of it myself, but anyways I went on to tell her that its not this way at all, eventhough so many people look at Christianity this way. Just because I am walking close to God and striving to know him more and more each day, it shouldn't be seen as 'what I am in to' or my 'thing'…its what not only me, but what everyone was created to do….(want to talk about finding your purpose in life? Here ya go!)…..ya get what im sayin? Ok probably not, but what im trying to get at is that God is right there with all of us, Christians and Non-Christians. Its not a matter of certain people having some special privlage, hobby, habit, or ritual concerning God, its about recognizing that He is there wanting a relationship with everyone and a matter of who takes advantage of that great offer! (any better??) It is so frustrating to see people totally neglect God, therefor have all of these problems in their life, deal with depression, unhappiness, and loneliness, and not even realize that God is with them and is the one they should be placing all of their faith and trust in. I hear it all the time…"I am just not happy, I don't have any friends, im always bored and lonely…..and my relationship with God, well..it has gone to crap too" helloooooo???? Maybe try fixing that last problem and seeing if the rest of it gets cleared up some??? I'm glad our God is one of patience, because I know how frustrating it is to be ignored…..especially when you are offering help or a solution…..(me and access to lightening bolts would NOT be a good combination in this situation) -=]
That leads me to the next thing. Because God promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us, He is the ONLY thing we can put all of our faith and trust in. For some reason we have such a hard time with this. We constantly try to put our hope in other things besides God. Sometimes it's easy to put all of your hope and trust in someone or a certain group of people when they seem reliable and strong enough to handle it. It seems that they will never leave you or forsake you, but this is a tragic misconception. Everyone and everything on this earth will fail you at some point, I promise. That means the best of friends,(yes, even the ones you think are incapable of this), the coolest church, your always faithful parents, brothers and sisters, etc. etc etc. the list goes on………..until you get to the one and only God! Remember the promise, He alone will never leave you or forsake you. There is always hope in this verse, in the worst of times, I can look at this verse and have something to smile about. We don't appreciate how lucky we really are! It is just too amazing the love we are shown by an Almighty God, that wont ever leave us, even when everything else seems to. Knowing that God is always here for us should be enough reason to stay excited and happy…..afterall, who is better company than God himself right? I'm blessed with a lot of friends and I have it pretty good, I thank God for that, but I also realize that the only one worthy of ALL of my hope, ALL of my faith, and ALL of my trust…..is the one and only God! Everthign else will …ok ok ok you get the picture, God=Never Leave or Forsake, Everything Else=not good enough to put faith in……(see it actually is possible for me to get something across in 1 sentence, I just umm choose not to most of the time (???)
Ok well its getting late (as you can probably tell) and im starting to 'ramble' so ill close it up. Hope you pulled something out of it. If nothing else, just be sure to sit back and marvel at how awesome and good our God is, to be a father, a friend, an adviser, an encourager, and so much more all at the same time. And the fact that he is all of these all of the time for us. we just gotta recognize it and take advantage of it!! Lets concentrate on putting our hope and trust in Jesus Christ, letting him do the leading and the guiding, while we simply follow and trust that his unfailing, never-ceasing love is enough to get us through any situation! No matter how sad you get or how bad of a day you have had, realize that Jesus is right there with you and find joy in that! ----I really don't know how to present this verse, but I thought it was pretty cool and encouraging, so ill throw it out there….its in Psalms 33:18 it says "the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love."
Walk the Walk,
Coby <><
